About the role
Panels hear evidence and make decisions about a worker’s fitness to practise. Applicants should have a genuine interest in ensuring our regulated workforce is fit to practise and that people who use social services are protected. You must be an independent thinker who is confident working together with panel colleagues to make decisions on what can be complex issues. You must have a strong sense of fairness, integrity and professionalism and an ability to deal sensitively with the confidential matters before them.
You should be aware of trauma informed practice and in particular the Trauma Informed Justice Framework.
To apply for this role, you do not need experience in regulatory or panel work as we will provide full training.
Our hearings
Hearings are usually held online or at our offices in Dundee. Hearings may be held in other locations throughout Scotland occasionally. Lay members will be paid a daily rate of £175 plus reasonable travel expenses. You will be entitled to holiday pay and to enrolment in and contributions to a pension scheme.
The main type of hearings are Temporary Order hearings and impairment hearings. Temporary Order hearings are generally one to two days long and we will give you three to five weeks' notice. Impairment hearings are on average five to six days long, with two to three months' notice.
Availability
You should indicate in your application whether you would be able to sit on Temporary Order hearings, impairment hearings or both. Successful applicants will not be restricted in the type of hearing they can sit on. The availability of successful applicants will influence the number of members we appoint from this recruitment.
The overall time commitment varies depending on the number of hearings and the number and availability of members. Lay and social service members need to be available for 20 days each year. The appointment is for a period of three years with a potential for extension for up to a further four years.
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, in particular Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and from those with a disability. We also hope to expand the age range of our pool of panel members and encourage applications from younger people. It is important that our panels are as diverse as the workforce we regulate.
Find out more
If you have any questions about the role please email panelmemberrecruitment@sssc.uk.com.
How to apply
Please complete the application form and the equalities monitoring form and send these to panelmemberrecruitment@sssc.uk.com.
Lay Member documents
Lay Member person specification
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 21 February 2024 at midnight.
Interviews and assessments will take place between 11 and 26 March 2024. Interviews will take place in person at our office in Dundee. Assessments will take place online.
Mandatory training dates are 23, 24 and 25 April 2024 inclusive. Training will take place at our office in Dundee.
