Public appointment: members appointed to Scottish Housing Regulator Board

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Ms Robison, today announced the appointment of Marieke Dwarshuis and Lindsay Paterson as Members of the Board of the Scottish Housing Regulator.

Members

Marieke Dwarshuis graduated in Law from Utrecht University in The Netherlands, and her career in Scotland spans 30 years in the public and voluntary sector in a wide range of roles. She was Director of Consumer Focus Scotland, and a member of the team that established the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. She has held positions in the Scottish Government, where amongst other things she worked on Access to Justice issues, prior to which she was Depute Director at Shelter Scotland. She started her career in Scotland at Citizens Advice Scotland. Marieke was a member of the board of Hillcrest Housing Association for a number of years.

Lindsay Paterson is a practising Scottish solicitor who has spent her career assisting vulnerable people with various aspects of social welfare law. Lindsay is currently the Head of the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s Civil Legal Assistance (CLAO) in Edinburgh where, as well as being responsible for managing the day to day operations of the Edinburgh office, she advises and represents tenants and those experiencing homelessness with various aspects of housing law. Prior to moving to Edinburgh, Lindsay worked for CLAO in Inverness where her role involved travelling throughout the Highlands and Islands to assist and represent people with civil legal problems – again with a particular focus on housing law.

Appointment

The appointments will be for four years and will run from 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2025.

The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Remuneration

The appointments are part-time and attracts a remuneration of £179.78 for a time commitment of one day per week.

Other ministerial appointments

Marieke Dwarshuis is a Member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board for which she receives remuneration of £238 per day, for a time commitment of 3.5 days per month, a Member of Food Standards Scotland for which she receives remuneration of £207 per day, for a time commitment of 4 days per month and a Member of NHS 24 for which she receives remuneration of £8,842 per annum, for a time commitment of one day per week.

Lindsay Paterson does not hold any other public appointments.

Political activity

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.

Marieke Dwarshuis and Lindsay Paterson have had no political activity in the last five years.

Background

The Scottish Housing Regulator are the independent regulator of Registered Social Landlord and local authority housing services in Scotland. They were established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. 

Their statutory objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of:

• around 600,000 tenants who live in homes provided by social landlords
• over 120,000 owners who received services from social landlords
• around 40,000 people and their families who experience homelessness and seek help from local authorities
• around 2,000 Gypsy/Travellers who can use official sites provided by social landlords

Find out more via the Scottish Housing Regulator website.