Cash-First: Towards ending the need for food banks in Scotland Equality Impact Assessment

Screening and policy aim

This Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) has been undertaken as part of the process of preparing a Cash-First: Towards ending the need for food banks in Scotland Plan (referred to as the Plan) and associated actions.

This EQIA summarises relevant evidence and sets out the strategic equality issues that were considered in developing the Plan, highlighting where there may be specific areas of opportunities for advancement, barriers to equality, or discrimination related to protected characteristics.

The assessment indicates that the Plan and associated actions are likely to have a positive impact on people and communities that share certain protected characteristics. There is evidence of higher levels of food insecurity and food bank use in people with some protected characteristics including age, disability, and race: it is therefore expected that action to improve the response to financial hardship is likely to have a greater impact on these groups.