PRESS RELEASE : John Baillie and Catharine Seddon reappointed to the Gambling Commission

The press release issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 2 September 2022.

The Secretary of State has reappointed John Baillie and Catharine Seddon as Commissioners of the Gambling Commission commencing 31 December 2022 until 10 April 2024.

John Baillie

John is a Chartered Accountant and a former partner of KPMG in Scotland and London. He is a former Chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, the Scottish local authority watchdog, and served two, three-year terms. He was Chair of Audit Scotland, the Scottish equivalent of the National Audit Office for several years, and a member of the Reporting Panel of the UK Competition and Markets Authority for nine years. John was also a visiting professor of accountancy at the University of Edinburgh and has previously held similar appointments at other Scottish universities.

Catharine Seddon

Catharine Seddon has 14 years of public service as a non-executive director, principally for national regulators. Catharine has been the Senior Independent Director for The Gambling Commission since 2017. She is Deputy Chair and Chair of the Audit and Governance committee of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Senior Independent Director of the Legal Services Board. She has recently joined the board of the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service.

Previously, she has held non-executive and committee roles with the Human Tissue Authority and The Pensions Regulator. She sits on tribunals in mental health and employment, as a lay assessor on civil cases in the county courts and she is a presiding magistrate in Central London. Catharine tutors for the Civil Service College and is a member of the Health Service Products Appeal Tribunal and a trustee for CPotential, a special needs charity.

Catharine spent twenty years as a high-end film documentary maker, at first at the BBC and latterly for C4, eventually setting up her own independent production company.

Remuneration and Governance Code

Commissioners of the Gambling Commission are offered remuneration of £295 per day. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. John Baillie and Catharine Seddon have not declared any significant political activity.