Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021 implementation - food and drink: equality impact assessment

Executive summary

The Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021^[1] (“the Act”) received Royal Assent in May 2021. The purpose of the Act is to regulate the relationship between tied pub landlords (pub-owning businesses) and tenants through the introduction of a statutory Scottish Pubs Code and the appointment of a Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator.

This Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) has been developed to inform the implementation of the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021, its secondary legislation and the creation of a Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator.

In developing this policy the Scottish Government is mindful of the three needs of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) - eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Where any negative impacts have been identified, we have sought to mitigate/eliminate these. We are also mindful that the equality duty is not just about negating or mitigating negative impacts, as we also have a positive duty to promote equality.

The assessment found that the policy did not impact on people due to protected characteristics, such as age and sex. Based on the evidence gathered and the analysis conducted as part of this EQIA, the policy is not directly or indirectly discriminatory.