Membership

Details of the members of the Independent Family Returns Panel.

There are currently 6 members of the Independent Family Returns Panel.

The Chair of the panel is Helen Chamberlain.

The other 5 members are:

Helen Chamberlain – Chair

Helen Chamberlain served as a police officer for 30 years, retiring at chief superintendent rank. She was Head of Public Protection for Nottinghamshire Police for 6 years where she was responsible for all aspects of child and adult safeguarding, specifically:

  • child abuse and sexual exploitation
  • human trafficking
  • vulnerable adults
  • domestic abuse
  • missing persons

She worked alongside statutory partners in health, social care and probation.

Helen has worked as a strategic firearms commander, public order commander and was seconded to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for 3 years where she worked as a staff officer to the inspectorate in Cleveland, Humberside and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Helen has a BSc (Hons) in policing and police studies. Helen is an associate with HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. She is also a panel member of the Home Office case progression panel and an independent member of the Parole Board. Helen is a volunteer with British Swimming as a technical official.

Dr Peter Sidgwick

Since 2019, Peter has been paediatric intensive care consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, paediatric transport consultant for the Children’s Acute Transport Service and co-lead for paediatric critical care at the division of North Thames Paediatric Network.

Dr Anubha Sinha

Dr Anubha Sinha qualified as a doctor in the year 2000 from St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London Medical School. She then completed her paediatric training and MRCPCH exam before embarking on a career in general practice, with time spent working in clinical genetics.

Anubha was a member of the NICE Guideline Development Panel for “When to Suspect Maltreatment in Children” which was published in 2009.

Anubha has worked as a paediatrician, working closely with child safeguarding teams, and has experience working in areas with complex challenges including child safeguarding issues, asylum, poverty, drug dependence, mental illness and domestic violence.

Orla O’Hagan

Orla was appointed as a deputy district judge in 2010, and as a district judge in 2020 before leaving judicial office later that year. As well as the civil jurisdiction, she was a judge in the Family Financial Remedy Court, dealt with domestic abuse cases and also authorised to hear private law child cases.

Between 2006 and 2013, Orla was family mediator at Family Mediation in Sussex. Between 1986 and 2008, she progressed from a trainee solicitor through to consultant at Green Wright Chalton Annis, Solicitors. She qualified as a solicitor in 1991, and from then, specialised in family law.

Orla now has a dispute resolution business. She is also an independent member, and one of the chairs, of the COE Interim Support Panel, providing financial support to survivors of church related abuse.

Simon Torr

Simon Torr has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in information systems.

Simon began his career in the computer industry where he wrote technical manuals for networking products and managed computer systems installations. Simon decided on a complete career change and joined the police in Sheffield where, after initial deployment as a beat officer, he managed the first estates team in the city, which subsequently developed into the neighbourhood police teams. He then specialised in firearms and public order command, along with creating successful partnerships dealing with public protection, safeguarding and community safety.

In 2013, Simon transferred to Nottinghamshire police as Assistant Chief Constable running the local policing, investigation, safeguarding and business portfolios. He continued to command significant firearms and public order operations, and was a national assessor accrediting others to command.

Simon was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in Nottinghamshire and was responsible for professional standards, business planning, IT and finance. He retired from the police in 2017.

Dr Janice Waters DAHP MSc SRN

Dr Waters is an experienced safeguarding consultant. She gained her doctorate in advanced healthcare practice following a master’s degree in safeguarding and child protection.

Beginning her career as a registered nurse, it was not until her practice in a special secondary school that she developed an interest in safeguarding and the need for research into the experiences of teachers when children exhibit harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) at school. This subsequently became the topic of her doctoral thesis.

Janice was the National Advisor Safeguarding (Adults and Children) for the Care Quality Commission between 2014 and 2019, advising internal regulatory inspection teams with respect to safeguarding concerns and policies both internal and external and assisting with the delivery of safeguarding training.

She worked with representatives of multiple organisations including the Department of Health, Disclosure and Barring Service, (DBS), Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), NHS England, Office of the Public Guardian and The Charities Commission.

Janice was previously a Royal College of Nursing governance council member and trustee for a domestic violence charity.

In addition to sitting on the IFRP, she also sits on an independent panel for a national foster agency.