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Office of the Third Sector appoints four Deputy Directors to spearhead new team structure

Campbell Robb, Director–General of the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) in the Cabinet Office, today appointed four Deputy Directors – all of whom bring a wealth of experience and expertise into their newly created roles.

The Deputy Directors will each lead a new team, created as part of the recently announced OTS restructuring and coming into effect on June 4, and play a pivotal role in the leading and implementing the Government's approach to the third sector.

The range of skills and experience of the new appointees, encompassing considerable achievement in both public and third sectors, will help the OTS strengthen levels of understanding and partnership between the third sector and every level of government.

Campbell Robb, OTS Director–General, said:

‘I am tremendously excited by the strength of our new team and the powerful range of skills and experience they bring to our work to enable a thriving third sector.

‘The Deputy Directors are the cornerstones of our new structure – their expertise will prove invaluable in forging a stronger leadership role for the OTS across government and in creating better links between the sector and the state.’

The appointments are:

Participation team
Sarah Benioff, current Chief Executive, Community Development Foundation

Public sector partnership team
Pat Samuel, current Head of Charity and Third Sector Finance Unit, HM Treasury

Social enterprise and finance team
Hilary Norman, current Deputy Director of the Social Enterprise Team, OTS

Third sector support team
Helen Stephenson, current Head of Strategic Policy and Partnerships, Big Lottery Fund

Building on its success to date, the new structure will enable OTS to increase its efficiency, performance and delivery, and continue to drive forward new, innovative policy-making. The core teams will be the focal point for their policy areas, but greater cross-team working and sharing of responsibility will allow a more flexible and integrated approach to the Government’s support for the sector.

Notes to editors:

1. Any further media enquiries, please contact the Cabinet Office Press Office on 020 7276 0311.
2. The appointments have been made in accordance with the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners Code of Practice.
3. Biographies:
   Sarah Benioff joined The Community Development Foundation (CDF) as Chief Executive in May 2003. Sarah's previous experience includes several posts relating to community development including work in New York City with a large community–based youth and family services agency. She then worked for Crime Concern in the UK, first setting up and running the award winning Dalston Youth Project, targeting young offenders in Hackney, and then replicating the successful project around the UK. She followed this experience running a national public health programme in the US, based at Children's Hospital Boston (Harvard University.) Sarah has a BA in English Literature and a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Public Administration (MPA).
   Pat Samuel became the Head of the Charity and Third Sector Team, in the Public Services Directorate of HM Treasury, in May 2003. Prior to that, she had worked in a variety of policy areas on both domestic and international economic issues and gained many years experience of public service policy development and financial management since joining the Treasury in from a teaching career in 1985.
   Hilary Norman joined the DTI as Social Enterprise Director in September 2004, transferring with her Unit to the new Office of the Third Sector in Cabinet Office in June 2006. She led the implementation of the Government's strategy for social enterprise, including launching the Government's most recent action plan on 16 November 2006. Before joining the DTI Hilary worked at HM Treasury on the Graham Review of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee. Prior to this, at the Bank of England, she specialised in issues relating to small firms' finance, in particular those affecting disadvantaged communities. In 2003 she led the Bank of England's review of finance for social enterprise, culminating in an independent report to the DTI which has since provided the basis for policy in this area.
   Helen Stephenson is Head of Strategic Policy and Partnerships at the Big Lottery Fund, where she is responsible for cross–cutting, UK wide–policy and managing external stakeholder relations. She joined the New Opportunities Fund in 2001 from a national charity where she worked as a development manager. Helen was the policy lead on the Young Peoples's Fund and has worked as a researcher and consultant in the statutory and voluntary sector before completing a PhD at Bristol University.
4. There are five new teams in the OTS restructure. The fifth is a Communications and Strategy team which will be lead in the first instance by current OTS Director Ben Jupp. We will re–advertise for a Deputy Director position to ensure we fill this role in the longer term.
5. In recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy, the Prime Minister announced a new Office of the Third Sector in May 2006. Ed Miliband was appointed as the new Minister for the Third Sector, working in the Cabinet Office to Hilary Armstrong, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. For more information, please go to http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/thirdsector/.

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