By Kathleen Nutt

Political Correspondent

WHEN Alison Johnstone was first involved in politics 30 years ago as a councillor she noticed that a large number of women were coming to her with problems relating to nursery and school budgets but that women were virtually absent from membership of the committees making key decisions over how these services were funded.

Three decades on Ms Johnstone is now one of the most influential figures in Scottish politics as Holyrood's Presiding Officer and says her experience in early her political career continues to guide her work.

In February this year she launched a gender audit with the aim to consider how the parliament's structures, operations and policies can help improve women’s equality in representation and participation in the institution.

READ MORE: Women MSPs still suffering from sexism, finds Presiding Officer audit

The full report by the cross-party board of MSPs and academics is due to be published by the end of the year but ahead of Holyrood reconvening next month Ms Johnstone shared some of the inquiry's interim finding when she spoke to The Herald in her office in Queensberry House overlooking the Royal Mile.

At one level she notes progress has been made in women's representation. The parliament has it highest ever proportion of women - 45 per cent - a rise of 10 per cent from the 2016 to 2021 session. Women made up 39 per cent of MSPs elected in 2003 and 33 per cent in 2007.

Currently, three of the four members of its cross party management body - the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) - which runs the institution and is responsible for its budget, security, staff and offices - are women. It is also chaired by Ms Johnstone.

However, when analysed in more detail, the situation appears less assured.

One of the findings in the interim report reveals that "while there appear to be positive shifts in terms of attitudes towards women in politics, women still encounter sexism in what is said to them and how they are perceived".

A further one reveals there is just one female MSP (excluding the Presiding Officer as chair) on the most important body in the parliament, the four strong business bureau, which runs the business side of parliament and has the crucial tasks of determining what will happen each week in the chamber.

The bureau is also responsible for deciding at the start of each five year session which committees will be formed, what their remit will be, how many people will be on each one, what the timetable for each bill will be and which committee will lead on a bill.

"It is right that we celebrate gender progress - the Scottish Parliament has been in the mid thirties when it comes to women's representation in parliament," she says.

"But progress has not been linear. The evidence from the Scottish Parliament is that we can go backwards instead of going forwards, but I think it's fair to say there has been more focus on the issue, and more effort has been made.

"So while we have a parliament with more women in it, it seems like a timely moment to look at how we best understand the barriers to equal participation within the parliament."

She warns of the risk of regression and that some strides forward seem to have happened "by chance".

"It's clear where we have achieved better participation for women, for instance the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body this time is predominantly women, that's quite a marked change. But it's almost happening by chance in too many instances. So that came across loud and clear [in the interim report]," she says.

Her research team have also found that the mandatory committees - the ones that must be formed in line with the parliament's rules or standing orders - tend to be male-dominated giving the impression that financial and fiscal matters are "male" areas, while the subject committees such as health, justice and the environment and rural affairs are areas of "female" interest.

Exceptions are the equalities committee, which is a female-dominated mandatory committee and education, which is a male-dominated subject committee.

Ms Johnstone believes it is this split into "male and female" committees which she first noticed when a Scottish Green councillor in Edinburgh (she is now politically neutral as Presiding Officer) and is far from being unique to Holyrood.

"We want the parliament to look like the people of Scotland. We want it to be as representative as possible. When I came into elected politics at first I was on the City of Edinburgh Council and my experience there has continued to inform me," she says.

"When we discuss a lot of issues, budgets for schools or nurseries for example, I frequently found my surgeries were full of women and then we would get into the decision making bodies and we would find that their voices were markedly absent.

"And I suppose that is why I think it matters so much that we have women equally represented where ever  possible on committees that are looking at how we finance public services."

When Holyrood was first established its members emphasised their commitment to modern family friendly practices.

In comparison with what was often seen as the antiquated traditions at Westminster, there were no late night sittings. Chamber business in the first few years took place on just Wednesday afternoons and Thursdays meaning MSPs who lived away from the central belt could remain in their own areas for part of the working week.

The timetable was reformed in 2012 so that parliament now meets in plenary session in the chamber three afternoons each week, Tuesday to Thursday, with committees meeting on each of those mornings.

Despite the stated commitment to family friendly practices, three MSPs stood down ahead of last year's election citing difficulties in balancing work and family life. Ms Johnstone says it is an issue which the inquiry are examining, taking into account the longer sitting times over the past ten years but also now the move to hybrid sittings during the pandemic.

"Parliament always sought to be family friendly, fair to say means different things to different people. If you are living fairly close to parliament and you have the opportunity to be at home in the evening, that's quite a different experience from a member who has several hours to travel to get home, who might have to come down on a Monday and return on Friday," she says.

"It's no secret that some members have found it challenging to balance work and family life. I appreciate that is something that happens across many walks of life... but parliament has a role to play in setting the best example that it can. So it's really important that we review this."

Ms Johnstone believes the changes during the Covid years allowing MSPs to contribute to committee sessions and chamber debates and votes have brought benefits to MSPs with caring responsibilities - many of them women.

"Things that we thought should only happen in exceptional circumstances like a witness giving evidence by video link have now become the norm. That enables greater witness diversity, it enables people from across the globe, but it also means people who might be constrained for a whole variety of reasons can now take part," she adds. "It seems absolutely clear it enables greater work life balance."

She reveals work is underway to finesse online hearings and debates with new technology being introduced which will allow MSPs to make interventions remotely soon.

"We didn't have a process to allow someone to make an intervention say from say their home in Perthshire to someone speaking in the chamber for example," she says.

"So you would just end up with a series of speeches...in a debating session you very much want those interventions, those discussions and point making.  But when we return in September that will be possible."

With the gender audit not yet completed, no decisions have been made about what new measures will be introduced.

However, Ms Johnstone appears not to rule out reforms to Holyrood's rules to ensure greater balance in representation and participation saying the final report will make recommendations on what should be done.

Asked about any big legal moves to future-proof gender equality on, for instance, the SPCB, she adds: "Any parliament should always be looking at why it does what is does, can it do what it is doing better, does it need to effect any changes. So it is absolutely possible that we could take a step that would say 'Let's make sure this body is equally represented in terms of men and women."