Four new appointments to Scottish Police Authority board

Grant Macrae, Matt Smith and Caroline Stuart join the board from 1 April. The start date for Robert Hayes is to be confirmed.

Mr Macrae has a background in public sector accounting, accountability, audit and risk. For many years he was appointed by the Accounts Commission and Audit Scotland to audit a wide range of local and central government bodies, several of which operated with substantial risk profile over multi-sites.

Mr Smith is a member of the Employment Appeal Tribunal; the Central Arbitration Committee; the ICAS Regulation Board and the Investigations Committee of CIPFA. He served as a JP for 30 years and has just completed two terms as a member of the Scottish Standards Commission. He will complete his term, this summer, as a part-time commissioner with the Scottish Human Rights Commission.

Ms Stuart is a technology and business studies graduate who initially worked in the City of London where she trained as an investment analyst. She managed three companies before moving into business consultancy and then joining Oracle as an industry advisor for sixteen years and is now an independent consultant. She chairs Tech Partnership Scotland and sits on numerous boards and committees including The Data Lab, the Scottish government’s Strategic Group on Work and Women and the Scottish government’s Digital Scotland Business Excellence Board.

Mr Hayes is an acknowledged expert in cybersecurity, crisis management and strategic risk assessment; he is also an authority on policy and regulatory issues between government and industry in the internet, communications and computing sector.

Justice Secretary for Michael Matheson said: “I am pleased to announce these appointments. The new members bring knowledge and experience which will strengthen and extend the range of skills on the SPA Board.

“Their knowledge and experience will fit well with emerging challenges and the new and changing demands on policing.”