Board Membership

Cllr Roger Phillips
Before his appointment as chair Cllr Phillips was vice chair of the Board and also chaired the LGA’s UK wide Local Government Pension Committee. He is a member and former leader (2003-2011) of Herefordshire Council and has been a lead LGA member on workforce and pay negotiations since 2007. He also chaired the LGPS2014 Project Board which brought together employer, employee and government representatives in order to reform the scheme. Cllr Phillips was appointed a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2006.

Jon has responsibility for UNISON’s staff pension scheme. Jon sits on the TUC’s Public Sector Liaison Group, their Education Unions Forum and their Alliance for Science as well as the Department for Education’s Permanent Secretary’s Stakeholder Group. He represents the European Public Services Union on the EU’s Education and the Local Government Social Dialogues. He represents UNISON and Europe at the global union federation Public Service International’s Education Support Workers Network and their Local Government Network. Former employers include the British Association of Occupational Therapists, the London Borough of Camden's HIV Unit and SCPR (now the National Centre for Social Research). Jon was born and bred in Lichfield, Staffordshire and attended King Edward VI Comprehensive School before moving to London to read geology at King’s College.

Nathan Yeowell has been Chair of the Torfaen Pensions Committee and Chair of the Greater Gwent Pension Fund since May 2022. He became the new chair of the LGA’s Local Government Pensions Committee (LGPC) in September 2023.

Nathan is also the executive director of the Future Governance Forum (FGF), a new think tank dedicated to the renewal of progressive governance, policy making, implementation and delivery. He is a former Head of Policy and external Affairs at the social sector think tank New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) and was Head of the Labour Group Office at the LGA 2007-12.

John was born in Great Yarmouth was appointed an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2019 for Public & Political Service.  He was made a Peer in February 2024 and sits in the House of Lords.

He gained a first-class degree in Agriculture [1990] and later in 1995 a Nuffield Scholarship to study advanced farming techniques in the United States.  He occupies senior positions in the fertiliser industry and has other business interests, which include Directorships in diverse residential & commercial property, chemicals and farming enterprises.

He was first elected to South Norfolk Council in 2003 and led local Conservatives to take control of The Council in 2007 and prides himself on bringing a commercial edge to the business of running a Council. He was the Leader for 17 years until May 2024, when he stepped down to focus on his work in Parliament.  

At the Local Government Association, he is Vice Chairman of the Economy & Resources Committee, which is responsible for Local Government Finance, Pensions and Economic Growth.  He is a past Chairman of the District Councils’ Network and has served as the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party in Local Government.  He sat on the CIL Review and holds other national appointments.