The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is pleased to announce the re-appointment of three RFCC Chairs:
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Brian West Stewart as the Anglian (Great Ouse) Chair from 2 January 2025 until 31 May 2027.
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Martin Hurst as the Southern RFCC Chair from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
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Richard Powell Anglian (Eastern) RFCC Chair from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028.
We have also appointed David Jenkins as the new Acting Chair for the Wessex RFCC for 6 months. This follows the conclusion of the previous Chair’s tenure and comes as we begin the recruitment process for a new permanent Chair.
Background details on Acting Wessex Chair: David Jenkins
David was previously a Chair of Wessex RFCC for a period of 10 years and has a strong knowledge of the Committee’s area, its work programme and the local flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) issues. His appointment will last for six months, from 1 January 2025, whilst Defra completes an open competition for a new Chair. The role will be advertised in the coming months on GOV.UK.
David Jenkins is by background a solicitor, having worked mainly in the public service.
He worked with Oxfordshire County Council, the Welsh Local Government Ombudsman, and Hampshire County Council, before moving to Dorset County Council, where he was Chief Executive for nearly 14 years. He has held various non executive roles, including Deputy Chair of NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, President of the Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils, Board Member of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and Chair of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Endowment Trust.
He has conducted inquiries and reviews for other local authorities and for DEFRA, and was deputy chair of the board of a multi academy learning trust.
He was also a board member of the Association of Drainage Authorities and of the Somerset Rivers Authority.
David is currently a deputy lieutenant of Dorset, Chairman of the Burton Bradstock Festival of Music and Art, and is involved in a number of local arts charities.
