Sir Richard was appointed IWF Independent Chair in January 2012. Following a period teaching in Stockholm and Nottingham, Sir Richard started his career in the Prison Service as Assistant Governor in 1966. He was Governor of a number of prisons including Bedford and Gartree rising to Director General of the Prison Service in 1995. Sir Richard retired from the Prison Service in 1999 and in the same year was appointed a Knight Bachelor. From 1999 – 2000, he was Chairman of Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust, prior to taking up post as Chairman of Northamptonshire Health Authority in April 2000. In 2002 he was appointed chairman of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Strategic Health Authority. He left this post in 2006. He was a member of the Sentencing Advisory Panel from 1999 – 2002. In December 2000 Sir Richard was appointed as Social Fund Commissioner for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He held this post until 2009. Between 2001 and 2010 he was a Governor of De Montfort University. He is also Chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee and Chairman of the Portman Group’s Independent Complaints Panel.