Deirdre Mary Hutton | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the National Consumer Council | |
Former | |
| In office 2000–2005 | |
| Chair of the UK Civil Aviation Authority | |
Former | |
| In office 2009–2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 March 1949 |
| Occupation | Government advisor |
Dame Deirdre Mary Hutton DBE (born 15 March 1949), [1] is a British public servant. Termed by The Daily Telegraph as "Queen of the Quangos" [2] and "The great quango hopper", [3] among other roles,she was the chair of the UK's Civil Aviation Authority from 2009 to 2020.
A former anti-apartheid demonstrator who was once arrested in South Africa, [3] 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 (1975–80),[ citation needed ] before becoming its chair (1980–82). [1]
Hutton has worked for over 10 major non-departmental public bodies in 30 years.[ citation needed ] Her first appointment was in 1980 to the Arts Council of Scotland. [3]
She 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 2001–2 Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (Curry Commission). [4] She chaired the board of Rural Forum Scotland in 1999 when it collapsed due to insolvency. [5] 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 a 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, [6] 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] [7] [8] She was a member of the Secretary of State's Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament. [1]
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 was (2011–16) a non-executive Director of Castle Trust, [9] and non-executive member of the Treasury Board,and Thames Water.
Hutton is one of 32 Vice-Presidents of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.
Appointed to the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a non-executive director in April 2009, [10] Hutton was appointed chair in 2009 by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon, [3] replacing Sir Roy McNulty; [11] she was paid £130,000 for two days' work a week in 2010, [12] which was still the case as of 2015,making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. [13] She retired from the role in 2020. [14] On 1 August 2020,she was appointed as Chancellor of Cranfield University. [15]
Deirdre Mary Cassells married Alasdair Henry Hutton in 1975 in Oxford. [16] She was appointed CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for 1998, [17] and advanced to DBE in the Birthday List of 2004. [18] In April 2010,she was awarded a Fellowship of City and Guilds.
Hutton has two sons,Thomas and Nicholas Hutton. Her hobbies include gardening and chamber music. [1] She divorced from Alasdair Hutton. [3]