The Committee

Warren joined the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office in May 2021 where he leads on work related to the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations. This includes oversight of the casework teams that make decisions on complaints about the handling of information requests by public bodies, as well as all related policy, enforcement and upstream regulation work. He joined the ICO from his role as Director of Strategy, Insight and Communications at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, where he had been since 2017. Before that he was at the Electoral Commission and held a number of roles in the UK Civil Service. 

Alison works in a management role at the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). Her team independently reviews welfare benefit applications and promotes learning and improvement in decision making. She chairs the organisation’s Data and AI Programme Board and is an active member of the Service Improvement Forum.

Prior to joining the SPSO, Alison worked in management for a local authority advice service and served as a trustee of Money Advice Scotland. She has a keen interest in consumer rights, access to justice and improving services.  

Colette has held senior executive and consultancy roles in corporate governance and leadership and is currently Strategy Director at the National Trust, stepping back later this year. She spent much of her childhood on the Crinan Canal and now lives close to the internationally recognised Caen Hill Locks in Devizes—an impressive feat of engineering and a focal point for volunteer engagement. 

Mark brings over 35 years’ experience in public service, governance, and organisational leadership. Most recently, he served as Interim Chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales, a role which concluded in February. He is currently Group Chief Executive of the P3 Charity Group, which delivers frontline services across homelessness, housing, and mental health, supporting more than 80,000 people each year. Mark also has a strong affinity with the waterways. 

Sarah has 25 years’ senior experience spanning the public, private, not-for-profit, and academic sectors, including board-level governance, strategic oversight, and independent scrutiny roles. A chartered civil engineer, she has held senior leadership positions in local government, national charities, and consultancy—most notably as Bristol’s Chief Resilience Officer. Canals and waterways have featured strongly throughout her professional life, including earlier work with Sustrans in London, where she built partnerships with British Waterways and others to help deliver the National Cycle Network. 

Ranjit came from India to the UK on a scholarship and graduated in Theoretical Physics in 1972, but set aside a career in the sciences to engage in community and public service. He began his career as a youth and community worker, before progressing to lecture on the topic at the University of Birmingham for 20 years.

He has served extensively on national regulatory and governing bodies including the Commission for Racial Equalities, the BBC, the National Gallery and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. He has also been a Civil Service Commissioner, Judicial Appointments Commissioner, and a Member of the Queens Council Selection Panel. He was Chair of the former Heart of Birmingham PCT, vice-chair of the former Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and lay member of the former Black Country and West Birmingham CCG. He was until recently a senior independent director of the Black Country Integrated Care Board, and an associate Non-Executive Director of University Hospitals Birmingham. He is currently a trustee of Guide Dogs for the Blind and also chairs the Birmingham Race Impact Group. He is most at home when out and about working directly with local communities. 

Adrian currently serves as Office Manager, Management Accountant and Company Secretary for the Avon Navigation Trust. Having joined the Trust in an administrative and financial capacity, he was formally appointed Company Secretary on 26 July 2016 and assumed responsibility for the Trust’s full office management function in June 2017.

Prior to joining the Trust, he attended Evesham High School before building a career in business management and financial accounting, developing extensive experience in organisational administration, financial management and operational improvement.

Since joining the Avon Navigation Trust, he has played a key role in modernising the organisation’s administrative and financial infrastructure. His achievements include bringing the payroll function in-house, implementing integrated accounting systems to improve efficiency and financial oversight, and introducing digital communication platforms, including a new website and email and SMS communications, to strengthen engagement with members, volunteers and stakeholders. Through these initiatives, he has helped streamline operations and support the Trust’s long-term sustainability and effectiveness. 

Tracey, aka “The Blind Boater”, is a liveaboard continuous cruiser with her Guide Dog Loki, and hubby Tim with his Hearing Assistance Dog Ozzie. They are licensed roving traders.

Hailing from Sussex, where she married Tim, she has always been very active in community work, including serving as a Parish councillor for many years. Since moving afloat in 2014, Tracey has discovered that life is “Better by Water”. More recently, she has been working with the Trust including 7 creating ‘IWAF - Inland Waterways Accessibility Forum' on Facebook, and regular online Disabled Boaters’ meetings.

As the Founder of the Accessible Waterways Association, Tracey's primary aim is to work with the Trust to make the waterways as safe and suitable as possible (given constraints of heritage) for those who are less able.