Deirdre Hutton

Dame Deirdre Mary Hutton CBE (born 15 March 1949),[1] is a British civil servant, termed by the media as "Queen of the Quango's"[2] and "The great quango hopper".[3][4]

A former anti-apartheid demonstrator who was once arrested in South Africa,[4] after a short private sector career[2] working for Anchor housing association (1973-75),[1] she then became a researcher for Glasgow Chamber of Commerce (1975-1980),[3] before becoming its chair (1980-1982).[1]

Since this time she has worked for over 10 major quango's in 30 years.[3] Her first appointment was in 1980 to the Arts Council of Scotland.[4] She has developed her career in championing consumer issues within public sector bodies, particularly in health and food standards and regulation, including: Chair of the Foresight Panel on the Food Chain and Crops for Industry; Chair of the Food Chain Centre; member of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (Curry Commission). She was, until June 2008, the Vice-Chair of the European Food Safety Authority Management Board. She is Honorary Vice-President of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.[1]

Hutton was non-executive Director of the Scottish Borders Health Board and a member of The King's Fund Organizational Audit Council. She was a member of the Wilson Committee on Complaints in the National Health Service, and of the General Dental Council.[1]

For five years until 2005, she was Chair of the National Consumer Council, having formerly chaired the Scottish Consumer Council. She was Vice-Chair of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, a member of the Sustainable Development Commission and a member of the Energy Advisory Panel for the UK Department of Trade and Industry. She was a member of the Better Regulation Task Force. Chair of the Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Council, Hutton was then Deputy Chair of the Financial Services Authority until December 2007.[1][5][6] She was a member of the Secretary of State's Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament.[1]

Hutton is Honorary Vice-President of the Trading Standards Institute. Appointed to the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a non-executive director in April 2009,[7] Hutton was appointed chair in 2009 by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon,[4] replacing Sir Roy McNulty;[8] she is paid £130,000 for two days work a week.[9] During 2008, she was on the three-member panel that conducted an independent review of the postal services on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Hutton is a Non Executive Director of Castle Trust,[10] and Non Executive Member of the Treasury Board, and Thames Water.

Hutton was appointed CBE and elevated to DBE in 2004. In April 2010 she was awarded a Fellowship of City and Guilds.

Divorced,[4] Hutton has two sons, Thomas and Nicholas Hutton. Her hobbies include gardening and chamber music.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Dame Deirdre Mary Hutton". Debretts. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Dame Deirdre Hutton – queen of the quangos". Daily Telegraph. 15 Nov 2009. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Steve Doughty (9 September 2010). "Bonfire of the quangocrats: Four more public sector chieftains facing the chop". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Auslan Cramb (21 Apr 2010). "Deirdre Hutton, CAA chairman: profile". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  5. ↑ Financial Services Authority
  6. ↑ "Changes to the Financial Services Authority Board". HM Treasury. Retrieved 2009-06-12
  7. ↑ Civil Aviation Authority
  8. ↑ "Sir Roy McNulty Retires as UK CAA chairman". Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  9. ↑ Christopher Booker (5 Jun 2010). "Quangos: the more we pay, the less we get". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
  10. ↑ http://www.castletrust.co.uk/about-us/who-we-are

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