Whether it will publish, with regard to its Race Equality Advisory Forum, the criteria for selecting the individual members of the forum, i…

A number of organisations were consulted about the membership of the forum. In deciding on the membership I aimed to balance the experience, skills and backgrounds of the individuals with the need for the membership as a whole to cover the range of interests necessary to make the forum's work a success. I look to individual members of the forum to contribute to the work of the forum so that it can reflect the views of communities and have access to wider networks; and have direct experience and understanding of the needs and experiences of the different minority groups in Scotland.The forum has met six times now in plenary, and the working groups have met on a number of occasions.No specific budget has been allocated for the forum; costs incurred are met from the Equality Unit's budget for programmed expenditure.