Dr Eleanor Roy, Health and Social Care Policy Manager
Eleanor started her career in academia, completing a PhD and postdoctoral research in immunology and microbiology. In 2007, seeking a new challenge, she joined the Welsh Parliament, applying her scientific rigour to the scrutiny of public finance and the evidence-base behind all aspects of government finance policy. She joined CIPFA on secondment as research consultant in 2014, focusing on public finance policy across the devolved nations, in the run up to the Scottish independence referendum. On returning to the Welsh Parliament she focused on constitutional change, primarily related to the devolution of finance and taxation powers.
Given her biomedical background, Eleanor has maintained an interest in health and care, and in 2018, she returned to CIFPA to combine this with her experience of public finance policy, taking on the role of Health and Social Care Policy Manager. She leads on CIPFA's policy work in this area, with particular interest in investment in prevention, social care funding reform and integration of health and care.
Dr William Burns, Social Care Policy Advisor
Before joining CIPFA in September 2022, William was the Scottish Government’s Social Care Reform Finance Lead. At the Scottish Government, William was involved in costing a range of social care reform policies stemming from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, and lead on work contributing to the establishment of the National Care Service. Alongside these responsibilities, William attained a PhD in English Literature from the University of Glasgow. William started studying accountancy during the final stages of his PhD.
He is now part-qualified, and is completing his accountancy qualification with CIPFA. William is experienced in facilitating events and training, and in his role as Social Care Policy Advisor, he combines the skills in research, writing, publishing, public speaking and academic rigour gained from his doctoral studies with his knowledge of social care and social care finance. He runs the Social Care Network and acts as CIPFA’s policy voice on social care issues.