Women in Public Life
An Overview
In 2007 just 36.2% of public appointments were women. Over many years the WNC has worked to improve women's representation in public life. We feel that representation on public bodies should aim to reflect society as a whole and include people from all parts of the community, all walks of life and those with a wide range of skills and experiences. The figures make clear that many public bodies are still not benefiting from the different perspectives that women bring to the decision making process.
The increasingly high number of women with power and status in public life today do not speak solely or even largely on behalf of all women - but women's experiences as women, their perspectives and their voices can and do inform the way they do things. They are vital in ensuring that women in society have their views reflected. Women are not all the same and do not speak with one voice. So it is important that women of all backgrounds play a part - women of faith; women of no faith; women from different ethnic groups; disabled women; lesbians; younger and older women.
Statistics collated by the Government Equalities Office (GEO) show continuing low rates of representation of women in public bodies.
Women's Representation in politics across the UK - an overview
- 19.7% House of Lords Peers
- 0.3% Ethnic Minority Women Members of Parliament
- 34% All Ministers
- 26% Cabinet Ministers
- 19.3% Members of Parliament
- 33% Members of Scottish Parliament
- 46.7% Welsh Assembly Members
- 26% Members of European Parliament
- 0.9% Ethnic Minority women councillors
Women's Representation in Other Public Bodies
- 9.26% High Court Judges
- 8% University Vice-Chancellors
- 30% Police Authority board members
Cabinet Office and WNC Project
In March 2008 we began working with the Cabinet Office on a new initiative to encourage more women to apply for posts on public bodies.
Working with four Government departments - the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office - and the Appointments Commission, we are publicising a selection of current advertisements for posts on the boards of public bodies and are encouraging women with the specified skills and experience to apply for these advertisements and others.
For details on all public appointments, visit: www.publicappts-vacs.gov.uk.
Download a selection of adverts for public appointments here. Pdf (536Kb)
The Councillors' Commission
Councillors Commission webpages
The Government has taken a series of measures to boost the number of women participating in public life, including establishing the Councillors' Commission to increase the diversity of Local Government Councillors so that communities are better represented.
The Commission was set up by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in February 2007 as an independent review to look at the incentives and barriers that encourage or deter people from standing for election as councillors.
The Councillors Commission was chaired by Dr Jane Roberts DBE, former Leader of the London Borough of Camden. The Commission published its recommendations in its report Representing the future on 10 December 2007. The Government is currently considering the Commission's report and will be publishing a response later this year.
Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women Councillors Taskforce
BAME webpages on the GEO site
Email the Taskforce womencouncillorstaskforce@geo.gsi.gov.uk
The Government has established a Taskforce to address the under representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women Councillors. The Taskforce will be working closely with the Department of Communities and Local Government, who will soon be responding to the Councillors Commission report Representing the Future which made recommendations aimed at reducing barriers and increasing the incentives for people to stand and serve as councillors.
The initiative lies at the heart of the Government's priorities for women which were set out last summer and included, increasing the number of BAME women on local councils.
BAME women account for less than 1% of England's 20,000 councillors. To be more representative of society as a whole, the number of BAME Women Councillors needs to be increased more than five-fold - from 168 of all councillors in England to nearer a thousand.
The Taskforce is being chaired by Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green and will initially last for 12 months.
The members will include BAME women councillors and former councillors from every region in England, as well as from Scotland and Wales. The Taskforce will identify and take practical action to increase awareness and build confidence and skills; reach out into communities to encourage women to step forward to become local councillors; identify and tackle barriers within political parties; and reduce disadvantage and stereotyping from within and outside the communities.
The Taskforce will be supported in its work by the Ministers for Women and Equalities and secretariat will be provided by the Government Equalities Office.
Vacancies
Public Appointment opportunites exist at three levels; at national level; at regional level; and at local level. Many women might feel they do not currently possess all the skills required for a national level post, so may benefit from taking up an opportunity at a local level. The experience gained over time, may lead to an application for a post at national-level, in the future.
Below you will find a section on public appointment vacancies.
If you have a website, we would encourage you to add a link to the Cabinet Office's webpage (www.publicappts-vacs.gov.uk) or the webpage for the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) (http://www.ocpa.gov.uk/). We believe that by sharing information on public appointments and engaging women in dialogue about the importance of their representations within public appointments, we will encourage more women to apply.
Appointments Commission - www.appointments.org.uk
Specialise in the recruitment, training and appraisal of people for board level public appointments to NHS bodies, ministerial advisory bodies and other arm's length bodies in England.
DirectGov - www.direct.gov.uk
This website provides and overview of public appointments, how to apply and also lists vacancies including information about becoming a school governor.
One Stop Shop for School Governors - www.sgoss.org.uk
One Stop Shop is a small, highly successful charity, which recruits volunteers, from many Black Minority Ethnic communities, to become governors in schools across England.
Women take part (Changes)
Email for more information sue.gorbing@changesuk.net
To establish practical ways in which grass roots women can become engaged as school governors.
London Councils "Be a Councillor campaign"
Working with Capital Ambition and the Leadership Centre for Local Government on the 'Be a Councillor' campaign, which is about making people more aware of the work of their local council, and councillors, with a view to encouraging more people to consider standing in the 2010 elections
Operation Black Vote - www.obv.org.uk
OBV is a leading non-party political organisation, whose main aim is to encourage those from a Black, Minority Ethnic background to take a greater part in the electoral process.
Magistrates Association - www.magistrates-association.org.uk
This website contains lots of useful information about how to become a magistrate in your local area.
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - www.equalityhumanrights.com
Working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.
In 2004, the WNC produced 'Women in Public Life - A Guide' outlining the importance of women's involvement in public bodies and showcasing women who have held roles on public bodies. We are hoping to revise this guide soon. Download the guide here Women in Public Life Pdf 371Kb
