No One Left Behind: equality impact assessment - update summary

Recommendation and Conclusion

The equality impact analysis has shaped and informed the Scottish Government's policy development by:

• Adapting the EQIA on an ongoing basis, it has allowed colleagues to structure and develop the policy statement for the development of the approach and its future phases;
• Providing a baseline on the negative impact sanctions can have on vulnerable people in society allowing Scottish Ministers to agree that all customers participating in Scotland's employability service should do so on a voluntary basis;
• Presenting a significant opportunity to design and deliver effective and targeted employment support in Scotland that better meets the needs of unemployed Scots, those of the employing community, and services that reflect national and local labour markets, building on existing service delivery in Scotland;
• And providing an opportunity to better align not just mainstream employability support in Scotland, but also disability employment services with other Scottish Government and public sector support for unemployed Scots, such as Welfare, Health and Social Care, creating the opportunity to deliver more effective, targeted and joined up public services and seek broader progress and potential shared outcomes (and investment) in devolved services.

Recommended actions

• Engage with a variety of individuals, with a focus on those with protected characteristics, during the design stages of deciding how to allocate funding based on local need;
• Target eligibility criteria for funding to support those the greatest barriers to employment to enable them to obtain, sustain and progress in employment.
• Ensure that all communications are accessible (including use of British Sign Language).
• Engage with Scottish Government colleagues to ensure activity aligns with the refreshed Fair Work Action plan and forthcoming actions (including disability employment, gender pay gap, and new ethnicity pay gap strategy) and The Promise delivery plan.
• Support employers to adopt and embed fair and inclusive workplace practices;
• Continue to support the adoption of the Fair Work Framework to address gender inequality across all dimensions of work – opportunity, security, fulfilment (including skills acquisition and deployment), respect and voice.
• Help to support delivery partners' knowledge and skills around intersectional gender analysis and gender sensitive service development.
• Support employers to provide flexible working, which is particularly crucial for young people with caring responsibilities (which is more prevalent for women).
• Local partnership support should be person-centred and consider the issues faced by women, people of colour, lone parents, LGBTQI+ in the labour market with support tailored to meet the individual needs.
• Provide particular support for young pregnant women and mothers at a local partnership level.
• Support employers to in turn support employees, with opportunities to make use of resources from expert organisations including those representing disabled people, women, people of colour, lone parent families, care experienced and LGBTQI+.