New Chair appointed for defence regulator
The Secretary of State for Defence has appointed a new chair for the independent defence regulator, the Single Source Regulations Office.
George Jenkins OBE will assume the post on 1 January 2017. Mr Jenkins is currently the chairman of the Professional Standards Authority which has oversight of nine regulators and 24 Accredited Registers who regulate over 1.25 million health and care professionals such as doctors, nurses and paramedics.
Marcine Waterman, SSRO chief executive, welcomed the new appointment.
I very much look forward to working with George Jenkins in his new role as Chair of the SSRO. As an independent regulator it is vital that we have an experienced Chair in place to fulfil our statutory requirements and drive forward our agenda. It is an exciting time to be part of the SSRO as we seek to perform Parliament’s intention to provide the taxpayer with good value for money and a fair deal for the defence industry.
Mr Jenkins’ career has been in global logistics and manufacturing. He has been chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for four years and previously was Chair of Governance and Audit of NHS Blood and Transplant and Chair of South London Healthcare NHS Trust. In June this year he completed his term as the Chairman of the Port of Dover. He was recognised for his work in healthcare with the appointment to OBE in 2010.
Harriett Baldwin, the Minister for Defence Procurement, said:
I am delighted that George Jenkins has accepted the role of Chair of the SSRO, which is critical to the reforms to improve single source procurement. I am confident that he is the right person to lead the SSRO to deliver savings for taxpayers, meet the other challenges it faces, and build on the progress made so far.
The SSRO was founded under the Defence Reform Act in 2014. It is the independent statutory regulator of single source defence procurement, issuing statutory guidance, recommending the baseline profit rate and monitoring the application of the regime.
George said of his appointment
I am very pleased to be chosen to Chair the SSRO. There is much to do to drive value for money in defence procurement for the taxpayer whilst ensuring a fair price is paid that ensures a strong defence industry in the UK.
For further information contact the SSRO on enquiries@ssro.gov.uk, or by telephone at 0790 991 8996.