Director of Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights

Responsibilities

The Director of Equalities, Inclusion and Human Rights:

• oversees the Equality Division which is responsible for developing policy, strategies and actions plans to advance equality and eliminate discrimination for people with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation); and for funding of third sector organisations undertaking equality and human rights initiatives and providing frontline services. It is also responsible for taking forward the agenda to tackle violence against women and girls as well as providing secretariat support to the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG)
• responsible for Human Rights policy development, co-ordination of SG reporting against treaty obligations and engagement with international mechanisms, and development of new, flagship Human Rights legislation.  It also oversees delivery of the Scottish Human Rights Defender Fellowship programme
• responsibility for The Mainstreaming and Inclusion Division,  taking actions to support, shape and challenge Scottish Government and the wider Public Sector to meet legal obligations and ambitions to embed Human Rights and Equality in everything they do.   This includes building the capability and capacity of SG and the wider public sector to make deep and sustained progress on tackling inequality, through better policy-making and service design
• responsible for the ‘Warm Scots Welcome’ for displaced Ukrainians alongside wider asylum, displaced people and refugee integration.  The Division is responsible for: delivering the strategic priorities of the Warm Scots Future; development and delivery of the New Scots refugee integration strategy in partnership with COSLA and Scottish Refugee Council; the Ending Destitution Together strategy; wider refugee resettlement and relocation, including UK Resettlement Scheme and Afghan schemes; Scotland’s response to asylum, including services and support in response to reserved legislation and policy decisions recognising the impact on people living across Scotland’s communities

Biography

After completing a MA in International Business and Languages at Heriot Watt University and the Strasbourg Graduate School of Management, John worked as a language teacher in Japan from 2001-2003.

Since joining the Civil Service in 2004, John had several posts as part of the fast-stream graduate programme, before becoming Head of Treatment, Prevention and Strategy in the Scottish Government Drugs Policy Unit.

In 2012, he moved to Beijing to take up a diplomatic posting as the First Secretary of Scottish Affairs to the People’s Republic of China. 

In 2016, he was appointed as Principal Private Secretary to the First Minister of Scotland until his move to the Police Division Deputy Director post in August 2021. 

As of May 2024 John took up the role of Director of Equalities, Inclusion and Human Rights.