Gender Representation on Public Boards: Report 2021

Introduction

This is Scottish Ministers' first report to the Scottish Parliament on the operation of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 (henceforth referred to as "the 2018 Act"), in accordance with the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 (Reports) Regulations 2020 (henceforth referred to as "the 2020 Regulations").

In order to provide an overview of the operation of the 2018 Act, we have considered all available individual reports for the 133 boards listed in the 2018 Act, published by appointing persons and public authorities in accordance with the 2020 Regulations. The Scottish Government has not received data from 9 of the 133 Boards. Therefore this report is based on the remaining 124 Boards' reports and the percentages are calculated using this baseline figure.

In the following chapter we provide an overview of the operation of the 2018 Act in relation to the gender representation objective; vacancies; appointments; the steps taken to encourage applications from women; and other steps taken with a view to achieving the gender representation objective. This report and the Scottish Ministers' report in their role as an Appointing Person, under regulation 2 will be published in January 2022.

It should be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic began just two months before this new legislation on gender representation on public boards came into force, and that the pandemic continued throughout the period covered in this report. Indeed, it is still a very present public health concern at the time of writing this report. It may therefore be the case that public bodies who have not yet met the gender representation objective were hampered in their efforts by challenges posed by responding to the pandemic.

However, the pandemic highlighted the damaging effects of inequality in our society, making it more critical than ever for efforts to advance equality to be prioritised across the public sector. The Scottish Government would urge Boards to incorporate considerations re: improving Board diversity into their COVID-19 recovery plans. High performing boards help drive effective public bodies and continuous improvement in public services. Diverse boards are more likely to be better able to understand their stakeholders and to benefit from fresh perspectives, new ideas, vigorous challenge and broad experience, all of which are needed as we recover from the pandemic and move forward.