The Deputy Minister for Social Services has announced the appointment of Care Council Chief Executive, Rhian Huws Williams to the Independent Commission on Social Services.

The newly-established Commission will look at how social services and social care can meet the needs of Wales’s changing population over the next 10 years in line with principles set out in the Assembly Government strategy Fulfilled Lives, Supportive Communities.The appointments follow the June announcement by Deputy Minister, Gwenda Thomas AM, that a Commission would be established to consider how the Government can make services inclusive and integrated while supporting the development of practitioners.

Other appointments to the Commission include Julie Jones, Chief Executive of Social Care Institute for Excellence and Professor Geoffrey Pearson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, who will Chair the Commission.

Deputy Minister said: "I am particularly concerned that the voices of service users and carers are central to the work of the Commission and I shall ensure that proper arrangements are in place to make this a reality.

"The Commission is an opportunity for all of us to contribute to shaping the direction of these crucially important services. I know of the importance we all place on social services and would like to encourage colleagues to take every opportunity to make your views known and help shape the future of social services."

A report on the Commission’s findings is expected in November 2010.