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Appointment of two independent members of the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales

   

NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 128/09
Date: 11 June 2009

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Hilary Benn, and the Welsh Assembly Government have appointed Professor John Ditch and Ms Catherine Elliott as Independent Members of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) for England and Wales.

This appointment took effect on 1 April 2009 and will run for three years.  The re-appointment of Derek Evans CBE as Chairman of the Board for a further three year term was also confirmed.  The newly appointed Members will attend the annual wage negotiations commencing on 15 June 2009. 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Professor John Ditch is Director of Higher Education at Askham Bryan College and is Visiting Professor of Social Law at the University of Ghent.  He has held positions at the Universities of Ulster and Aberdeen and was formerly Professor of Social Policy at the University of York and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Northumbria.  He has undertaken research for the European Commission, the World Bank, ILO and OECD.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Royal Statistical Society and is a member of the Institute of Directors.  He is married, has three daughters and lives near York.

Ms Catherine Elliott was educated at the University of Sussex where she gained an Upper Second in English and also at the College of Law gaining a distinction in Commercial Law.  She qualified as a Solicitor with Stephenson Harwood and worked for Bond Pearce before moving to Burges Salmon where she rose to become a Partner.  She left the law for quality of life reasons in 1999 and since then has been involved in the voluntary and public sectors.  She lives in Bradninch, Devon.

REMUNERATION

Independent Member: £171 per day plus reading allowance of £43. 

POLITICAL ACTIVITY

Ms Catherine Elliott was a local town councillor until May 2007.

OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS

Ms Catherine Elliott is a non-executive director for the Devon & Cornwall Probation Area and is also a member of the DWP Decision-Making Standards Committee.

NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. The Chairman and Independent members of the AWB must have no commercial interest in agriculture or connection with employers of agricultural labour or agricultural workers.
  2. The AWB is an independent body with a statutory obligation to fix minimum wages for workers employed in agriculture in England and Wales. The Board has discretionary powers to fix holiday entitlement and pay, sick pay and other terms and conditions of employment. It produces a legally binding Order, which is enforced in England by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and in Wales by the National Assembly for Wales.
  3. Under the agricultural wages legislation the Board has 16 representative members and up to five independent members, including the Chairman. Eight members representing agricultural workers are nominated by Unite the Union. Eight members representing employers are nominated by the National Farmers' Union. The five independent members are nominated jointly by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Welsh Assembly Government.

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Page published: 11 June 2009