Maeve Sherlock, a former chair of the Charity Awards judging panel, is to be part of the government panel set up to talk to communities affected by the riots in August.

The Riot Communities and Victims Panel has been set up by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. It will delivery early findings to him by November, and present a final report by March 2012.

Maeve, who has been chief executive of the Refugee Council and the National Council for One Parent Families, is one of two civil society representatives on the panel. Simon Marcus, founder and chair of alternative education charity the Boxing Academy, is also on the panel.

They will be joined by Heather Rabbatts, former chief executive of Merton and Lambeth Council, and Darra Singh, chief executive of Job Centre Plus and former chief executive of Ealing and Luton Councils, who will chair the panel.

The group will look at:

• the motivation for a small minority of people to take part in riots;
• why the riots happened in some areas and not others;
• how key public services engaged with communities before, during and after the riots;
• what motivated local people to come together to take civic action to resist riots in their area or to clean up after riots had taken place;
• how communities can be made more socially and economically resilient in the future, in order to prevent future problems; and
• what they think could have been done differently to prevent or manage the riots.

Clegg said: "The August riots were on a scale that many people have never seen in this country. I saw devastating scenes of burnt-out shops and houses in neighbourhoods around the country. I met traumatised families who no longer had homes.

"Only by listening to people who have been affected by the riots - the victims - will we ever be able to move on and rebuild for the long term. This is not just about individuals, but entire communities.

"These victims, who stood side by side and refused to be beaten by the senseless destruction, hold the key to how residents, shopkeepers, parents, young people and communities can move on.

"The week after the rioting began, I announced that an independent Communities and Victims Panel would be set up to understand why this all happened and how we move on. Today, I am pleased to confirm that Darra Singh will chair that panel.

"This will be a grassroots review – we want to know what happened at street level, not from afar and only from the perspective of those affected.

"Having worked with young people, and on housing and violence issues in a range of cities around the country, including London, Darra will be able to lead the panel and delve into this gloomy chapter of Britain’s history."