WIREDGOV

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has announced the appointment of two new members to its Wales Committee. 

The Committee provides impartial advice to the EHRC, its Board and the Welsh Government, on a range of complex equality and human rights issues relating to Wales, ensuring the EHRC delivers its functions in relation to both reserved and devolved matters. 

The two new committee members are: 

• John Williams
• Lauren McEvatt

Interim Chair of the EHRC’s Wales Committee, Martyn Jones JP DL, said: 

• Biographies of both new committee members can be found below. They will be in post for between two and five years. They join existing committee membersMartyn Jones, Beth Thomas, Chris Dunn, Helen Mary Jones and Mary van den Heuvel. 
• The Wales Committee’s terms of reference set out its roles and function of one of the EHRC’s statutory committees. Wales Committee members are appointed by the EHRC board. 
• Read ‘Equality and Human Rights Monitor 2023: Is Wales Fairer?’. 

• John Williams is emeritus professor of law at the Department of Law and Criminology at Aberystwyth University. John is also Chair of the Board of Trustees for Age Cymru, and a member of the Commissioner for Older People Northern Ireland’s inquiry into Dunmurry Care Home. He currently researches around the topics of older people and the law, with a reference to human rights. 
• Lauren McEvatt is a former member of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, which launched its final report on 18 January 2024. Lauren is a Conservative former UK Government Special Adviser to the Wales Office from the Coalition Administration. Lauren has worked for several governments across East Africa and the Caribbean, including the government of a British Overseas Territory. Lauren currently works in international government affairs covering public and private sector engagement with multilateral institutions and development organisations.