16 December

Iain Ferguson has been appointed as Defra’s Lead Non-Executive Director.

Iain, who has extensive experience in the private sector including six years as the Chief Executive of Tate and Lyle plc, will sit on the newly created Supervisory Board at Defra to review and monitor performance, finances and risk. Iain is the chairman of Wilton Park (FCO agency), a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Balfour Beatty plc, Davis Service Group plc and Greggs plc. He is also a Member of the PWC (UK llp) Advisory Board, the Foresight Global Food and Farming project, the better regulation Strategy Group and is the honorary Vice–President of the British Nutrition Foundation. In the past he has been President of The Food and Drink Federation and the Institute of Grocery Distribution and was a member of the Council of Food Policy Advisers at Defra.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said:

“I am delighted to welcome Iain as the Lead Non-Executive Director to Defra. As a past member of the Council of Food Policy Advisers he is no stranger to Defra and I am confident that his skills, knowledge and experience will be a great asset to the Department.”

The appointment of a lead non-executive to each Department is one of a number of changes announced by the Government in May 2010 to ensure that expertise from outside Government continues to help departments become more business-like.

The new Supervisory Board will be chaired by the Secretary of State and will meet on a quarterly basis, bringing together ministers, senior officials and non-executive directors. It will bring together a diversity of views and focus on performance and delivery.