Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Quangocrats : Ex-Law Society President McAllister & Ex-Civil Service Chief Muir Russell reappointed to Judicial Appointments Board on £290 a day

The merry go round of quango appointments is certainly alive & kicking under the SNP minority Scottish Government with the announcement today of the reappointment for a further three years of lucrative taxpayer funded jobs with expenses & jollies attached for a former Law Society President, Martin McAllister and the former Permanent Secretary for the Scottish Government (Chief of the civil service in Scotland), Sir Muir Russell to the Judicial Appointments Board.

For those of you having to face the massive public service cuts, reduced pensions, higher taxes or even unemployment, spare a thought for Mr McAllister & Sir Muir Russell who will both be on the nice little earner of £290 per day a for a time commitment of 20 to 30 days per year.(Yes, we are all in this together ! – Ed)

Sir Muir Russell chaired an inquiry into into allegations that leading academics at the University of East Anglia manipulated data on global warming. The ‘results’ of that ‘inquiry’ can be found HERE. (Guess what, the University did no wrong ! - Ed)

While Sir Muir Russell holds no other public appointments currently, Mr McAllister is also a part-time Convenor of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland with a remuneration of £430 per day.

Mr McAllister is however, more remembered for being caught in the scandal over former Law Society Chief Executive Douglas Mill’s secret claims fixing memos, as covered by one of our own reporters, Peter Cherbi, HERE

The announcement from the Scottish Government :

Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland

22/03/2011

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice today announced the reappointments of Sir Muir Russell as the Chairing Member, and Mr Martin McAllister as a member to the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.

Sir Muir Russell was first appointed as Chairing Member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland on October 1, 2008 for a three year period. His background is as a civil servant and he held a number of posts before being appointed Permanent Secretary at the Scottish Office in 1998. He was Principal of the University of Glasgow from 2003 until his retiral in 2009. He is a Vice Chair of Governors of the Glasgow School of Art, the Chairman of the Dunedin Concert Trust, a Member of the Board of the Moredun Research Institute, the Chairman of the Council of the Hannah Research Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

This reappointment will run for a further three years from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2014.

He is an experienced chair who demonstrates particular strengths in building relationships both internally and with external partners.

This post is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £17,500 per annum for a time commitment of 20 to 30 days per year.

He has no other public appointments.

Mr McAllister was first appointed as a legal member on September 1, 2008 for a three year period. He is a partner with Taylor and Henderson Solicitors. He is a former President of the Law Society of Scotland and has convened several of its Committees including Legal Aid, Professional Practice and Professional Conduct. Mr McAllister is currently a part-time tutor at the University of Strathclyde and a part-time Convenor of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.

As a practicing Solicitor and former President of the Law Society he brings valuable experience of the largest element of the legal profession in Scotland.

This reappointment will run for a further three years from September 1, 2011 to August 31, 2014.

This post is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £290 per day a for a time commitment of 20 to 30 days per year.

Mr McAllister is also a part-time Convenor of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland with a remuneration of £430 per day.

The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland was established by Ministers in 2002, and it became an independent advisory non-departmental public body on June 1, 2009. The Board has statutory responsibilities under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) act 2008. The Board's role is to make recommendations to Ministers for appointment to the office of judge, sheriff principal, sheriff, and part-time sheriff as well as other judicial offices set out in the Act.

These Ministerial public appointments were made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland's Code of Practice.

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 within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. There is no political activity to be declared.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent article. I read the links and Sir Muir Russell's career can be summarized as one disaterous appointment after another.

Clearly the allocation of these jobs depend upon who you know, not what.