Candidate for Chair at Science and Technology Facilities Council is announced

The present Chair of STFC, Mr Peter Warry, retires in July.

Professor Sterling was identified following rigorous selection processes validated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The Business Innovation and Skills Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has now invited the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee to hold a pre-appointment hearing and to report on Professor Sterling's suitability for this post. This is in line with proposals announced last year to increase democratic scrutiny of key public appointments.
Notes to editors

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is an independent, non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS). It funds researchers in universities directly through grants particularly in astronomy, particle physics, space science and nuclear physics. It provides in the UK access to world-class facilities, including ISIS, the Central Laser Facility, and High Performance Computing (HPCx).

It is also a major stakeholder in the Diamond Light Source, which started operations in 2008. It provides access to world-class facilities overseas, including through CERN, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and telescope facilities in Chile, Hawaii, La Palma, Australia and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory. Between 2008 and 2009 the Council will invest approximately £787 million. Further information is available at http:/www.stfc.ac.uk

The government's proposals for pre-appointment hearings are set out in the Governance of Britain White Paper.

Pre-appointments scrutiny hearings enable select committees to take evidence from candidates for certain key public appointments before they are appointed. Hearings are in public and involve the select committee publishing a report setting out their views on the candidate's suitability for a post. Pre-appointment hearings are non-binding but ministers will consider the committee's views before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment.

The Governance of Britain White Paper states that pre-appointment hearings should be held for posts that exercise statutory or other powers in relation to protecting the public's rights and interests – as well as for posts that play a role in the regulation and administration of the appointments process itself. The list of posts suitable for pre-appointment hearings is published in the Government's Response to the Liaison Committee's First Special Report of Session 2007-08. (Liaison Committee, First Special Report of Session 2007-08, Pre-appointment hearings by select committees: Government Response, HC 594).