Holyrood committee backs Gender Representation on Public Boards Bill

The bill as drafted sets a “gender representation objective” for public boards to have 50 per cent women non-executive members by 2022. The bill also allows recruiters to give preference to the candidate who would help a board achieve its gender representation objective in cases where male and female candidates are equally qualified.

The committee report makes a number of recommendations to strengthen the bill. These include changes around ensuring the bill helps trans women, creating a robust reporting mechanism so the bill holds those appointing people to boards accountable, and improving the guidance available to public bodies.

The committee will also continue to make the case for other protected characteristics to benefit from similar measures. Additionally, it is seeking reassurances from the Scottish government that this law will not have any unintended consequences for other protected characteristics.

Committee Convener Christina McKelvie MSP, said: “A majority of the committee support putting in legal measures to protect and embed the progress so far made towards gender equality on public boards.

“We all know how important it is to ensure that Scottish public life reflects the society we seek to serve. We heard convincing evidence as we looked at this Bill that persuaded us that this proposed law will be a useful tool in creating a more equal Scotland.”

One of the recommendations in the report states: To ensure the language in the bill is inclusive of trans people, the term “women” must be inclusive of trans people who identify as women, including those who do not hold a gender recognition certificate, and not those who identify as male or non-binary.

Annie Wells MSP and Jamie Greene MSP dissented from the overall report, disagreeing with the general principles of the bill.