Press Releases

Appointments to Standards Commission for Scotland

10/02/2005

The Chief Investigating Officer and the Convener have both been reappointed to the Standards Commission for Scotland, it was announced today. Two new members have been appointed, and two existing members reappointed to the Commission.

The Chief Investigating Officer is D Stuart Allan who was Head of Law and Administration, Fife Council for 13 years and has been a solicitor for 31 years. He had represented the Council at courts, tribunals and public inquiries. He has also worked with a wide range of public bodies such as Scottish Enterprise, the former Water Authorities, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

This reappointment will be for 3 years and will run from 18 January 2005 to 17 January 2008.

This post is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £ 31289 for a time commitment of 2 and 1/2 days per week.

The Convener and Member is Professor Lorne D Crerar, Solicitor, LLB (Hons), N.P., FCIBS. He is one of the founding partners of Harper Macleod Solicitors and is the Managing Partner of the firm and the Senior Banking Law Partner. Professor Crerar is the current Chair of Banking Law at the University of Glasgow, a post which he has held since 1997. He is Chairman of one of the three groups of the Government Housing Improvement Task Force and also chairs the Discipline Panels for Scottish Rugby Union, European Rugby Cup Limited and Six Nations. He is a non-Executive Director for the Scottish Executive with responsibility for the Justice Department. His book "The Law of Banking in Scotland", was published in 1997 with the second edition due in 2005.

This reappointment will be for 18 months and will run from 18 January 2005 to 17 July 2006.

This post is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £9746 for a time commitment of 3 days per month.

The two new members are:

John Dowson was first elected as a councillor to Nithsdale District Council in 1988 and was subsequently elected to Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council and then to the unitary authority of Dumfries and Galloway Council. Mr Dowson was the Leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council when he retired from political office in 1999. He has also served on the boards of many public bodies including tourist boards and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. He is currently a Co-ordinator for Dumfries and Galloway Coalition of Disabled Peoples and the South of Scotland Co-ordinator for Scottish Civic Forum. He is also a member with Loreburn Housing Association, the Independent Advisory Committee at Tulliallan Police College, Dumfries and Galloway Multicultural Association and is Vice Chairman of Loreburn Community Council. Mr Dowson is an artist and designer by profession and has traded as an antique and fine art dealer for over 20 years in Dumfries.

Okain McLennan works as a caseworker in the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association. He retired from the Civil Service in 2000, having worked in various capacities in the Benefits Agency Security Branch, Employment Service, Manpower Services Commission and HM Customs and Excise. Mr McLennan is a current Community Council member and is Chairman of the newly created Fortrose, Avoch and Rosemarkie Youth Café.

The two reappointments are:

Wendy Goldstraw, who has been a member of the Standards Commission since January 2002. She serves on the Governing Body of the Scottish Crop Research Institute, is a management committee member of Haddington Citizens Advice Bureau and a member of the Rotary Club in Edinburgh. Mrs Goldstraw joined the Post Office in 1971 and held various roles at middle and senior level within finance, human resources and general management. In 1993, she was appointed Regional Manager of Post Office Counters Limited (Scotland and Northern Ireland) from which she retired in February 2000. Mrs Goldstraw is a former director of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, served on the Scottish Committee for the Institute of Directors and was a Member of the Accounts Commission for Scotland.

Albert Tait OBE has been a member of the Standards Commission since January 2002. He is a qualified accountant and has over 30 years experience at senior management level in local government. His various roles involved regular contact with Councillors, Ministers and Members of Parliament. Mr Tait retired as Chief Executive of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) in January 2000. In his present role as a consultant he is currently fulfilling the duties of Director of Finance and Housing at Orkney Islands Council.

These appointments will be for 3 years and will run from 18 January 2005 to 17 January 2008.

These posts are part-time and attract a remuneration of £5194 for a time commitment of 2 days per month.

Scottish Ministers demonstrated their commitment to maintaining the highest standards of conduct in public life by proposing early legislation on this in the first Scottish Parliament. The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 provided an ethical standards framework for those active in public life in Scotland. A corner-stone of this framework are Codes of Conduct for all local authority councillors and members of devolved public bodies in Scotland. These Codes are based on the principles of public life that the Nolan Committee had set out in 1997 - such as integrity, openness and honesty.

The legislation established, as part of this framework, the Standards Commission for Scotland. The Commission is an independent body which considers complaints about the behaviour of councillors and members of devolved public bodies, and to hold hearings into alleged breaches of the Codes. Where a breach is found, the Commission can impose sanctions ranging from censure, through suspension for up to 1 year, right up to disqualification for up to 5 years.

This Ministerial public appointment was made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. No political activity has been declared by these appointees.

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