OCPAS is supported by a group of experienced OCPAS Assessors who play a key role in every appointment. OCPAS Assessors are part of the team which identifies suitable people for appointment. They provide assurance that the processes used to select individuals comply with the Commissioner’s code of practice.

Tom was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in May 2008.

In a local government career spanning over 33 years Tom has worked with a number of local authorities across Scotland in a range of positions. He qualified as a CIPFA accountant with Strathclyde Regional Council in 1977 before moving onto senior officer appointments in Strathkelvin and Glasgow Councils. Tom also served as Director of Finance and Management Services with East Kilbride District Council before being appointed Director of Financial Services with South Ayrshire Council in 1995. He was thereafter promoted to Chief Executive in December 2003 and remained in that position until his retirement in late November 2007.

Tom holds a Master of Arts degree from Glasgow University gained in 1974. He has also served as Chair of a number of bodies including CIPFA Scotland and the Burns Festival Company as well as being a past member of the Homecoming Scotland advisory board.

Ann was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in July 2006.

Since leaving her post as Head of Policy at the Highland Council, Ann has been studying part time for a Masters in Business Administration and building her own policy and research consultancy, Clark Consulting. Prior to joining the Council in 1998 she worked for many years in the voluntary sector, using her law degree as Legal Services Adviser at Citizens Advice Scotland and then moving into management positions at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland and Highland Community Care Forum.

Ann is currently a member of the Scottish Consumer Council and represents SCC on the UK Chemicals Stakeholder Forum. She has held a wide range of positions in voluntary and public organisations including as a past board member of Scottish Homes and Social Investment Scotland, and as a member of SCVO’s policy committee, the Commission on the Future of the Voluntary Sector, the New Deal Task Force, the Community Planning Task Force and the Cities Review.

Jennifer is one of a new intake of assessors appointed in May 2008.

After a career spent in human resource management, Jennifer established her own consultancy, People and Work Limited, in 2002. One of her core activities is assessment, and her experience covers all functions from shop floor to Chief Executives in both the public and private sectors. She also designs and delivers assessment centres for selection and personal development and has coached and mentored senior executives through her career.

Prior to moving into consultancy, Jennifer was European Human Resources Director for a FT100 healthcare company. She was an Executive member of the European Board and accountable for all human resources activity within the European region. She also worked for a leading Executive Search company in Edinburgh as Director of Boardroom Development, providing a broad range of HR services to Boards and senior teams.

Jennifer was an Employment Tribunal lay member from 1996 – 1999, and a Board member of the Scottish Arts Council from 2003 - 2007. At the Arts Council, she chaired the Audit Committee, as well as providing HR advice and support.

Annette was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in July 2006.

 

She has spent most of her working life in human resource management working for, and with, a variety of private, public and voluntary sector organisations. As a young graduate she joined an established manufacturer in Glasgow as a personnel officer. After a career break devoted to bringing up her two children, she then held senior human resource management and development roles in two FTSE 100 companies. After a career of some 15 years as an employee, in 2002 Annette formed her own successful, independent HR consultancy offering practical help and support to businesses of all sizes and sectors.

Annette’s business ethos is built around adding value to organisations by helping them realise the full potential of their people and also upon her own sense of integrity and commitment to excellence. She is a graduate of the University of Strathclyde and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Jinny was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in July 2006.

As a career civil servant, she worked in every Department of the Scottish Office/Scottish Executive, including two of its largest Executive Agencies, Historic Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service, where she was Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs.

In early 2006 she accepted an appointment as a Director of Human Rights Scotland, which works to support the Scottish people in the development of a human rights culture through education, information sharing and training.
She holds an honours degree in English and American literature, and a postgraduate degree in social and public policy, both from Edinburgh University.

Ali was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in May 2008.

Ali has worked across the public, private and voluntary sectors. She spent the early part of her career in marketing and human resources for a number of international FTSE100 companies working globally on strategy development, organisational change management and diversity.

More recently Ali has been both Director of the Commission for Racial Equality and of Stonewall in Scotland. In each of these roles she has worked with grass-roots community interests and with Government and other public bodies on issues as wide-ranging as law reform, health, education, housing, social justice, enterprise and employment. Through these roles she has both chaired and sat on numerous Scottish and UK Government taskforces and working groups as well as holding governance roles in the voluntary sector.

Ali also works as a freelance consultant and coach specialising in leadership, strategic change management, public engagement and equality. She has recently worked with the British Council in Peru and Brazil building expertise in LGBT and gender equality and regularly collaborates with a number of academic institutions on research and policy development around equalities issues.

Robin has been an OCPAS Assessor in Scotland since 2002.

