Members of the Board
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Members of the board Darwin Friend October 2020 Introduction Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (quangos) are a mixture of executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and public corporations which hold significant responsibilities over areas of policy that affect taxpayers in their everyday lives. Last year, they cost a total of £206 billion.1 Their authority ranges from bodies which provide expert advice to government, such as the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), to operating major parts of public services with budgets worth billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, like NHS England. The majority of public appointees, who lead these organisations, face no form of public scrutiny at all before taking up their post. This means the individuals themselves, their views and visions for the quangos they lead often remain unknown to taxpayers, and are often unrepresentative of the general public.2 This research paper details those who sat on quango boards in the latest year for which full data is available and those who sat on multiple boards in the same year. Where available, data on meeting attendance, remuneration, allowances and honorariums has also been included. Key findings ▪ There were at least 4,345 positions on the boards of quangos in 2018-19. At the same time, the total number of staff in quangos had reached 299,171.3 ▪ There were at least 319 quango board members who sat on more than one board in 2018- 19: one person sat on five boards, 11 on four boards, 47 on three boards, 260 on two boards and 3,635 on one board. ▪ Shrinivas Honap sat on the largest number of quango boards in 2018-19 having membership of five. These included being a member or non-executive director for: the British Transport Police Authority, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Low Level Waste Repository Ltd, UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Office of the Public Guardian. His total remuneration for holding these positions during 2018-19 was £60,000. This included £1,200 in allowances. ▪ Jonathan Baume sat on four boards in 2018-19. These included being a member of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Criminal Cases Review Commission, Health and Safety Executive and Office for Nuclear Regulation. He missed 30 per cent of meetings held in 2018-19. However, he continued to receive total remuneration of £20,000 for his services in 2018-19. This included £1,000 in benefits. ▪ Susan Johnson OBE sat on four quango boards in 2018-19. These included being a member of the Health and Safety Executive, Planning Inspectorate and Sports Ground Safety Authority, as well as being a Commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. For these positions during 2018-19 she received total remuneration of £48,992. This included £2,072 in benefits. ▪ Kathryn Cearns, OBE sat on four quango boards in 2018-19. These included being a member of the board for Companies House, Highways England and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She was also Chair of the Office for Tax Simplification. For holding these positions she received total remuneration of £45,639. 1 Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2019, 2020. 2 TaxPayers’ Alliance, Briefing: public appointments, January 2020. 3 Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2019, 2020. ▪ Remuneration of all quango board members in 2018-19 totalled at least £123,544,475. ▪ The median average remuneration for a non-executive board member in 2018-19 was £17,500. ▪ The total value of benefits for individuals who sat on at least three boards in 2018-19, was £56,317. This included a £400 “reading allowance” for Caroline Corby for her role as a member of the Architects Registration Board. ▪ Andrew Flanagan received £3,500 in benefits in 2018-19. These payments were for the provision of a lease car. ▪ Sharmila Nebhrajani OBE received £3,300 in benefit as chief executive of Wilton Park. This was the estimated benefit for her receiving a rent free cottage in the grounds of Wiston House. ▪ Of the 17,600 board meetings in 2018-19, more than one in ten (1,884) were missed. Click here to see the full dataset Table 1: top 10 largest benefits of individuals who sat on three or more boards, 2018-19 Name Quango Position Benefit (£) Notes Professor Ian Cumming OBE Health Education England Chief executive 5,300 Benefit is the expense payments for Silla Maizey NHS Business Services Authority Non-executive chair 4,500 the provision of a lease car Benefit is the expense payments for Andrew Flanagan NHS Business Services Authority Non-executive member 3,500 the provision of a lease car Benefit was the estimated cash benefit of providing the individual Sharmila Nebhrajani OBE Wilton Park Chief executive 3,300 with