Children's Services' Caroline retires

After 28 years of dedicated service, Caroline McCorkindale from Children's Services retired on Thursday 30 April.

In her role as Senior Business Support Officer, Caroline led on the administration of our fostering and adoption panels. Her expertise, professionalism, and unwavering commitment made a lasting contribution to the service and to the children and families we support.

Children's Services' Lisa Shine said: "Caroline is truly loved and valued by everyone in Children’s Services, not only for her exceptional work but also for her kindness, support and positive spirit. She will be greatly missed by colleagues old and new. We wish Caroline every happiness, good health, and fulfilment in her well‑earned retirement."

Team profile: Emergency Planning and Resilience

Keeping the organisation prepared for the unexpected is the role of our Emergency Planning and Resilience (EPR) team.

Led by Scott Kennedy, the team has grown from a two-person Emergency Planning function into a broader resilience service covering business continuity, risk management, events and community resilience. Working closely with partner agencies, they ensure contingency plans are in place, exercised and ready to be put into action when needed.

Scott said: “We have a statutory duty to ensure we effectively respond to any emergency or disruption which involves working with our partner agencies including the emergency services, SEPA, Met Office, utility providers and the voluntary sector amongst others.”

He joined the Emergency Planning team in 2009 and was promoted to team leader in 2023.

“One of the areas of work I get the greatest satisfaction from is the work we do with our community groups which includes community councils, sports hubs, area partnerships and various other local groups… It’s great to see our communities become more resilient as they are key to response in large scale incidents as they have shown during ‘Beast from the East’ and COVID.”

A team built on experience

The team brings together decades of frontline experience across the armed forces, emergency services, and specialist resilience roles.

Jon Fleetwood, Emergency Planning and Events Officer, joined the council in 2021 following a career in the Army and more than 30 years in policing. He now plays a key role in overseeing safety at public events across the county.

“I chair the Multi-Agency Safety Advisory Group, which oversees safety standards for all the county’s public events. It’s a role that brings together a lot of different partners to make sure events are safe and well managed.”

From local events to major international fixtures like the Genesis Scottish Open, Jon’s work ensures that large-scale events run smoothly and safely.

Steven Bosworth, Emergency Planning and Risk Officer, is one of the team’s newest members, joining in 2026 after nearly 30 years with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

“My role is about working with services to make sure risk registers are up to date and to ensure community readiness through planning and exercising.”

Steven is already embracing the shift into local government, focusing on strengthening relationships across services and communities.

“I’m excited about becoming an effective team member and building strong working relationships, both internally and externally.”

Lee Wright, Emergency Planning and Resilience Officer, joined in 2023 and brings experience from both the British Red Cross and the nuclear sector.

“I support our wider emergency planning responsibilities, helping prepare for and respond to incidents such as extreme weather, mass evacuations and a broad range of other emergencies.”

Lee also leads on business continuity, working closely with services to ensure critical functions can continue during disruption.

“I’m particularly excited about continuing to strengthen the council’s preparedness and resilience… making sure we’re well placed to protect our communities when it matters most.”

Preparing for the unexpected

No two days are the same for the team. Their work ranges from developing and exercising emergency plans to supporting major events and responding to real-time incidents.

Last year, the team dealt with a fire at Eskmills Industrial Estate which required a multi-agency response, with road closures and communications being put in place. Our EPR team hosted meetings to ensure all agencies were working together and communications were coordinated.

Another example of their coordinating role happened in November 2024 when emergency gas repairs resulted in St Gabriel’s School being evacuated, closed and the children being relocated for several weeks. The EPR team worked with Scottish Gas Networks, Education and several other council services via an Incident Response Group to ensure joint working and the relocation of school staff and children, with as little disruption as possible, according to the school's business continuity plan - whilst keeping all those affected updated via joint communications and responding to any queries from parents and teachers.  A debrief of this incident was completed afterwards to ensure any learning was captured.

Currently the team is working on various resilience/preparedness projects including counter terrorism work with Police Scotland.

Whether it’s severe weather, large-scale events like the above, or unexpected disruptions, the team works behind the scenes to make sure our organisation - as well as the wider community - is ready and prepared for the unexpected.

Congratulations Caroline!

Congratulations to Caroline Messer, our Team Manager for Libraries and Customer Services, who has made the shortlist of three in the running for Scotland's Library and Information Professional of the Year 2026.

What's even more special for Caroline is she has been nominated by her peers for the CILIPS (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland) award. Each year, members nominate colleagues from across the sector to be shortlisted. CILIPS said: "Caroline’s collaborative and constructive style of leadership has supported her team to strengthen community engagement, expand access to a diverse range of services, and ensure that their libraries remain welcoming, inclusive, and responsive spaces for all. From supporting early years literacy through family learning cafes to championing digital inclusion, making partnership working possible across the wider community, and developing targeted outreach for isolated or vulnerable residents, Caroline’s approach is described by colleagues as ‘kind and empathetic’, grounded in a ‘commitment to equitable access’."

Caroline told us: "I’m thrilled to have been nominated by colleagues in the sector, and the shortlisting recognises how hard the wider Libraries and Customer Services team work to support their local communities and schools."

Eamon John, our Head of Communities and Partnerships, said: "I'm absolutely delighted to see the recognition for Caroline from her professional sector and wish her the very best in the final three. Whatever happens it is excellent and well deserved recognition – well done and good luck Caroline!"

The winner will be announced at the CILIPS conference on Monday 1 June.