Michelle Morris, the former managing director of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, is the next Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

Appointed Public Services Ombudsman for Wales in January 2022, Michelle took the reins on April 1 as the first female post holder since the establishment of the office.

Prior to working at Blaenau Gent Michelle worked for Highland Council in Scotland, for 10 years, where she held the position of monitoring officer and deputy chief executive. Before moving to Scotland, she held senior roles in a number of local authorities in Wales.

Michelle is originally from Pembrokeshire and recently moved back to the county. She studied at Cardiff University, Cranfield Institute and the University of Glamorgan and has an MSc. in Marketing and an MBA.

Michelle succeeds the previous Ombudsman, Nick Bennett, who held the office between August 2014 and March this year.

Michelle said: ‘‘I am delighted to be taking up the unique and important position of Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

‘‘I look forward to continuing the good work of the Office and to ensuring that our services are accessible to those who have complaints, that we work with public authorities across Wales to ensure the standards of public services continue to improve, and that the conduct of councillors, who represent us all, is sustained at the highest level.’’