Secretary to the Inquiry John O'Brien

As Secretary to the Inquiry, John’s role is to report to the Chair and act as the main contact between the Inquiry and the sponsor department, but he works to and for the Inquiry and it’s his job to assist the Inquiry in whatever way necessary to fulfil the terms of reference. For example, Secretaries to Inquiries may need to explain the workings of government and civil service procedures, rules and processes, as well as Ministerial accountability.

John joined the civil service in 2002 as Director of the Criminal Records Bureau. In 2006 he moved to the Home Office, where as Director of Safeguarding he was responsible for policy on public order, public risk and safeguarding and public protection, including responsibility for sponsorship of the Disclosure and Barring Service and the Security Industry Authority. He was seconded to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in April 2015.