Public appointments: lay member reappointed to Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland

Reappointment of lay member on the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, Keith Brown MSP, today announced the reappointment of Neelam Bakshi as a Lay Member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.

Lay member

Neelam Bakshi brings to the Board over 30 years of public and third sector experience across health, local and Scottish Government, equality commissions and public broadcasting. She has experience in strategic, operational and governance roles including as the first BME woman councillor elected in Scotland in Europe’s then largest local authority, Board Member and Committee Chair in several organisations. Her professional background includes management training consultancy, research and stakeholder engagement, human resources focusing on coaching, recruitment and selection, equality and diversity and she is a Certified Trainer of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) who is also trained in a variety of complementary therapies. She currently holds the following roles: non-legal member of the Employment Tribunal (from 1992) and Disability Qualified Member of the First Tier Social Entitlement Chamber (from 2017), and Court Member of University of Strathclyde (from 2021),as well as Public Appointments Adviser with the Ethical Standards Commissioner (from 2015), supporting code compliance, quality, and fair practice and processes. Neelam brings her professional and personal lived experience of diversity and inequalities to every role along with strong analysis, communication and interpersonal skills, and experience of governance gained in different areas including finance, audit and risk, education, community and economic development, and clinical and staff governance. She works to ensure people, transparency, and fairness & justice are at the centre of board thinking, along with good governance, stewardship, public accountability, and collegiate working to achieve fair, robust, and quality processes and outcomes.

Reappointment

This reappointment will be for one year and runs from 1 August 2021 to 31 January 2024. This reappointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

This reappointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £296 per day for a time commitment of up to 40 days per annum.

Other ministerial appointments

Ms Bakshi is a Lay Member of the Employment Tribunal, for which she receives remuneration of £194.86 per day, for a time commitment of 2.5 days per month. She is also a Disability Qualified Member of the 1st Tier Social Entitlement Chamber, for which she receives remuneration of £214.34 per day for a time commitment of 2.5 days per month.

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. Ms Bakshi has had no political activity within the last five years.

Background

The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland is an independent advisory public body with the role of recommending individuals for appointment to judicial offices within the Board’s remit including judge of the Court of Session, sheriff principal, sheriff and summary sheriff.