The former chair of the Healthcare Commission is to lead the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). Skip related content
The Speaker of the Commons announced this afternoon that Professor Sir Ian Kennedy will be appointed chair designate.
His appointment will need to be confirmed by parliament and the Queen.
The Speaker, John Bercow, told MPs that under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 the choice fell to him to select a candidate.
He said that Professor Kennedy was chosen following an open competition carried out by an independent panel.
Kennedy will be paid a salary of up to £100,000 per annum.
Mr Speaker said he has a "distinguished record" of serving on public bodies.
"We are fortunate to have such an eminent candidate for this important post," he said.
"Sir Ian was chairman of the Healthcare Commission from its creation until 2009, and he is well known as the chairman of the public inquiry into paediatric cardiac surgery at Bristol Royal infirmary."
Mr Speaker said Ipsa is charged with establishing "a new and wholly independent system governing MPs' allowances that can command the confidence of the public and of this House, and I am confident that Sir Ian will bring significant leadership skills to that task".
Kennedy is Emeritus Professor of Health Law, Ethics and Policy at University College London.
An academic lawyer, for the past few decades he has lectured on the ethics of medicine.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.
