Gove recruits Narey as Ministry of Justice adviser

Narey, who is already overseeing government reforms to the care system as chair of the Adoption Leadership Board, is one of three appointments to a new team of non-executive board members at the government department.

As part of his role, Narey will give advice to ministers and officials on the implications of policy proposals, as well as providing “independent support, guidance and challenge” on the progress of the department’s strategic direction.

Narey is best known in the children and young people’s sector as the former chief executive of Barnardo’s, but before that he was director general of the Prison Service for England and Wales.

In 2011, when Michael Gove was Education Secretary, Narey was appointed by the DfE as an adoption adviser.

Earlier this month Narey was in the headlines when it emerged that he had previously been paid thousands of pounds as a consultant for G4S prior to authoring an independent report into conditions at Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, which the private firm runs.

An inspection of Rainsbrook in February by Ofsted, the Prisons Inspectorate and the Care Quality Commission, rated the establishment as "inadequate" after identifying a series of concerns including "serious incidents of gross misconduct by staff".

But Narey's independent report called the findings into question, stating that the centre is well run.

Taking to Twitter to comment on his latest appointment, Narey said: "After an absence of 10 years, I'm very pleased to be returning to the Ministry of Justice as a non executive.

"The challenges are considerable but I'm looking forward to being a little involved again."

Liz Doherty, who has worked for multi-national firms including Unilever and Tesco, and Lizzie Noel, a former director of communications at government services and education provider Tribal Group, and also a former adviser at the DfE, have also been appointed non-executive board members.

They will all work alongside Sir Theodore Agnew, who was appointed as a non-executive board member for the MoJ in June of this year, and has now been made lead non-executive.

Agnew previously served for five years as a non-executive board member at the DfE.

The MoJ said the new team of non-executive board members will attend their first board meeting next month.