Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018
87.Paragraph 11 of schedule 2 adds South of Scotland Enterprise to the list of bodies in schedule 1 of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”). This means that in appointing members to South of Scotland Enterprise, the Scottish Ministers must give preference to a woman if there are equally qualified candidates of either gender and appointing a woman would result in, or be a step towards, 50% of the membership being women (see section 4 of the 2018 Act). In addition, the 2018 Act requires that steps be taken to encourage women to apply to be members of South of Scotland Enterprise (see section 5), and further steps to be taken to promote gender balance in the membership if the 50% target has not been reached by particular dates (see section 6).