Graduated with the award winning MSc in Carbon Management.

Responsible for policy and co-ordination of the £25bn Scottish Budget including the spending review.

* I was responsible developing and assessing prospects in a large area of the UK continental shelf. This included presenting to senior US management for approval (typically $5-10m) * commissioning seismic surveys of the offshore * commissioning data processing and supervising contractors. Some of the skills I learned early on were: team working with other professions * self-reliance offshore * presenting projects: risk analysis * and the reality of acquiring data. I worked on a posting in Indonesia and spent over 2 years in the Netherlands helping to establish a local office.

The economic regulator of Scottish Water, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, has the task of ensuring that Scottish Water is adequately funded. It also has a statutory duty to promote the interests of customers by setting prices for water and wastewater services at the lowest reasonable overall cost. The Commission has the expertise to determine the lowest overall cost. The Customer Forum’s role is to determine what, in the customers interest, should be considered reasonable. I assist the Chair of the Forum in an advisory role.

I initiated a major project on reshaping care of older people to meet the needs of an increasingly ageing population. This led to the government’s initial plans to integrate health and adult social care with the emphasis on older people. This was an ambitious and transformative change in the way that the NHS and local government work together to provide seamless care. I took it forward through collaborative working with NHS, local government and third sector leaders. In parallel I led an initiative to improve the standing of primary care and GPs in particular. This involved a range of actions including success in changing the contract with GPs to achieve greater interaction with the wider health system. I also merged my direct responsibility for Telecare with NHS24 to create a new Scottish centre. This is now working with the Enterprise networks to exploit the opportunities Scotland has in leading Europe on digital health and care services.

In 1997 I led the defence of the UK Government’s introduction of student tuition fees despite hostile opposition and worked with university principals to minimise the impact on student flows from outside Scotland. In 1999, the new coalition government in Scotland was faced with the difficulty of both political Parties having diametrically opposed policies on tuition fees. I worked closely with a small group of ministers from both Parties (and through the Cubie committee) to arrive at a solution to which both Parties agreed and that was implemented (at low cost). Achieving consensus on this issue helped cement good relations in the coalition and built trust with officials. In terms of HE policy, I worked closely with the funding council on a range of developments. They included introducing quality assurance through the QAA into Scotland, merging a number of HE colleges into universities (sometimes with controversy) and facilitating joint working with Scottish Enterprise through Technology Ventures and the development of Proof of Concept funding and Enterprise Fellowships.

Responsible for the performance management of 5 Health Boards in the West of Scotland covering half the population of Scotland. I had an early role (as a result of my Treasury experience) in developing the Private Finance Initiative in the NHS in Scotland.

I managed a small team responsible for advising Treasury Ministers on £25 billion of public expenditure for Hospital and Community Health Services in Great Britain and on the Treasury’s interest in health policy.

Responsible for Building Societies at a time of great change. Revised legislation to give them wider powers and to allow them to convert to banks.

Worked on forecasting the effects of the failed Community Charge.

Junior Geophysicist with a small British Independent Oil Company.