Board members are appointed by the Senedd Commission for a fixed term of five years. Membership of the current Board is outlined below.
In accordance with good practice and in complying with the provisions of section 2 of National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010 (the Measure), members of the Remuneration Board have declared relevant interests in order for the Board to operate with independence, openness and inclusiveness. This information is current as of 5 April 2023, and will be updated if any changes are made.
Declaration of Interests by Members of the Independent Remuneration Board of the Senedd
Dr. Elizabeth Haywood (Chair)
Elizabeth is an experienced Non-Executive Director and Chair. She was previously a Board member of Natural Resources Wales and Chair of its Flood Risk Management Committee, a Board member of Scottish Power Energy Networks, Hendre Group, Leonard Cheshire, an independent member of the Welsh Audit Office’s Remuneration Board, and inaugural Chair of WCVA Services Ltd. She chaired the Welsh Government’s Ministerial Task Force on City Regions.
Her early career was spent in the European Parliament and the Welsh Development Agency, before being appointed Director of CBI Wales, Communications Director of the Association of Train Operating Companies and then running an executive search firm based in Cardiff and London.
She has an economics degree from Cardiff University, a PhD and an honorary doctorate from Swansea, was the recipient of the first Welsh Woman of the Year Award and is an honorary Fellow of Trinity St David’s University.
Elizabeth was appointed as Chair of the Independent Remuneration Board of the Senedd in June 2020.
Hugh Widdis
Hugh Widdis is the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Justice. He took up the position in April 2024. He has 24 years of experience in parliamentary, government and legal services.
Hugh served from 2015 to 2024 as the Head of the Government Legal Service for Northern Ireland, and Departmental Solicitor for the Northern Ireland Executive. During 2017-18 he served as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Finance.
Prior to joining the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Hugh served as Director of Legal and Governance Services for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
He has previously worked in research, and as a barrister in private practice. He has also worked in the Scottish Parliament’s legal office, and on discrimination law in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. He was a member of the Senedd Cymru Commission’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee from 2012 until 2019.
Hugh is a barrister and member of the Bar of Ireland and the Bar of Northern Ireland. Hugh is a Governor at Banbridge Academy, a member of the Independent Remuneration Board for Senedd Cymru, and a member of the board of the Chief Executives Forum.
Jennifer Long
Jennifer Long is a consultant specialising in advice to public authorities internationally on financial services regulation, governance and remuneration. She led IPSA’s last statutory review of the remuneration of Westminster MPs, and was appointed statutory remuneration reviewer for Jersey’s parliament in 2023.
Jennifer is a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund and served until July 2024 as a consumer representative on the European Banking Authority’s Banking Stakeholder Group.
Having begun her career as a Clerk in the House of Commons, she worked as a financial services regulator for over twenty years in the UK and European Union, including several years in the secretariat of the European Parliament.
Lord Nicholas Bourne of Aberystwyth
Nick Bourne was an Assembly Member for 12 years between 1999 and 2011, including a period as leader of the Opposition. He then was a member of the Silk Commission on Devolution in Wales and Williams Commission on Public Service Delivery and Governance, reviewing the role of the Assembly and the place of local government in Wales respectively. In 2012-14 he also chaired Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone.
He was elevated to the House of Lords on 9 September 2013 and took Ministerial roles including in the Wales Office serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State during 2015-17 and 2017-19. He has also served in other Ministerial roles including as Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Energy and Climate Change. He has also served as a Government Whip.
Gareth Llewellyn
Gareth is currently the Chair of Transport Infrastructure Ireland prior to which he was chair of Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd. He has held non-executive director roles at Sage Homes, Biffa plc, Harwich Haven Authority, Renewable Fuels Agency, National Grid Property, and the Rail Safety and Standards Board.He has held global executive roles at National Grid plc and Anglo American plc, was executive director at Network Rail and Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
Gareth has chaired Board Remuneration committees at Sage Homes Ltd and Harwich Haven Authority and was a member of the Remuneration Committee at Biffa plc.
Born and educated in Wales, Gareth graduated from Swansea University.