Public appointment: Non-Executive Members reappointed to the Board of Scottish Water

The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, Michael Matheson MSP, today announced the reappointment of Deirdre Michie OBE and Ken Marnoch as Non-Executive Members of the Board of Scottish Water.

Non-Executive Members

Deirdre Michie is CEO of OGUK and has extensive experience as a senior business leader in the energy industry.  A strategic thinker with a strong focus on delivery, Ms Michie has led large and small multidisciplinary and international teams to high levels of performance.  Her senior roles have given her skills and experience in procurement, strategic project management, communications and stakeholder engagement.  Ms Michie has also served on a number of charitable and business boards and has extensive relevant governance experience.

Ken Marnoch has 33 years of energy industry experience having worked for Shell since graduating from Heriot-Watt University in 1988.  Initially based offshore in the North Sea and onshore in Aberdeen and subsequently 17 years in assignments overseas.  His recent roles include leading regional and country businesses in the Gulf of Mexico, United States of America and Brunei, South East Asia focusing on corporate responsibility, safety, bottom line delivery, digitisation and investment in people.  He is currently Executive Vice-President Internal Audit for Shell.

Reappointments

Ms Michie and Mr Marnoch will be reappointed for four years.  Ms Michie’s term runs from 1 December 2021 to 30 November 2025 with Mr Marnoch’s running from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2026.

The reappointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration and time commitment

Non-Executive Members of the Scottish Water Board receive £21,600 per annum for a time commitment of up to four days per month.

Other ministerial appointments

Ms Michie was appointed by Scottish Ministers to the Scottish Energy Advisory Board.  The position is unremunerated with a time commitment of 0.5 days per quarter.

Mr Marnoch does not hold any other Ministerial appointments.

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.

Ms Michie and Mr Marnoch have had no political activity within the last five years.

Scottish Water

Scottish Water is a public corporation established by the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002.  It is accountable to the Scottish Government for the provision of all public water and sewerage services to more than 2.56 million households and around 153,000 businesses in Scotland.  It is the fourth largest provider of water and sewerage services in the UK, with a workforce of more than 4000 and an annual turnover of roughly £1.4 billion.  Its retail subsidiary Business Stream operates in the competitive retail market for non-household customers in Scotland and England.

The Water Industry Commission for Scotland, the independent economic regulator of Scottish Water, recently published its Final Determination for the next regulatory period 2021-27 setting the demanding financial limits within which Scottish Water must deliver the Objectives set by Ministers.  Those Objectives include that it should make progress towards the achievement of net zero emissions by 2040.  As part of its determination the Commission has also set out a radical new approach to regulation through ethical business practices which create new expectations for how Scottish Water works with its stakeholders and customers.  The Commission will monitor and report on Scottish Water’s performance.