Peter Clarke (7 October 1948 – 21 January 2007) was a prominent child welfare activist in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Clarke was born in

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

. His early life included military training at Sandhurst, from which he moved on to social work in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, studying philosophy (BA & MA) at

Sussex University The University of Sussex is a public research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the South Downs National Park, and provide ...

. Clarke worked first at the Stamford House Remand Home in London. In 1985 he became community care advisor for the Spastics Society (now named Scope). From 1991 he was a director of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, and from 1995 a director of '' Childline Cymru'' and worked for many voluntary organisations.

Children's Commissioner for Wales

Clarke is most well known for his work as

Children's Commissioner for Wales The Children's Commissioner for Wales is responsible for protecting children's rights as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Peter Clarke (Children's Commissioner for Wales), Peter Clarke was the Commissioner from its introduct ...

, a post created in 2001 following the

North Wales child abuse scandal The North Wales child abuse scandal was the subject of a three-year, £13 million investigation into the physical and sexual abuse of children in care homes in the counties of Clwyd and Gwynedd, in North Wales, including the Bryn Estyn chil ...

report from by

Ronald Waterhouse (judge) Sir Ronald Gough Waterhouse (8 May 1926 – 8 May 2011) was a High Court judge (England and Wales), judge of the High Court of England and Wales between 1978 and 1996. As a judge his highest profile case was when he presided over the acquittal ...

. In March 2002 Clarke led the Clywch inquiry, which investigated failings made by adults in authority surrounding allegations of abuse by John Owen at Ysgol Gyfun. Owen taught drama at the school from 1974 to 1991, before resigning over allegations of abuse. In 2001 Owen was arrested and charged with criminal offences against children. He was found dead on the 4th of October 2001 after committing suicide. He was due to appear in court the next day. In 2004 Clarke published the Clywch report, sharing the results of the inquiry and 31 recommendations for the local education authorities and school governing bodies. In 2003 he headed the social services report, Telling Concerns. Clarke called for local authorities to provide specialist children's complaint officers, whistleblowing policies for staff in social services, and recommendations that a failure to report malpractice should be made a disciplinary offence. Clarke held this post until his death at age 58 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

External links

Obituary
from the

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Obituary
in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

References

1948 births 2007 deaths Deaths from cancer in Wales Children's Commissioners for Wales Welsh social workers People from Llandudno Alumni of the University of Sussex Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst {{Wales-bio-stub