He is currently Senior Partner of robin jordan associates, Management and Human Resource Consultants, prior to which he held senior HR management appointments in Scotland within both the private and public sector.

Robin was Chairman of the Executive Board of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development until 30 April 2009. He is Independent Chairman of the Nominations Committee of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He is also a Chartered Companion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Institute of Business Consulting.

Paul has been an OCPAS Assessor since January 2002.

Paul is the Equality & Diversity Co-ordinator for Strathclyde Police, a newly-created post in the Force Inspectorate, monitoring and overseeing the ongoing implementation of equality and diversity policies/issues across the Force.

Paul previously worked for Strathclyde Regional Council’s Personnel Department and Chief Executive’s Department (Race Equality Unit). Prior to this he worked in the voluntary sector for the Scottish Refugee Council and Student Community Action National Council.

Paul has undertaken Equality and Diversity training & consultancy work for various organisations, in both the public and private sectors. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has a degree in Celtic Languages, Literature, History & Antiquities from Edinburgh University, and a Diploma in Hindi Proficiency from the Central Institute of Hindi, India.

Irene was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in July 2006.

 

She has had a varied career in the Civil Service working for a number of different central government departments. She has specialised in the areas of Internal Audit and Corporate Governance and after holding a number of different internal audit posts she was appointed as the Head of Internal Audit for one of Government’s largest Executive Agencies.

Although born in Scotland, Irene was living and working in England and she has now returned to live in her native Fife. Irene is a member of the Board of Governors of The Adam Smith College, Fife and Chair of its Audit Committee. When not attending audit committees and other board meetings she can be found on the St Andrews Links golf courses.

Elaine was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in October 2006.

 

She has spent most of her career to date in local government – working with a number of authorities across Scotland but most recently as the Director of Social Work, Housing and Health with South Ayrshire Council. Between 2004 and 2006 she was on secondment to the Scottish Executive and contributed to the Efficient Government and Public Service Reform agenda. She now works as an independent management consultant. She was the Commissioner for Scotland for the Disability Rights Commission until the end of September 2007 (as of 1 October 2007 the three equality commissions merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission), a Trustee for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and a board member of the Parole Board for Scotland.

Jan was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in July 2006.

 

She spent 20 years working in the public sector in the Scottish Office / Executive and the Cabinet Office in the education, economic, local government and rural areas. She was a board member of Food from Britain and was head of a number of divisions that sponsored NDPBs. In the Cabinet Office Jan advised on the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

She has also been chief executive of and accountable officer for a body that received £5m public funding per annum and now runs her own business advising private companies and public organisations.

Jan is a member of the Institute of Directors and is a tutor for the IOD’s Scottish Director Development Centre specialising in advising public sector and not for profit businesses in corporate governance and improving board performance.

Bill joined OCPAS as an assessor in May 2008.

His career in the public sector commenced in the Post Office where, following spells in Finance and Operational Management, he was appointed Assistant Head Postmaster Ayr. Subsequent roles included Head of Human Resources in Scotland & N Ireland for both the Parcelforce and Post Office Counters Businesses

In 2000 Bill joined Remploy, a Non-Departmental Public Body employing people with a wide range of disabilities. Under their banner he authored an employers’ guide to the DDA entitled ‘‘Positive Employment – a Practical Guide to the DDA.” He also worked closely with trade unions in the development of a joint diversity policy.

Bill joined the Scottish Police Service in 2005, initially as Head of Learning with Northern Constabulary, and latterly as HR Business Partner with the Scottish Police Services Authority. While with the former, he led the project which resulted in Investors in People accreditation.

In addition to being a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Bill is also a Life Coach, and is registered as a Mentor with the Scottish Leadership Foundation.

Alec was appointed as an OCPAS Assessor in July 2006.

He retired from the Scottish Prison Service in March 2006, having been Governor of a number of prisons before being appointed to the SPS board as Director of Rehabilitation and Care in 2001.

Alec studied for a BA Honours in Law and Politics at Keele University, and subsequently gained a post-graduate MA in Criminology. He has published a book about working with sex offenders. In July 2005 he was appointed an Honorary Professor in the Department of Applied Social Science, Stirling University.

A proponent of effective interventions to address offending behaviour, Alec was appointed as Chair of the Scottish Accreditation Panel for Offender Programmes in April 2006. He was also a member of the National Support Team, established to support change in the offender management system, up until Ocotber 2007.

He was co-founder and Chair of the Scottish Forum on Prison and Families (1990-2000), now Families Outside. He is a Director and Vice Chairman of Includem, a Scottish Charity bridging the gap between childcare and youth justice.