Equality outcomes and mainstreaming report 2019

Introduction

5.1 Background and Structure

1. Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the '2010 Act') places a general duty (known as the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)) on public authorities to have due regard to: eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation; advancing equality of opportunity; and fostering good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Scottish Ministers have supplemented the general duty by placing detailed requirements on Scottish public authorities through the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (as amended).

2. The 2012 Regulations require listed public authorities (including the Scottish Government) to publish the following:

2.1. A report on the progress it has made to make the equality duty integral to the exercise of its functions so as to better perform that duty (Regulation 3). These reports must be published every two years. The Scottish Government's last report was published in 2017;

2.2. A set of equality outcomes which it considers will enable it to achieve a result that will further one or more of the needs mentioned in section 149(1) of the 2010 Act (Regulation 4). Sets of outcomes must be published every four years, with reports on progress published two years after the outcomes have been set. The Scottish Government's 2017 mainstreaming report included a new set of outcomes;

2.3. An annual breakdown of the composition of the workforce and the recruitment, development and retention of employees with respect to, in each year, the number and relevant protected characteristics of staff, as well as details of the progress that the authority has made in gathering and using that information to enable it to better perform the equality duty (Regulation 6). This information must be published every two years, on the same cycle as those reports published in relation to Regulation 3 (see above). The mainstreaming report published in 2017 (see above) contained the relevant information on employees;

2.4. Information on the percentage difference among its employees between men's average hourly pay (excluding overtime) and women's average hourly pay (excluding overtime) (Regulation 7). This information must be published every two years, and was last published by the Scottish Government in 2017, as part of its mainstreaming report; and

2.5. A statement specifying the policy on equal pay as between: men and women; persons who are disabled and persons who are not; and persons who fall into a minority racial group and persons who do not. Simultaneously, it is necessary to show occupational segregation amongst employees, that is the concentration in particular grades and occupations of: men and women; persons who are disabled and persons who are not; and persons who fall into a minority racial group and persons who do not (Regulation 8). These statements must be published every four years, and were last published by the Scottish Government in 2017.

3. The Scottish Government's reporting requirements in 2019 are, therefore:

3.1. A report on progress on making the equality duty integral to the exercise of its functions (Regulation 3);

3.2. An update on the outcomes set in 2017 (Regulation 4);

3.3. The composition of the workforce, and use of that information (Regulation 6); and

3.4. Information on the gender pay gap (Regulation 7).

4. In light of these requirements, this report is in three parts, as follows:

4.1. Part 1 and Annex A relates to Regulations 3 and 7 and reports on the processes that underpin the mainstreaming of equality in the Scottish Government and its Agencies;

4.2. Part 2 reports on Regulations 4 and outlines what has been achieved to deliver the outcomes set out in the 2017 Report; and

4.3. Part 3 relates to Regulations 6 and 7, and reports on the collection and use of employee data as well as on the gender pay gap.

5.2 Coverage of this Report

5. The schedule accompanying the 2012 Regulations lists the Scottish Ministers as a public body which requires to publish a report under the Regulations. Two separate matters are covered in this report. The first is the policy making function of Ministers, and the second relates to the employees supporting Ministers. Although those two matters overlap, there are slight differences in coverage.

6. Regulations 3 (insofar as mainstreaming relates to policy) and 4 relate to the core Scottish Government directorates and all of its executive agencies (except the Scottish Prison Service, which produces its own report). For the avoidance of doubt, the executive agencies covered by this report are:

Accountant in Bankruptcy
Disclosure Scotland
Education Scotland
Scottish Public Pensions Agency
Social Security Agency
Student Awards Agency for Scotland
Transport Scotland

7. For administrative convenience, the employees in a number of organisations are either linked to the terms and conditions of employees of the Scottish Government or are staffed by Scottish Government staff on secondment. Consequently, in this report, Regulations 3 (insofar as mainstreaming relates to employees), 6, 7 and 8 cover:

7.1. The core Scottish Government directorates and all executive agencies (except the Scottish Prison Service, which publishes its own report);

7.2. Scottish Government Core, Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and Other Bodies;

This report contains tables showing the diversity statistics for Scottish Government employees as at 31 December 2018.

7.3. The statistics cover public bodies including: Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Housing Regulator, Revenue Scotland, Food Standards Scotland, National Records of Scotland;

7.4. All Scottish Government staff on secondment. For the purposes of this report, secondment is taken to mean that the Scottish Government remains the parent organisation and the staff remain subject to Scottish Government terms and conditions. There are a number of organisations that are either largely or wholly staffed by Scottish Government staff; and

7.5. For the avoidance of doubt, the report excludes Scottish Government staff on assignment, which is taken to mean staff whose terms and conditions are determined by the importing organisation.

8. This report also does not report on the Fairer Scotland Duty, also known as the socio-economic duty, which is set out in Section 1 of the 2010 Act and therefore dealt with separately.