Commissioners

Peter Mackay CB, Chairman

Appointed 1 November 2007 to 31 October 2010
Peter Mackay was Head of the former Scottish Office Industry Department until his retirement in 1995, and has a degree in Economics and Geography. Since retirement, he has held a range of posts including as member of the Competition Commission and as board member of Scottish Natural Heritage. Mr Mackay is currently a Commissioner of the Northern Lighthouses (since 1999 including Chair between 2005 and 2007), Vice Chair of the Scottish Rights of Way Society (since 1999) and Chair of the Pacific Horizon Investment Trust.

Brian Wilson OBE, Deputy Chairman

Appointed 1 October 1999. Reappointed October 2003 to 31 May 2008
Brian Wilson spent 29 years in local government service prior to retirement in 1998 as Depute Chief Executive of The Highland Council. Previously he had been Chief Executive of Inverness District Council for 17 years and Secretary of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Scotland) for 9 years. He was also an adviser to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities from 1982 to 1995. He is Chairman of the Ness Fishery Conservation Trust.

Brian D Clark MBE

Appointed 1 November 2007 to 31 October 2010
Brian Clark is a Professor of Environmental Management and Planning at Aberdeen University. Whilst now semi-retired he continues to contribute to the MSc in Sustainable Rural Development. From 1999 to 2007 he was a Board Member of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and Chair of the North Regional Board of SEPA. He is a member of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CORWM), Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and since 2005 a Governor of the Macaulay Institute. His professional interests are in urban and rural planning, environmental management, and sustainability analysis. He conducts consultancy on these topics, mainly on training and capacity building, mostly outwith Scotland.

Kenneth McDonald

Appointed 24 May 2004 to 23 May 2008
As a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Kenneth McDonald served for almost 30 years in Local Government prior to retirement in 1999. He has experience with a variety of Councils and areas including Ross and Cromarty, Northumberland, Falkirk, Central Region and most recently Stirling Council where he was Service Manager and had a lead role in preparing for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. In addition to his staffing and budget management roles, he has wide experience in the planning functions with an emphasis on environment, countryside and rural development issues working in partnership with public agencies and community groups. Since retiring from local authority work he has undertaken various short term consultancy contracts. He also serves as a Commissioner on the Boundary Commission for Scotland.

Richard Millham

Appointed 24 May 2004 to 23 May 2008
Richard has had a career in Further Education and Training in Aberdeen, Essex, Cheshire, Lothian and North Lanarkshire, embracing teaching and lecturing, management and governance roles. He is a geographer, with substantial experience in business management and strategic planning at chief executive and Board levels. As Principal at Motherwell College, he successfully managed the transition from local authority control to incorporated college status and piloted a range of community-focused and enterprise-orientated approaches to education and training, based on local authority and commercial partnerships. He has experience of international consultancy in support of economic development issues in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. He is a member of the British Waterways Scotland Advisory Group.

Paula Sharp

Appointed 1 November 2007 to 31 October 2010
Paula Sharp is a qualified accountant who worked in local government for over 13 years. She then became a management consultant and is now self-employed. Since 1994 her firm, Paula Gilder Consulting, has worked across the public sector in Scotland, specialising in local authority services, funding and corporate governance. Since local government reorganisation in 1996, Paula has done consultancy work in more than half of Scottish Councils as well as having worked on local government related topics for the Scottish Government, Audit Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Between 1995 and 2005 she was a Member of the Board of Link Homes and its successor, LinkLiving. Between 2005 and 2007 she was Chair of Turning Point Scotland, a voluntary organisation which provides a range of services for people with complex social care needs across Scotland. She remains a Director of Turning Point Scotland and of its subsidiary, Turning Point Scotland Services Limited.

Register of Interests

The Commission maintains a Register of Interests of Commissioners. The Register, together with the Code of Practice for Commissioners which describes the content of the Register, is available from the Publications section of this website.

Appointments

The Commission comprises a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and up to four further Commissioners who are appointed by Scottish Ministers, following Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (OCPAS) guidance. Appointments are normally made for 3 or 4 years, with the possibility of renewal. Commissioners receive a per diem remuneration, plus expenses. It is usual for vacant posts to be advertised in the national press and be subject to a process of selection and interview by a panel. The final appointment is made by Scottish Ministers.

Secretary

The work of the Commission is supported by a small Secretariat which is headed by the Secretary, Hugh Buchanan.

Hugh Buchanan has spent his career in mapping and geographic information, including policy and technical roles. Hugh joined the Commission after being External Relations Manager in Scotland for Ordnance Survey from 2001 until 2007. His previous posts included user support for web services at EDINA, part of the Computing Service of the University of Edinburgh, and as a lecturer in what is now the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the University of Newcastle, undertaking a variety a professional, research and teaching activities. Hugh is a Chartered Surveyor, has a PhD in geographic data handling and a mathematics degree.