Executive first for ex-Edinburgh housing boss

A FORMER Edinburgh housing official has become the first woman to head a Scottish Executive agency.

Angiolina Foster, 47, has been named as the new chief executive of Communities Scotland, the government agency in charge of housing and regeneration.

The 100,000-a-year post puts her in charge of 500 staff in eight locations around Scotland and a budget this year of 485 million.

Mrs Foster’s career began in local government in Glasgow. She then moved to Edinburgh, where she was senior deputy director and then head of performance services in the city’s housing department.

She joined Communities Scotland as a member of the senior civil service when it was first set up in November 2001.

She was seconded to the Glasgow Housing Association in 2002-3 during the controversial stock transfer process.

But she returned to the agency last summer and has been its acting chief executive since September.

Her appointment - which takes immediate effect - follows an advertised open competition. The selection process was led by an independent Civil Service Commissioner.

Welcoming the appointment, Communities Minister Margaret Curran said: "I am pleased that the agency has a chief executive with Angiolina Foster’s wide experience.

"I know that she has a strong mission to make sure that the agency is successful at national and local level, working effectively with its many partners."