Civil Service Live
Profile: Janet Paraskeva
Janet Paraskeva became the First Civil Service Commissioner on 1 January 2006.
She is a non-executive board member of the Serious Organised Crime Agency and of the Asset Recovery Agency, an independent member of the Consumer Council for Water and Chair of the Olympic Lottery Distributor.
She was the Law Society’s Chief Executive from 2000 until August 2006. She led a shake-up of its governance and operational systems to restore its credibility as a front-line regulator for solicitors and to establish separately its role as the professional body to represent the profession.
She was previously Director for England of the National Lottery Charities Board, where she set up and ran the England operation that awarded more than £1.5 billion to voluntary organisations.
Earlier appointments included Chief Executive of the National Youth Agency and non-executive director of a community NHS trust. She has also been one of HM Inspectors of Education, a member of the Youth Justice Board, a magistrate and a ChildLine council member.