The Ministry of Justice has appointed two former senior civil servants as non-executive directors.
New NED Justin Russell was recently director general for children and families at the Department for Education, holding the role from 2023-2025, but also has plenty of experience in justice-related roles.
Before joining DfE, Russell was HM chief inspector of probation between 2019 and 2023 and before that was director general, justice analysis and offender policy at the MoJ from 2016-2019, where he was responsible for the prison safety and reform programme.
Russell has been appointed for three years from 11 May 2026 to 10 May 2029.
The other appointment is new lead non-executive director Rob Whiteman.
Whiteman was recently chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy but is also a former senior civil servant, having led the UK Border Agency between 2011 and 2013.
His current roles include senior independent director at National Highways and cluster chair for NHS Bath & North East Somerset, Wiltshire & Swindon, NHS Dorset and NHS Somerset.
Whiteman has only been appointed for a one-year term, from 5 May 2026 to 4 May 2027.