Recommendation 128

Providing the perspective of the UK Government, Minister Stewart told us he did “not think there was a problem to be solved” as there was already “strong representation of Scottish interests” within UKRI.301 Supporting this, Rebecca Hackett, Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, said in her evidence: [ … ] we work very proactively to encourage Scottish applicants to the board positions across UK Government agencies, but particularly focused on UKRI and Innovate UK, and it will be the same approach for the new ARIA agency [ … ]. While there is not a specific board role that is allocated for individuals in Scottish institutions, we are very proactive in sharing information on forthcoming vacancies, working closely with colleagues in [the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy] to get that information out there to Scottish stakeholders at the earliest opportunity, and working with stakeholders to connect them in if they are interested in roles.302