News story: Reappointment of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons

Peter Clarke has been reappointed as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) for 1 year from 1 February 2019.

HMCIP is an independent inspectorate which reports on conditions for and treatment of those in prison, young offender institutions, secure training centres, immigration detention facilities, police and court custody suites, customs custody facilities and military detention.

The appointment and reappointment of HMCIP is a Royal Appointment on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

Appointments and reappointments to the Inspectorate are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This appointment has been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Brief biography

Peter Clarke was appointed as HMCIP on 1 February 2016. Prior to this he was a senior police officer, who served in the Metropolitan Police Service for more than 30 years, retiring in 2008 from the position of Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations). He also served as Head of the Counter Terrorism Command. He subsequently joined the board of the Serious Organised Crime Agency as a non-executive director. In 2014 he was appointed Education Commissioner for Birmingham to conduct an inquiry into the allegations concerning Birmingham schools arising from the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter. Mr Clarke also served on the Board of the Charity Commission until January 2016.