Membership information between Scottish Government and Stonewall Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

1. The first date in which the Scottish Government became a member of Stonewall Scotland/UK Diversity Champions Programme and confirm if you are still a member.

2. The amount of membership fees paid to Stonewall Scotland/UK since joining their diversity program.

3. Benefits received by the Scottish Government from this membership.

Response

1. 2013 is the date for our furthest records which show when the Scottish Government became a member of Stonewall, and are still a member to date and have so far payed up until 2022.

2. Our records show that since 2013 we have payed £24,000 to Stonewall Scotland which covers us until 2022.

3. The Scottish Government is committed to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Displaying Stonewall's Diversity Champions logo during recruitment sends a strong signal of our commitment to being an inclusive employer - both to our existing LGBTI+ colleagues and to support our ambitions to attract diverse talent.

Our membership of Stonewall's Diversity Champion Programme has helped us to embed LGBT equality and inclusion within our workplace and, through participation in their Workplace Equality Index and the detailed feedback we receive as a Diversity Champion, to take a structured approach in identifying priority areas for practical action. For example, we worked closely with Stonewall to develop our internal employer trans inclusion policy and guidance.

The support provided by our Diversity Champion membership has helped us to achieve Top 100 Employer status in 2017 and 2019. Through our membership we have access to their workplace guides which are helpful in shaping our own approaches and action, for example in considering how to gather employee sexual orientation information.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.