Public appointment: Members appointed to the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP, today announced the appointment of Rachel Birch, Kate Samuels, Simon Whyte, Diana Winfield and Andrew Witty as Members of the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland. 

Members 

Rachel Birch is a consultant and current interim Charity CEO from rural Moray, with almost two decades’ experience working for and with disabled people. For the past decade, her work has been in the Third Sector and Social Care, with a focus on autism and mental health, including work with charities and Disabled People’s Organisations across Scotland’s mainland and island communities. Rachel was diagnosed autistic as a child and received NHS diagnoses of ADHD and CPTSD as an adult. She currently holds a Blue Badge, which has enabled her to access essential services, appointments, public spaces and infrastructure since becoming physically disabled in 2024. She is committed to creating sustainable, inclusive change and brings extensive experience in good governance and advising on national policy and legislation, gained through Trustee, Director, advisory panel, and committee roles. 

Kate Samuels is a policy professional focusing on strategic leadership and human rights in the public and third sector. Her interests include bringing lived experience into policy decisions and in democratic education. Her studies have focussed on Scottish Politics, Career Guidance and Data Driven Leadership and she previously worked in policy at Generations Working Together, Cycling Scotland and Sustrans, focusing on intergenerational practice, climate and equalities. Kate was a vice-Chair of Healthy Air Scotland. 

Simon Whyte brings over 20 years of experience in education within the Additional Support Needs sector and is a committed advocate for disabled young people. Throughout his career he has championed inclusion, accessibility, equality, and meaningful participation, working to remove barriers and ensure disabled young people can fully engage in education, employment and community life. 

Diana Winfield lives in the Shetland Islands and has direct experience of transport issues in a rural, Scottish community. She has been involved with access advice and advocacy for over 10 years, supporting individuals with transport issues and confidential advocacy. She has also inputted into organisations and groups in both Shetland and on mainland Scotland, to enable access and changes to happen in transport and transport related infrastructure. Her disability affects her mobility and cognitive processing which affects communication, information processing and cognitive visual processing.  Diana considers that this gives her a broad lived experience and understanding of disability transport issues and has helped when others are sharing their stories with her. Diana is an elected member of Lerwick Community Council. 

Andrew Witty has a child with complex additional support needs and through this lived experience and those of the networks he connects into, he understands the challenges around living in an area with limited services and public transport links. He uses his lived experience and advocacy skills to highlight the challenges and bring suggestions and solutions to work towards a system that is joined up, easy to navigate and works for all. He currently works as the Director of Strategic Policy for a membership organisation as well as serving as the Unpaid Carer representative on his local Health and Social Care Partnership’s Integrated Joint Board.  He is also a Member of the Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme Advisory Board. 

Appointments 

The appointments are for four years. Rachel Birch, Kate Samuels and Simon Whyte will be appointed from 16 February 2026 until 15 February 2030 with Diana Winfield and Andrew Witty appointed from 1 April 2026 until 31 March 2030. 

The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner. 

Remuneration and time commitment 

The Member appointments currently attract remuneration of £178.92 per day although this will increase to £190.92 per day from 1 April 2026.  The time commitment is 18 days per year. 

Other Ministerial appointments 

Simon Whyte is a Member of the Board of the Independent Living Fund Scotland and receives £208.00 per day for a time commitment of one to two days per month. 

Rachel Birch, Kate Samuels, Diana Winfield and Andrew Witty do not hold any other Ministerial public appointments. 

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. 

Kate Samuels stood as a council candidate in the Glasgow City Council elections in May 2022. She has also supported other candidates on behalf of Scottish Green Party. 

Rachel Birch, Simon Whyte, Diana Winfield and Andrew Witty have had no political activity within the last five years. 

Background 

The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) was established in 2002 and is an advisory non-departmental public body. The founding legislation requires the Convener of the Committee and at least 50% of Members be disabled persons. 

The Convener and Members are appointed by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport. MACS was formally constituted under Section 72 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. 

The Committee has two statutory functions: 

• to consider such matters relating to the needs of disabled people in connection with transport as the Committee think appropriate; and  
• to give advice to the Scottish Ministers in relation to such matters as the Committee think appropriate. 

MACS overarching strategic remits are to: 

• give Scottish Ministers advice on aspects of policy, legislation, and practice affecting the travel needs disabled people have; 
• take account of the broad views and lived experiences of disabled people when giving advice; 
• encourage awareness amongst disabled people in Scotland of developments which affects their mobility, choices, and opportunities; 
• work closely with Transport Scotland and Scottish Government to ensure their respective work programme complements the work being undertaken by the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Committee (IMTAC), the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), the Equality and Human Rights Commission and other organisations - voluntary and statutory; 
• promote the travel needs of disabled people with designers including transport planners and operators so that these are fully considered in the development of vehicles, infrastructure, and delivery of services; 
• monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their work against the above aims and objectives in improving travel opportunities for disabled people in Scotland.