The present Chair
of STFC, Mr Peter Warry, retires in July.
Professor Sterling was identified following rigorous selection
processes validated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public
Appointments.
The Business Innovation and Skills Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has
now invited the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills
Select Committee to hold a pre-appointment hearing and to report
on Professor Sterling’s suitability for this post. This is in line
with proposals announced last year to increase democratic scrutiny
of key public appointments.
1. The Science and Technology Facilities Council is an
independent, non-departmental public body of the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS). It funds researchers in
universities directly through grants particularly in astronomy,
particle physics, space science and nuclear physics. It provides
in the UK access to world-class facilities, including ISIS , the Central Laser Facility ,
and High Performance Computing
(HPCx). It is also a major stakeholder in the Diamond Light
Source , which started operations in 2008. It provides
access to world-class facilities overseas, including through CERN , the European Space Agency (ESA),
the European Southern Observatory
(ESO), the
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the
Institut
Laue-Langevin (ILL) and telescope facilities in Chile , Hawaii , La Palma , Australia and the MERLIN/VLBI National
Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank
Observatory. Between 2008 and 2009 the Council will invest
approximately £787 million. Further information is available at http:/www.stfc.ac.uk
2. The government’s proposals for pre-appointment hearings are
set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper.3.
Pre-appointments scrutiny hearings enable select committees to
take evidence from candidates for certain key public appointments
before they are appointed. Hearings are in public and involve the
select committee publishing a report setting out their views on
the candidate’s suitability for a post. Pre-appointment hearings
are non-binding but ministers will consider the committee’s views
before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment.4. The
Governance of Britain White Paper states that pre-appointment
hearings should be held for posts that exercise statutory or other
powers in relation to protecting the public’s rights and interests
– as well as for posts that play a role in the regulation and
administration of the appointments process itself. The list of
posts suitable for pre-appointment hearings is published in the
Government’s Response to the Liaison Committee’s First Special
Report of Session 2007-08. (Liaison Committee, First Special
Report of Session 2007-08, Pre-appointment hearings by select
committees: Government Response, HC 594).
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full).