University of Strathclyde honours Alexis Jay for contribution to child protection

A leading UK child protection expert has been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Strathclyde.

Alexis Jay OBE, independent chair of the Strathclyde-based Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS), received the degree of Doctor of the University at a ceremony in the Barony Hall this morning.

Ms Jay, previously Chief Social Work Adviser to the Scottish Government, has more than 30 years’ experience of working in local government with, and on behalf of, disadvantaged people and their communities. She led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, authoring the resulting report published in August 2014.

Ms Jay, already a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde, said: “I am delighted to receive this recognition from the University, and look forward to continuing to champion a challenging agenda to improve the lives of looked-after children.

CELCIS Director Jennifer Davidson said: “Alexis demonstrated immense courage and humanity in the way she conducted and reported on the traumatic and brutal experiences of young people in Rotherham who experienced child sexual exploitation.

“She is an influential and respected expert in the field of social work and social policy throughout Scotland, the UK and Europe. Alexis is passionately commitment to improving services for vulnerable people, ensuring she is both ideally-placed to play a leading role with CELCIS and a fitting recipient of her honorary degree.

“Strathclyde’s recognition of Alexis reinforces the University’s strategic leadership in the area of children’s services improvement, social justice and inequalities, and will draw further attention to the need for the effective implementation of evidence-informed interventions to protect children.”

In 2005, Ms Jay was invited by the then Scottish Executive to lead the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA), a government organisation scrutinising all aspects of social services provided by local authorities.

She served as Chief Executive and Chief Social Work Inspector until the functions of SWIA and the Care Commission were taken over by the Care Inspectorate in 2011. She then remained as Chief Social Work Adviser until early 2013.

Ms Jay was previously President of ADSW (now Social Work Scotland), and Director of Social Work and Housing in West Dunbartonshire Council from 2000 to 2005. She was appointed an OBE in 2012 for services to children and families, and took up her CELCIS post in 2013.