Tony Hunter
Tony Hunter joined the Board of Trustees at Action for Children in April 2026.
A qualified and experienced social worker, Tony has over forty years’ experience spanning a full range of roles and levels across health, care and local government sectors.
His most recent full time post 2014-20 was chief executive at the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), where he led on a series of DHSC, regional and local initiatives aimed at systems integration and improved care and support experiences and outcomes.
He also led a range of children’s related projects, including the DfE-funded Mental Health of Looked After Children programme and the development of the Children’s What Works Centre.
In Tony’s early career he operated as a frontline social worker, senior hospital social worker, training manager and manager of day and domiciliary services, as well as Barnardo’s Principal Policy and Development Officer.
In the early 90s at Price Waterhouse Coopers Tony worked on a range of health and social care projects before joining East Riding of Yorkshire Council as its Director of Social Services, Housing and Public Protection in 1995.
Liverpool City Council’s director from 2003, Tony then became Chief Executive of North East Lincolnshire Council in 2008.
He was president of the Association of Directors of Social Services in 2005, and was President elect for the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) before taking up his SCIE chief executive role.
Tony currently chairs Persona Care and Support Limited, the arms length organisation delivering a range of Bury Council’s adult care services, and has a shared chair arrangement on the recently established Health and Care Board in Jersey.
He is a trustee and safeguarding lead at Action for Children, at St Christopher’s leading London hospice, and at Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Until recently he was also chair of two children’s trusts, in Doncaster and Slough.
Tony is passionate about the planning and delivery of high quality and integrated care and support across children’s and adults service areas, fully engaging people who use services aimed at making a real difference to their lives.
