The Government has announced the appointment of three non-executive directors to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Authority's statutory objective is to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good.
The three appointees are:
Peter Barron, who is a Northern-Irish communications expert with senior experience in consumer technology and public affairs. He spent more than 20 years working in television news and current affairs at the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, before working in external relations at Google from 2008 to 2018, and then at Stripe from 2021 to 2023. Peter holds a BSc in European Studies and Modern Languages from the University of Manchester (UMIST) and is a trustee of the Disasters Emergency Committee and the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.
Professor Mairi Spowage, who is Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, Scotland's leading economic research institute at the University of Strathclyde. Mairi leads research on modelling economic impact, economic measurement, regional economic and trade performance and public sector finances. Mairi has previously held roles as the Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and Head of National Accounts at the Scottish Government, with almost 20 years of experience of working in statistics and analysis, including transport, household surveys and performance measurement.
Dr Sarah Walsh, a risk and governance specialist who is currently advising clients in different sectors. Sarah has 20 years' generalist experience, including Risk Director roles at Telegraph Media Group, Guardian Media Group, Save the Children and Imperial College London. Presently, she serves as a non-executive director at the Royal College of Nursing Publishing, including membership of the Royal College of Nursing's Audit Committee and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She also serves as independent non-executive member of the Audit and Risk Committees for Science Museum Group, St John's Ambulance and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Sarah holds a Master's degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University, and a PhD in Aerodynamics from the University of Manchester.
Appointments to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority are regulated. These appointments were made by Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Minister for Cabinet Office. The advisory assessment panel was: Sir Robert Chote, Chair, UKSA (Chair of the panel); Steffan Jones, Director, Joint Data and Analysis Centre, Cabinet Office and Zarin Patel, Non Executive Director, HM Treasury.
Appointees began their roles at the end of January 2025.
