The appointment of Peter Bucks as the fourth non-executive board member of the Office of Rail Regulation was announced today. This completes the appointments to the board.
The Office of Rail Regulation, which will be chaired by Chris Bolt, will formally come into being on 5 July 2004. It will be independent of Government and will have the same functions and duties as the current Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, whose five year term comes to an end in July. The appointment of the Chief Executive and of three non-executives was announced on 16 March.
The selection process included Chris Bolt, the Chairman designate of the Office of Rail Regulation.
Tom Winsor has invited all of the new appointees to join the Rail Regulator's advisory board as non-executive directors. Alistair Darling will then appoint them to be members of the ORR Board when this is formally established on 5 July.
Notes to editors
1. Biography
Peter Bucks has, since 1997, been Senior Financial Advisor at Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets). In 2000, he was also appointed Corporate Finance Adviser at Ofwat (the Office of Water Services). At both organisations, he is responsible for advising the Regulator on financial matters affecting regulated companies in the respective sectors and for communication with financial markets. Previously, Peter spent some thirty years in investment banking in London and New York. From 1987 to 1998, he was a Director of Hill Samuel Bank, providing corporate finance advice to a wide variety of clients, including close involvement in the UK privatisation programme. He was also a non-executive director of the British Marine Mutual group of insurance companies prior to its acquisition in 2000.
2. The Office of Rail Regulation
The change from an individual regulator to a regulatory board brings the ORR into line with other economic regulators, following a recommendation in July 2001 by the Better Regulation Task Force. The Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, announced this decision in a Parliamentary Answer on 12 June 2002.
Powers to set up the new Office of Rail Regulation are provided by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003.
Non-executive board members of ORR are appointed for periods of between two and five years, to provide staggered end dates as a continuity measure.
The selection process for the non-executive board members followed procedures laid down by OCPA, the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, and included Chris Bolt. The Secretary of State makes the appointments to the Board of the ORR.
3. Chief Executive and other Non-Executives
It was announced on 16th March 2004 that Suzanne McCarthy will be the Chief Executive of the new Office of Rail Regulation and that Chris Stokes, Jane May and Professor Jeffrey Jowell will be Non-Executive Directors.
