18 August2017
Reappointment of the Chair and an Independent Member of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, FergusEwingMSP, today announced the reappointment of JohnMenzies as Chair of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. MrEwing also announced the reappointment of AfshanRathore as an Independent Member of the Board.
Reappointments
JohnMenzies worked with Scottish Power for 37years and held a number of senior posts, including Managing Director of Transmission and Distribution. Since retiring from Scottish Power, he has been involved in a number of major projects as a consultant. During his career he has been involved in the management of significant numbers of staff, major financial budgets and number of wage negotiations. All of these roles have involved the requirement to assimilate and understand detailed information, listen to arguments and negotiate satisfactory outcomes.
AfshanRathore has practised as a lawyer for over 17years and during this time she has gained significant experience of employment in law matters. Shehas also developed and taught an employment law course at the University of Dundee and acted for clients in the agricultural sector. She has, therefore has a good understanding of the employment law issues which can arise. Her experience on the Board has given her an appreciation of the issues specifically affecting the agricultural sector.
The reappointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
Length of Reappointments and Remuneration
The reappointments are for threeyears and run from 1May2018 until 30 April2021.
The Chair role attracts remuneration of £250.50per day with the Independent Member attracting remuneration of £160.79per day. Both appointments have a time commitment of up to threedays per year.
Other Ministerial Appointments
MrsRathore is a Safeguarder on the Children1st Safeguard Panel. The time commitment varies depending on the case allocated as does the remuneration.
MrMenzies does not hold another Ministerial public appointment.
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.
MrMenzies and MrsRathore have not undertaken any political activity in the last fiveyears.
The 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.