§ Mr. McDonnellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make a statement on the appointment of members of the Food Standards Agency; [100200]
(2) if he will list the members of the Food Standards Agency and the areas of expertise from which they have been drawn; [100201]
(3) which members of the Food Standards Agency who have been appointed on the basis of their membership of organisations representing (a) victims and (b) families of victims of E. coli 0157 poisoning. [100202]
§ Mr. MilburnI have been asked to reply.
The selection process for the Board members of the Food Standards Agency has not yet been completed. However, I am pleased to be able to announce today that I have appointed Professor Sir John Krebs as the Chairman of the Agency. Sir John is a Royal Society Research Professor in the Department of Zoology, Oxford University and was formerly Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council.
Sir John's Deputy will be Ms Suzi Leather, currently chair of Exeter and District Community NHS Trust. Ms Leather has twenty years of experience in consumer representation. The Chief Executive of the Agency will be Mr. Geoffrey Podger, who is currently Head of the Joint Food Safety and Standards Group (of the Department of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), forerunner to the Agency.
The names of the Agency's Scottish Board member and Welsh Board member are the subject of further announcements today by my colleagues in Scotland and Wales. We hope to be able to announce the names of other Board members of the Agency in the near future.
The approach adopted—as we said in the White Paper "A Force for Change"—has been that people should be appointed who have a proven record in relevant fields and who together provide a balance of relevant skills and experience. A majority of those appointed will come from a wider public interest background without any specific affiliation.