In this Lunch and Learn session, Baroness Alison Lowe will talk about the work of Police and Crime Commissioners/Deputy Mayors in convening police and partners around safeguarding children and give a current example of local leadership when a serious systemic safeguarding flaw was identified.
Following this Lunch and Learn, participants will be able to:
Understanding the role of PCCs/DMPCs in the governance of policing.
Understanding how to leverage PCC/DMPC convening powers to support system and legislative change.
Prevent potential harm to children by sharing your new knowledge with partners working with children.
All members and non-members, would be very welcome.
| Ticket Type | Price | Cart |
|---|---|---|
| The role of politicians in keeping children safe - Standard | £15.00 | |
| The role of politicians in keeping children safe - Member | £0.00 |
Alison Lowe is the Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime in West Yorkshire. She started her role in July 2021 and was appointed by the new Metro Mayor, Tracy Brabin, because of her extensive voluntary sector, political and policing experience over a 30+ year period.
Alison worked in the Third Sector for more than 30 years, most recently as Chief Executive of Touchstone, a Mental Health Charity working across West Yorkshire. Touchstone works with and for people that are affected by mental health problems, and they specialise in working with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Alison has been involved in local government for 29 years and was a councillor with the Labour Party. Alison was also the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel, the body that scrutinises the performance of the Police and Crime Commissioner and represents the interests of all the 2.4 million people across West Yorkshire. Alison was the Deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds in 2003-4 and was made an Honorary Alderwoman of the city in 2020. In this role, Alison was asked to review Leeds’s statues following the BLM protests.
Alison is a Non-Executive Director with Leeds Community Health NHS Trust.
Over the years, Alison has been a well-known campaigner on equal rights and chaired the Leeds Domestic Violence Forum that raises awareness of domestic violence against women and children by known men for over 25 years.
Alison Lowe holds an MA in Medieval Studies from Leeds University and a BA in History and has 2 Honorary Doctorates: one from Leeds (2022) and the other from York St John University (2025). Alison was awarded an OBE in the January 2022 Queen’s Honours List and was appointed to the House of Lords, becoming Baroness of Armley in September 2026. Alison Lowe has 2 grown up children, Adam and Rosy and grandchildren Mae and Oscar.
I think Child Abuse Review has gone from strength to strength and is of a consistently high standard. We have held numerous events that have been inspiring and enabling, such as the most recent Congresses and the Trainer's conference and award ceremony, the seminars to disseminate lessons from Serious Case Reviews. As resources get ever tighter, professionals have fewer and fewer opportunities to come together to exchange ideas and to learn together. We move more and more into silos because of work pressures. This is not the way to keep children safe. Association of Child Protection Professionals is needed to bring people concerned about child protection together to learn, to think, to shape policy and practice and to disseminate research. No-one else does this.
