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About Us
Our board
Above from left to right:
Lesley Smith, Sivasankaran Sashidharan, Nigel Henderson, Jan Killeen, Paul Dumbleton, Elaine Noad (with Becky), Graham Forbes, Norman Dunning.
Our board was established in 2011. Its role is to govern and set the strategic direction for the Commission. Board members will have no role in relation to visits / investigations.
The Commission also has service users, carers, professionals and others with knowledge and experience of mental health services working with Commission staff as Commission Visitors, to assist with carrying out the Commission's visiting and investigations functions.
The role of the Board is to ensure the efficient, effective and accountable governance of the Commission and provide strategic leadership and direction. The appointment of a new Board in 2011 stems from the changes made to the structure and functions of the Commission under the Public Services (Scotland) Act 2010.
These Ministerial public appointments were made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland's Code of Practice. Read more about our Board members.
Register of Interests - Board Members
Our chair
Our chair, The Very Revd Dr Graham Forbes CBE., is Provost of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. He took up post on the 1st April 2011.
After degrees in Russian and theology, Dr Forbes was ordained in 1977 and since then he has combined his ecclesiastical duties with various public appointments, mostly in the areas of health or criminal justice. He served on the General Medical Council for 12 years, chaired the Scottish Executive Expert Group on MMR, and was a non-executive board member of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
A former HM Lay Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland, member of the Parole Board, and chair of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission which referred the case of Mr Al-Megrahi back to the Appeal Court, Dr Forbes also chaired the UK body during last year's swine 'flu pandemic which advised the UK government on ethical issues during the pandemic. He was awarded the CBE in 2004 for public service in Scotland.
Board Minutes
Use links below to see the latest approved minutes from our Board.
2012
Minutes from January 2012
Minutes from March 2012
2011
Minutes from April 2011
Minutes from May 2011
Minutes from June 2011
Minutes from August 2011
Minutes from October 2011
Minutes from December 2011
Our board