Seven new members named for SLCC board

Seven new board members for the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission have today been announced by the Minister for Community Safety, Ash Denham. 

Three lawyer members and four lay members have each been appointed for five year terms. Three joined the board from 1 April 2021, replacing Amanda Pringle, Emma Hutton and Michelle Hynd who have completed their terms, and the other four will take up their positions on 1 January 2022.

Members who joined on 1 April 2021 are:

• Professor June Andrews OBE, FRCN, a psychiatric and general registered nurse, a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute, and a Senior Associate of the Good Governance Institute, was a director in NHS Forth Valley and led a review of complaints processes there, and has also led an inquiry into complaints about hospital care of older people for the Welsh Government;
• Niki Maclean, director at the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman since 2010 after working there from 2005, has a previous background as a senior HR professional, and more recently has led the development of industry wide service standards across the UK and Irish Ombudsman communities;
• Frank Gill, director of Corporate & Legal Services at Castle Craig Hospital near Peebles, who has experience in different types of legal practice from high street to global firm, with a background in civil litigation and a particular interest in professional discipline and regulation, being also chair of the Disciplinary Appointments Committee of ICAS.

Members joining on 1 January 2022 are:

Gerard Sinclair, who retires in September as chief executive and principal solicitor of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission after serving for 18 years, and was previously senior partner in his own Glasgow law firm;

Richard McMeeken, a partner at Morton Fraser LLP specialising in commercial litigation, who has 18 years' experience acting for the public and private sector in dispute resolution;

Susan Walsh OBE, a former college principal who has served on many national boards and recently co-authored the NHS Governance Framework which is now used across Scotland;

John Stevenson, who as part of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman's Leadership team, he headed its improvement standards and engagement functions, and previously as head of the Complaints Standards Authority led on the design and introduction of new legislative functions in relation to complaints handling.

Welcoming the appointments, SLCC chair Jim Martin commented: "As well as driving the strategic direction of the SLCC's work, board members make decisions on individual complaints, making this a unique, varied, challenging and rewarding role. Our new board members join us at an interesting time in the SLCC's history. Like many organisations, we are responding to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our work, our staff and our customers. The debate on reform of legal regulation continues and how complaints should be handled is at the very heart of that. I welcome June, Frank and Niki to the SLCC and look forward to working with them on these issues over the coming years. 

"I would also like to thank Amanda, Emma and Michelle for the significant contribution they've made to the work of the SLCC over the past five years, and wish them every success for the future. During their time with the SLCC, we have made substantial improvements to our ways of working, including significantly reducing the journey time for a complaint and modernising our approach to making adjudications. They can be proud of the impact this has and will continue to have on complainers and lawyers alike."