Jo Nettleton

Background

About Jo Nettleton

A senior leader with extensive experience in the public sector, working for the NHS, Health & Safety Executive and Nuclear Installations Inspectorate before joining the Environment Agency in 2016. As of April 2024, I am our first ever Chief Regulator, leading the team to enable modern, future focussed and effective regulation by providing influential technical leadership across the totality of EA's regulatory activities. Previously, as Deputy Director and Head of Radioactive Substances and Installations Regulation, I led on high-profile projects, including Nuclear New Build, Nuclear Legacy and Waste, Radioactive Source Security, regulation of EPR (Environmental Permitting Regulations) at a range of industrial sectors, Local Authority Unit, Control of Onshore Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH), decarbonisation (hydrogen and carbon capture) and supported a wide range of government plans and strategies. I have also undertaken a number of secondments, including as EA Chief Scientist, where I led the Chief Scientist's Group to put strong science and rigorous analysis at the heart of EA's work to create a better place for people and wildlife and to support sustainable development - through research, innovation, evaluation, data analysis and reporting and horizon scanning. I also led a review of EA’s regulation and subsequently set up the team that works to improve EA's regulatory resilience for the challenges facing us now and in the future. I am a governor at Edge Hill University (where I am the lead for ESG) and am Champion of EA’s Cancer network. I am passionate about helping to increase diversity in the workplace, including at senior management and board level, looking for opportunities to collaborate with and learn from individuals and organisations within and beyond EA. I am a member of the IAEA Task Force of Experts – formed to advise the Government of Japan on disposal of water contaminated during the 2011 Nuclear Emergency and am a Fellow of the Society for Radiological Protection.