Damien Welfare
Barrister
Cornerstone Barristers
( Head of the Examination Board )

Damien Welfare came to the Bar in 2001 after a career in Local Government. He specialises in freedom of information, data protection and the Environmental Information Regulations.

He appears in the Information Tribunal, advises on all aspects of information law, and speaks and writes regularly on information law matters. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Freedom of Information Journal.

Jackie Gray
Director
Dickinson Dees

Jackie Gray  is a Director in the Public Services Team at Dickinson Dees. She has acted on a variety of PPP/PFI Projects and advised on a wide range of public sector commercial work, with particular expertise in BSF, IT and outsourcing.

Jackie specialises in Freedom of Information and Data Protection for Public Sector clients but advises on all aspects of information governance in the Public Sector.

Jackie has worked with public authorities on the implementation of FOI and advises on the application of exemptions in relation to specific requests, handling reviews and appeals and dealing with information requests and confidentiality issues in public procurements. She also advises on a wide range of data protection issues including data sharing arrangements, subject access requests, dealing with data security issues and advising on compliance programmes.

She regularly provides client training on FOI and DPA and speaks at conferences and presents seminars on information law issues. Jackie has had a number of articles published and is an Editorial Board member of the Freedom of Information Journal.

Hazel Grant
Partner
Bristows

Hazel Grant is a Partner at Bristows, specialising in public procurements, complex information technology projects and information law. Hazel advises on data protection compliance, government data sharing projects, responses to FOI requests and handling appeals to decision notices. Hazel is an editor of the Encyclopedia of Data Protection and Privacy, and a contributing editor for the Encyclopedia of Information Technology Law. She has worked with central government departments and other public bodies such as the DCA, DWP, Ofwat, Defra, VOSA and special health authorities. Hazel is a member of the Editorial Board of Freedom of Information Journal.

James Leaton Gray
Head of Information
Policy & Compliance
BBC

James Leaton Gray heads the BBC’s Information Policy and Compliance Department. He oversees the operation of the Corporation’s systems for compliance with the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts. His team are involved in many high profile cases in this rapidly evolving area of the law.

James has been working in broadcasting, mainly for the BBC, for over 30 years. Before joining the Strategy Division he was a programme maker and spent much of his time in political journalism. He edited many of the BBC’s Political and Parliamentary programmes including Today/Yesterday in Parliament, The Week in Westminster, Westminster Live, and the documentary series Scrutiny. James is a member of the Royal Television Society and the Radio Academy.

Hazel Moffat
Partner
DLA Piper

Hazel Moffat is a Partner at DLA Piper and is a key member of the firm’s Information Law Group. She specialises particularly in freedom of information, data protection, data sharing and privacy. Hazel has worked with both public and private sector clients on all aspects of information law including central government departments on major data sharing projects, global financial institutions, parliamentary authorities and the UK Information Commissioner.

Hazel is a Member of the Examination Board for the Practitioner Certificate in Freedom of Information and is a Member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Accreditation Panel for FOI and data protection.

Hazel is a member of the Editorial Board of Freedom of Information Journal