Fiona Hyslop, the Minister for External Affairs and Culture, today announced the reappointment of Mrs Ray MacFarlane and Mr Alasdair Morton to the Board of Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland.
Ray MacFarlane was appointed to the Board in April 2007 and her cultural and business background continues to be of value to the Board. She is a qualified solicitor and has held senior management posts in HBOS plc and Scottish Enterprise before taking up a non-executive career in 2008. A former Chairman of Scottish Screen and Deputy Chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, she is now a Member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board and a Non-Executive Director of the Scottish Housing Regulator and of Home Scotland.
Alasdair Morton was appointed to the Board in April 2007. His Chartered Accountant background and financial and business skills continue to be a benefit to the board. He is currently the Chairman of the Audit Risk Committee. He currently works as the Head of Fraud Management for UK Retail at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Prior to this he worked for KPMG Forensic and was responsible for leading and working in a variety of teams. He is a member of MasterCard’s European Fraud Advisory Committee and also a former chair of their UK Security Committee.
These re-appointments will be for four years and will run from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2015.
The posts are part-time and attract no remuneration for a time commitment of ten days per year. Mrs MacFarlane receives £2280 per annum for a time commitment of ten and a half days per annum with the Scottish Housing Regulator and £212 per day for a time commitment of three and half days per month for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Mr Morton holds no other Ministerial appointment.
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) looks after one of the world’s finest collections of Western art, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. These holdings include the National Collection of Scottish Art which NGS is proud to display in an international context. NGS has established itself as one of the leading galleries in the UK and Europe. These re-appointments come at a very important moment for NGS as the institution works not just to carry forward its recent international and national successes in a new economic climate but also to reopen a major landmark of our culture, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery which is due to reopen in November 2011.
These Ministerial public appointments were made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland’s Code of Practice.
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 in the past five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. No declaration has been made by Mrs MacFarlane or Mr Morton.
