New Standards Commission Member appointed

1st May 2018

We are pleased to announce that the Scottish Parliament approved the appointment of a new Member of the Standards Commission, Mr Paul Walker, on 26 April 2018. Mr Walker will commence in post on 7 May 2018.  

Mr Walker is a University of Glasgow history graduate, who has also a MBA degree from Strathclyde University, and re-trained many years later in law, started his career in the civil service and local government. He joined later the respected business organisation CBI Scotland, as an Assistant Director, and, after gaining some commercial experience, went on become the Director General of the UK Fertiliser Manufacturers’ Association, representing widely this highly regulated industry.

In 2000 he returned to Scotland and became a consultant, while also undertaking a series of legal qualifications, and then gaining particular expertise in alternative dispute resolution and the professional/regulatory standards environment.

Now a CEDR Accredited Mediator and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, developing skills which are likely to prove a major asset to the Commission, he also brings relevant experience from his work in judicial and quasi-judicial environments, including as a member of the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s “Fitness to Teach” panel and the Law Society of Scotland's Rules, Waivers and Guidance Sub-Committee.

Mr Walker’s CV has been further enhanced by his 14 years of service with the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) from 1997 to 2011, during which time he rose from Rating to Commissioned Officer.  He served in several RNR Units, as well as in HMS BIRMINGHAM on Armilla Patrol in The Gulf in 1999, when completing his Junior Officer training. His last 8 years' service was spent in Whitehall, in a range of staff appointments.

He still maintains links with the military through his work as a volunteer with the SSAFA, the armed forces charity, and as a member of the Highland Reserve Forces and Cadets Association.