Sir Bill Callaghan has been appointed the new Chair of the Legal Services Commission (LSC) by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw.
Sir Bill will chair the 12 member Commission, which oversees the strategic direction of the LSC, the body responsible for legal aid in England and Wales. The appointment will take effect from 1 September 2008 for a term of three years.
He joins the Commission having had a distinguished career as chair of the Health and Safety Commission. He was previously the Chief Economist and Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department at the Trade Union Congress (TUC). He served on the Low Pay Commission from 1997 to 2000 and played a key role in the introduction of the National Minimum Wage in April 1999.