Wendy Williams CBE

HM Inspector of Constabulary and HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services
Wendy Williams CBE

Wendy WilliamsBiography

Wendy Williams, a solicitor, was a partner in a defence firm before joining HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI). In 2003 she joined the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as the Legal Director of the CPS London North Sector before becoming the Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP) for CPS Northumbria and the North East region in 2009.

In March 2015, Wendy was appointed as HM Inspector at HMIC (now HMICFRS) and has responsibility for 13 forces covering the Midlands, Wales and South West areas. In July 2017 her role was extended to include the inspection of fire and rescue services across 11 areas in the Western region.

Wendy is the Senior Responsible Officer for HMICFRS’s Criminal Justice and Joint Inspection portfolio, which involves working with other criminal justice inspectorates, such as HM Inspectorate of Probation, HMCPSI, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and the equivalent Welsh inspectorates, across a range of criminal justice issues.

Wendy is committed to improving the criminal justice response to vulnerable people and has published a number of reports highlighting areas of concern such as: rape child protection, the police response to honour-based violence, missing children, harassment and stalking, modern slavery and human trafficking, as well as a joint inspection of the disclosure of unused material. She is committed to increasing diversity and inclusion in policing and the fire and rescue service.

Wendy is the author of the independent Lessons Learned Review into the Home Office and its handling of events leading up to the Windrush scandal. This was presented to Parliament in March 2020.

In September 2020, she was appointed as a non-executive director of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Wendy Williams was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list of 2021.

National role

Wendy is responsible for the Criminal Justice Joint Inspection national function.

She is also currently the senior responsible owner for the following projects:

Regional role for police forces

Wendy Williams is His Majesty’s Inspector of the Constabulary for the Wales and Western Region and deals with the following forces:

Regional role for fire & rescue services

Wendy Williams is His Majesty’s Inspector of the Fire & Rescue Services for the Western Region and deals with the following fire & rescue services:

Last updated: 9 September 2022