One in five of those recognised in this year's Queen's birthday honours list work or volunteer in the health, social care or education sectors - and half were nominated by the public.

The list includes a knighthood for Professor Alan Craft, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics, and a CBE for Ted Cantle, author of the report into the race riots in the north of England in summer 2001.

Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection Denise Platt was made a dame, alongside the former chair of the now defunct Community Fund, Lady Diana Brittan, and the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Gill Morgan.

Kirklees social services director Philip Cotterill and former Youth Justice Board chief executive Mark Perfect were both awarded OBEs for services to social services and youth justice respectively.

More controversially, Jonathan Tross, the chief executive of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Tross led the organisation during a period of unprecedented criticism, culminating in last year's damning report by the Department for Constitutional Affairs select committee.

Senior guardians warned that the news would be greeted in the sector with cynicism. One self-employed guardian described the decision to reward Tross as "insensitive".

He added: "Cafcass has hardly been a resounding success since he took over. He steadied the ship and for that he gets grudging respect. But Cafcass is now more bureaucratic than before he joined."