NHS Scotland Pride Badge initiative: FOI release

Information requested

• the identity of the employee/minister responsible for signing-off the project and who authorised the launch
• a summary of the project, including costings, outcomes set for success, data gathering and handling arrangements, overall timetable, and plans for project evaluation
• a copy of the circular distributed to all Health Boards advising of the project and setting out the terms of how Health Boards could opt-in to the project
• the date when the project came to an end how many employees in NHS Scotland within Scottish government signed up to wear the badge and take the pledge
• how many employees in NHS Scotland within Scottish government are still deemed ‘active’ badge wearers and upholders of the pledge 
• how many employees in Health Boards signed up to wear the badge and take the pledge
• how many employees in Health Boards are still deemed ‘active’ badge wearers and upholders of the pledge
• what data gathering and recording system is used to log employees who are badge wearers and pledge upholders, and what level of security is attached to accessing the data
• a copy of a formal evaluation of the project the identity of the employee responsible for deciding that the ‘Pride Badge and Pride Pledge’ project did not need to be subject to an Equality & Diversity Impact Assessment before being activated
• what arrangements, allowances or mitigations in the design and implementation of the project were put in place to avoid any adverse impact on people who hold beliefs which are commonly termed ‘gender critical’ and who do not accept the concept that transwomen can be women

Response

• the identity of the employee/minister responsible for signing-off the project and who authorised the launch
• the identity of the employee responsible for deciding that the ‘Pride Badge and Pride Pledge’ project did not need to be subject to an Equality & Diversity Impact Assessment before being activated

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance exemptions under section 38(1)(b) (personal information) of FOISA apply to some of the information requested. This includes personal data such as names of third party individuals. Disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

We can confirm that the NHSScotland Pride Badge is an initiative developed in partnership between NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government. The then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Mr Yousaf approved the development and promotion of the initiative.

• a summary of the project, including costings, outcomes set for success, data gathering and handling arrangements, overall timetable, and plans for project evaluation

Full details of the development and cost of implementation can be found in a previously published Freedom of Information request on 9 July 2021. You can read details of this information here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202100213501/

Additional information about the tendering process, an update of costs, and how data and information from the initiative is used was published in a further FOI release on 15 July 2021:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202100215136/

Since publication of these FOI releases, in March 2023 a further supply of badges and posters were ordered for distribution proportionately amongst all NHS Scotland Health Boards. A pop up banner was also ordered ahead of the NHS Scotland event in June 2023. A breakdown of project cost is as follows. Please note that below numbers are accurate as of 8 August 2024. All figures are including VAT:

• 20,000 Pride Badge pins: £17,429.23
• 1000 Pride badge pins (with safety clasp): £1853.24
• 1 presentation pop up banner: £232.61
• 1000 A4 posters: £269.05
• 500 A3 posters: £269.05
• Total expenditure: £24,063.82

This brings the total cost of the project over 3 years to: £57,193.02

In addition to the data collected for the Pride Badge initiative already detailed in previous FOIs, we did a follow up survey in June 2022 as part of the evaluation process.

The survey was shared with all Boards for four weeks over June and July 2022. The survey was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the NHS Pride Badge – to act as a baseline for measuring of
the impact on homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia within the NHS. There was a total of 1489 responses. And, of the 22 NHS Boards, only one Board had 0 responses with the greatest number of
responses coming from Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire. 

A copy of the survey results is attached.

• how many employees in Health Boards signed up to wear the badge and take the pledge
• how many employees in NHS Scotland within Scottish government are still deemed ‘active’ badge wearers and upholders of the pledge
• how many employees in Health Boards are still deemed ‘active’ badge wearers and upholders of the pledge
• what data gathering and recording system is used to log employees who are badge wearers and pledge upholders, and what level of security is attached to accessing the data

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

As stated in previous FOIs on this subject, taking part in the NHS Scotland Pride Badge Initiative is entirely voluntary. Staff are in no way compelled to sign up, if they do not want to. It is a personal choice. Individual NHS boards only retained the names of staff who gave explicit consent to be contacted for the purposes of gathering feedback in follow up evaluation. This includes any NHS staff who may be seconded within the Scottish Government.

• a copy of a formal evaluation of the project
• a copy of the circular distributed to all Health Boards advising of the project and setting out the terms of how Health Boards could opt-in to the project
• the date when the project came to an end

A copy of the survey results and analysis is attached.

A copy of Toolkit for Boards is attached.

A copy of the Guidance for Boards is attached, (According to FOISA section 38(1)(b), we have redacted some personal information in that document) —The Pride Badge Pledge itself and minutes
from the working groups have already been published alongside the previous FOIs. There is no formal end date to the project but monitoring of it’s impact concluded with the evaluation survey. Additional supplies of badges have not been ordered since March 2023. 

• what arrangements, allowances or mitigations in the design and implementation of the project were put in place to avoid any adverse impact on people who hold beliefs which are commonly termed ‘gender critical’ and who do not accept the concept that transwomen can be women

While an EQIA was not completed before the launch of the badge we made sure that wearing that badge was strictly voluntary. Scottish Government is committed to advancing equality for LGBTQI+ people, and promoting, protecting and realising the rights of every LGBTQI+ person in Scotland. EQIAs are assessments carried out to ensure actions and policies that public sector organisations implement, meet the aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations. Displaying the rainbow flag is a clear action intended to do all of these for the LGBTI+ community which can experience significant discrimination, directly fulfilling the aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty for a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. 

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.

FOI - 202400424571 - Information released - Annex A - C

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