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Scottish Ministers are looking to appoint Panel Members to Redress Scotland, whose role is to make decisions (also known as ‘determinations’) about applications for redress as defined by the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 (the Act). Panel Members must live the values of respect, dignity and compassion and put these at the heart of their work.

The Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 (the Act), legislated for the establishment of a financial redress scheme. The scheme provides tangible recognition of the harm caused to survivors who were abused while a child and resident in relevant care settings in Scotland before 1 December 2004. The Act also established a new public body, Redress Scotland.

Redress Scotland is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB). It considers and makes determinations about applications for redress from survivors of historical abuse in care or, where eligible, their next of kin.

Scotland’s Redress Scheme is run jointly by the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland. Case workers in the Scottish Government support and communicate directly with applicants throughout the process of applying for redress. The Scottish Government also provides other business and administrative support but is not involved in making determinations about applications for redress.

The members of Redress Scotland, who are appointed by Scottish Ministers, are known collectively as the Corporate Body. The majority of members are appointed to make determinations about applications for redress and are known as ‘panel members’. Other members have been appointed specifically to provide scrutiny and oversight of corporate governance functions and they are known as ‘non-executive members’.

The Corporate Body has established the following governance committees:

As a Panel Member, you will:

For more specific details of the requirements for the role, please see the ‘person specification’ which forms part of the Applicant Information Pack.

The Corporate Body, of which all appointed members are part, is ultimately responsible for the good governance of Redress Scotland and meets on an annual basis to review. The Corporate Body has delegated ongoing governance tasks to the Oversight Board and ARAC, and some members may also be asked to support these committees or other governance activities, in support of the Chair. Further information can be found in the Redress Scotland Rules of Procedure Rules-of-Procedure-Final.pdf (redress.scot)

Essential Criteria
1. A track record of delivering evidence based decision making
2. Working effectively with others
3. Excellent communication skills
4. Expertise in one or more relevant fields such as emotional and psychological trauma, law, social work, health or other relevant fields

Skills and Experience Required
Panel Members are required to develop a good understanding of, and be closely guided by the legislation and statutory guidance, including the assessment framework, in order to ensure that the assessment of survivors’ experiences and decisions, are made in a fair, transparent and consistent way.

Panel Members are expected to assess applications for redress in a holistic way, using discretion and taking survivors’ individual circumstances into consideration, in order to form balanced judgements. Panel Members work constructively with each other and therefore must be able to clearly articulate, verbally and in writing, the reasoning behind their decisions.

Redress Scotland carries out sensitive, challenging and often emotionally charged work that will involve detailed consideration of supporting information and survivors’ own accounts of the abuse they suffered while in care. Panel Members should therefore have the personal resilience to cope with this level of information, as well as an understanding of and personal commitment to embed trauma informed principles in their work. They should also be committed to acknowledging and being informed by the human rights approach which has underpinned key areas of work in seeking justice and remedies for survivors of historical child abuse.

This work reaches across sectors and institutions including central and local government, health, justice, care providers and third sector organisations. We therefore welcome applications from candidates with a relevant background and experience. Individuals with an understanding of the Scottish care system and child development or specialist knowledge of complex trauma, are particularly encouraged to apply. We are committed to supporting diversity across the panel member group and having a range of different perspectives assists Redress Scotland to deliver robust and well informed decisions.

Remuneration and Expenses
The appointment attracts a gross daily rate of £390, payable for each day devoted to performing the functions as required or requested by Redress Scotland. The appointment is non-pensionable.

Travel and subsistence costs, as well as reasonable receipted dependant carer and childcare expenses, incurred in relation to Redress Scotland’s work, will be reimbursed.

Appointment Details
Scotland’s Redress Scheme is scheduled to end in December 2026, therefore the appointment will be for a period of up to three and a half years, ending on 31 December 2026. If the scheme is extended by Scottish Ministers, there is a possibility of reappointment, subject to evidence of effective performance and having regard to the skills, knowledge and experience required for the role at the time. Reappointments are subject to Ministerial approval.

Time Commitment
While workload will vary dependant on the volume of applications, candidates must be able to commit to a minimum of 12 sitting panels per year and complete any mandatory training. We estimate that this will require a time commitment of at least 38 days per year.

Location
Redress Scotland is a digital public body and has no office base. Most of Redress Scotland’s work is carried out remotely, however some ‘in person’ meetings will be required at times, in order to carry out the full range of member activities. This includes some meetings of the governance committees.

To be held in July/August 2023.

For full details, please download the Applicant Information Pack.

You can find out more about Redress Scotland at www.redress.scot where you will also find some key documents under the ‘resources’ and ‘reports’ tabs on the website.

Applicants for public appointments must be legally entitled to work in the UK. Please see the applicant information pack below for further details.

Sponsorship - Redress Scotland Panel Member Application Information Pack - 2023 update

If you would like to discuss the work of Redress Scotland in more detail, please send contact details to [email protected] and we can arrange an informal chat with a senior member of Redress Scotland.

Please click on the ‘Apply for this job’ online link at the top right hand side of the advert. As part of the application process, you will be required to provide the following:

Completed applications must be received on or before Wednesday 17th May 2023.

Equalities Monitoring Form - Panel Member - April 2023

Conflict of Interest Form

Accessibility to public appointments is a fundamental requirement and the public appointments process promotes, demonstrates and upholds equality of opportunity for all applicants.

The Scottish Government will always consider disability related reasonable adjustments that an applicant might request to enable them to demonstrate their merit and participate fully in the selection process. If you require any of the application pack documentation in an alternative format, please contact the Redress Scotland Sponsorship Team by email at [email protected].

Scottish Ministers particularly welcome applications from people that are currently under-represented on Scotland’s public bodies, such as women, disabled people, LGBTI+ people, people from ethnic minority communities and people aged under 50.