Appointments to the Board of Trustees of The National Library of Wales

Thu, 15 Apr 10 11:42:00

It is with pleasure that Dafydd Wigley, President of The National Library of Wales and Alun Ffred Jones, Minister for Heritage, Welsh Assembly Government, announce the appointment of two Trustees to serve on the Library’s Board. The two are Mr Wyn Penri Jones and Mr Huw Williams.

 

A Chartered Banker, Wyn Penri Jones has served in a number of HSBC Bank branches across Wales. Since 2005 he has operated as a Business Development Consultant, and worked for clients such as the Wales Tourist Board, WAG and Venture Wales. An ex-trustee of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, Wyn was also Treasurer and Committee member of Cwlwm Busnes Caerdydd from 1994 to 2005. He is currently Director and Treasurer of GoriadFM Cyf; Legal Secretary of Capel y Tabernacl Cyf, Efail Isaf and also Treasurer of the Ryan Davies Memorial Fund. Born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, he is married with four children, and lives in Tonteg near Pontypridd.

 

Huw Williams is Vice Chairman of the law firm Geldards LLP and senior partner in the firm’s Cardiff office. He has practiced extensively in the field of public law. Huw has just completed his term of office as a Trustee of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. He is also the Company Secretary of the Wales Millennium Centre, a member of the executive committee of the Wales Public Law and Human Rights Association (of which he was one of the founders) and a member of both the Law Society’s Planning and Environment Law Committee and its Wales Committee. Huw is a Welsh speaker, born in Llanelli and educated at Llanelli Boys’ Grammar Technical School and Jesus College, Oxford (BA Jurisprudence, MA). He now lives in Penarth and in Pembrokeshire.

 

Dafydd Wigley, President of the Library said:

 

“To serve as a Trustee of the National Library of Wales is very much considered as an important service to our nation and that’s probably the reason why we have again been able to appoint experienced and gifted individuals to serve on our Board. These individuals will help the Library face the uncertainties of the future. I’m also grateful to both of them for their willingness to join us an I look forward to work with them for the benefit of the Library”.

 

 

Alun Ffred Jones, Minister for Heritage, said:

 

"I very much welcome the appointment of Mr Wyn Jones and Mr Huw Williams as new members of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Wales. Their wide-ranging experience and skills will be an invaluable addition to the Board's present skills and I look forward very much to their contributions to the work of the Board."

 

The two new members began work on 1 April 2010 and their appointments are for four years. Trustees are currently not remunerated.

 

Neither Mr Wyn Jones nor Mr Huw Williams currently hold any other Ministerial Appointments.

Additional information

Background

The Board of the Library is the independent Board of Trustees, and it keeps the Library’s collections in trust for the people of Wales and gives strategic direction to the Library’s work. The Library’s President, who chairs the Board, is the Right Honourable Dafydd Wigley. Other appointed officials on the Board include the Vice-President, Mr Arwel Ellis Owen, and the Treasurer, Mr Colin John.

 

Trustees are asked to undertake the responsibilities of a trustee of a charity, as defined and presented by the Charities Commission.

 

Trustees should also know about the commitments required of them which arise as a result of the Library’s standing as an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. These are presented in the Management Statement and Financial Memorandum, which explain the Terms and Conditions through which the Library receive Funding from the Assembly, and which is currently the subject of a review by the Welsh Assembly Government and the Library.

The Library

The National Library of Wales is one of Wales’ main cultural institutions, and the main source of information recorded in the country. It is a body of world renown, and it contributes to a world-wide network of information providers. The Library is unusual, if not unique, among national libraries in the sense that it collects and gives access to information recorded in almost every medium – books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts and archives, maps, paintings, pictures and prints, photographs, moving images and sound, and electronic mediums. The Library is an AGSB (Assembly Government Sponsored Body) and also a registered charity which must follow Charity Laws.

 

The Library’s strategy guides the development of the Library over the three years 2008-2009 to 2010-2011. It offers a strategy which safeguards the Library’s vital present work, and also opens the Library’s enormous potential to enrich the people of Wales, for the benefit of broader audiences and new users.

 

The Library depends mainly on the Welsh Assembly Government for its funding, although it also attracts money from a number of other sources including grants from other bodies, support from individuals, income from its marketing activities and its own charitable funding.

Board Appointments

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. Neither of the appointees has declared any political activity. Appointments to the Library by the Welsh Ministers are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and Mr Williams appointment was made in accordance with the OCPA Code of Practice.  Appointments to the Library by the Board of Trustees do not come within the Commissioner’s remit but Mr Jones’s appointment was made following a process that took account of the Commissioner’s Code as best practice. 

 

Further Information

Siôn Jobbins, NLW Press Office: 01970 632 902  post@llgc.org.uk