THE COAL AUTHORITY

APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE

The Coal Authority is pleased to announce that Dr Ian Roxburgh has been appointed as Chief Executive, with the consent of the Secretary of State Stephen Byers, in succession to Kenneth Fergusson who retires on 30 June 2001.

 

Dr Roxburgh, 52, latterly Managing Director, George Wimpey Strategic Land Management and Group Planning and Environment Director, will commence employment with the Authority on 1 June 2001 as Chief Executive Designate. He was previously a Senior Inspector with the Planning Inspectorate, DETR, Bristol, Course Director BSc Hons Environmental Science Degree Course and Senior Lecturer in Geology at the University of Plymouth and a Principal Planner, Minerals and Waste Disposal, with Nottinghamshire County Council.

 

Dr Roxburgh graduated from London University with a BSc in Geology in 1972 and was awarded a Diploma in Management Studies from Nottingham Trent University in 1977. In the same year he obtained an MPhil, Mineral Planning, and in 1985, a PhD, Hydrogeology.

Dr Roxburgh does not hold any Ministerial appointments and has not undertaken any political activity in the past five years. He will receive a salary of £80,000 per annum for the appointment which is not time limited.

The Coal Authority is a Non Departmental Public Body which is sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry. The Authority has five main responsibilities:-

• Licensing coal mining operations and granting leases to exploit coal reserves;
• Settling coal subsidence damage claims not falling on coal mining companies;
• Management of property;
• Management of environmental problems arising from past coal mining, for example, minewater pollution;
• Providing information on past and present mining to land owners and house purchasers.