Paul Cackette is a former Director of Legal Services and former Chief Planning Reporter in the Scottish Government. Before retiring in January 2021, he was the Scottish Government Director of PPE and Director, Outbreak Management during the Covid pandemic. He was awarded a CBE in 2021.
At present he is a Visiting Professor of Public Law at Strathclyde University and is a part-time self-employed planning reporter. He was appointed in 2022 as an independent external reviewer in relation to a review of systems and procedures in the Irish Planning system (An Bord Pleanala). That work was completed in December 2022. Paul sits on the Planning sub-committee of the Law Society.
After joining the Government Legal Service in 1988, Paul led reform of the civil justice system for the government between 2003 and 2008 while working in the Justice Directorate. He was then appointed as Legal Secretary to the Lord Advocate and in 2009 became Deputy Solicitor to the Scottish Government. He was a member of the Project Board for the construction of the Queensferry Crossing. He is committed to broadening diversity in the judiciary and was the Scottish Government Disability Champion up until 2016.