There is never a dull day at Registers of Scotland (RoS), but we had a particularly exciting new chapter open before us at the start of April, as we welcomed Jennifer Henderson as the new Keeper of the Registers of Scotland.
Jennifer succeeds Sheenagh Adams (the first female keeper), who held the post since 2009. Sheenagh’s tenure witnessed some of the most dynamic changes in the history of the Registers, and it culminated in a historic landmark year. In 2017, we rolled out the Digital Discharge Service, won acknowledgment for our Development Plan Approval service from Homes for Scotland, and launched ScotLIS, Scotland’s Land Information Service – this all took place as we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the sasine register. We’re maintaining that momentum as 2018 continues to gather pace, and Jennifer has hit the ground running.
She has been with the Civil Service since 1994, and most recently has been on a six-month loan as a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. While there she developed the department’s business plan, and previously supported the initial phase of the Building Safety Programme established in response to the fire at Grenfell Tower.
In her first weeks as keeper, she has been focussed on meeting as many members of staff as possible, and gaining a thorough understanding of different aspects of the business, including registrations and ScotLIS. She’s met with key partners in the Scottish Government, discussing ways that RoS can continue to support the Scottish economy and contribute to the National Framework, as well as attending internal meetings to discuss our key priorities.
Our recently published Corporate Plan reiterates our commitment to completing the Land Register by 2024, promoting ScotLIS as the platform of choice for land and property information, becoming a fully digital business by 2020, and running an agile and sustainable business, where our capable and empowered people anticipate and respond to our customers’ needs. These four key objectives have been the driver behind the new keeper’s first month, and will underpin her activities over the coming months.
In her personal life, Jennifer has a personal goal of visiting all of the inhabited islands around the UK. In her role as keeper, she is being no less ambitious. She aims to get out and about, with the intention of meeting as many of our external customers, stakeholders, and partners as possible. The forthcoming Royal Highland Show, and the Law Society’s ‘It’s the Law’ Conference are just two of the high-profile events already inked into her diary. Partnership working, listening to feedback, and developing and delivering services that directly address customer requirements are central to the way that we do business at RoS, and Jennifer is keen to hear what you have to say.
