Timothy Riley has been appointed as deputy chair of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) by the Secretary of State for Health.
Riley operates a commercial beef and lamb farm in West Yorkshire and has a "keen interest" in sustainable and nature friendly agriculture, operating his farm for over 30 years alongside his public sector roles.
Previously chair of the FSA's Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), Riley has been a board member since 2019. He will serve as deputy chair for three years, and was appointed to the role on Monday 1st January 2024.
He has an academic background in molecular immunology, and has previously assumed roles as head of NHS Public Health Policy and of Clinical Standards, as well as the team that established the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
As well as this, Riley has served as chief executive to three NHS Primary Care Trusts from 2001 to 2011, and currently holds positions as president of 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. He currently holds two non-executive board positions in the private sector.
Riley, incoming deputy chair of FSA, said: "I value highly the role and work of the FSA 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 support the FSA going forward."
"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," said chair of the FSA Professor Susan Jebb. "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."
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