Chamber and committees

To help our committee witnesses reflect Scottish society, we encourage organisations to carefully consider ‘witness diversity’ when choosing a committee witness.

Witness diversity refers to a group of witnesses whose composition aims to be reflective of Scottish society, combining views of those who differ both in terms of protected characteristics and underlying attributes adding considerable value to the quality of scrutiny in committees. 

Protected characteristics

For example: 

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation

Underlying attributes

For example: 

• socio-economic status
• values
• skills
• knowledge
• occupational background
• range of industry experience 
• lived experience