Alison O’Riordan

Appointed from 5 September 2022 until 4 September 2026

Dr Alison O’Riordan is a sports professional, educator, and researcher with over 30 years’ global experience in varying positions within the public and private sectors. She is a paralympic specialist with a 20-year involvement in para sport.

Alison is a director of her own company, AOR Sports Consultancy, and has worked and consulted successfully with several sporting organisations including the Australian Institute of Sport, Athletics Australia, England Athletics, British Athletics and Paralympics Ireland. As a Master Athletics Coach, Alison has coached athletes onto six Paralympic Games for Australia, Great Britain and Ireland. As an educator and people developer, Alison has taught at all levels from Primary to University, as well as athlete and coach development.

Regarded as the world leader in seated throws research, Alison has a PhD in the biomechanics of seated throws with a significant publication record and presents around the world in this area. For the past seven years Alison has been a valued member of the UKAD education team in her role as a National Trainer, combining her passions of clean sport and education. She will be joining the UKAD board providing expertise in para/disability sport.

George Walker

Appointed from 5 September 2022 until 4 September 2026

George Walker is a Chartered Accountant and has held a number of senior Finance and IT leadership positions with international organisations, mainly focusing on IT-driven business change.

He was a Board member of sportscotland from April 2013 to April 2022, a period that included supporting the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the redevelopment of the Inverclyde National Centre into the first fully accessible residential sports centre in the UK.

George is also involved in sports charities, he is currently Vice-Chair of Scottish Sports Futures and a Board Member of SportsAid Scotland.

Remuneration and Governance Code

Remuneration for this role is set at £215 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. George Walker and Alison O’Riordan have declared no activity.

Views are being sought on how to make it easier to land a successful career in logistics, as the government continues to tackle the global driver shortage, support new jobs and bolster the UK’s supply chain. 

The views submitted by members of the public and industry professionals will help answer important questions and assist the government with ongoing research into how post-Brexit freedoms are used to remove red tape and create opportunities for people across the country.  

Some of the potential options set out in the call for evidence – which was launched today (Friday 5 August 2022) – include creating a formal register of HGV driving instructors and publishing pass rates for instructors. This could help improve HGV driver training standards, raise the profile of the profession and enhance road safety. 

The call for evidence will also seek views on whether the UK should permit mechanics who already hold an HGV licence to drive vehicles like buses or coaches for repair purposes and reintroducing other lost so-called ‘grandfather rights’ in the UK. 

Questions around reintroducing grandfather rights explore whether the UK should allow those who hold a normal car driving licence to drive certain larger vans or smaller lorries up to 7.5 tonnes. Prior to 1 January 1997, people who passed their driving test for a normal car also obtained the right to drive heavier, larger vehicles up to 8.25 tonnes in weight and minibuses – these entitlements were removed by the EU.

No decisions have been made on whether these rights should be reintroduced and the government is keen for views from a wide range of stakeholders to inform its future approach to the issue, as well as the rest of the areas under consideration in the call for evidence. Any changes would need to ensure continued safe use of our roads and be economically proportionate. There could possibly be restrictions based on age or driving experience, which is reflected in the questions set out in the call for evidence.

It comes as part of wider government efforts to help more people into work, since this is the best way to support families in the long-term while growing the economy to address the cost of living. 

This follows the government’s 33 actions already taken to tackle the HGV driver shortage and protect the supply chain, which has seen record numbers of HGV driving test pass rates and positive reports from the sector of stable driver numbers.    

Transport Minister Karl McCartney said:

Our country has a robust supply chain and our ongoing and unprecedented support for the haulage sector means that the number of HGV drivers is stabilising.

We continue looking for ways to make it easier and quicker to kickstart a rewarding career in logistics. That’s why we’re asking people for their views on how we could streamline the licensing process and remove any potential barriers – making the most of our post-Brexit freedoms.

