TWO members of the public have been appointed to the audit committee of Scottish Borders Council.
They will serve alongside six cross-party councillors reviewing and scrutinising various aspects of the local authority’s internal workings.
They are David Gwyther from Town Yetholm and Gerald Tait from Coldstream.
Mr Gwyther is a senior solicitor who moved permanently to Yetholm when he retired in 2011. He has experience in industry, commerce, audit, compliance and public sector regulation.
Mr Tait has lived in Coldstream since 1979 when he moved from the north east of England. His experience of local government includes accountancy and internal auditing. He’s secretary of the 1513 Flodden Club and a member of the Flodden Ecomuseum project which was founded to mark this year’s 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden.
Audit committee chairwoman Councillor Michelle Ballantyne commented: “They will be assets to the committee, bringing a wealth of experience. We were looking for people who are inquiring and independent-minded, and preferably with a personal knowledge and experience relating to the financial and operational management and internal control of large organisations. Both certainly ticked these boxes and we look forward to working with them.”
Duties include six meetings a year. They won’t be paid but will receive expenses.