Scotland has become the first part of the UK to pass legislation making it compulsory for at least 50% of non-executive members on all public boards to be women by 2022. The Scottish Conservatives voted against the motion, which was passed by 88 votes to 28 on Wednesday this week.

Under the new rules the person appointing people to public boards must take steps to encourage women to apply to become non-executive members of boards. If the Minister has two or more equally qualified candidates for the role then preference must be given to the candidate that will help reach the required gender balance on the board.

In Scottish agriculture, this will apply to boards such as Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). In the case of QMS, four out of its 13 board members are women (see figure 1). As it happens, the meat levy body will be recruiting new board members and chair in the near future.

“Therefore, today’s announcement is timely and we will take positive action to encourage groups that are underrepresented to apply,” Alan Clarke, chief executive, Quality Meat Scotland.

“Through attracting and selecting the best people for the role, we will ensure that the QMS board reflects the diversity of the Scottish red-meat sector.”

Similarly, five out of the 13 SRUC board members are women. A spokesperson for the college said that it is “fully aware of this legislation and we work proactively to encourage applications from women for board positions”.

The co-chair of the Scottish Government’s Women in Agriculture taskforce, Joyce Campbell, said she believes the passing of the legislation is a positive move. “It would be great, going forward, if some of our agricultural boards and committees take the lead on this as well,” she said.

Joyce says that in Canada the boards of its agricultural organisations have increased the number of women represented organically and that the tide is turning here.

In order to encourage more women to take up roles in representative bodies, such as NFU Scotland, she says: “We need to look at the way meetings are set up, as everyone is short of time. They must move away from being talking shops and focus more on delivery.”