WOMEN ON BOARD Quality through Diversity Scottish Government Consultation on the Introduction of Gender Quotas on Public Boards Executive Summary Scottish women make up 52% of the population and, in October 2013, the level of female employment in Scotland reached its highest level since 1992 at 69%. Women also now make up the majority of University graduates. In spite of all this, there is still significant gender inequality on public boards, with women comprising only 36% of board places and 21% of the current board chairs1. Currently the Scottish Parliament does not have legislative powers to address this issue. We have therefore opened up dialogue with the UK Government on transferring powers by way of an Order under section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998. Such powers would give the Scottish Parliament additional levers for change, should it choose to use them, where other mechanisms are not working, or are not delivering change fast enough. This consultation sets out to gather views from individuals, public bodies and other organisations with an interest in the issue of gender imbalance on public boards, on how mandatory quotas that ensure a minimum of 40% of women’s representation on public boards should be introduced. We want to capture the issues that would arise from this step for those involved. Findings from this consultation will also support the work of the Scottish Government’s Public Appointments and Corporate Diversity Programme which aims to increase the diversity of Scotland’s public boards via a range of activity. We are also seeking initial views in this consultation on whether potential legislation should be extended to company boards. We will explore this in more detail separately in due course. 1 Scottish Government’s Public Appointments Centre of Expertise (PACE) figures which only include Ministerial appointed, regulated public boards. Other boards are not included in these figures 1 Executive Summary Ministerial Foreword 3 Contents Part one: Background and context 4 Aim of consultation Public boards and bodies Current gender composition of public boards and bodies Why is gender diversity on public boards important? What are the barriers to increasing gender diversity on public boards? Part two: Current processes 9 Voluntary processes (non-legislative) Legislation How gender quotas are used internationally Part three: Options for change 14 Where are we now? Where we want to be How the powers could be used Part four: Company boards 16 Should gender quotas be extended to company boards? Part five: About this consultation 18 Business and regulatory impact assessment Equality impact assessment The Scottish Government consultation process Handling your response Next steps in the process What happens next Comments and complaints Annex A: List of Public Authorities Annex B: The Experience of Norway Annex C: Respondent Information Form Annex D: Consultation Questionnaire 2 Ministerial Foreword It is often said that women hold up half the sky. However, this is not reflected in positions on decision making bodies – the boards of public bodies. We know that having a gender balance is good for governance and leads to better decision making. It is also right and fair that women are represented in all sections of society, and can be part of making the decisions that affect all aspects of our lives. Women now account for more than 36% of all board members on public boards. But we need to go further, and I am determined that the Scottish Government achieves its Equality Outcome that public appointments reflect broadly the general population by 2017. We need to ensure that we do not have to wait years to achieve equality on our boards. Scottish women clearly have a voice to be heard. However, currently we do not have legislative powers in this area, which is why we are in discussions with the UK Government to transfer these powers. The responses to this consultation will inform our dialogue with the UK Government as part of this process. Our aim for Scotland is to make the best use of talents of all of our people, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion. By taking action on this issue we will be improving economic participation by removing barriers that stand in the way of women realising their potential. It will also contribute to making Scotland a wealthier and fairer place, ensuring no one is held back because of their gender, and ensuring public bodies more fairly reflect society as a whole. To make real progress there are a number of factors to consider. These include fostering partnerships to help shift cultural attitudes, communicating the benefits of gender diversity on boards, adopting more family-friendly practices and further developing the talent pipeline for women who wish to be considered for public appointments. Although this consultation focuses on gender representation on the boards of public bodies, we recognise that a number of equality groups are under-represented in public life and in public appointments. So we also suggest that the approach outlined in this consultation could be applied more broadly to other equality characteristics. And the diversity of women is also a factor – increasing women’s participation can also increase the representation of other protected characteristics such as race and disability. There is also the question of whether quotas should be applied for the boards of companies too. We will consult separately about that in due course but start to increase our understanding of the issues involved for these sectors by asking some initial questions in this consultation. We now wish to hear your views about quotas for the boards of Scotland’s public bodies. Progress on this issue will impact on the whole population and form a significant plank in our aim to be a fairer, more equal Scotland. Shona Robison MSP Cabinet Secretary for the Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners’ Rights 3 Part one: Background and context Aim of consultation The aim of this consultation is to inform how the Scottish Government will shape its proposals to the UK Government on using legislation to achieve gender equality on the boards of our public bodies, through the use of mandatory quotas of women sitting on public boards. We want to capture the issues that would arise from this step for the organisations, individuals and bodies involved. Findings from this consultation will also support the work of the Scottish Government’s Public Appointments and Corporate Diversity Programme which aims to increase the diversity of Scotland’s public boards via a range of activities. Public boards and bodies Most public bodies are organisations which receive at least 50% of their funding from central government, e.g. National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency. They are not part of the Scottish Government and operate to a greater or lesser extent at arm’s length from Ministers. Bodies which are Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) are generally managed by a board whose members are appointed by Ministers. The main categories of NDPB with boards are: Executive NDPBs, e.g. sportscotland, Scottish Enterprise Advisory NDPBs, e.g. Scottish Law Commission, The Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland Public corporations and nationalised industries National Health Service bodies For a list of public authorities see Annex A Current gender composition of public boards and bodies Although significant progress has been made in recent years, women continue to be under-represented on public boards, and also as the chairs/convenors of public boards. In Scotland women represent 52% of the population, however in 2013, only 21% of chairs were women. Currently female representation on regulated public boards stands at 36%. As of January 20132, there were four public boards with no female representation at all, and 10% of public boards had fewer than 20% of women on them. The largest 2 Scottish Government’s Public Appointments Centre of Expertise (PACE) figures which only include Ministerial appointed, regulated public boards. Other boards are not included in these figures 4 number of boards had between 20% and 40%. Boards with over 60% of women accounted for around 8% of boards. Number of Regulated Public Boards and % of Women on these Boards in 2013 Since 2005, the percentage of women appointed to boards has been significantly higher than the percentage of women applying. This suggests that the calibre of women applying for public appointments is high, and that the system itself provides women with a good chance of being successful. It also suggests that there are women with the available skills, abilities and experience to fill these posts. In 2013, women became more successful through each stage of the public appointments recruitment process. In 2007 the Scottish Women’s Convention undertook a survey, as part of the then Commissioner for Public Appointments work on Diversity Delivers, which suggested that women are less confident in their own abilities and therefore less likely to apply for a job than men if they do not fulfil all essential and desirable criteria. This could explain why proportionally more women get through the stages of the recruitment process once they have applied, than men. The Scottish Government’s ‘Diversity Delivers’ target is to have at least 40% of public boards made up of women 5 Here is a summary of the gender composition of Scotland’s Public Boards (Scottish Ministerial Appointments): In total 36% of board members, of the publically appointed, are female 21% of board chairs/conveners are female 40% of board members of Non-Ministerial Departments (NMDs) are female 11% of board members of Public Corporations are female 29% of board members of Executive NDPBs are female 38% of board members of Advisory NDPBs are female 42% of board members of Health Bodies are female 25% of board members of Other Significant Bodies are female Overall, NMDs and Health Boards meet the 40% target of women board members.