a rent free cottage in the grounds of Wiston House Expenses relate solely to their Glenn Houston Human Tissue Authority Lay member 3,200 attendance at HTA committees, meetings and training events £175 on air travel, £1,086 on rail/tube Professor Sir Ian Diamond Social Security Advisory Committee Chair 2,695 travel, £159 on taxis, £35 on car and car parking and £1,240 on hotels Benefit relates to costs incurred to enable individual to attend meetings Caroline Corby Criminal Cases Review Commission Non-executive director 2,600 in the Commission’s office and elsewhere Benefit covers the monetary value of Edward Timpson CBE Cafcass Chair 2,600 any non-cash benefits as well as travel costs Lead non-executive board Benefit includes travel and Lesley Cowley OBE The National Archives 2,300 member subsistence costs Local Government and Social Care Benefit was the total amount of Deep Sagar Independent advisory member 2,078 Ombudsman expenses Table 2: individuals who sat on five quango boards, 2018-19 Name Quango Position Benefit (£) Total remuneration (£) Meetings attended Notes British Transport Police Member - 17,500 4/4 Authority Driver and Vehicle Standards Non-executive - 17,500 8/8 Agency director Non-executive No appointment date Shrinivas Honap Low Level Waste Repository Ltd director - - - provided (independent) Non-executive Office of the Public Guardian - 7,500 9/10 From June 2018 director Non-executive UK Atomic Energy Authority 1,200 17,500 6/6 director Table 3: individuals who sat on four quango boards, 2018-19 Name Quango Position Benefit (£) Total remuneration (£) Meetings attended Notes Advisory Committee on Independent Most recent report is from - - - Business Appointments member 2017-18 Criminal Cases Review Non-executive 700 2,500 4/8 Jonathan Baume Commission director Health and Safety Executive Member 300 17,500 8/8 Non-executive Office for Nuclear Regulation - - 4/7 Until 13 March 2019 member Non-executive Animal and Plant Health Agency - 7,500 - director Marine Management Non-executive 1,800 7,500 5/6 Until 31 January 2019 Nigel Reader CBE Organisation member Non-executive Natural England - 2,500 - Until 31 May 2018 member Natural Resources Wales Member - 7,500 4/4 Until 31 October 2018 The Rt. Hon. John Boundary Commission for Ex-officio - - - Bercow England chairman Boundary Commission for Ex-officio Most recent report is from - - - Northern Ireland chairman 2017-18 Boundary Commission for Ex-officio - - - Scotland chairman Boundary Commission for Ex-officio - - - Wales chairman Cafcass Member 1,100 12,500 3/4 HSC Business Service Non-executive - 7,500 7/9 Until 28 February 2019 Organisation (Northern Ireland) director Deep Sagar Non-executive Legal Aid Agency - 2,600 3/3 From 1 December 2018 member Local Government and Social Independent 2,078 6,953 5/5 Care Ombudsman advisory member Cafcass Member - 12,500 3/4 Criminal Cases Review Non-executive 2,600 7,500 8/8 Commission director Caroline Corby Non-executive Parole Board 400 32,500 8/8 chair From 2018 report. £400 was Architects Registration Board Member 400 5,462 3/6 a reading allowance Care Quality Commission Chief executive - 57,500 4/4 Until 11 July 2018 Health Education England Chair - 22,500 3/3 From 1 December 2018 Associate non- From 1 February 2019. Non- Sir David Behan NHS Improvement - - 0/1 CBE executive director voting member Care Quality Commission National Information Board Member - - - member. No appointment date given Equality and Human Rights Commissioner 1,872 11,872 6/6 Commission Health and Safety Executive Member 200 17,500 8/8 Susan Johnson Non-executive OBE Planning Inspectorate - 17,500 7/7 director Sports Grounds Safety Member - 2,120 5/5 Authority Agri-Food and Biosciences Chair - 27,500 9/10 Institute (Northern Ireland) Department for the Economy Non-executive - 7,500 9/11 (Northern Ireland) board member Colm McKenna Independent Northern Ireland Policing Board - 5,000 3/5 member Chair of the northern Ireland Food Standards Agency - 22,500 4/4 advisory committee Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Member - 2,500 1/1 From 15 January 2019 Authority Marshall Aid Commemoration Commissioner - - 4/4 Suzanne Commission McCarthy Also chair of the audit, risk Valuation Tribunal Service Deputy chair - 7,000 8/8 and assurance committee Architects Registration Board Member - 5,061 6/6 From 2018 report Non-executive Companies House - 12,500 7/8 member Non-executive Kathryn Cearns Highways England - 25,639 8/11 director OBE Office for Tax Simplification Chair - - - From 18 March 2019 Supreme Court of the United Non-executive - 7,500 6/6 Kingdom member Criminal Procedure Rule Ex-officio member - - - Committee Independent Independent Reviewer of reviewer of - - - Until October 2018 Terrorism Legislation terrorism Max Hill QC legislation Sentencing Council for England Non-judicial - - - From 1 November 2018 and Wales member Director