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Queen's Birthday Honours 2008
14/06/2008
A Knighthood has been awarded to Moir Lockhead, Chief Executive, First Group, in today's Queen's Birthday Honours list.
The CBE has been awarded to Richard Calvocoressi, Director of the Henry Moore Foundation, for services to the Arts particularly in Scotland and William George, lately Regius Professor of Surgery, for services to Medicine.
Among those in Scotland to receive an OBE are Ian Gordon for services to the community and to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Don Paterson, poet, for services to literature, Dr Azra Meadows, chartered biologist, for services to UK and International Community Relations, and Alfred Shedden for services to the Voluntary Sector in Scotland.
Recipients of the MBE include Julie Fleeting, Captain of Scotland's Women's Football Team, for services to women's football, James Brown, businessman, for services to Scottish Heritage, the Highland Games and to Charity and Ronald Simison for services to Archaeology and the Tourist Industry in Orkney.
See the full Honours list
In addition, the Queen's Police Medal has been awarded to Robert Ballantyne of Grampian Police and Thomas Halpin of Lothian and Borders Police.
And the Queen's Fire Service Medal has been awarded to James Campbell of Fife Fire and Rescue Service, John Strachan, formerly of Grampian Fire and Resecue, and Paul AQustin, formerly of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue.
Biographies
Robert Ballantyne, 61, joined Grampian Police as a Special Constable in 1981. He worked as a Radiation Safety Officer within the RAF before his retirement and currently runs his own small business.
Widely known and respected in the community, his commitment to making it a safer place is outstanding.
Mr Ballantyne takes part in a number of activities, including presentations on crime reduction to local community groups, mentoring new special constables in the area, proposing new cost effective recruitment methods and regularly providing leadership to young officers on the benefits of community policing.
He has given a great deal of support to young teenagers through teaching them about road safety and how to repair and look after their vehicles.
Mr Ballantyne's knowledge of the local community has been extremely beneficial in terms of crime prevention and detection. He is known for being exceptional, committed, enthusiastic and organised.
Thomas Halpin, 49, joined Strathclyde Police in 1979, where he served as a police constable for four years before becoming a trainee detective constable. Having established a reputation as an excellent investigator, he was seconded to Metropolitan Police Service SO13 Anti- Terrorist Branch for the inquiry into the Lockerbie Air Disaster.
Progressing through the ranks of the police force, his career encompassed operational research and project management and complaints and discipline. When promoted to Head of the Criminal Investigation Department, he was responsible for the management of operations, serious crime squad, fraud squad, crime management and policy and strategy.
Appointed Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police in 2005, Mr Halpin demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of social, economic and political factors that affect policing and proved to be highly effective in developing strategic responses. His leadership and commitment to the Lothian and Borders community led to him gaining the trust and respect of key figures in Government.
Mr Halpin's academic achievements include: the completion of the Strategic Command Course in 2004; the Institute of Directors Certificate in Company Direction; a Bachelor of Arts degree from Open University and a Masters level qualification from the University of Virginia, while he was seconded to the FBI academy. He has also played an important part in many police initiatives including the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland Family Protection portfolio, the Force Business Change Programme Board and in the implementation of a new national Command and Control System.
Mr Halpin's wide-ranging experience, sound business sense and excellent attitude were instrumental in him being appointed Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police in 2006.
James Campbell, 52, joined Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade in 1975. During his early career he served in all departments of the then service and led a number of management teams, including operational response and research and development of intervention initiatives.
Mr Campbell was part of the team that researched, analysed and coordinated information for the Review of Police and Fire Services led by the then Scottish Executive. As a member of Lothian and Borders Brigade's Corporate Management Group, he was responsible for a training and development strategy which led to the introduction of the Integrated Personal Development System.
Showing drive and determination, Mr Campbell identified income opportunities through marketing the Brigade's international training centre, successfully attracting business from the private sector and the Middle East.
Mr Campbell joined Tayside Fire and Rescue Service in 2004 as Assistant Firemaster. His work to help modernise the service was recognised by independent audit reports from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland and Audit Scotland, which identified Tayside as one of Scotland's highest performing services.
Responsible for community safety and risk management, Mr Campbell represented Tayside Fire and Rescue Service on the Tayside Strategic Coordinating Group as chair of the Water Capability Forum. Under his guidance, the Forum developed a multi-agency flood response plan, reflecting lessons learned from the floods in England in 2007. He was also responsible for planning strategies for major public events, including the 'T in the Park' festival and the British Open Golf Championship in Carnoustie.
A committed moderniser, Mr Campbell has driven a number of major pieces of work successfully and demonstrated forward-thinking and a commitment to change.
Mr Campbell was recently appointed Chief Officer of Fife Fire and Rescue Service.
(William) John Strachan, 50, is a Retained Duty System (RDS) officer-in-charge for Grampian Fire and Rescue Service.
As well as running his own successful small business, Mr Strachan is a high performing, dedicated and efficient officer-in-charge of one of the busiest operational fire stations in Grampian.
Working closely with local police colleagues, Mr Strachan has contributed to strategies to reduce road traffic accident casualties. He has a passionate commitment to this work, having attended many multiple fatality incidents on the A90 and elsewhere.
Mr Strachan takes an active role in community road safety work and works with young people in Stonehaven and across the Mearns area in South Aberdeenshire. This includes road safety talks to schoolchildren and classes for the local Air Training Corps. This sterling work was recognised by an award presented to him by the Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire in 2006.
An active and committed member of the RDS Practitioners Forum for many years, he led on the use of an electronic development record system. He volunteers his expertise for a variety of projects, contributing in a highly professional, informed and constructive way.
Mr Strachan recently raised funds for a Grampian team to take part in Operation Florian - a UK fire service humanitarian charity providing equipment and training to improve fire fighting and rescue capabilities worldwide.
A strong, positive role model for other retained officers, Mr Strachan has done a great deal to encourage and develop other officers in Scotland.
Paul Austin, 50, Lately Group Manager, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, has contributed to the modernisation of the Service and has done exceptional voluntary work to support the families of fire fighters who are injured or killed at work.
Mr Austin was heavily involved in moving the Service away from an out-moded organisational structure based on ranks, to turn it into a modern organisation based on roles. He was responsible for the development and successful introduction of the new Station Manager role within Strathclyde.
As Treasurer of the Service's Family Support Trust (formerly Strathclyde Widows and Orphans Fund), Mr Austin carried out an extensive programme of expansion and development. As a direct result of his work to improve accessibility, beneficiaries now include dependants of Retained Duty staff and non-uniformed support staff. Much of this work was done in his own time. He takes particular pride in ensuring that as soon as a member of the Fund dies, their dependants receive immediate financial assistance.
Mr Austin was responsible for introducing an educational trust for the Service's orphans, which provides support and bursaries to help them continue into higher or vocational education.
The construction of a respite centre in Spain was planned and completed with Mr Austin's support. The centre, which opened last year, provides fund beneficiaries and their carers accommodation suited to their needs.
More recently, Mr Austin championed the case of a firefighter who lost an eye as the result of an accident. His support and advice throughout a lengthy assessment process helped ensure the firefighter was ultimately able to return to work in a frontline operational role. This support has received recognition from employee representative bodies as a valuable case study.
Thanks to Mr Austin, the annual income of the Family Support Trust stands at a record level of £130,000, with 85 per cent going directly to beneficiaries. To date, the Fund has assisted thousands of people and is well prepared to assist many more in the future.