Public appointment: Member reappointed to the Scottish Water Board

The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin MSP, today announced the reappointment of Graham Dalton as a Member of the Scottish Water board.

Member

Graham Dalton is a chartered civil engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the construction, operation and maintenance of large infrastructure. He worked for a leading consulting civil engineering firm and for a major UK contractor before moving to the public sector where he was Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, establishing National Highways as a regulated Public Corporation. He finished his executive career as Chief Executive of Defence Infrastructure Organisation, transforming performance of that business to support UK Defence capability. Graham is a non-executive director of Energy & Utility Skills Group, and of Energy and Environment Awards Ltd. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Royal Academy of Engineering and lives in London and Edinburgh.

Reappointment

This reappointment will be for 4 years and will run from 01 April 2026 until 31 March 2030.

This reappointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

This reappointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £455 a day for a time commitment of 4 days per month.

Other ministerial appointments

Graham Dalton does not hold any other public appointments.

Political activity

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 appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.  

Graham Dalton has had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

Scottish Water is a public corporation established by the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002.  It is accountable to the Scottish Government for the provision of all public water and sewerage services to more than 2.62 million households and around 153,000 businesses in Scotland.  It is the fourth largest provider of water and sewerage services in the UK, with an annual revenue of roughly £1.94 billion.  Its retail subsidiary Business Stream operates in the competitive retail market for non-household customers in Scotland and England.