Quangos Scotland: Merry-go-round of non-executive directors on quango boards - Scottish Police Authority, Scottish Water, NHS Forth Valley

The Scotsman’s series on quangos looks at the figures helming the boards – and how much they are paid

It is a who’s who of ministerial appointments, spanning former Cabinet secretaries, veteran civil servants, and serving elected representatives, as well as heavy hitters from the private sector, such as former chief executives, retired bankers and, in one instance, a one-time executive board member of the World Bank.

But so too, its ranks include a former weather forecaster, a nursery owner, and, last, but by no means least, a yoga teacher.

Together, they form the quango class of 2024 – a near 100-strong band of part-timers tasked with ensuring that Scotland’s regulated public bodies are operating successfully. For many, such a role has almost become a second career, and a lucrative one at that.

The latest part of The Scotsman’s week-long investigative series into quangos – which has previously detailed how some heads are breaching the Scottish Government’s public sector pay strategy ‘ceiling’ – shows that even though the vast majority of quango chairs commit just a few days a week, and receive nowhere near the levels of remuneration enjoyed by chief executives, many still receive significant pay packages.

The highest paid chair is Deirdre Michie, who earlier this year succeeded former banker, Dame Susan Rice, as the chair of Scottish Water. Ms Michie, a former chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, devotes two-and-half days a week to her role at the public corporation. In turn, she receives £105,086 a year.

Other chairs with hefty pay deals include those who have been appointed by ministers to important oversight bodies or crisis-hit public institutions. Martyn Evans, who joined the Scottish Police Authority as a board member in 2018 before becoming chair three years ago, receives £530 a day as chair for a time commitment of 15 days a month, meaning he is paid £95,400 a year.

Only last month, Neena Mahal, a former chair of NHS Lanarkshire, began an interim role heading up the board at the troubled NHS Forth Valley health board, where the Government has essentially had oversight since 2022 amid a slew of problems. She is being paid £402.35 a day for four days’ work a week, putting her total remuneration for the 12-month stint at £83,688.

While some quango chairs work for free, others receive six-figure pay deals for their part-time duties. Picture: NationalWorld

However, the highest earner of any quango chair, based on the daily rate, is Willie Watt, who was first appointed as chair of the Scottish National Investment Bank in 2019, before having his term extended for four years in June last year. The former chief executive of Martin Currie, the equities investment management firm, is paid £60,000 for 48 days work a year – a daily rate of £1,250.

Such pay packages, it has to be stressed, are very much outliers. Cumulatively, the 95 Government-appointed chairs are paid more than £2.65m a year, with the average remuneration less than £28,000. Indeed, several prestigious Government appointed positions – such as the chairs of the National Galleries, National Library, and National Museums of Scotland – are unremunerated.

Some would suggest that £2.65m is a relatively modest outlay of taxpayers’ money to ensure oversight of public bodies, and the fact that several chairs perform their functions for no recompense adds weight to that argument. It does, however, become more complicated when you factor in the total pay for the 771 board members across the 95 organisations, which exceeds £8.3m.

But beyond the ever thorny issue of pay, what of the accusations the quango chairs are part of a merry-go-round featuring the same well-kent faces? According to The Scotsman’s analysis, there is an element of truth in that. Some ten chairs of the boards of regulated public health bodies previously served on other health boards. And out of the 95 chairs and convenors of Scotland’s regulated bodies, 22 are bolstering their income by serving on the boards of other public organisations.

The Scotsman's week-long series is scrutinising Scotland's quangos, looking at what they spend, and the remuneration of those in charge of them.

For example, Marieke Dwarshuis, who is paid up to £17,100 to chair the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator – a role with a time commitment of up to five days per month – is also a member of the NHS 24 board, for which she is paid £8,930 for one day a week. She also sits on the board of the Scottish Housing Regulator, which pays her £9,348, again for one day a week. The quango veteran, who has previously sat on the boards of Food Standards Scotland, the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and who co-owns a yoga business, is also a lay appointment advisor at the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, for which she is paid £296 per day.

Elsewhere, Katharina Kaspar, the director of a healthcare firm, is paid £21,120 a year for eight days’ work a month as chair of Children’s Hearings Scotland’s board. On top of that, she receives up to £21,600 a year for up to six days’ work at the Scottish Police Authority, and £9,030 a year for one day a week with NHS Lothian.

Even so, such chairs have a way to go to rival others for longevity in the rarefied world of non-executive directorships. Take Dr Mike Cantlay, for example, who earns over £50,000 a year for two days’ work a week at the helm of the Scottish Funding Council’s board. He has sat in more chairs than a DFS tester, having previously overseen the boards of NatureScot, VisitScotland, Highlands and Islands Airports, and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

But where do such individuals come from? Well, perhaps unsurprisingly for appointments that are made by ministers, at least seven of the current quango chairs previously held senior civil servant positions at the Scottish Government. One, Michael Russell, the chair of the Scottish Land Commission, is a former Government minister. He is not the only chair with experience of elected office. The chairs of Grampian and Shetland health boards are also serving councillors.