Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018: Scottish Ministers' Report to Parliament 2023

Overview of the operation of the 2018 Act

The gender representation objective

3.1 As at 30 April 2022, 83 of 130 listed public authorities (64%) had achieved the gender representation objective, and 47 had not (36%). By 31 December 2022, the number of listed public authorities that had achieved the gender representation objective had increased to 88 of 130 listed public authorities (68%).

3.3 Listed public authorities can be categorised into different groupings. The 130 listed public authorities for which data was reported in the Regulation 2 report, are comprised of:

• 78 regulated public authorities, for whom appointments are made by Scottish Ministers and regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland
• 19 higher education institutions
• 24 colleges
• 4 regional Transport Partnerships
• 5 unregulated public authorities that are not a regional Transport Partnership, higher education institution or college

Regulated Public Authorities

3.4 Of the 78 listed public authorities, for whom appointments are made by Scottish Ministers and regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, 58 (74%) had achieved the gender representation objective at 31 December 2022, up from 57 (73%) at 30 April 2022.

Higher Education Institutions

3.5 Of the 19 higher education institutions, 8 (42%) had achieved the gender representation objective as at 31 December 2022, up from 6 (32%) at 30 April 2022.

Colleges

3.6 Of the 24 colleges, 17 (71%) had achieved the gender representation objective at 31 December 2022, up from 15 (62.5%) at 30 April 2022.

Regional Transport Partnerships

3.7 Of the 4 regional Transport Partnerships for which data was included in the Regulation 2 report, 1 (25%) had achieved the gender representation objective, with no change from 30 April 2022.

3.8 There are 7 regional Transport Partnerships in Scotland, all of which are listed public authorities for the purposes of the 2018 Act. However, there are a number of excluded positions for regional Transport Partnerships listed in Schedule 1 of the 2018 Act, namely Councillor members and members appointed only by virtue of being nominated for membership by a Health Board, Highlands & Islands Enterprise or Scottish Enterprise.

3.9 Three partnerships, Shetland’s Transport Partnership, South-West of Scotland Transport Partnership, and North-East of Scotland Transport Partnership, had no positions on their boards within the scope of the 2018 Act, in other words they had no non-executive members that were not excluded positions.

Other unregulated bodies

3.10 Of the 5 other unregulated authorities, 4 (80%) had achieved the gender representation objective at 31 December 2022, with no change from 30 April 2022.

Vacancies, competitions, and applications

3.11 Between 1 May 2021 and 31 December 2022, a total of 391 vacancies for non-executive members arose, resulting in approximately 165 recruitment competitions and attracting approximately 3,700 applications. In some instances, a single recruitment competition was used to fill more than one vacancy.

3.12 The mean, or average, percentage of applications received from women for an individual recruitment competition, where data was available, was 42.6%. The median percentage of applications received from women for an individual recruitment competition was 41%.

Appointments

3.13 The Regulation 2 report provides some information about appointments, including, in relation to vacancies for non-executive members, whether an appointment was made, and where an appointment was made, if a woman was appointed. However, it has not been possible to aggregate this information for all listed public authorities.

Steps taken to encourage applications from women

3.14 The Regulation 2 report provides information on steps taken by appointing persons and listed public authorities to encourage applications from women. The steps reported are:

• Working with third sector organisations, including Changing the Chemistry, to encourage women to apply for certain appointments.
• Promoting vacancies with individuals, professional networks for women, and organisations representing minority ethnic people, young people and disabled people to generate interest and encourage applications from a more diverse range of candidates.
• Including text in the vacancy advert to encourage applications from women and other under-represented groups.

Other steps taken to achieve the gender representation objective

3.15 The Regulation 2 report provides information on other steps taken with a view to achieving the gender representation objective by 31 December 2022.

Scottish Ministers were reported as having taken the following steps:

• Events and communications targeted at women with the aim of demystifying the public appointments process.
• Using role models/current women board members to speak about their experiences.
• Board shadowing and mentoring opportunities for women, particularly for women interested in Chair roles.

3.16 The following strategic work was reported as having been undertaken to diversify public appointments:

• Outreach and engagement, mentoring and shadowing to encourage applications for public appointments.
• An ongoing improvement programme to drive forward the Scottish Government’s commitment to boards being more reflective of Scottish society.
• Guidance on succession planning, together with a toolkit of resources to help public bodies reach out to, and develop, potential new board members.
• The provision of a programme of workshops to support diverse groups of people, who are under-represented on public boards, to complete high quality applications and prepare for interviews.
• Work to raise the profile of public appointments as an attractive and accessible way to participate in public life.
• The implementation of a corporate induction for new members to support them into their roles: encouraging them to feel part of Scotland’s public service leadership cohort, reinforcing their role in delivering ministerial priorities and encouraging peer support and networking.
• The organisation of peer-learning and networking opportunities for Chairs to help them to create a boardroom culture that harnesses the benefits of board diversity.