Professor Sir Tom Blundell FRS, currently Sir William Dunn Professor and Head of School of Biological Sciences at Cambridge University, has been selected as the preferred candidate to become Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Dr Alan Gillespie CBE, currently the senior independent director of United Business Media plc and Chairman of the International Finance Facility for Immunization, has been selected as the preferred candidate to become Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
The present Chair of BBSRC, Dr Peter Ringrose, retires at the end of April. Lord Adair Turner retired as Chair of the ESRC last September prior to joining the Financial Services Authority.
Both Professor Blundell and Dr Gillespie were identified following rigorous selection processes validated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Today, Monday 6 April, Innovation Universities and Skills Secretary, John Denham is inviting the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee to hold pre-appointment hearings and to report on Professor Blundell’s and Dr Gillespie’s suitability for these posts. This in line with proposals announced last year to increase democratic scrutiny of key public appointments.
Notes to Editors
1. BBSRC is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around £450 million in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution to the quality of life for UK citizens and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. BBSRC carries out its mission by funding internationally competitive research, providing training in the biosciences, fostering opportunities for knowledge transfer and innovation and promoting interaction with the public and other stakeholders on issues of scientific interest in universities, centres and institutes. More at http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk.
2. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It supports independent, high quality research which impacts on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC’s planned total expenditure in 2009/10 is £204 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk.
3. The government’s proposals for pre-appointment hearings are set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper.
4. Pre-appointments scrutiny hearings enable select committees to take evidence from candidates for certain key public appointments before they are appointed. Hearings are in public and involve the select committee publishing a report setting out their views on the candidate’s suitability for a post. Pre-appointment hearings are non-binding but ministers will consider the committee’s views before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment.
5. The Governance of Britain White Paper states that pre-appointment hearings should be held for posts that exercise statutory or other powers in relation to protecting the public’s rights and interests – as well as for posts that play a role in the regulation and administration of the appointments process itself. The list of posts suitable for pre-appointment hearings is published in the Government’s Response to the Liaison Committee’s First Special Report of Session 2007-08. (Liaison Committee, First Special Report of Session 2007-08, Pre-appointment hearings by slect committees: Government Response, HC 594).
