Water & Sewerage - Shareholder Unit

Introduction

DRD Shareholder Unit is the sponsor body for the Department’s shareholding interest in Northern Ireland Water (NIW) - the government-owned company established to run water and sewerage services throughout Northern Ireland.

The Shareholder Unit plans to use Government’s Shareholder Executive model to be a proactive, intelligent and effective shareholder, working with government and the management team to help the business improve its performance.

While the day-to-day running of water and sewerage services is the responsibility of the NIW Company Board, the purpose of the Shareholder Unit is to monitor NIW’s business performance and outlook and engage with the Company Board, Chair and Executive Team on strategic and shareholder matters.

Broad areas of interest to the Shareholder include:

Board appointments and remuneration;(details of the latest process for the Chair and Non Executive Director positions are available within the section entitled NIW Board Appointments (see below)
Business Plans;
NIW Performance.

NIW Board Appointments - Chair & Non Executive Director

The Department has responsibility for appointing the Chairman and non-executive Directors to the Board of NIW. The current NIW Board has a membership comprising a Chairman, five non executive Directors (the Chairman and four of the non-executives were appointed on an interim basis in the summer) and four other executive Directors, including the Chief Executive of NIW.

The public appointments process to replace the interim appointees was advertised on 9 December 2010 and is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland (CPA NI).

Terms of Appointment

All appointments will be for a term of 3 years and may be renewable for a second term.

Time Commitment and Remuneration

The Chair will receive £40,000 per annum based on anticipated attendance of 4 business days per month
Non-executive directors will receive approximately £18,000 per annum based on anticipated attendance of 2 business days per month

How to Apply

The information pack containing all the related documents is available for immediate download (the attachments below refer).

Alternatively, for further information about the process or to obtain an application form, then please contact:

Email :jim.mckeown@drdni.gov.uk

Telephone:028 9034 6214

Text phone:028 9054 0642 (for use by those with hearing difficulties)

Fax:028 9054 7875

Write to:

Jim McKeown,
DRD Shareholder Unit,
Room 1-22,
Clarence Court,
10-18 Adelaide Street,
Belfast
BT2 8GB

Closing Dates

You are asked to note the two separate closing dates for the Chair and Non-Executive Director competitions.

Completed forms for the Chair position can either be posted, emailed or hand-delivered, to arrive with Jim McKeown of the Department’s Shareholder Unit by 5.00 pm on Friday 14^th January 2011.

The closing date for the receipt of applications for the Non Executive Director positions is 5.00 pm on Friday 28^th January 2011.

Please note that late applications will not be accepted and that CVs will be returned unread.

Equality Opportunity

The Department for Regional Development is committed to the principles of public appointments based on merit with independent assessment, openness and transparency of process. The Department is also committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of religious belief, gender, disability, ethnic origin, political opinion, age, marital status, sexual orientation or whether or not they have dependants.

Information Packs and application forms can be provided in alternative formats and applicants who require assistance will be facilitated on request. Applicants invited for interview will be eligible for reimbursement of reasonable travelling expenses.

Who We Are

The Shareholder Unit consists of a small specialist team. It is the main mechanism through which DRD manages its shareholding interest in NIW.

The Unit’s role is to provide advice and recommendations to Ministers and the DRD Permanent Secretary; it is ultimately for them to make decisions on behalf of DRD based on Shareholder Unit best advice.

When NIW was established in April 2007, the new company was set a number of shareholder objectives. These are to:

Deliver substantially better quality services more efficiently and at lower cost;
Manage the business within the financial parameters agreed in NIW’s Strategic Business Plan;
Achieve the maximum affordable improvements in environmental compliance in both wastewater treatment and drinking water quality;
Enhance shareholder value and provide returns that match or exceed the industry/regulatory cost of capital; and
Strive to outperform the efficiency and other targets set within the Strategic Business Plan framework.

Making Contact

DRD Shareholder Unit is the sponsor body for DRD’s shareholder interest in Northern Ireland Water. We can be contacted at:

Department for Regional Development
Shareholder Unit
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8GB

Tel: 028 9054 2985
Fax: 028 9054 7875

Email: shareholder@drdni.gov.uk

Questions

Q: How does the Shareholder Unit differ from the Water Policy Unit?

A: The Water Policy Unit deals with matters of policy relating to the new status of Northern Ireland Water, such as the charging regime.

As government is the shareholder of the business and has set shareholder objectives such as greater efficiency, best practice in government management of business means that the Department needs to separate its policy interest from its shareholder interest. Hence the Shareholder Unit and Water Policy Division are distinct business areas.

Links

The Shareholder Executive

Northern Ireland Water

The Department is not responsible for the contents or reliability of the linked web sites and does not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them. Listing should not be taken as endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and we have no control over the availability of the linked pages.