Management Board

Richard Thomas has been the Information Commissioner since November 2002. His term of office has been extended until June 2009. He is appointed by HM Queen and has independent status, reporting directly to Parliament, with a range of responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and related laws. The functions of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) include promoting good practice, ruling on complaints and taking regulatory action.

Richard's previous career has included:

• Director of Public Policy at Clifford Chance;
• Director of Consumer Affairs at the Office of Fair Trading;
• Head of Public Affairs and Legal Officer at the National Consumer Council;
• Solicitor with the Citizens Advice Bureau Service and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

He has also previously held various public appointments, including membership of the Lord Chancellor’s Civil Justice Review Advisory Committee and the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Richard has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Southampton and is a visiting Professor at the University of Northumbria.

He has been married to Julia since 1974 and they have three adult children.

Vicky Best joined the ICO in April 2006 as Director of Human Resources. She is responsible for developing and implementing the Human Resources Strategy. The HR department covers a broad range of activity including Learning and Development, Health and Safety and recruitment.

Previously, Vicky was Human Resources Manager at First Choice Homes in Oldham. Her work there included implementing new approaches to sickness absence management, undertaking job evaluation and developing competency based recruitment practices.

Vicky is a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (CIPD) and graduated from Salford University. She also has a Master's degree (LLM) in Law and Employment Relations from Leicester University.

Simon Entwisle joined the ICO in October 2004 as Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for all the ICO’s operational functions prior to enforcement action. This includes the work of the notifications team, which receives and processes fee income and maintains the online register of data controllers. His responsibility also covers dealing with referrals (both complaints and general enquiries) under the FOI and DP legislation and the work of the Office’s two helplines, Simon is also responsible for three key support services: Facilities, Finance and IS.

He was previously the Change & Development Manager for the Office of the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman. His work there included promotion of the Change Programme, improving complaint-handling techniques, procuring a new casework management system, re-designing business processes and improving management information. Prior to that, he was Operations Manager for the Legal Services Ombudsman and held various positions within the Court Service. 

Susan Fox joined the ICO in September 2004 as Director of Communications and External Relations. Her role is to raise awareness and understanding of information rights issues and to promote the work of the Information Commissioner’s Office. Previously, Susan worked with the Environment Agency as Corporate Affairs Manager in the North West region. Prior to that, she was Customer Communications Manager at GUS Home Shopping, and Public Relations Manager at Unilever.

She has also worked in advertising, local radio and with the BBC. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Susan has a BA in German with English from Exeter University, holds a postgraduate diploma in Information Studies and a certificate in Communications, Advertising and Marketing. 

David Smith is the Deputy Commissioner responsible for the Data Protection functions of the ICO. His role is to ensure that the ICO meets its goal of 'strengthening public confidence in Data Protection by taking a practical, down-to-earth approach - simplifying and making it easier for the majority of organisations who seek to handle personal information well, and tougher for the minority who do not'. As well as providing Data Protection leadership across the ICO, David has specific responsibility for its Guidance and Promotion Division, Regulatory Action Division, Corporate Support Unit and the Scotland Office based in Edinburgh.

Prior to his appointment as Deputy Commissioner in January 2006, David undertook a wide range of responsibilities as an Assistant Commissioner. These covered the setting up of a new Regulatory Action Division, leadership of a Strategic Policy Group and management of groups responsible for ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act across different areas of the public and private sectors. David first joined what was then the Office of the Data Protection Registrar in 1990. Previously he worked as a District Officer for the public sector trade union NALGO.

Graham Smith was appointed Deputy Information Commissioner in 2001 when the functions of the former Data Protection Commissioner were extended to cover Freedom of Information.

Prior to that, Graham enjoyed a career in local government, working for four local authorities over 20 years. He holds a law degree from the University of Sheffield and a Diploma in Local Government Law and Practice. He was admitted as a Solicitor in 1982. He joined the ICO from Oldham MBC, where he was Assistant Chief Executive and Solicitor to the Council. One of two Deputy Commissioners, Graham has lead responsibility for promoting and enforcing Freedom of Information and managerial responsibility for the Information Commissioner's Offices in Belfast and Cardiff.

Dr Robert (Bob) Chilton. After a career in local government, Bob Chilton served as Director of Local Government Studies at the Audit Commission. Secondments have included Chief Executive of the Local Government Commission and Interim Chief Executive of the Greater London Authority. Bob is currently Deputy Chairman of Phonepayplus, Chairman of the East Thames Group and was recently appointed as the Chair of the Standards Board for England.

David Clarke was Marketing Director for Kellogg’s, Holt Lloyd and Scottish Power and spent 10 years in management consultancy. He ran Scottish Power’s Energy Supply Division and was responsible for its Electrical Retail chain before retiring from full time work in 2003. He is currently a non-executive director of the Cumberland Building Society, Forensic Science Service Ltd and PhonepayPlus. 

Sir Alistair Graham is Chairman of the British Transport Police Authority and Chairman of PhonepayPlus. He is also a member of the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

Clare Tickell is the Chief Executive and joined NCH in November 2004 as part of her induction period. She officially took the helm of the charity, in January 2005. Clare has a strong history of working with some of society’s most vulnerable and socially excluded groups. Over the last 15 years, she has held a variety of non-executive and advisory positions in the housing and voluntary sectors, as well government departments including the Social Exclusion Unit, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department of Health, National Housing Federation and the Audit Commission.