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Our governance
Details of our members, terms of membership, meetings and framework agreement.
Although ACRE is a UK-wide advisory body, Defra takes the lead in monitoring its activities and provides the secretariat.
Members
ACRE is an independent Advisory Committee composed of leading scientists. Our current members are:
- Professor Rosemary Hails MBE (Chair)
- Dr Kathy Bamford
- Dr Rosemary Collier
- Professor Ian Crute CBE
- Professor Jim Dunwell
- Dr Matthew Heard
- Professor David Hopkins
- Simon Kerr
- Dr Peter Lund
- Dr Bethan Purse
- Dr Ben Raymond
- Dr Andrew Wilcox
As part of our commitment to transparency we publish a register of our members’ interests and members’ biographies.
Terms of membership
Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) appoint the committee members for ACRE, together with ministers in the devolved administrations. Appointments are made in accordance with the requirements of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Specifications for new members are agreed between the chair and Defra in order to meet the future challenges facing the committee and in order to fill any gaps in the committee’s expertise.
Members are appointed for 3- or 4-year terms. A member can serve on ACRE for up to 10 years, as long as they are reappointed by ministers. If a new chair is appointed who has previously been a member, they are eligible to begin a new 10-year term.
Committee members do not receive any direct remuneration for their services, although reasonable travel and subsistence expenses can be reimbursed.
Meetings
We meet about 3 times a year.
The date of the next meeting will be announced here.
Previous ACRE minutes can be found on the National Archives website.
ACRE framework agreement
This framework document outlines our:
- relationship with Defra
- relationship with devolved administrations and other government bodies
- funding arrangements
- appointments procedure
- code of conduct for members
It also contains our terms of reference.