Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor taught for many years in both primary and secondary schools in London. He began to specialise in supporting pupils with special educational needs and in 2005 became the headteacher of the Willows Special School (now The Willows School Academy Trust) for children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. During his time there, the school received two ‘outstanding’ ratings from Ofsted.

In 2011 he became an expert adviser on children’s behaviour at the Department for Education, producing reports into school attendance and alternative provision for excluded pupils. While at the Department for Education, he also created a behaviour checklist which is still regularly used in English schools. In 2012 he became the CEO of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, overseeing the recruitment of 30,000 trainee teachers a year and leading on the regulatory process for teachers accused of misconduct.

He led the 2015 review into the youth justice system and made wide-ranging recommendations, including the introduction of Secure Schools, a new model for youth custody. In 2017 he became Chair of the Youth Justice Board and continued working with the Department for Education as an adviser on behaviour hubs, a new initiative to improve the ability of schools to support their most challenging pupils.

Since 2016 he has been a trustee of Dallaglio Rugby Works, an organisation that supports and mentors children who are out of mainstream education.

Charlie was appointed as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in 2020.

 

HM Chief Inspector

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons is appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice. HM Chief Inspector reports directly to the Secretary of State and relevant ministers on conditions for and treatment of prisoners. They also have a statutory responsibility to inspect conditions for and treatment of detainees in all places of immigration detention in the UK. They report on this to the Home Secretary.