North Ayrshire has announced its new official commercial boss. David Hammond was confirmed as the council’s commercial head of service late last month after previously serving as interim boss in the post. The internal appointment was made at a meeting of North Ayrshire Council’s Staffing and Recruitment Committee last month [Tuesday December 21] , with long-serving culture boss Audrey Sutton announced as Executive Director for Communities and education the previous day. Mr Hammond previously served as a senior manager for sustainability and directorate performance at North Ayrshire Council after gaining a town and regional planning degree at The University of Dundee and a certificate in Business Administration and Management at the The Open University.
Audrey Sutton will now serve as the council’s Executive Director of Communities and Education. The internal appointment was confirmed last week [Monday December 21] after a meeting of North Ayrshire Council’s Staffing and Recruitment Committee, with Ms Sutton previously serving as Interim Executive Director for Communities, Head of Service Connected Communities and previously Information and Culture Head. Announcing the news last week, Ms Sutton said: “Delighted and privileged to become Executive Director of Communities and Education at North Ayrshire Council. “Working with schools is an honour and a marvellous learning experience every day.” North Ayrshire Council’s Head of Service for Education Andrew McClelland said: “I am delighted to confirm that Audrey Sutton was appointed yesterday as our permanent Executive Director of Communities and Education.
Sand mining vessel Credit: Jules Leyland
Southampton geographers, led by Associate Professor in Physical Geography Dr Julian Leyland, have received funding to address one of the ‘hidden impacts’ of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
The team from Geography and Environmental Science and GeoData have been awarded £166,000 from the Global Challenges Research Fund’s (GCRF) Newton Fund to investigate the impact of illegal sand mining in the Vietnamese Mekong delta.
The GCRF Newton Fund aims to promote the economic development and social welfare of partner countries to address the well-being of communities.
The team, which includes Professor Steve Darby and Professor Craig Hutton, will assess the impact of the surge in illegal sand mining activity during the COVID-19 lockdown on livelihoods and infrastructure from the induced bank erosion.