Sir Nick Young, chief executive of the British Red Cross (pictured), WRVS chief executive Lynne Berry OBE, and former Big Lottery Fund chief executive Stephen Dunmore are among the members of the new third sector advisory body.

The advisory body has been set up to provide ministers with clear and authoritative advice on policy regarding charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises.

The other members of the 13-strong panel, chaired by Baroness Jill Pitkeathley OBE, are: Stan Crawford OBE, managing director of Sherwood Energy Village; Clare Gilhooly, chief executive of Cambridge House; Michael Kelly, Europe head of CSR at KPMG; John Knight, head of external policy at Leonard Cheshire Disability; Bhupendra Mistry, board member of Carnegie UK Trust, Harvest Housing Group and BBC World Service; Penny Newman OBE, non-executive director of Social Finance Ltd and former CEO of Cafe Direct Plc; Cliff Prior CBE, chief executive of UnLtd; Abbie Rumbold, partner at Bates Wells & Braithwaite; and Danielle Walker Palmour, director of Friends Provident Foundation.

The appointments will be until March 2011 and have a remuneration of £250 per day for an estimated 15 days per year.

NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington told Charity News Alert he decided not to apply to serve on the panel. He would inevitably have been “conflicted”, he said, adding that the NCVO gets very good access to ministers and the Office of the Third Sector anyway.

Pitkeathley said she was delighted with the appointments. “Their range of experience and backgrounds will ensure a robust advisory body that won't be afraid to talk straight. We will start work as soon as possible to ensure that the third sector’s interests are put at the heart of policy-making.”