Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone

Barbara Scott Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, (born 8 April 1948) is a Scottish Labour member of the House of Lords. She was created a life peer on 4 November 1997 as Baroness Young of Old Scone, of Old Scone in Perth and Kinross.

Young was educated at Perth Academy, from where she went to the University of Edinburgh to read Classics and Business Studies.

As Vice-chair of the Council for the Institute of Health Management, Young carried out much of the work on the development of a “Policy Plan for the Institute – Priorities and Objectives”. She was appointed president in 1987, the first woman to hold the position.

In 1997 Young was appointed as Vice Chair of the BBC, standing down in November 2000 after two and a half years.

Young is currently chair of the Woodland Trust. She joined the Trust's Board in January 2016 and became chair on 9 June 2016.

She was the Chief Executive of health charity Diabetes UK, a position she took up on 1 November 2010 until September 2015. Her resignation was noted in an early day motion tabled 9 September 2015: "under Baroness Young's leadership, Diabetes UK has succeeded in putting diabetes treatment and care high on the healthcare agenda of the UK, including a key role in the National Diabetes Prevention Programme".

Before joining Diabetes UK, Young was involved in the establishment of the Care Quality Commission (CQC)s. Then Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced the appointment of Baroness Young as chair of the organisation on 15 April 2008. She stood down in 2010. The announcement followed an independent recruitment exercise conducted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission and a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing. by the Health Select Committee, which subsequently endorsed Young for appointment as the CQC chair. She held this position until 1 February 2010. On 21 October 2010, Young became the Chief Executive of the health charity, Diabetes UK. Baroness Young resigned from Diabetes UK in 2015 and took up the Presidency of the Royal Veterinary College in 2019.

Prior to taking up the post of chair of the CQC, Young was the chief executive of the Environment Agency (2000 – May 2008), an appointment which led to her becoming a non-affiliated member in the House of Lords; previously she had taken the Labour whip. Other posts she has held include chair of English Nature; vice chairman of the BBC; board member of AWG plc; Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and of a number of local health authorities, including from 1985 Parkside Health Authority (abolished in 1993).

Honours
Young was created a life peer in 1997 and has been awarded honorary degrees by the Universities of Stirling (1995), St. Andrews (2000) and Aberdeen (2000), and received an Honorary Doctorate in Science From Anglia Ruskin University. In 2010, Young was appointed Chancellor of Cranfield University, standing down in 2020, and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017.

In 2003 Young sat for a portrait with artist Nicola Kurtz, which is held by the National Gallery.