Non–binary equality action plan 2023-2028: progress report 2024

Sport

Commitment 33

Support sportscotland to reduce barriers to trans and non-binary people's participation in sport.

Action 9.1

What we said we would do

We will support our national agency for sport, sportscotland, to deliver workshops and learning development opportunities to Scottish governing bodies of sport on the guidance for transgender participation in domestic sport. This will include encouraging sports to think in innovative and creative ways to ensure nobody is left out and recommend meaningful and respectful consultation in developing sport-specific guidance.

What we have done so far

The Sports Councils’ Equality Group (SCEG), which includes sportscotland, continues to deliver workshops to meet demand from national governing bodies of sport. SCEG are offering two workshops. The Guidance on Transgender Inclusion in Domestic Sport Workshop familiarises sports with SCEG’s Guidance for Transgender Inclusion in Domestic Sport. The second workshop is the Transgender Participation in Sport Legal Workshop. This is available for governing bodies who have been to the guidance workshop and aims to provide more in-depth insight into the legal context for the guidance. There were 113 attendances by representatives of Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs) at 15 workshops held during the 2023-24 financial year.

Next steps

SCEG, including sportscotland, will continue to deliver workshops and learning development opportunities to meet demand from national governing bodies of sport during 2025.

Timescale

Short-term

Status

In progress

Action 9.2

What we said we would do

We will support our national agency for sport, sportscotland, to allocate resources to offer one-to-one support to sports governing bodies that want to develop new policies for transgender participation in their sport.

What we have done so far

sportscotland allocated resource to offer one-to-one support to Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs) that want to develop new policies for transgender participation in their sport. However, while some SGBs have produced new policies or updated existing policies following the workshops outlined in 9.1, there has been no take-up of the one-to-one support by any SGBs. As a result of this lack of demand from SGBs and given the challenging financial climate, sportscotland has not continued to allocate funding for this purpose in 2024/25. However, sportscotland continues to work closely with sport organisations to increase diversity and improve the experiences of those involved in sport. In 2024, the UK’s sports councils launched the Moving to Inclusion Framework. This programme aims to embed equality, diversity, and inclusion through an organisation’s everyday work. The Moving to Inclusion Framework is intended to drive meaningful change in practice, tackle inequalities, and lead to sustainable improvements in the representation, diversity, and positive inclusive experiences for the wider workforce, and participants. The UK sports councils are confident that the new Framework will be welcomed and adopted by organisations that are committed to increasing the diversity and improving the experiences of those leading, governing, playing, coaching, officiating or volunteering in their sport. sportscotland are supporting over 40 SGB’s with wrap-around support to implement the new Moving to Inclusion Framework.

Next steps

We will continue to investigate other options that could also be undertaken to address the sport objective of non-binary people feeling increasingly welcomed to participate in sport. However, we recognise the constraints that come with sports being autonomous organisations, and the current financial controls on public spending. An action may be added once this scoping work has been completed.

Timescale

Short-term

Status

Complete