National Advisory Council on Women and Girls questions: FOI release

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.


Information requested

You asked: 

1. What was the process for selecting members of the Advisory Council?

2. How many Circle members are there currently? Can you provide a breakdown by sex, age and ethnicity?

3. How many responses have there been to each of the Monthly Spotlight topics since June 2018? Please provide a number for each topic.

4. What has been the cost of each of the large scale meetings (2018: March, June and September, 2019: January, March and June)? Please provide a breakdown, e.g. venue hire, speakers' expenses, merchandise and so on.

5. What has been the cost of each of the Satellite Wee Circle meetings?

Response

I enclose most of the information you requested.

The answer to your questions are:

1. What was the process for selecting members of the Advisory Council?

The 2016/17 Programme for Government committed to taking forward a National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG). Officials provided the First Minister with options for a Chair and an invite to Louise Macdonald OBE was issued - Louise was announced as the independent Chair in March 2017. Work to establish the NACWG membership took place over the summer of 2017, involving discussions between the Chair and Scottish Government officials. Potential members were identified based on their background and experience.  Final decisions on membership were made by the First Minister. The full membership of the NACWG was announced on 19 November 2017.

2. How many Circle members are there currently? Can you provide a breakdown by sex, age and ethnicity?

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested – we do not collect the requested breakdown data. 

There are currently 820 Circle members.  

3. How many responses have there been to each of the Monthly Spotlight topics since June 2018? Please provide a number for each topic.

2018

  • June: Sexual Harassment – 8 responses
  • July: Poverty – 7 responses
  • August: Enterprise – 12 responses
  • September: Masculinity – 36 responses
  • October: Sport – 127 responses
  • November: STEM – 31 responses
  • December: Participation – 31 responses

2019

  • January: Education - 56 responses
  • February: Justice - 24 responses
  • March/April: Health - 57 responses
  • May/June: Older Women – 12 responses

4. What has been the cost of each of the large scale meetings (2018: March, June and September, 2019: January, March and June)? Please provide a breakdown, e.g. venue hire, speakers' expenses, merchandise and so on.

2018

Date

*Venue & catering

NACWG Travel & Accom

Speakers &
Performer

Event Mgmt
Photographer
Videographer

**Collateral 

Total

March

£5,716.70

£380.31

£75

Nil

Nil

£6,172.01

June

£8,049.1

£1,478.36

Nil

£2,902.5

£1,522.50

£13,952.46

Sept

£7,601.34

£1,372.83

Nil

4,972.46

£1,522.50

£15,469.13

*This is the total amount for the NACWG meetings, which include two core NACWG meetings as well as the Circle event.
**Collateral refers to the NACWG branded tote bag, note book, pen, keyring and lanyard provided at events for delegates.

2019

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested – final invoices are still to be settled for June. 

Date

*Venue & catering

NACWG
Travel & Accom

Speakers &
Performer

Event Mgmt
Photographer
Videographer

**Collateral 

Total

Jan

£5,449.17

£453.66

£150

£3,244.00

£1,522.50

£10,819.33

March

£1,611.08

£1,190.78

£125

£4,967.72

£1,015

£9,417.08

*This is the total amount for the NACWG meetings, which include two core NACWG meetings as well as the Circle event. 
**Collateral refers to the NACWG branded tote bag, note book, pen, keyring and lanyard provided at events for delegates.

5. What has been the cost of each of the Satellite Wee Circle meetings?

Satellite Wee Circles are delivered by partners and are designed to be minimal or no cost and to date have only cost the NACWG £9.96, which was a claim for teas and coffees for one of the events. 

About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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