Tam Baillie (born 1957) is a Scottish youth worker and policy manager who served as

Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People The Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland is a post in Scotland whose main task is to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people. The position, equivalent to the Children's Ombudsman agencies of many other countrie ...

between 2009–2017.

Early life and education

Baillie was born in 1957 in

Lennoxtown Lennoxtown ( gd, Baile na Leamhnachd, ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland at the foot of the Campsie Fells, which are just to the north. The town had a population of 4,094 at the 201 ...

, Scotland. He was educated at the Queen Mary Primary, Glasgow; then

Linwood High School Linwood High School is a non-denominational comprehensive state secondary school in Linwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The original school building was constructed in 1965 and demolished in 2006 for a new school to be constructed on the same si ...

, and

John Neilson High School Castlehead High School is a non-denominational, mixed state secondary school in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. It was opened in 1971. In 1989, John Neilson High School (founded as the John Neilson Institution in 1852) merged into Castlehead ...

, Paisley. He graduated from the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

with a BA in psychology.

Early career

In the mid-1970s, Baillie began work in a community library in Ibrox as part of a job creation programme. He later worked with social services in Nottingham and Liverpool, with a role attempting to provide young people with alternatives to custody. In 1986 he was the manager of "Stopover", a direct access hostel for young people in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He managed "The Big Step", a social inclusion project in Glasgow.

Policy work

Baillie worked as the Director of Policy for

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

from 2003 to 2009, having been the assistant director before this.

Commissioner

Bailie's nomination for

was approved by

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

on 22 April 2009, after an interview process which included children and young people as well as Members of the Scottish Parliament. In September 2010, he launched "The Right Blether", a consultation to gather views, ideas and advice from youngsters to inform a national vote in November. Around 74,000 school-age children and young people took part in the national vote. The following year Baillie launched another consultation "A Right Wee Blether" intended to allow very young children to express ideas. A row developed over caricatures of Baillie that had been commissioned at the cost of £4,000 as part of a website redevelopment. There were also internal HR problems at the Commissioner's office when Baillie took over that took several months to deal with. These issues led to multiple enquiries by journalists and politicians under

Freedom of Information legislation Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfa ...

. After an initial two-year term, a

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) is a body of the Scottish Parliament responsible for the administration of the parliament. It also has a role in provision of services to commissioners and other statutory appointments made by the ...

panel interviewed Baillie in January 2011 and also gave consideration to letters and to press coverage. On 10 February 2011 he was reappointed for a second term, to serve until May 2017. A further consultation exercise, "A Baby Blether", asking parents to express views on behalf of their children aged up to two years, was launched before Baillie's second term finished.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baillie, Tam Living people 1957 births Children and Young People's Commissioners in Scotland Scottish civil servants People from Lennoxtown People educated at Linwood High School Alumni of the University of Strathclyde