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Water Industry Commission
24/06/2008
Stewart Stevenson, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, announced his decision to re-appoint Sir Ian Byatt as Chair, and Professor John Banyard OBE and Dr Mike Brooker as members, of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland.
The appointments are for further three year terms from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011.
Mr Stevenson said
"I am grateful for the commitment to regulation of the Water Industry in Scotland that Sir Ian, John Banyard and Mike Brooker have shown during their first terms of appointment to the Commission and I am delighted that they have accepted my offer of re-appointment for a further term."
The appointments are for three years, the posts are part-time and attract remuneration of £41,352 a year for the Chair with a time commitment of an average of two days a week and £15,073 a year for members with a time commitment of an average of 1 day a week.
These re-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. None of the appointees has declared any political activity during the past five years.
The Water Industry Commission for Scotland was established from July 1, 2005 by the Water Services etc, (Scotland) Act 2005 as the economic regulator for the water industry in Scotland.
The Commission comprises six members, including the Chair. The other publicly appointed members of the Commission are Professor David Simpson, who is also Deputy Chair, and Charles Coulthard whose first terms of appointment expire on June 30, 2009. Alan Sutherland, Chief Executive, is also a member of the Commission.
Brief biographies for each of the Commission members follow:
Sir Ian Byatt - Chairman
Sir Ian Byatt was Director General of the Office of Water Services (Ofwat) between 1989 and 2000, where he was responsible for independent economic regulation of the water companies in England and Wales. From 1978 to 1989 he served in HM Treasury as Deputy Chief Economic Adviser. Since 2000 he has advised the World Bank and governments around the world on matters relating to the water industry. Sir Ian, who was an adviser to the former Water Industry Commissioner from 2002, was knighted in 2000.
Professor John K Banyard OBE
Professor Banyard is a chartered engineer who retired in December 2004 as an Executive Director of Severn Trent Plc following a career in the water industry. His particular areas of responsibility were the design and management of the capital programme, the day-to-day operation of the company's infrastructure, and R&D. He also acted as an adviser to the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland from January 2005.
Dr Mike Brooker
Dr Brooker is a scientist who retired as Managing Director of Welsh Water in 2005. During his career he was Chief Scientist and subsequently Divisional Operations Director of Welsh Water before becoming Managing Director in 1996.
Professor David Simpson - Deputy Chairman
Professor Simpson was economic adviser to Standard Life from 1988 to 2001. He was the founding Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde. Professor Simpson acted as an adviser to the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland from 2002.
Charles Coulthard
Charles Coulthard was previously the Managing Director of Ofgem (the Gas and Electricity regulator) in Scotland. He served as Deputy Director of the Office for the Regulation of Electricity and Gas in Northern Ireland between 1992 and 1999. He is also currently the Chair of the Gas and Electricity Consumers Council in Scotland.
Alan Sutherland
Alan Sutherland served as the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland from November 1999 and became Chief Executive of the Commission on its creation in 2005. He has extensive experience in management consultancy and in the investment banking industry, being a former management consultant with Bain and Company and before that a Manager with Robert Fleming and Company. More recently he was a Managing Director of Wolverine CIS Ltd, a division of Wolverine World Wide.