Norgrove started his career as an economist at HM Treasury, where his time included a secondment to the First National Bank of Chicago. Norgrove was private secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher between 1985 and 1988. In 1988 he joined Marks and Spencer, where he held several positions: from 1988–99 he was Director of Europe; Worldwide franchising; Menswear and Strategy. In September 1999 he became chairman of Marks & Spencer's Ventures Division and a year later he was appointed to the executive board as executive director for Strategy, International and Ventures. Norgrove was heavily involved in the early recovery of Marks and Spencer but in January 2004 he was fired from his role as director of clothing following poor Christmas sales. He continued in his position as chair of the trustees of the Marks & Spencerpension fund until later in the year, playing a role in the attempt by Philip Green to acquire the company. In March 2004 he was appointed to the board of the British Museum, later becoming deputy chairman. In November 2009 he became the Chairman of The British Museum Friends, where he retired as a trustee in 2012. He was a trustee of Amnesty InternationalCharitable Trust from 2008 to 2014. Norgrove was appointed as the first chair of The Pensions Regulator between 2005 and 2010 and subsequently named one of the hundred most influential people in the capital markets by Financial News. In 2011 he joined pension consultants PensionsFirst as chairman. From May 2009 until December 2016 he was the chairman of the Low Pay Commission. In April 2017 he became chair of the UK Statistics Authority.
Family Justice Review
Norgrove chaired the Family Justice Review in 2011–12. This recommended substantial changes to speed up public law proceedings and to help family justice operate better as a system. In private law it recommended changes to help couples avoid the need to undertake court proceedings, for example increased use of mediation. Most media attention was paid to a recommendation that there should not be legislation to create a presumption around parental involvement in children's lives after separation. This was controversial, particularly with groups campaigning for the rights of fathers, and has been interpreted by some as a recommendation that fathers should not have equal rights to children. In 2012, Norgrove was appointed as first chair of the Family Justice Board, which brings together the main agencies involved in family justice to promote change and reform of the system. He left the Board in mid-2016, since when it has been chaired by government ministers.
Criticism of the review
The Norgrove Report extensively cited evidence from Australia, claiming that cases there showed that giving parents to legal right to a meaningful relationship with their children put them at increased risk of violence as well as increasing litigation. The evidence cited was later reviewed by Professor Patrick Parkinson of the University of Sydney, who presented his findings to the UK parliament's Justice Committee in December 2012. He noted the evidence showed litigation in child custody cases had decreased by a third, and stated that Norgrove's claim of the meaningful relationship provision putting children at an increased risk of violence was "without foundation". Parkinson concluded that: "almost none of the arguments made by the Norgrove Committee can be supported by the available evidence" and that the report "made a series of claims that had no little or no factual foundation". Further criticism of the review came from policy group The Centre for Social Justice, with the organisation's Gavin Poole stating: "Norgrove's refusal to acknowledge the importance of fathers and recommend a change to the law ignores the vast majority of public opinion and evidence about the devastating effect absent dads has on children."
