Who we are

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen has been Breckland Council’s Leader since May 2019, having previously held the Deputy Leader position. Sam is ultimately responsible for setting the strategic direction of the council, ensuring the council meets its statutory duties while delivering projects and initiatives that best support local people and businesses.

He was initially elected to the council in 2007 and served on the council until 2011, before pursuing other opportunities. During this time, Sam worked closely with Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP, while Mr Lewis served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning at the Department for Communities and Local Government. Sam subsequently stood for election to the district council again in 2015 and has served at Breckland ever since. Sam is currently the Chairman for the District Councillors Network (DCN) along with this holds the role as a national board member for the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), Conservative Councillors Association (CCA) and Local Government Association (LGA).

Outside of local government, Cllr Chapman-Allen worked for nine years with the Ministry of Defence and continues to work with the MOD in a part-time voluntary role. Sam is often found walking his two mad springer spaniels or behind a tractor.

Yvonne Rees is currently the CEO of Cherwell District Council, a district located in North Oxfordshire.

Yvonne has a wealth of experience working jointly and across the tiers of local government. She has spent the past decade in joint roles: first as Chief Executive of Mole Valley District Council and Strategic Director at Surrey County Council, then as Joint Chief Executive of South Northamptonshire and Cherwell District Councils and then leading a unique county-district shared service arrangement between Cherwell DC and Oxfordshire County Council. This was ended in 2022, when she led the successful decoupling of the partnership at pace!

In each of these roles, she has focused on identifying ways to improve services putting the resident at the heart of all decision making. In her spare time Yvonne is Vice Chair of Active Oxfordshire and the Senior Independent Director at Surrey Football Association – having a passion for the impact activity has upon the physical and mental wellbeing of all!.

James joined the District Councils’ Network in September 2021. He provides policy, strategic and operational oversight for the Network.

Before the DCN, James held a range of senior posts in the civil service. Most recently, he worked at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). His roles included being Joint Director of Housing Strategy & Markets, Director of Building Safety & Remediation, and Deputy Director of Local Authority Housing. He has wide local government experience and networks from his time at DLUHC. He also worked in policy and strategy roles at the Ministry of Justice and HM Treasury. He has extensive experience of operating in Whitehall. He also has private-sector and commercial experience from his days as a strategy consultant in the oil & gas industry at the start of his career.