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Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration
22/07/2008
Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram, today announced the appointment of Malcolm Dickson to the board of the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration.
His appointment, which is part-time and will run from today until July 20, 2012, carries a time commitment of one and a half days a month and currently attracts remuneration of £4,500 a year.
Malcolm Dickson, who was Assistant Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland from 2006 until earlier this month, has spent much of his 30-year career in the public sector initiating and developing effective working links and projects with local authority and senior government officials. He recently directed an inspection which involved consulting with the SCRA, the Children's Commissioner and Association of Directors of Social Work on the police detention of children.
Prior to his role within HMIC, he served in a number of operational and functional command posts within Lothian and Borders Police before becoming Assistant Chief Constable and then Deputy Chief Constable of the force between 2000 and 2006. Much of his work in the national arena during that time was centred on providing better services to victims and other members of the public, and helping to promote better integration of the various aspects of the criminal justice system.
He was a key player in the recent creation of the Scottish Police Services Authority and the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland. He was also a member of the reference group for Lord Bonomy's High Court review between 2002 and 2004, the Advisory Group to Ministers on Drug and Alcohol Misuse, and the Licensing Reform Advisory Group in 2005.
As announced earlier this year, a national single agency is being developed to oversee the children's hearings system and provide a more integrated child-focussed approach to the delivery of services for children and young people.
SCRA - the non-department body responsible for taking decisions on children and young people referred to the children's reporter - plays a key part in that system. It is based in Stirling and manages more than 500 staff in 42 offices across Scotland.
SCRA operates within a framework agreed with Scottish Ministers to facilitate the work of children's reporters, deploy and manage staff to carry out that work and provide suitable accommodation for children's hearings. It plays a vital role in helping children's reporters provide the best possible outcomes for children and young people referred to the panel on care and protection and/or offence grounds.
Malcolm Dickson holds no other public appointments. This Ministerial public appointment was made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland's Code of Practice.
All appointments and re-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. Malcolm Dickson has not been involved in any political activity.