Richard trained as a social worker and worked for many years in local government. He was Director of Social Services in St Helens and Executive Director of Adult and Community Services in Lancashire. He has also worked for the Department of Health and was responsible for the inspection of social care services.
Richard has worked in the NHS and in his last role he was an Area Director for NHS England in Lancashire. In 2010/11 Richard was President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. He now works part time as a consultant with care providers and public sector organisations. Richard is a Trustee at Look Ahead Care and Support and he also chairs a group of social Enterprises in the North West working in the areas of domestic abuse, drug and alcohol dependency and homelessness. Richard lives in Cumbria and enjoys spending time walking and seeing his grown up family.
Richard will be chairing the Keynote speaker session, and the AGM on day one of the conference.