Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018: Scottish Ministers' Report in their role as an Appointing Person

2. Regulation 2

Under regulation 2(1), the Scottish Ministers must publish a report under section 8(3) of the 2018 Act at intervals of not more than 2 years beginning with the date on which they last published a report^[1] under this regulation.

Under regulation 2(2), the report must contain in respect of each relevant authority:

(a) a statement of whether at the date of publication that authority has achieved the gender representation objective,

(b) a statement confirming the number of vacancies for non-executive members which arose during the period covered by the report,

(c) a statement confirming for each vacancy referred to in sub-paragraph (b) how many recruitment competitions were held with a view to fill the vacancy and, for each competition—

(i) the number of applications received and, where applications were received, the percentage which were from women, and

(ii) confirmation of whether an appointment was made, and where an appointment was made, whether a woman was appointed

(d) details of any steps taken by the Scottish Ministers under section 5(1) of the Act to encourage applications from women to become non-executive members of the public board

2.1 Regulation 2(2)(a) - The Gender Representation Objective

The 2018 Act sets a “gender representation objective” for listed public authorities, namely that 50% of the authority’s non-executive board members are women. If the authority has an odd number of non-executive board members, the gender representation objective applies as if there was one fewer non-executive member. For example, if there are 9 non-executive members on a board, the gender representation objective would be achieved if 4 of those members are women.

In relation to Boards where the appointment process is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC) (‘regulated Boards’), the appointments are made by Scottish Ministers, and are part of the 2018 Act, 51 have met the gender representation objective and 27 have not (as at 31 December 2024).

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:

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

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

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

2.2 Regulation 2(2)(b) - Vacancies

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.

2.3 Regulation 2(2)(c) - Recruitment Competitions, Applications and Appointments

Regulation 2(2)(c) requires Scottish Ministers to publish, for each relevant vacancy

referred to in 2(2)(b) how many recruitment competitions were held with a view to fill the vacancy and, for each competition—

(i) the number of applications received and, where applications were received, the percentage which were from women, and

(ii) confirmation of whether an appointment was made, and where an appointment was made, whether a woman was appointed

This information is provided in the statistical tables in this report from page 15 onwards.

The appointment process across the different types of Boards subject to the 2018 Act varies, depending on whether they are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC) or not.

2.3.1 Regulated appointments

When an appointment is regulated it means that the appointments process for that Board is regulated by the ESC. Whether or not a Public Body is regulated by the ESC depends on the type of body it is, and decisions made at the time it is established.

It is the ESC's role to ensure that appointments are made on merit, using methods that are fair and open. The appointment process for regulated appointments is run by Scottish Government officials on behalf of the Scottish Ministers.

2.3.2 Non-regulated appointments

Each appointment process for unregulated appointments, including those to the Boards of colleges and Higher Education Institutions, is run by the Public Body concerned. The following bodies have appointments which are made by Scottish Ministers, Higher Education Institutions, colleges, Regional Transport Partnerships and others.

For the college sector, appointments are made in accordance with schedule 2 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 (which contains provisions on the composition of incorporated college Boards, both for regional and assigned colleges) and with schedule 2B of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 (which contains provisions on the composition of regional Boards).

In addition, the Scottish Code of Good Governance for Scotland’s Colleges, and the 2014 College Sector Board Appointments Ministerial Guidance, sets out provisions on Further Education Governance, including best practice in relation to governing body membership and appointments. Regarding Newbattle Abbey College, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and West Highland College UHI, appointment of board members is made by the company.

2.3.3 Good practice in appointments

Good practice dictates that public appointments are made on merit and appointments by Scottish Ministers must be made on merit. Merit should be defined for each role and set out in the person specification. A person specification should provide a clear and accurate description of the skills, knowledge, understanding and/or experience a person will need to be effective in the role.

2.3.4 Appointments and equality mainstreaming

The Public Appointments Team continue to make changes to their processes and use data, management information and lessons learned to drive improvement in the appointments process. The team deliver outreach and engagement activity with the aim of increasing interest in public appointments and addressing the barriers that people from the protected groups face.

2.3.5 Appointments made

Regulated Boards reported that there were 233 appointments made during the period of this report of which 117 were women (50%). Where listed non-regulated public authorities gave information, they reported that 105 appointments of non-executive members were made during the period covered by their reports. Of these, unfortunately due to lack of clarity in the data provided, it is not possible to establish how many of these appointments were women.

2.4 Regulation 2(2)(d) - Encouraging Applications from Women

The 2018 Act requires Appointing Persons and public authorities to take steps to encourage applications from women to become non-executive members.

Within the reporting period of January 2023 to December 2024, there were 291 vacancies with an average of 43% of application from women.

Consideration of the 2018 Act requirements is built into the regulated public appointments process. At the outset of each appointment round the appointing Minister will consider the gender balance of the board and what steps can be taken to encourage women to apply. Where women are under-represented on a board Scottish Ministers will state explicitly in the applicant packs that women are encouraged to apply, in most appointment rounds vacancies will also be shared directly with women’s networks.

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.