Gender Representation on Public Boards: Report 2021

Terminology used in the 2018 Act

This section explains some of the key terms and concepts in the 2018 Act. Further information on this is available in the Scottish Government's Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 Statutory Guidance. The helpful links section of this report provides a web link to the guidance.

Public board

The gender representation objective applies in relation to the non-executive members of public boards. The 2018 Act defines a public board as:

• if the public authority is a company, the directors;
• if the public authority has a statutory board or other equivalent statutory management body, that board or body;
• in relation to any other public authority, the membership of the authority.

Non-Executive Board member

A Non-Executive member as a position on an authority's public board that is not an excluded position and is not held by an employee of the authority. "Excluded position" is defined by reference to schedule 1 of the 2018 Act which lists the particular excluded positions in relation to each authority.

The gender representation objective

Section 1 of the 2018 Act sets a "gender representation objective" that a board has 50% of non-executive members who are women. Where a board has an odd number of non-executive members, the objective applies as if the board has one fewer non-executive member. If a board has 12 non-executive members, the gender representative objective is met where the board has 6 non-executive members who are women.

If a board has 9 non-executive members, the gender representation objective applies as if the board has one fewer non-executive member – in other words as if the board has 8 non-executive members. Consequently, the gender representation objective is met where the board has 4 non-executive members who are women. The gender representation objective is not a cap. The 2018 Act does not require board non-executive membership to be precisely 50:50 men and women and it does not prevent a board having more than 50% of non-executive members who are women. A board with more than 50% of non-executive members who are women has met the objective.

Public Authority and Appointing Person

The 2018 Act places duties on public authorities and appointing persons to take action to achieve the gender representation objective. For the purposes of the 2018 Act, "public authority" means an authority listed, or within a description listed, in schedule 1.

The "appointing person" is the person who has the function of appointing a Non-Executive member of a public board. In this context, the word "person" may mean the organisation or position which makes the appointment. For many public authorities, the appointing person is "the Scottish Ministers".