Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor was initially appointed as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in 2020 and was reappointed in 2023.

Charlie Taylor taught for many years in both primary and secondary schools in London. He began to specialise in supporting pupils with special educational needs and in 2005 became the headteacher of the Willows Special School (now The Willows School Academy Trust) for children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. During his time there, the school received two ‘outstanding’ ratings from Ofsted.

In 2011 he became an expert adviser on children’s behaviour at the Department for Education, producing reports into school attendance and alternative provision for excluded pupils. While at the Department for Education, he also created a behaviour checklist which is still regularly used in English schools. In 2012 he became the CEO of the National College for Teaching and Leadership, overseeing the recruitment of 30,000 trainee teachers a year and leading on the regulatory process for teachers accused of misconduct.

He led the 2015 review into the youth justice system and made wide-ranging recommendations, including the introduction of Secure Schools, a new model for youth custody. In 2017 he became Chair of the Youth Justice Board and continued working with the Department for Education as an adviser on behaviour hubs, a new initiative to improve the ability of schools to support their most challenging pupils.

Since 2016 he has been a trustee of Dallaglio Rugby Works, an organisation that supports and mentors children who are out of mainstream education.

 

HM Chief Inspector

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate.  The Chief Inspector reports directly to Ministers but operates independently of Government and the services under its scrutiny. The Chief Inspector has a duty to report on conditions for and treatment of those in prison, young offender institutions, secure training centres, immigration detention facilities, court custody suites, customs custody facilities and military detention in England and Wales.