Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018: Scottish Ministers' Report to Parliament 2025

Overview of the operation of the 2018 Act

The gender representation objective

3.1 As at 31 December 2025, 88 of 143 listed public authorities (%) had achieved the gender representation objective, and xx had not (%).

3.2 Listed public authorities can be categorised into different groupings. The 143 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

3.3 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, 51 (65%) had achieved the gender representation objective at 31 December 2024.

3.4 In relation to Boards where the appointment process is not regulated by the ESC, (non-regulated Boards) 37 have met the gender representation objective and 28 have not. This includes:

Higher Education Institutions

3.5 As of 31 December 2024,10 (53%) met the gender representation objective and 9 (47%) did not.

Colleges

3.6 As of 31 December 2024, 19 Boards (76%) met the gender representation objective, 6 (24%) did not.

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 31 December 2022.

Regional College Boards

3.8 As of 31 December 2024 3 (25%) met the gender representation objective and 9 (75%) did not.

3.9 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.

3.10 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

3.11 Of the 5 other unregulated authorities, all 5 (100%) achieved the gender representation objective at 31 December 2024, increase on the 80% from 31 December 2022.

Vacancies, competitions, and applications

3.12 Where information was available in board reports, listed public authorities reported 291 vacancies for non-executive members arising during the period covered by their reports, resulting in 194 reported recruitment competitions.

In appointments regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner between January 2023 and December 2024 there were 242 vacancies.

In appointments that were not regulated by the ESC during this same period, there were 49 vacancies.

The majority of vacancies arising were for a single non-executive member and the majority of vacancies were filled through a single recruitment competition.

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:

• Panel members consider at planning stage what outreach is required, and Board Chairs also contact specific organisations. For example, on a member round for NHS Grampian in 2024, the attraction strategy included Petroleum Women’s Group in the area and the Board Chair was active in engaging with them to promote the vacancies.
• All vacancies for the regulated appointments are shared on social media to ensure maximum outreach, and the Public Appointments Team actively engage with Changing the Chemistry events, presenting to outline the process and to encourage applications from women.
• The Public Appointments Team maintain a distribution list and all vacancies are highlighted to those on that list, including Equality Network, Women's National Commission, Women In Business, Scottish Women's Rural Institute, Women Connect and many others.

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 2024.

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.