Food Standards Agency names new deputy chair

Riley began his appointment on 1 January 2024 and will serve for a period of three years.

The Yorkshire-based farmer joined the FSA board in 2019 and has acted as the chair to the FSA’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC). Between 2013 and 2019, he was a member of the FSA Advisory Committee on Animal Feedstuffs.

With a background in molecular immunology, Riley also holds experience as a senior civil servant having been head of NHS public health policy and of clinical standards. Notably, he headed up the team that established the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, while he also possesses operational leadership experience having served as chief executive to three NHS primary care trusts from 2001 to 2011.

Alongside his other roles, Riley has operated a commercial beef and lamb farm for more than 30 years. He is also president to the UK Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society, board member and ARAC chair to the Defra Veterinary Medicines Directorate and a member of the UK Genetics of Livestock and Equines Committee.

Commenting on the announcement, FSA chair Professor Susan Jebb said: “I am delighted that Timothy, who has made an outstanding contribution as an FSA Board Member since 2019, will now become Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency. Timothy’s experience as a Board member across a range of public and private bodies, combined with his scientific background and knowledge of the food and farming sector, make him exceptionally well qualified to take up this role. I look forward to working closely with him​.”

Meanwhile, Riley credited the role that the FSA plays in “ensuring that our food is safe and is what it says it is​”.

“The FSA’s contribution to public health and to consumer confidence is vitally important and so I am really pleased to take up the role of deputy chair and to support the FSA going forward​,” he added.

In other news, Food Manufacture speaks to Fettercairn Distillery manager Stewart Walker as the whisky maker celebrates its 200 year anniversary.​​