is crucial but not enough. Women once in
power need to become effective political actors,
to transform political space and be held
accountable alongside men, for gender equity
and social justice.'*
'...If councillors are to play a much more active role in supporting and representing their communities, it is important to have councillors to whom the community can relate. The average age of a councillor in England is 60, 96% of councillors are white and only 31% are female.'**
Take a look at the photo here
What do you see?
I see a sea of 'shirts and ties' reflecting that around 3/4 of the elected members of The Highland Council are male and probably mainly over the age of 40.
Is this male to female ratio similarly reflected in the composition of the population of Highland?
Not according to the latest census figures which give figures of 113,500 males and 118,500 females in Highland on census day 2011. Therefore slightly more female residents but it around 50/50 female to male, not '75/25'.
What about age?
Well according to the census stats for Highland around 54% of the male population is 40 and over but that still leaves 22% of males between the ages of 20 and 39 which does leave that age group under represented.
OK so there are more males than females how does that effect the decision making processes?
Well looking at things purely in terms of numbers and the fact that committees are the main decision making mechanisms of the Council you could potentially expect that, given the availability, female councillors could take roughly 3/4 of the committee places, however:
On three of the four Strategic Committees, Finance, Strategic Planning and TEC Services, it appears that there is an under representation of female councillors but there also appears to be an 'over representation' of female councillors on the Adult and Children's Services Committee. From my rough estimates***, Female representation also falls short on Audit and Scrutiny, the Licensing Boards, Valuation Joint Board, Police Board and the South Planning Applications Committee. Although, I have to say that there are proportionately more female councillors on the Planning Review Board and the North Planning App Committee, along with the Area Committees.
Prior to the 2012 election the BBC reported that,
'Fewer than one in four candidates standing in the council elections in Scotland are women, academics have reported.'
According to an item in the 'Herald' before the May Elections,
'IN a healthy representative democracy, the faces in the country's local council chambers should be a fair reflection of the communities they serve: all generations over 18, a fair sprinkling of ethnic minorities and, of course, around 50% women.
'IN a healthy representative democracy, the faces in the country's local council chambers should be a fair reflection of the communities they serve: all generations over 18, a fair sprinkling of ethnic minorities and, of course, around 50% women.
According to an item in the 'Herald' after the May 2012 elections,
'Fewer than one in four councillors elected on Thursday was a woman, with even the top Scottish local authority for female representation lagging way behind the average figure south of the Border.'
'Fewer than one in four councillors elected on Thursday was a woman, with even the top Scottish local authority for female representation lagging way behind the average figure south of the Border.'
According to a 'Guardian' article ,
'An analysis of Thursday's Scottish council results finds that nearly 25% of new councillors are women, a record level. But is it enough, ask gender equality campaigners?'
'An analysis of Thursday's Scottish council results finds that nearly 25% of new councillors are women, a record level. But is it enough, ask gender equality campaigners?'
So, what is the issue here? Why are there so few female councillors?
Well, in the Guardian one political blogger puts it very succinctly:
...are middle aged men prepared to give up or share their power?
Well, I have a strong feeling that for some, power once experienced becomes addictive and hard to relinquish. It remains to be seen whether there is any real will to enable the skills that women undoubtedly have and express in many areas of life to be translated into powerful roles in Local and National Government.
[***Estimates made using details provided in 'Know Your Council']
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