Dame Martina Milburn has been endorsed by the Commons Education Select Committee as the new chair of the government’s Social Mobility Commission.
The committee endorsed Dame Martina - the government’s preferred candidate - following a pre-appointment hearing on Wednesday, when she called for a near doubling in the commission’s funding.
Her appointment follows a mass resignation from the commission in December, in protest over a perceived lack of progress towards creating a “fairer Britain”.
In his resignation letter to prime minister Theresa May, Alan Milburn, the former chairman, said the government was “understandably focused on Brexit and does not seem to have the necessary bandwidth to ensure that the rhetoric of healing social division is matched with the reality”.
Dame Martina is group chief executive of the Prince’s Trust charity.
Today the select committee called on her to hold the government to account by being a vocal champion of social justice, and said she should set out her priorities and strategy for improving the impact of the commission.
Tackling social injustice
Robert Halfon, the chair of the committee, said: “I welcome Dame Martina’s clear commitment and passion for social justice and pay tribute to her work with the Prince’s Trust. I am also encouraged by her enthusiasm for vocational education and understanding of how apprenticeships and skills provide a ladder of opportunity for the most disadvantaged in society.
“The committee has endorsed the appointment. We want to be sure that the pledges she has made to the committee, in terms of being a campaigner for social justice, are evident in the way that she challenges both the government and social injustice wherever it occurs.
“Our committee will be holding her feet to the fire on this. We believe that the commission must be more than just a thinktank but a body that really transforms social justice in our country and one that will have a role in assessing the impact of key domestic legislation in terms of whether it enhances or is harmful to social justice.”
He added: “Dame Martina also stressed that she wanted a board of commissioners drawn from a broad spectrum of society and would also appoint apprentices to the secretariat. The commission should have the capacity to champion social justice and influence policy.
“Our hope is that it is not just made up of the great and the good but represents people from all backgrounds and all parts of the country and flies the flag for social justice.”
Dame Martina was announced as the government’s preferred candidate to chair the Social Mobility Commission after the body’s entire board quit last year.
