CONCERNS that a 'glass ceiling' is holding women back in Police Scotland have been fuelled by the revelation that over 90 per cent of the force's top team are male.
Only one of the 13-strong executive is a woman, despite the churn at the top brought about by a spate of retirals.
During the Holyrood election, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged to introduce legislation in the first year of this Parliament requiring gender balance on public boards.
The Women 50/50 campaign, which is not aligned to a political party, is also calling for equal representation in legislatures across the UK and on public boards.
Policing north of the border is dominated by men and fewer than one-in-three officers is female.
The force executive currently includes chief constable Phil Gormley, three deputies, seven assistant chief constables, and two civilian directors.
Until recently, three women – Assistant Chief Constables Val Thomson and Kate Thomson, as well as Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick – sat at the top table. Both Thomsons have retired and left the long-serving Fitzpatrick as the last female on the executive.
Picture: DCC Rose Fitzpatrick is the only female member on the Executive
However, the gender imbalance persists, even though a series of vacancies could have propelled more women into top jobs.
The Scottish Police Authority, which oversees the performance of the force, is responsible for recruiting and appointing the chief constable and his deputies and assistants. In stark contrast to the police executive, around 40 per cent of the SPA board is female.
Gormley was given the nod late last year as chief constable, and Johnny Gwynne was recently appointed as one of his deputies.
In evidence to a Parliamentary committee, Gormley revealed that no female applicants had come forward for the Thomson posts.
“We’ve gone out for replacements and no further women came forward. We do have a significant challenge in terms of (career) progression, not so much (in) recruitment.”
He added: “The level of female officers against males coming at the entry point of the organisation is much healthier. But we don’t get the progression through the ranks I would want to see.”
The chief constable also said that the number of women coming through the College of Policing’s strategic command course for chief officers was low.
Talat Yaqoob, who chairs the Women 50/50 campaign, said: "Having diverse minds around the table is critical for any decision making body, but particularly when it comes to institutions like Police Scotland. The executive team is responsible for the strategy and policy direction of Police Scotland, to get this right it must reflect Scotland's society.
“Having one woman out of 13 members of the executive board is not enough when our police force is working for a population of 51 per cent women.
Claire Baker MSP, Scottish Labour's Justice spokesperson, said: "It is disappointing to see that out of 13 executive positions only one woman has been hired. In a modern Scotland, there is no place in any industry or service - including within our police service – for any form of glass ceiling. Women need to be at the heart of leadership and decision making."
Nicola Marchant, Chair of the SPA Human Resources and Remuneration Committee, said: "Gender balance across all levels is scrutinised and Police Scotland have a number of initiatives underway to attract more women into the police service and at a senior level. This is not going to be resolved overnight but we do believe that the work being introduced across Police Scotland will have long-term benefits for improving gender balance at senior levels.”
Superintendent Suzie Mertes, who chairs the Scottish Women's Development Forum, a diversity staff association, said: "The SWDF knows that Police Scotland is committed to addressing issues of gender under-representation in the service and we continue to work with Police Scotland to ensure its selection processes, policies and procedures continue to reflect the Force Values."
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