§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of the(a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which he has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129852]
§ Dr. ReidThe Government are committed to increasing the representation of women in public life. In support of this, the Government have drawn up an action plan for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities holding public appointments, to which my Department subscribes. The action plan was published on 24 May.
During the period 1 April 1997 to 30 June 1999, 205 women were appointed to non-departmental public bodies in Scotland out of a total of 587 appointments. Women appointees represented 35 per cent. of the total appointments made in this period. 162 women were appointed to paid posts, representing 37 per cent. of all the paid appointments made in that period. Forty-three women were appointed to unpaid posts, representing 28 per cent. of all the unpaid appointments made in the same period.
With effect from 1 July 1999, responsibility for most appointments to non-departmental public bodies operating in Scotland passed to the Scottish Executive.
I have made one appointment to a non-departmental public body during the period to end 1999: the appointee was a woman.