This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Scottish Water
11/12/2006
Deputy Environment Minister Rhona Brankin has announced the extension of Ronnie Mercer's appointment as interim Chair of Scottish Water.
Ms Brankin said:
"Since his appointment in April Ronnie Mercer has been a highly effective leader of Scottish Water.
"The company is delivering for its customers and for Scotland and is demonstrating its determination to achieve the improvement objectives Ministers have set for it at the lowest possible cost to customers.
"This extension gives Scottish Water stability as it continues to deliver the improvements in quality and standards that the Executive requires it to achieve over the next four years."
Mr Mercer said:
"I'm delighted to be carrying on as interim Chair of Scottish Water. The company has made significant cost savings to the benefit of customers over recent years.
"I now look forward to continue working with the employees in order to make similar improvements in customer service going forward."
Mr Mercer's current term expires at the end of this month. The extension to his appointment will run from January 1, 2007 to September 30, 2007. Mr Mercer holds no other public appointments. Ministers have agreed this extension to Mr Mercer's interim appointment with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland.
This post is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £692 a day for a time commitment of two and a half days per week.
Scottish Water is a public corporation established in 2002 by the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002. It is accountable to Scottish Ministers and through them to the Scottish Parliament for the provision of public water and sewerage services across Scotland.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. Mr Mercer has declared that he has undertaken no political activity during the past five years.
As interim Chair, Mr Mercer has been responsible for overseeing production of a Delivery Plan which commands the confidence of the Executive and the regulators. Among other things, the plan sets out how Scottish Water will deliver a capital investment programme costing £2.15 billion over four years - one of the largest ever programmes of investment in water ever undertaken in the UK.
Scottish Water's independent economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, published a report last month into Scottish Water's performance from 2002-06 which highlighted efficiency savings of nearly £1 billion in capital and operational costs - no other water company had delivered this level of savings in so short a time.
It meant that over the period every customer paid £211 less and bills last year were £90 lower whilst water quality and customer service standards improved.
Mr Mercer's career started in 1960 as a chemist in the steel industry, progressing through British Steel to become one of its managing directors. He moved to Scottish Power in 1994 as its Generation Director.
In 1998 he became Managing Director of Scottish Power's Southern Water subsidiary, after which he become a Group Director in the company. Until his retirement from Scottish Power on March 31, 2006, he was Executive Vice President - Operations at Scottish Power's PacifiCorp subsidiary and an Executive Team Member of Scottish Power. He has been interim Chair of Scottish Water since April 18, 2006.