Public appointment: lay member appointed to Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

The Minister for Community Safety, Ash Regan MSP, today announced the appointment of Jean Grier as a Lay Member of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

Lay member

Jean Grier has spent much of her career in university administration. In her last role before retirement from the University of Edinburgh she was Head of Investigations and Student Casework. Jean is now able to spend more time on related professional interests, many of them in the broad area of dispute resolution. She has sat as a Lay Member on Employment Tribunals since 2005, is an Equality Assessor for the Sheriff Courts in Scotland, and has also served as an Adjudicating Panel Member with the General Teaching Council for Scotland and as a Non-Solicitor Member on the Complaints and Oversight Committee of the Law Society of Scotland. Jean is Vice-President of ENOHE, the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education, and continues to work with a number of universities on policy development, staff training and casework handling, especially in the areas of complaint management, student conduct and academic appeals.  

Appointment

This appointment will be for five years and will run from 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2026.

This appointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration and time commitment

This appointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £218 per day for a time commitment of two days per month.

Other ministerial appointments

Jean Grier is a Lay Member for Employment Tribunals which attracts a remuneration of £194 per day for a time commitment of 24 days per year. 

Political activity 

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.   

Jean Grier has had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body established under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007. It is an independent statutory body which provides a single point of contact for all complaints against Scottish legal practitioners. It investigates and resolves complaints about inadequate professional services; refers conduct complaints to the relevant professional body and has oversight of complaint handling across the professions.