Year Ahead Conference: The Future of Public Protection

Chloe Fletcher, Head of Policy and External Affairs, Chartered Institute of Housing. Chloe brings a wealth of experience across housing, public policy and stakeholder engagement with a strong track record in policy development and lobbying on council housing and finance. Prior to joining CIH in October 2025, Chloe held senior roles at HQN and the National Federation of ALMOs as well as London Councils. Chloe is passionate about housing policy and enabling the housing profession to make a positive difference to people’s lives.

Fran McCloskey, Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH). Fran McCloskey joined CIEH in 2022. Fran is a qualified chartered accountant who has worked in the charity sector for over 20 years, and before that was with KPMG's mergers and acquisitions team. As an Executive Team Member for many years in several organisations, Fran has a lot of experience in Corporate Strategy and Performance as well as Transformation.

James Armitage, Director for Public Protection, Regulatory Services Partnership (Merton Richmond & Wandsworth), Chair, Association of London Environmental Health Managers. James Armitage is the Director for Public Protection, leading strategic initiatives delivered by the Regulatory Services Partnership (RSP) to safeguard communities and uphold public safety standards across Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth boroughs in Southwest London. With extensive experience in regulatory compliance, risk management, and enforcement, James oversees critical services that protect health, wellbeing, and consumer rights. His leadership focuses on collaboration, innovation, and delivering high-quality outcomes for residents and businesses. In his role as Chair of the Association of London Environmental Health Managers, James works closely with partners to ensure robust frameworks for environmental health, trading standards, and licensing, driving continuous improvement and resilience. Committed to transparency and accountability, he champions policies that promote trust and confidence in public protection services. James has in the past worked for a variety of London local authorities including Southwark and Westminster Councils as well as eight years in the private sector delivering services under contract to Barnet, North Tyneside and the Five Councils Partnership. 

Katie Pettifer, Chief Executive, Food Standards Agency (FSA). Katie is responsible for the FSA’s strategy, communications, legal, regulatory compliance and governance work. Katie also leads the FSA’s Achieving Business Compliance Programme, which is reforming the way that food businesses are regulated by local authorities. Before joining the FSA in July 2021, Katie was the Public Policy Director at Ofcom, where she played a major role in shaping Ofcom’s work to improve mobile and broadband coverage across the UK and to develop new regulation to protect people from harmful content online. She also led on Ofcom’s diversity and inclusion strategy. Before that, Katie spent two decades in the civil service, and held senior roles in the Ministry of Justice, the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office.

William Roberts, Chief Executive, Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH). William joined RSPH as Chief Executive in June 2022. He brings a wealth of experience across public health and inequalities from the NHS, third sector, social care, housing, local government and further education. Previously William was a senior leader in the NHS across roles in public health, strategy, transformation and planning, and he is also a registered nurse. William is deputy chair of the Terrence Higgins Trust and a Non-Executive Director of Housing 21 and POBL.