Avon and Somerset Courts Board
The Avon and Somerset Courts Board works closely in partnership with Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) and in particular, with the Area Director, Rod White, and his management board.
Its role is to help shape how HMCS delivers its services to achieve effective and efficient administration of the Crown, county and magistrates’ courts in Avon and Somerset. The Board’s responsibility is to review, scrutinise and make recommendations as the Area Director’s “critical friend” and should not be confused with being a decision-making body.
The Board is involved in the planning of the area’s business plan and members are invited to join the Area Management Board and key members of staff to help develop the plan for the forthcoming year. Furthermore, the Board has a standing item on its agenda to monitor the performance of the area as well as to monitor performance against the plan.
The Board introduced a policy to hold each meeting, where possible, at a different court location, thus raising the profile of the Courts Board with staff, judiciary, magistrates and court users and giving members an opportunity to visit the courts in Avon and Somerset. This has proved effective during discussions on courthouses.
The Courts Board also hosts an informal buffet lunch for the staff, judiciary, magistrates and court users at the different venues which has enabled members and court users to get to know one another and in particular, helps the Courts Board to learn a little more about any local issues pertinent to that venue.
Courts Board Members
Membership of the Board comprises seven people and the Area Director:
(Magistrate) |
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Vacancy |
(Judge) |
(Community) |
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(Knowledge of Courts) |
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(Community) |
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(Knowledge of Courts) |
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Mrs B A Salter JP |
(Magistrate) |
(Area Director) |
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Went to university in Oxford to study physics. Later did PhD in Physics at Surrey University. Now lives in Bristol. Worked as a Structural Engineering Manager. Became chairman of Arien Products Ltd in 1997. Contributed to various voluntary groups: Neighbourhood Engineers Scheme, Inst of Mechanical Engineers, Princes’ Trust, Shire on the Web community web site. Dr Thomas has sat on various committees: Shirehampton Public Hall Community Assoc, Treasurer of Shire community newspaper, Avon (University Settlement) Community Assoc, Shirehampton Community Action Forum, Magistrates’ regional Training Board, Magistrates’ Courts Committee and its Human Resources and Performance Monitoring Sub-Committee.
Dr David Thomas JP Chairman
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Mr Dix now lives in Taunton. He originally held a commission in the Royal Navy and then went on to work for IBM, starting as a salesman and ending as a Senior Marketing Manager. Subsequently Mr Dix ran his own small business in the Taunton area and more recently he has undertaken voluntary work with Taunton Citizens Advice Bureau, the Crown Court Witness Service and Taunton Council for Voluntary Service. He is presently chairman of a local residents association and the Money Advice Co-ordinator at the Taunton Citizens Advice Bureau.
Mr Peter Dix
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BA Hons graduate of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. She lives in South Gloucestershire. Past local community roles have included Parish Councillor and Vice-Chair of her Parish Council and independent membership of the Avon and Somerset Police Authority. Currently she is a Governor of Redland High School for Girls, Bristol and Chair of the South Gloucestershire Council Standards Committee.
Mrs Phyllida Pyper
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Born in Wellington where he still lives. Educated at local primary schools and Wellington School where he later served a term as a governor. Married to Janet, has a son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. Played rugby in his youth and later became chairman and subsequently president of Wellington Cricket Club as well as being a qualified cricket umpire. Apart from two years national service in the RAF spent his working life with Somerset County Council gaining a Diploma in Municipal Administration in 1963 and became an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators in 1975. Became a Magistrate in 1973 and was later Chairman of Somerset Magistrates’ Courts Committee until its amalgamation with the Avon body when he was made Vice-Chairman. His other activities include spells as Chairman of the Friends of Wellington School, Vice-Chairman of the League of Friends of Wellington Hospitals and a lay Chairman and Complaints Convenor of the National Health Service.
Mr Glyn Meredith JP
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A graduate of Leeds University (BA Hons) and London University (Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies), Jeanette retired in December 2007 after a lifelong career in Probation. Over 35 years she has worked in West Midlands; Shropshire, Devon, and Hereford and Worcester Probation Services as a Probation Officer, Court Welfare Officer and a Probation manager. In 1999 she became Chief Probation Officer of Dyfed Probation Service, Wales, and gained her Masters in Business Administration (Open University) in the same year. In 2001 she was appointed as the first Chief Officer of the new Avon and Somerset Probation Area, and in 2007 was Chair of the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice Board. She is now working part-time to develop the new professional association for Chief Officers and Chief Executives of Probation (ACECOP) and is also a trustee for the new Great Western Air Ambulance Charity. She lives in North Somerset.
Mrs Jeanette Whitford
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Rod White joined the Lord Chancellor’s Department in 1975. He started work in the County Court in Surrey where he went on to hold a number of senior posts before moving to courts in Avon and Somerset. In 1997 Mr White became the Western Circuit’s Finance and Performance Officer and in January 2003 he took up the post of Acting Circuit Administrator for the Western Circuit.
On April 1, 2005 he took on the role of Area Director of Her Majesty’s Courts Service for Avon and Somerset.
Mr Rod White