The government’s unprecedented actions to help the sector tackle the global shortage of drivers has included making 11,000 HGV driver training places available through Skills Bootcamps, injecting a major and sustained boost to the number of HGV driver tests available, and investing £52.5 million in improvements in roadside facilities and lorry parking. 

Since then the sector has started to recover and industry bodies have said they’re seeing HGV driver numbers stabilise. They indicate that the initiatives introduced by government and industry have started to yield results, showing that perceptions of the industry are changing as a result of government support and more people are looking to train and qualify as HGV drivers. 

New HGV drivers are taking and passing their driving test in record numbers. Between March 2022 and May 2022, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) carried out 29,384 HGV tests – 54% more than the corresponding period in 2019 before the pandemic. 

The government recently launched the future of freight plan, encouraging millions of people across the UK to kickstart an exciting career in logistics, with a new multi-million pound plan unveiled to bolster the supply chain and create a more resilient and greener haulage sector. The plan includes a major campaign, launched in June 2022, to recruit and retain a skilled workforce in the logistics sector.

Five individuals have separately been made subject to bankruptcy restrictions totalling 48 years as the Insolvency Service continues to identify and tackle abuse of the Bounce Back Loan scheme.

In each of the five separate cases, the Bounce Back Loans were either wrongfully obtained through overstating their businesses turnover, or on behalf of a company that had already ceased trading prior to the pandemic, or were simply misused for personal use rather than legitimate business spending.

• Charlene Wilson was a self-employed beauty therapist based in Jarrow. She received a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan by overstating her turnover and spent around £15,000 on personal expenses. She has accepted bankruptcy restrictions for 8 years.
• Georgiana Cercel ran a beauty business from her home in Lincoln while studying full-time. She received a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan by overstating her business turnover, and gave £10,000 to her sister. She is subject to bankruptcy restrictions for 10 years.
• Florin Bodale worked as a building contractor through his company Varga Construction. He obtained a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan by overstating his turnover, although he told investigators he believed he had been asked for total turnover for the previous 3 years. However this amount would still have been less than half the turnover he stated. He has accepted a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking.
• Sarah Sweeting ran a farm shop home delivery service from October 2020. She obtained a £22,000 Bounce Back Loan despite not being eligible as businesses had to have been trading prior to March 2020. Of the £22,000, she transferred around £14,000 to her husband. She is subject to a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking.
• Abbas Moradmand ran a tyre business from 2018 to 2019 after which point he worked as a taxi driver. After a short closure the business re-opened and continues to trade under new ownership. However, Moradmand secured a Bounce Back Loan of £26,894 to which he was not entitled as it was based on an application on behalf of his former tyre business. He has accepted a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking.

Their bankruptcy restrictions mean none of the above individuals are able to borrow more than £500 without disclosing their bankrupt status. They also cannot act as a company director without permission from the court.

In each of the above cases the local Official Receiver is working on potential recovery action.

Kevin Read, Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said:

In all of these cases it was obvious, or it should have been obvious, that they either misused the Bounce Back Loan for personal benefit, took a larger loan than they were eligible for, or weren’t eligible for a Bounce Back Loan at all.

This is taxpayers’ money they have abused and we will not hesitate to impose bankruptcy restrictions in these circumstances.

Notes to editors

Charlene Kylie Wilson is of South Shields, and her date of birth is July 1988. Details of her undertaking is available on the Individual Insolvency Register

Georgiana Mariana Cercel is of Lincoln, and her date of birth is July 1995. Details of her undertaking is available on the Individual Insolvency Register

Florin Petrisor Bodale is of Harrow, and his date of birth is June 1990. Details of his undertaking is available on the Individual Insolvency Register

Sarah Louise Sweeting is of Bromley, and her date of birth is November 1974. Details of her undertaking is available on the Individual Insolvency Register

Abbas Moradmand is of Bournemouth, and his date of birth is January 1971. Details of his undertaking is available on the Individual Insolvency Register

Bankruptcy restrictions are wide ranging. The effects are the same whether you are subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order or to an undertaking. Guidance on the main statutory consequences flowing from a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking.

Information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

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