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Hilary Benn announces SDC commissioner re-appointments

Information Bulletin

Ref: 223/09
Date: 25 September 2009

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, has re-appointed four commissioners to the Sustainable Development Commission.

These re-appointments have been made in accordance with guidance issued by the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA).  All four commissioners have accepted reappointment for a second three-year term bringing their length of service up to six years, ending on 28th June 2012.  The four re-appointments are remunerated at a rate of £230 per day, between 2 to 4 days work per month.

The re-appointed members are:

  • Tess Gill- Commissioner for Work and Skills
  • Tim Lang- Commissioner for Natural Resource and Land Use
  • Jan Bebbington- Vice Chair (Scotland)
  • Peter Davies- Vice Chair (Wales)

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees political activity (if any declared) to be made public.  There were no such declarations made.

All re-appointments were made in consultation with Ministers in the Devolved Administrations and approved by the Prime Minister.

Notes to editors

  1. The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) is the UK Government’s independent advisor and watchdog for sustainable development. The SDC is sponsored by Defra on a day-to-day level, on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
  2. Under the current Chair, Will Day, the SDC has 16 Commissioners, each with expertise in a particular field.
Biographies

Tess Gill- Tess Gill has been the Commissioner for Work and Skills since July 2006. She is currently chairing a Review of the Public Service Regulators in respect of sustainable development as well as leading the Commission's work on skills and employment.

She is a leading barrister specialising in employment law, particularly: discrimination, industrial law, and human rights. She has appeared in many leading cases both in the UK courts and before the ECJ. She regularly advises the Statutory Equality Commissions and major trade unions. She was formerly an Assistant Secretary of the National Union of Civil and Public Servants and the Legal Officer of the GMB.

Since 1995 she has been a part-time Employment Judge. She is also a trained Mediator. She has held posts in a wide number of voluntary organisations concerned with issues of diversity and social justice, and tackling poverty and disadvantage and is currently a Trustee of One World Action.

Tim Lang- Tim Lang is Professor of Food Policy at City University’s Centre for Food Policy which specialises in how public and private policy shapes the food supply chain, what people eat and the societal, health, and environmental consequences.

He has served eighteen months on the Council of Food Policy Advisers as well as sitting on the Department of Health’s Expert Advisory Committee on Healthy Lives for approximately twenty four months. These posts are voluntary.

After a doctorate in social psychology, Tim Lang was a hill farmer for seven years in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, before turning to the policy aspects of food. He combines research / observation with active policy making, working with public sector, non-profit and civil society organisations.

When Director of the London Food Commission (1984-90), he helped found Sustain, the NGO alliance which now has over 100 member organisations and was chair 1999-2005. He is a frequent advisor / consultant to the World Health Organisation at global and European levels. He has been a special advisor to four Parliamentary agriculture and/or health select committee inquiries (food standards [twice], globalisation and obesity). He is an advisor to the Office of Science & Technology Foresight Obesity programme, and a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) ‘Food Supply in the 21st Century’ Working Party. In 2005-06, he chaired the Scottish NHS Executive’s Scottish Diet Action Plan Review of food and health in Scotland.

He is the author of numerous books, articles and reports.

Jan Bebbington- Professor Jan Bebbington was appointed as the Sustainable Development Commission's Vice-Chair (Scotland) in July 2006.

She has worked in the universities of Dundee and Aberdeen before taking up a chair in Accounting and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews. She is also the Director of the St Andrews Sustainability Institute.

Her research interests focus around the themes of corporate reporting on sustainable development, full cost accounting and modelling as well as governance for sustainable development. Professor Bebbington has worked with many organisations who are seeking to model their sustainable development impacts and to transform their activities.

She is also the Chair of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Committee on Social and Environmental Committee and Associate Director of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research and was previously an external advisor to the Scottish Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland.

Peter Davies- Peter Davies (Vice Chair Wales) began his career in the education sector, initially as a teacher before being appointed Southern Area Director of the CBI Education Foundation. He was subsequently appointed by the DTI to set up the National Teacher Placement Service. It was here that he received an OBE in recognition of his work.

In 1995 Peter joined Business in the Community UK as a Managing Director and latterly has been its Deputy Chief Executive. He led the organisation's campaigning role in improving the social and environmental impacts of business and established an international reputation for his work on corporate social responsibility.

Peter returned home to Wales in 2005 and established the Project Development Partnership, a consultancy that provides project consultancy to business, government and the voluntary sector. Peter also coordinates the work of The Prince's Charities in Wales and is chair of the West Wales branch of The Institute of Welsh Affairs.

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Page published: 25 September 2009