Louise Casey is Director General of the Troubled Families programme at the Department of Communities & Local Government. She is working to the Secretary of State on the Prime Minister’s commitment to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the country’s most troubled families. She took up post in November 2011.

Louise was formerly the first independent Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses, acting to promote the interests of victims and witnesses in Whitehall, the Criminal Justice System and beyond.

Previously Louise was Director General in the Home Office, heading up the Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Group. Prior to that, she carried out an independent review from the Cabinet Office which took a detailed look at the public’s view on crime and how to engage them in tackling it. In 2005, Louise was appointed as the head of the cross-government Respect Task Force which worked to tackle anti-social behaviour by getting to its causes through programmes such as parenting and intervention and support for problematic families. Before that, she was the Director of the Home Office’s Anti-social Behaviour Unit.

Louise also led the successful strategy to reduce the number of people sleeping rough and established the Homelessness Directorate in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Between 1992 and 1999, Louise was Deputy Director of Homelessness Charity Shelter and, prior to that, held a number of posts in the social welfare sector.