Mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled a slimmed-down, more representative board to oversee Transport for London’s operations.
The new 13 member board, down from 17 under former Mayor Boris Johnson, includes seven women and five men who will work alongside Mr Khan and transport deputy Val Shawcross in setting TfL’s budgets and strategic objectives.
Board members are also responsible for approving major projects and spending plans and for holding TfL executives to account on behalf of Londoners.
Over the summer the Mayor and Ms Shawcross carried out an extensive search for new members and brought in top recruitment experts to ensure the new board complied with rules on good corporate governance.
Emails previously released to this site under FOI laws show that both Mr Khan and his deputy were adamant the board needed to become more diverse in order to properly represent Londoners.
As result Mr Khan was today able to announce the most diverse board in TfL’s sixteen year history, with members being 57 per cent female, 29 per cent BAME and 13 per cent having a disability.
As well as looking more like London than its predecessor, the new board will include a member nominated by the TUC to represent workers.
Existing members Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Michael Liebreich will continue their roles for a further two years and will be joined by experts in social inclusion, disability rights, finance, energy and infrastructure.
One final post remains to be filled.
City Hall says the reduction in board numbers, axing two advisor roles and revising payments to board members will save around £190,000 a year.
Mr Khan said: “I promised to reshape TfL’s Board and make it reflect London’s diversity, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.
“I’m delighted to be able to announce a Board that brings together a huge range of talent, experiences and backgrounds, while being more efficient.
“There are still not enough women in senior positions across London, and I’m proud that we have brought gender parity to the TfL board and increased BAME and disability representation.
“Together we will ensure that TfL delivers the world-class transport system that Londoners deserve.”
Conservatives on the London Assembly have questioned the decision to appoint a union member to the TfL board, despite members being barred from voting and speaking on issues related to their external activities.
The party’s City Hall leader, Gareth Bacon, commented: “This is a surprising and somewhat worrying move given the wholly irresponsible way the trade unions have held the city to ransom during several disruptive strikes over recent years.
“This appointment surely creates a conflict of interest given the board will need to take unbiased decisions on the future of TfL and raises further questions over the nature of the Mayor’s relationship with the transport unions.”
The new board members:
Greg Clark CBE is a former member of the London LEP Board, Chairman of the London Stansted Cambridge Consortium, member of the UK Ministerial Smart Cities Forum, member of the Crossrail 2 Growth Commission and the West Anglia Task Force.
Ron Kalifa is Vice Chairman of WorldPay Group plc. He was CEO of WorldPay and Marketing E-commerce Director at Natwest.
Dr Alice Maynard CBE is an experienced member of public sector advisory groups and not for profit boards. She is the current Chair of the Independent Disability Advisory group for TfL.
Anne McMeel worked in the GLA as the Executive Director of Finance and Performance from 2001 to 2007 and Director of Resources in MPS from 2007 to 2012. She is currently on Arts Council England’s performance and Audit Committee.
Dr Mee Ling Ng OBE is a board member of a Housing Association providing accessible housing to people with disabilities, and a board member of South Bank University. From 2002 – 2010 she was Chair of Southwark PCT NHS board. She has also been a non-executive director of Lewisham and Guy’s Mental Health Trust and South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust. She was a councillor in Lewisham from 1986 to 2002.
Nelson Ogunshakin OBE is currently the CEO, President and Company Secretary of Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE). He co-chaired the National Infrastructure Plan Strategic Engagement Forum (NIPEF) and was appointed by the GLA as a member of the London Infrastructure Delivery Board. He is also chair of a Private Equity Investment Board.
Nina Skorupska CBE is Chief Executive of Renewable Energy Association and on the board of Women in Science and Engineering Campaign. She was the first female power station manager for RWE npower in the UK before going to on the be Director of Performance Improvement. She has also been responsible for delivery of Essent’s new clean energy developments.
Ben Story has previously been the Managing Director of CitiBank. He has over 25 years’ experience in financial advice and funding in the transport and industrial sectors. He was also involved in the corporatisation of TfL.
Kay Carberry CBE has been Assistant General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress from 2003 to 2016. She has also been a member of the Women and Work Commission and a Commissioner of the Equal Opportunities Commission, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Lynn Sloman was Special Adviser to TfL Board from 2000 to 2008. She has been Vice Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport and Board Member of Cycling England, and is currently Chair of Campaign for Better Transport.
