Fatal Accident Inquiries: Ministerial Accountability Board

Overview

This board was set up to oversee and drive delivery of the recommendations and commitments made following the Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of Katie Allan and William Lindsay (also known as William Brown) at HMPYOI Polmont, which determined that their deaths were preventable. Additional recommendations from the FAI into Jack McKenzie's death were also later incorporated into the scope of the board.

The board was announced on 30 April 2025 and ran until the end of March 2026. It was intended to be temporary while work progressed to develop a new and fully independent National Oversight Mechanism for broader oversight across deaths in custody. The board concluded its work with the publication of its final report on 24 March 2026.

The board helped make sure that:

• the necessary reforms are delivered at pace and to agreed standards
• those responsible for delivering the reforms are held to account
• promises made by the government, Scottish Prison Service and others are kept
• progress is tracked and problems are solved
• the right improvements are made to keep people safe

Discussions at the board took place within the context of its role to scrutinise progress, drawing on the professional experience and expertise of its members. These views do not necessarily represent the position of the Scottish Government.

Read the Cabinet Secretary’s updates to the Criminal Justice Committee: 

• December update
• May update
• March update

Related groups

• Justice: 2025 Fatal Accident Inquiry Review
• Deaths in Prison Custody Action Group

Members

• Sam Gluckstein, Head of the UK National Preventive Mechanism
• Professor Sarah Armstrong, Professor of Criminology at University of Glasgow, SCCJR researcher and co-author of ‘Nothing to See Here’
• Phil Wheatley CB, British prison officer, formerly the Director General of the National Offender Management Service and before that, the Director General of HM Prison Service
• Professor Nancy Loucks OBE, Chief Executive of Families Outside and co-chair of the Independent Review into Deaths in Prison Custody, Chair to the DiPC Family Reference Group
• Nicky Brown, Head of Service at PDSO (Public Defence Solicitors Office)
• Dr Sarah Couper, Public Health Scotland, lead consultant for mental health

The board is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs.

Publications