Page 107 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

A good remit saves time, a poor remit can be saved with extra time. This example is from a project with limited time that necessitated a focused remit. The Government is drafting a Gender Equality Bill. The setting of quotas for public sector organisations is a key part of this. What Gender Equality quotas are fair? How can they be best implemented? Remits often specifically benefit from a simple statement to set the scene and give the reader some context – by definition this is not what they think about every day. In this case, clearly stating that the Government has made the decision that a Gender Equality Bill is being developed draws the discussion on the decision to be made and away from ‘should we have a Gender Equality Bill?’ This focuses the discussion and takes political attention away from the process and its participants. 105