Lord John McFall has joined the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) as a public interest member.

Lord McFall is a member of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee. Before being made a peer in 2010 he served as member of the parliament (MP) for Dumbarton and then West Dunbartonshire.

During his time as MP he chaired the House of Commons Treasury Committee and was a member of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, as well as the Workplace Retirement Income Commission.

A spokesman for ICAS told The Accountant that Lord McFall’s role is primarily to scrutinise the profession and the institute’s work in the public interest, an obligation required by ICAS royal charter.

Lord McFall said previous roles of his political career, in particular the chairmanship of the House of Commons Treasury Committee, involved enhancing "deeper recognition of the interests of wider society".

"I look forward to developing these themes, amongst others, in my new role on ICAS," he said.

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ICAS chief executive Anton Colella noted Lord McFall’s contribution is aimed at having a significant impact on the institute’s work not just in the UK but abroad, where ICAS has more than 3,000 members.

Future presidency
Earlier in the week Sir Brian Souter stood up as ICAS vice-president sole nominee in the run-up to the ICAS Council election to be held 24 April.

Souter’s nomination means that, if elected, he will become first in line for ICAS presidency in April 2017, after the tenures of current deputy president Jim Pettigrew and vice-president Ken McHattie.

Souter is the chairman and co-founder of Stagecoach Group, a global transport company with a market capitalisation of nearly £2bn ($2.9bn).