Chair and Independent Member Reappointments to the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board

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News /
29February 2016

Chair and Independent Member Reappointments to the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, RichardLochhead, today announced the reappointments of JohnMenzies as Chair and AfshanRathore, CouncillorBillHowatson, FionaO’Donnell and DavidNelson as Independent Members of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board.

Chair

JohnMenziesfinished his career with Scottish Power as a managing director of the transmission/distribution division as well as being a director of Manweb PLC. Duringthis time, he was heavily involved with pay negotiations and employee relations. After retiring from Scottish Power, he has worked as a consultant for a number of utility companies. He has extensive experience in utilising skills in organisation, communication and leadership.

Independent Members

AfshanRathore has practised as a solicitor for over tenyears and currently holds the post of Legal Manager at a national media publishing group. She has worked primarily within in-house positions with a focus on commercial and employment law matters. Afshan’s role at HMRevenue and Customs involvedher with national minimum wage tribunal cases and thus provided her with invaluable insight in the challenges faced by both employers and employees. As well as practising as a solicitor, she has also taught employment law and joined the University of Dundee to help develop and teach a new employment law course for the Diploma in Legal practice.

BillHowatsonis an award winning freelance journalist specialising in rural affairs. He has a proven record in public service including sevenyears as a member of Grampian Health Board, three as a chairman; and as a former member of the board of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. He also served as a vice chair of Health Scotland. He served as a governor of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, a member of the Esk District Salmon Fishery Board, and the East region board of Scottish Natural Heritage.

As a serving councillor with Aberdeenshire Council, he has a strong interest in rural issues and wide experience of governance, chairmanship, committee work and policy making. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies in2009 in recognition of his journalistic work on rural matters.

FionaO’Donnellis Director at the University of Dundee and has a stewardship role in the oversight scrutiny of legal and compliance issues. She has a responsibility to ensure probity and consistency of decision making in hearings and employment matters. She has been an accredited specialist commercial mediator since2005 and set up the university’s early dispute resolution service in2008 which she still leads to provide alternative negotiation and mediation opportunities.

DavidNelsonholds a BSc Honours in Agricultural Economics and a Post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Business. He has 40years’ experience as an educationalist, advisor, researcher and estate manager in the agricultural industry. He brings a wide range of experience and skills and a deep understanding of the pressures, issues facing the industry in Scotland. He has been a member of the appeals panel and brings over 20years’ experience as a Justice of the Peace dealing with complex issues.

Reappointments

Thesereappointments will be for twoyears and run from 1May2016 to 30April2018.

All the reappointments are part-time. The Chairposition attracts a remuneration of £248.02per day,for a time commitment of no less than threedays per year. The Independent Member positions attract a remuneration of £159.20per day, for a time commitment of no less than twodays per year.

Thereappointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.

Ministerial Appointments

FionaO’Donnell is a member for the Independent Living Fund Scotland, which is non-remunerated, and has a time commitment of oneday per month. JohnMenzies, AfshanRathore, Bill Howatson and DavidNelson do not currently hold any other public appointments

Political Activity

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 within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.

BillHowatson has been a councillor for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in Aberdeenshire since1999 and DavidNelson has stood as a candidate in the local government elections for the Conservative and Unionist Party in Scotland. JohnMenzies, AfshanRathore, FionaO’Donnell have not had any political activity in the last fiveyears.

Scottish Agricultural Wages Board

The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body set up under the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Act1949. Its purpose is to make statutory Orders fixing minimum wage rates, holiday entitlement and other terms and conditions of service for workers employed in agriculture in Scotland. The Board’s Orders are legally enforceable and the Scottish Government Rural Directorate has a duty to investigate complaints about non-compliance. It also carries out random test inspections on agricultural holdings to ensure compliance and pursues recovery of arrears on behalf of workers.