Sir Martin James Narey DL (born 5 August 1955, in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

) is an advisor to the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, and a former

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and charity executive. He served as director general of the Prison Service of England and Wales between 1998 and 2003, and chief executive of the National Offender Management Service from 2004 to 2005. He was as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the charity Barnardo's from 2005 to 2011. In 2013 he was appointed as a special advisor to the education secretary

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

Early life

Narey was born in 1955 in Middlesbrough, England. He was educated at St Mary's College, a Catholic

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

in Middlesbrough. He studied at Sheffield Polytechnic.

Career

Narey joined Her Majesty's Prison Service in 1982 and began

prison governor The warden ( US, Canada) or governor ( UK, Australia), also known as a superintendent (US, South Asia) or director (UK, New Zealand), is the official who is in charge of a prison. Name In the United States, Mexico, and Canada, warden is the mo ...

training. He was the Director General of the Prison Service of England and Wales between 1998 and 2003 before becoming the first Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). In 2005, he left the Civil Service to become

of Barnardo's before stepping down in January 2011. As Director General of Prisons he has been credited with "invoking moral principles rather than security concerns when articulating the Service's priorities". He is a visiting professor in applied social sciences at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, and a visiting professor at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

. From 2012 to 2013, he served as chair of The

Portman Group The Portman Group is a trade group composed of alcoholic beverage producers and brewing industry, brewers in the United Kingdom, UK. History It was set up in 1989 as part of a campaign to raise awareness on alcohol (drug), alcohol-related issu ...

Independent Complaints Panel, overseeing complaints into the naming, packaging, promotion and sponsorship of alcoholic drinks in the UK, and from 2013 to 2019 he served as chair of Portman Group itself. From 2011 to 2017, he also served as a board member of the Advertising Standards Authority. From 2001 to 2013 he was the Government's Advisor on Adoption and his advice, based on an independent report commissioned by ''The Times'', led to adoption becoming one of the UK Government's domestic priorities. He summarised the reforms for ''The Guardian'' in July 2012. In February 2013 it was announced that he was taking on a wider role, advising Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education on children's social care.

Views

Narey believes some social workers do not do enough to prevent child abuse. Narey stated, “Social workers do an outstanding job generally, but some of them need to have more scepticism when they’re dealing with parents who are manipulative and deceitful.” Narey also stated, “One of the flaws is that everyone believes that taking a child into care is a negative step. Because the children in care are, for example, performing badly educationally. But that’s just a profound misunderstanding of what’s happening. Those children do badly in education and other areas because they’ve been neglected at home. The evidence shows that for children who are in need, care has a positive effect...”

Honours

Narey was knighted in the 2013 New Year's Honours 'for services to vulnerable people'.

References

External links

Barnardo's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narey, Martin 1955 births Living people People from Middlesbrough British prison governors Knights Bachelor Deputy lieutenants of North Yorkshire Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University Place of birth missing (living people) British special advisers