Public appointment: Members appointed to the Revenue Scotland Board

The Minister for Public Finance announced the appointments of Alison MacDonald and Gillian Wheeler as Members of the Revenue Scotland Board.

Members

Alison MacDonald is a Chartered Banker with a financial services background. She has held senior leadership roles in Lloyds Banking Group, most recently as Chief Controls Officer - Insurance, Pensions & Investments.

Alison has significant experience in risk, governance and the oversight and delivery of strategic change which will support the work of Revenue Scotland.

Alison also has a non-executive focus on sustainability, innovation as well as social  and financial inclusion. She is currently a Trustee of Lar Housing Trust and Chair of climate change charity, Verture, having also spent a number of years on the boards of the Bank of Scotland Foundation and risk consortium ORIC International. Alison was also a member of the Professional Standards Committee of Chartered Banker Professional Standards Board.

Gillian Wheeler is an experienced senior executive, international tax lawyer and mediator. Gillian began her career at a law firm, Slaughter and May, where she specialised in UK tax and duties.  She was then Head of UK Tax at a large multinational group involving working at a global level over a range of business sectors, and most recently was a tax partner at the professional services firm PwC.

Gillian has extensive expertise in corporate governance, risk management, accounts scrutiny, finance and organisational change including experience gained from being a director of a number of UK companies.   

Gillian brings a combination of legal and practical tax experience from her broad industry background (property, healthcare, renewable energy, oil & gas, aviation, banking, finance, insurance and entertainment) with particular emphasis on implementation of new tax rules, working with tax authorities and establishing processes for taxpayer compliance.  

Gillian is also a qualified mediator and is currently mediating on a voluntary basis in Scotland.  

Appointment

These appointments will be for 3 years and will run from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2028.

These appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

These appointments are part-time and attracts a remuneration of £304.60 per day for every 7.5 hours devoted to performing their functions on a pro rata basis.

Other ministerial appointments

Alison MacDonald and Gillian Wheeler do not hold any other 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.   

Alison MacDonald and Gillian Wheeler have had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

Revenue Scotland is Scotland’s first tax authority since the Act of Union in 1707. Following Devolution in 1999, The Scotland Act 2012 gave the Scottish Parliament powers to administer two Scottish taxes; Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT). These taxes came into effect on 1 April 2015, replacing their UK equivalents (Stamp Duty Land Tax and UK Landfill Tax respectively).

Revenue Scotland was established as a Non-Ministerial Office (NMO) on 1 January 2015. It is independent of the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers and is accountable instead to the Scottish Parliament.

The organisation has a Board with seven members, a Chief Executive and a Senior Leadership Team. The Board is responsible for determining the overall vision, strategic aims and objectives of Revenue Scotland, in accordance with their statutory duties and within the framework agreed with Scottish Ministers.  It also oversees the delivery of planned results by monitoring performance against agreed strategic aims, objectives and targets.