We welcomed the news last week that Scottish Government published the draft Gender Representation on Public Boards Bill. SEStran and other RTPs, lobbied during the consultation early this year, to be included in the legislation when published. We were delighted to find that we had been included, which greatly helps us meet our voluntary pledges on board diversity and equalities.
We thank Cabinet Secretary Angela Constance MSP for including us in the draft bill. SEStran has committed to a 50/50 balance of non-executive members by 2020 and sought to ask constituent councils to consider gender balance and wider diversity when making their appointments to SEStran. We are proactively working to implement our new Board Diversity Succession Plan and to promote to all under-represented groups the opportunities to start or continue their public board journey with SEStran. This helps us to meet our voluntary commitments to the CIHT Diversity and Inclusion Charter, Disability Confident scheme and our Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champion programme membership.
We continue to promote board diversity and our new non-executive member Dr Doreen Steele will be speaking at the Scottish Government’s Public Appointments #ComeOnBoard event in Edinburgh on 26 June. Doreen will be speaking about her own public appointments journey, why she applied to SEStran last year and also encouraging others to apply when we publish our advert for vacancies later this month.
Dr Steele said “I was delighted to be appointed to the SEStran Board this year. I wanted to join because living in the area and the Borders especially, I am aware of the many transport challenges and that through good transport planning we can alleviate stress on communities and prevent social exclusion. I’m looking forward to the strategic challenges and decisions that lie ahead and would encourage others to apply to SEStran to be part of these decisions”.
So whether it’s the start or next leg of your board journey, we would welcome all to apply to SEStran and help us deliver for the South East of Scotland a sustainable, safe and inclusive transport network and services for the South East of Scotland. Details will be available on 26 June on how to apply click here to book your place. Come ON Board!
