Four appointed to Complaints Commission

Four new members of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission have been revealed by Justice Secretary Michael Matheson.

Kay Springham QC, solicitor Denise Loney, chartered surveyor and adjudicator Sara Hesp, and casework manager Sarah Mcluckie join the SLCC board for a five year term from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.

Kay Springham was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1999 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in September 2016. She has a wideranging civil practice with a particular interest in equality and human rights.

Denise Loney, a director with Optima Legal (Scotland) Ltd, also has a civil litigstion background. She has served as a member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board and of a Law Society of Scotland client relations subcommittee. She is also a part time tutor of the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow.

Sara Hesp was a principal valuer in the Valuation Office Agency until 2002, since when she worked across Scotland as an independent adjudicator, resolving disputes between landlords and tenants, a community councillor, a director and company secretary of a community development trust and director of her local village association. She is also a member of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber).

Sarah Mcluckie has a wide variety of experience in the field of investigation, inspection and scrutiny, particularly in complaints management. She currently works as the operations manager for the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, where she leads the casework team.

SLCC chair Bill Brackenridge commented: “Our new board members join us at a interesting time in the SLCC’s history – we are in the first year of a bold four year strategy, there are some very important legal debates around how complaints should be handled and there is a very real possibility of a review of the legislation which founded us. We became a 50:50 by 2020 partner last year and these appointments contribute further to the growing representation of women on public boards in Scotland, and in the SLCC in particular.

“I would also like to thank the four board members who reached the end of their terms with the SLCC at the end of last year for the contribution they’ve made.”

The four retiring board members are George Clark, Ian Gibson, Ian Leitch and Samantha Jones.

The appointments are part time and attract a day rate of £212 for a time commitment of two days per month.