The Assembly, convened by David Martin and Kate Wimpress, will randomly recruit more than 100 members, aged 16 and over, who are broadly representative of the adult population in Scotland today. Their role will be to attend the Assembly’s six weekend-long meetings to consider a range of evidence related to Scotland’s constitutional future and to agree, shape and contribute to discussion. They will also help develop a formal list of recommendations in a report to the Scottish Government.
The members, intended to be a ‘mini-public’, will be profiled against a range of criteria to ensure they are broadly representative according to geography, age, gender, ethnic group, educational qualifications, limiting long term conditions/disabilities and political attitudes towards Scottish independence, the UK’ s membership of the EU and Scottish Parliament voting preferences.
Recruiters will sample locations across Scotland, visiting households selected at random in each area. Occupants will be taken through a questionnaire to assess their eligibility and willingness to become Assembly members. In line with the Assembly’s commitment to transparency, the names and home regions of members will be made public.
Convener David Martin said: “Member recruitment is the first major step in the Assembly’s work and our approach will be thorough and transparent. “The process is now underway and across Scotland a broad range of people will be getting a knock at the door over the coming weeks. We hope they take the opportunity to listen and consider taking a role in shaping the discussion on Scotland’s constitutional future.”
