Equality outcomes and mainstreaming report 2023

Introduction

We are continuing to take action to secure Scotland's position as a global leader in human rights and equality. Our ambition is for strong communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe, and where human rights are respected. We will continue to take action to mainstream equality, inclusion and human rights and continue to take forward specific actions to address discrimination.

Mainstreaming is the process of embedding equality, inclusion and human rights considerations and practices in the course of all that we do when exercising public functions. This report provides a brief summary of the continuing progress we are making to mainstream equality and human rights as an employer and as a decision maker, and should be read alongside the subsidiary documents and associated annexes.

This report, along with its supporting documents, delivers on the Scottish Government's reporting requirements under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Those requirements are:

• to report on progress on making the Public Sector Equality Duty integral to the exercise of its functions (Regulation 3);
• to update on progress to meet equality outcomes set in 2021 (Regulation 4);
• to outline the composition of the workforce, and use of that information (Regulation 6), and;
• to provide information on the gender pay gap (Regulation 7).

Structure of the report

The following report is split into three sections:

Part 1: the Scottish Government as a policy maker

• This section highlights a sample of key work and particular actions the Scottish Government is taking to advance equality and address specific inequalities. We also outline some of the key actions we plan to take over the next two-year period ahead of the next reporting cycle in 2025.

Part 2: the Scottish Government as an employer

• This includes our corporate activity as an employer; specific action plans to place our people at the heart of mainstreaming; recruitment, internship and mentoring, and; staff policies and networks. In this section we also provide data on the composition of the workforce and pay gap information, alongside how this data is being used to improve our policies and practices.

Part 3: equality outcomes

• In 2021, the Scottish Government set out a suite of equality outcomes to cover the period up to 2025. This section provides a summary of progress and next steps for the 2021-25 reporting period.