Gender vote means half of all public sector Scottish boards will be women

MSPS have passed a law to make sure women make up at least half the board members for all public authorities.

The Scottish Parliament voted by 88 to 28 in favour of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Bill, with opposition from the Conservatives. The legislation sets the benchmark of having females make up a minimum of 50 per cent of non-executive members by 2022.

The ratio will apply to colleges, universities and some public bodies, including health boards, enterprise agencies, the Scottish Police Authority, 0 Angela Constance: stressed law will ‘not impose quota’ and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Equalities Minister Angela Constance told the chamber: “This bill will make Scotland the only country in the United Kingdom with a statuto- ry objective for women’s representation on public sector boards.

“It is unacceptable for women to still be under represented in senior positions in the board room, to still be paid less than their male counterparts, to still be subjected to sexual harassment and violence.”

Ms Constance stressed appointments would “continue to be made on merit” and the legislation would “not impose quotas”.

On Tory opposition, she said: “I don’t know whether that is just misguided or whether it is malicious.”

Labour’s Monica Lennon said women were not a “minority”.