Three Food Standards Agency Board members reappointed

Professor Sue Atkinson CBE is a senior executive and public health doctor with wide experience of policy development, implementation and general management. She works as an independent consultant and as Chair/Director of Public Health Action Support Team (PHAST), a social enterprise Public Health consultancy and holds a visiting professorship in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College, London. Sue is also a non-executive director on the Board of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Tim Bennett, former President of the National Farmers’ Union, is a farmer in south-west Wales. He is currently a member of the Agricultural Land Tribunal for Wales, and is Chair of DairyCo, a division of the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, for which he receives £47,970 per annum.

John W Spence will both continue his role as an FSA Board member for a further three years and as Chair of the Welsh Food Advisory Committee.

John worked for more than 30 years in local government in England and Wales; he has worked at a senior and strategic level in district and, most recently, unitary authorities. He has also been an adviser to the Welsh Local Government Association and is a former Chair of one of the regional Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs) in Wales. He has also been an adviser to the Welsh Assembly’s Chief Medical Officer’s Public Health Review Board and has served on a number of other national advisory bodies. He was appointed as an independent non-executive director of the Public Health Trust in Wales in October 2009 at a salary of £9,630 per annum.

Both Sue's and Tim’s appointments were made by the former Minister for Public Health, Gillian Merron. Sue’s began on 1 February and Tim’s on March 1 2010. Both will work on FSA Board business three days a month and will receive £10,474 per annum. Tim also sits on the board of the FSA Audit and Risk Committee.

John Spence’s reappointment, which began from 1 April 2010, was made by Gwenda Thomas AM, the Deputy Minister for Social Services, Welsh Assembly Government. John will work for seven days a month on Agency business, dividing his time between FSA Board duties and his role as Chair of the Welsh Food Advisory Committee. John receives £24,391 per annum.

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 any declared) to be made public. None of these appointments has declared any political activity.

These reappointments have been made in accordance with the guidance issued by the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA).