Paul Roberts

Paul Roberts OBE graduated in philosophy and mathematics before becoming a teacher and a schools inspector. He was director of education in Nottingham and subsequently in Haringey, leading the government intervention in Haringey Council. He was a director of Capita Strategic Education Services before joining the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) for local government where he became managing director. As author of the report ‘Nurturing Creativity in Young People’, commissioned jointly by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Paul was adviser to government ministers on the development of the cultural offer for young people and is now chair of the trustees for Creativity, Culture and Education. He is also chair of the Innovation Unit, vice-chair at Nottingham Contemporary and deputy chair at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He is currently a member of the government’s Cultural Education Board, of Arts Council England’s steering group for In Harmony and a Commissioner for the University of Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value. He is chair of the Nottingham Music Education Hub. Paul is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was appointed an OBE in 2008 for services to education and the Creative Industries.