Sir David Behan is Interim Chair of the Office for Students. He took up his position in July 2024, following the conclusion of the Independent Public Bodies Review of the Office for Students, which Sir David led.
He began his career as a social worker and over a twenty-five-year period worked in five local authorities, leading three as director of social services.
He was President of the Association of Directors of Social Services in 2002.
In 2003, he became the first Chief Inspector of the Commission for Social Care Inspection. In 2006, he became the first Director General for Social Care in the Department of Health in England, advising ministers of both the Labour and coalition governments. During this period, he was responsible for a range of policy areas, including social care reform and the development of the first dementia strategy for England.
As CEO of the Care Quality Commission from 2012 to 2018, he led a fundamental reform of the way health and care services were regulated.
From 2018 he has held several non-executive director and adviser roles with a number of public and private organisations across the health and social care system, which currently include: Cera Care, HC-One limited, the London School of Economics Care Policy Evaluation Centre, the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Board and the international Sciana Leadership Programme.
He was appointed as the new chair of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in April this year. Between 2018 and 2023 he chaired the Board of Health Education England and until August 2024, was a Non-Executive Director of NHS England chairing the Workforce, Training and Education Committee.