Ex-Highland Council boss set to step in to HIE hot seat on interim basis
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FORMER Highland Council chief executive Alistair Dodds will step into the role of interim chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) while the search is on to find a new candidate for the position.
Current chairman, Professor Lorne Crerar, leaves the post on February 29 after eight years in the role, and deputy chairman Mr Dodds will then assume the responsibility as an interim measure.
Mr Dodds has been directly involved in significant public sector reform and is experienced in partnership working with the public, private and third/voluntary sectors. He was appointed to the board of HIE in 2014 and took on the role of deputy chairman the following year. He also chairs the agency’s risk and assurance committee and is a trustee and deputy chairman of the National Galleries of Scotland.
Professor Crerar, who joined the HIE board in 2008, has been chairman since 2012 and is a founding partner and chairman of leading Scottish law firm Harper Macleod LLP.
His other public appointments have included convener of the Standards Commission and chairman of the Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland’ He was also a non-executive director of the Scottish Government Justice Programme Board, co-chairman of the National Council of Rural Advisers, deputy chairman of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and one of three chairs of the Housing Improvement Task Force.
The HIE Board normally meets at least six times a year and has overall responsibility for ensuring the agency fulfils its statutory duties and meets the aims and objectives set out by the Scottish Government in Scotland's Economic Strategy and the national Programme for Government.
The Scottish Government is currently recruiting a new permanent chair for HIE, for a three-year period from May 1 2020. Closing date for applications is February 19 and details are online at www.hie.co.uk/about-us/vacancies/hie-chair-vacancy/.
