13th January 1998

The Scottish Legal Aid Board welcomes today's announcement by the Secretary of State that Mrs Jean Couper is to be appointed Chairman, with effect from 1 April 1998.

Jean Couper has been a member of the Board since 1 April 1994 and has served on the Audit, Business and Information Systems Committees as well as a number of working groups. She will succeed Christine Davis CBE who has been Chairman since 1991. Jean will be the third Chairman of the Board since its inception in 1987.

Jean will be chairing the Board, an independent body responsible for the administration of legal aid in Scotland, at a time of exciting new developments in criminal legal aid.

The Board will have new responsibilities for the registration of solicitors offering criminal legal assistance and will be opening a Public Defence Solicitors' Office, on a pilot basis, in Edinburgh in October.

Jean Couper held several production management roles in engineering and textile companies before entering management consultancy with Arthur Young and later Price Waterhouse. She set up Catalyst Consulting in 1995 to manage business development programmes and advise clients on business improvement through organisational change, skill sets, information technology and re-engineering. Jean is also a Non-Executive Director of the Health Education Board for Scotland. She is married with two children.

Notes to editors