Elizabeth Jill Filkin

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 24 November 1940) is a British public functionary and former civil servant. She was the United Kingdom's

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards. The current commissioner is Daniel Greenberg. Duties The commissio ...

between February 1999 and 2002. Born in

Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located on the outskirts of the city of Bristol on the A4 that links the cities of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. It had a population of 19,603 at the 2021 Census. It was listed i ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, Filkin studied at Clifton High School in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, where she was awarded LLB in Law in 1973. She started her career as a lecturer and community worker at the National Institute for Social Work between 1968 and 1971. She then worked as community work services officer in the

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

(1971–75); lecturer in social studies at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

(1975–83); chief executive, then director of community services at the National Association of

Citizens Advice Bureau Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this natio ...

x (1983–90); assistant chief executive, then revenue adjudicator at the

London Docklands Development Corporation The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its seventeen-year existence, it was responsible for regenerating an ...

(1990–1995); and adjudicator at the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

, Customs and Excise and Contributions Agency (1995–99) before becoming

in February 1999. Her departure was controversial. Many considered she had performed well and should not have had to reapply for the role when her three-year contract came up for renewal. On 18 July 2011, it was announced that Elizabeth Filkin would lead an inquiry related to the

News International phone hacking scandal Beginning in the 1990s, and going as far until its shutdown in 2011, employees of the now-defunct newspaper ''News of the World'' engaged in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Investi ...

which would "recommend changes to links between the police and the media, including how to extend transparency." The report of the inquiry was published at the beginning of 2012. Filkin was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

for public service.

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