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Robert George Alexander Balchin, Baron Lingfield, DL KStJ (born 31 July 1942) is a British educationalist, noted as an advocate and pioneer for school autonomy. He also served as Director-General of St. John Ambulance from 1984 to 1990.

Career

Lord Lingfield was chairman of the Grant-Maintained Schools Centre (formerly Foundation) from 1989 until 1999. He has been Chairman of the Centre for Education Management (now CEFM) since 1995.

He has written numerous articles on education and politics. His schools initiative was proclaimed by The Daily Telegraph's deputy editor, Benedict Brogan, as: " first and, as time passes, perhaps the most important legislative milestone achieved by the Coalition".

House of Lords

Knighted in 1993, becoming styled as Sir Robert Balchin, he was raised to the peerage as a Life Peer on 17 December 2010 as Baron Lingfield, of Lingfield in the County of Surrey. He sits on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords, and he speaks in parliament mainly on education matters.

Further functions

• Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London (16 May 2001).
• Chairman of the League of Mercy Foundation
• Chairman of the Trustees of ARNI
• Patron of the charity MaleVoicED, a charity supporting all males with Eating Disorders and other co-morbid conditions. He is also Chairman of The Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation (CVQO), a national charity that supports members of uniformed youth organisations to gain vocational qualifications for the activities they undertake within their youth organisation.

He was Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor from 2006 to 2012, and he has served as Honorary Colonel of Humberside and South Yorkshire ACF since 1 May 2004.

Awards and honours

British national honours

• - Life Peer as Baron Lingfield, of Lingfield, in the County of Surrey (created 17 December 2010)
• - Knight Bachelor (1993)
• - Knight of Justice, Order of St John (1985)
• - Officer (Brother), Order of St John (1983)

Other British honours

• Freeman of the City of London
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Broderers
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries

Foreign honours

• - Commander, pro Merito Melitensi (1987)

Dynastic honours

• - Knight Grand Cross, Royal Order of Francis I (2014)
• - Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Eagle (2014)

Arms

See also

• Lingfield, Surrey

References

1. "The Lord Lingfield Kt DL Dlitt". Children's University. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
2. Benedict Brogan The Daily Telegraph 26 May 2011
3. "No. 53284". The London Gazette. 23 April 1993. p. 7209.
4. "No. 59641". The London Gazette. 22 December 2010. p. 24505.
5. Hansard, publications.parliament.uk; accessed 6 November 2016.
6. Profile, publications.parliament.uk; accessed 6 November 2016.
7. "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions Lieutenancy of Greater London". The London Gazette. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
8. http://www.cvqo.org
9. Profile, Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor website; accessed 6 November 2016.
10. "Sir Robert Balchin's Appointment as Honorary Colonel of the Humberside and South Yorkshire Army Cadet Force". The London Gazette. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
11. "London Gazette".
12. "London Gazette".

External links

• Profile, Debrett's People of Today
• Profile, dodonline.co.uk
• Profile Archived 2017-11-17 at the Wayback Machine, Who's Who (2018)

• 1942 births
• Living people
• People from Somerset
• People from Surrey
• People from East Grinstead
• Knights of Justice of the Order of St John
• Knights Bachelor
• Conservative Party (UK) life peers
• Deputy lieutenants of Greater London
• British educational theorists
• Life peers created by Elizabeth II