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Food Standards Scotland

Chair and Chief Executive appointed

The Minister for Public Health yesterday announced the senior appointments to lead Food Standards Scotland.

Ross Finnie has been appointed as the Chair of Food Standards Scotland, and Geoff Ogle has been appointed Chief Executive.

Food Standards Scotland is the new public body which is being created to provide Scotland with regulation and independent advice on food safety and standards, food information and nutrition.

Ross Finnie is currently a non-executive member of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board where he is engaged in public health issues such as foodborne disease, diet and obesity. Mr Finnie has spent over thirty years in public life, and brings a wealth of experience to Food Standards Scotland.

For eight years, Mr Finnie was the Scottish Cabinet Minister responsible for the Environment and Rural Development which included responsibility for food and meat traceability. He was also an opposition spokesperson on Health for four years, promoting, among other things, food standards and food safety.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Finnie said:

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to chair this new organisation, and to work with the Chief Executive to help to establish its vision and strategic direction. Food Standards Scotland will be firmly committed to protecting the interests of consumers, placing science and evidence at the heart of what it does. I look forward to meeting its staff and stakeholders and working with the a new board to help progress its important work.”

Geoff Ogle is currently Acting Director Scotland for the Food Standards Agency, a post he has held since June 2014. Mr Ogle has been a civil servant since 1984 and within that time has undertaken a variety of posts including policy, programme and operational work. His roles have include being Private Secretary to the Child Support Agency (CSA) Chief Executive as well as other posts including Head of External Relations and Head of Internal Communications in CSA. He moved in March 2002 to the Pension Service in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), where he was a Pension Centre Manager and then Head of the International Pension Centre. Geoff joined the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in December 2008 as Head of GB Field Operations where he improved performance significantly, and was the Senior Investigating Officer on horsemeat from February to May 2013. He became the FSA’s Acting Director Wales from May 2013 to February 2014, and was then Portfolio Director until he took his current post as the Food Standards Agency’s Scotland Director.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Ogle said:

“I am really looking forward to taking up my new role, pursuing the challenges it will bring and working closely with the new Chair and the Food Standards Scotland Board. I am absolutely committed to continuing the good work done by FSA in Scotland to make a real difference to both food safety and healthier eating in Scotland. I will ensure Food Standards Scotland continues to provide independent, evidence based advice to consumers and Ministers and plays an active role in furthering the invaluable work carried out in Scotland as a whole.”

Minister for Public Health, Mr Matheson said:

“Ross Finnie and Geoff Ogle bring a depth of experience of operating within the Scottish Government and working with Whitehall, the EU and internationally. Their wide-ranging experiences and backgrounds complement the Scottish Government’s core purpose and strategic objectives and will be valuable to Food Standards Scotland as it moves forward. I am delighted with these appointments and I look forward to working with them both.”

Notes To Editors

Food Standards Scotland will be established in January 2015 when the Food (Scotland) Bill receives Royal assent. However, it will officially take over its functions on 1 April 2015. The functions will be mainly the functions previously delivered by the Food Standards Agency: food safety and standards, feed safety and standards, nutrition, food labelling, and meat inspection policy and operational delivery.

Food Standards Scotland will have a budget of around £20m per year and be staffed with approximately 90 HQ staff in Aberdeen as well as approximately 70 in the field.

Its objectives are consumer focused and will be to:

a) to protect the public from risks which may arise in connection with the consumption of food, including risks caused by the way in which food is produced or supplied,
b) to improve the extent to which members of the public have diets which are conducive to good health,
c) to protect the other interests of consumers in relation to food

 

Channel website: http://www.gov.scot/

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