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

Legislation, Guidance, Access to Services and IT Systems

Legislation, Guidance and Access to Services

Commitment 19

Produce clear guidance about name changes for trans and non-binary people.

Commitment 25

Ensure that future legislation does not further entrench unnecessarily gendered terminology or assumptions across the law.

Commitment 26

Review the use of, and take action to remove, unnecessary gender markers from identity documents, including by working with the UK Government to take action where ID is administered on a UK-wide basis.

Commitment 30

Work with Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and LGBTQI+ stakeholders to ensure that the needs of non-binary people experiencing gender-based violence are fully understood and consider their needs in a way that protects both VAWG policy and non-binary people through the Equally Safe refresh.

Action 5.1

What we said we would do

We will produce guidance for individuals, including for trans and non-binary people, on how to change your name in Scotland.

What we have done so far

Guidance on how to change your name in Scotland has been developed by the Scottish Government and is in the final internal review process. The guidance is factual in nature and applicable to any individual who wishes to change their name, including non-binary and trans people.

Next steps

We will publish the guidance as soon as the final review is complete, which we expect to be in early 2025.

Timescale

Short-term

Status

In progress

Action 5.2

What we said we would do

Trans and non-binary inclusion issues will continue to be considered as we continuously review our internal Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) guidance. In live training and coaching sessions, we will explicitly prompt policy teams to consider impacts on trans and non-binary people when conducting EQIAs. This will ensure that their needs are actively and thoughtfully addressed, upholding their rights under the Equality Act 2010.

What we have done so far

We regularly review and update internal EQIA guidance documents to include the latest understanding of non-binary and trans issues. Non-binary people are explicitly mentioned in guidance and during live training sessions where relevant. Support is provided to Scottish Government officials developing EQIAs to ensure non-binary and trans people’s needs are being considered during development considerations where relevant. Policy teams are encouraged to engage directly with non-binary and trans communities when necessary while conducting EQIA’s. These ensure the impact on non-binary people is fully understood when changes to law and policies are being considered.

Next steps

We will continue to review our guidance and offer support as required.

Timescale

Medium-term

Status

Complete

Action 5.3

What we said we would do

We will continue to follow the ongoing policy to use gender neutral language in all legislative drafting. The latest published edition of the drafting guidance, Drafting Matters!, includes an express reference to non-binary people in regard to the use of gender-specific pronouns as well as alternatives to gender-specific nouns.

What we have done so far

Our guidance and training materials for Equality Impact Assessments reflect and promote the "Drafting Matters!" guidance, which specifically addresses the importance of using gender-neutral language. This is particularly relevant for non-binary individuals, as it recommends avoiding gender-specific pronouns. We are exploring ways to enhance inclusive communication across the public sector through the ongoing programme of activity to improve the effectiveness of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) regime in Scotland.

Next steps

We will launch a Mainstreaming Toolkit alongside the publication of the Equality and Human Rights Mainstreaming Strategy. This will aim to define the practical steps that an organisation can take to mainstream equality and human rights. The Drafting Matters! guidance will be included in the resources, under all relevant themes. We will procure an external provider to support us to advance inclusive communication through new guidance, tools and training. We will aim to work closely with and support listed authorities in considering better practices for inclusive communication, including plainer and more neutral language, where appropriate. We will collaborate with public bodies, equality advocacy groups, and individuals with lived experience of communication diversity, including partner organisations, to refine this approach.

Timescale

Medium-term

Status

In progress

Action 5.4

What we said we would do

We will develop a reusable Digital Identity Service, which would reduce the need for repeated use of traditional identity documentation, which may include gender markers, and reduce the need for organisations to verify and store unnecessary information about individuals when providing services to them.

What we have done so far

We launched the ScotAccount service in February 2023. It is a secure and simple way for people to access public services online. Users can choose to save their verified personal information. They can then use it again when accessing other public services, reducing the need to store unnecessary data and repeat the same verification processes over and over. The ScotAccount approach to privacy is that we do not ask for, or use, gender information. This will benefit non-binary and trans people who do not feel comfortable disclosing this information.

Next steps

We will continue to use impact assessments to inform the development of future policy and public service roll out of the ScotAccount service.

Timescale

Medium-term

Status

In progress

Action 5.5

What we said we would do

We will assess the suitability of emerging UK and International frameworks for the development of standards-based digital identities.

What we have done so far

We have regular contact with the UK Government to represent Scottish interests for the development of UK trust framework standards for authentication and identity verification. This includes representing the interests of non-binary and trans people who use these services.

Next steps

We will engage with the UK Government on the Identity and Attributes Standards Working Group, which meets on a regular basis, to ensure that these issues are represented for the development of emerging standards and frameworks. The timescale of this action has been adjusted from short-term to medium-term due to ongoing engagement with the UK Government to assess emerging standards and frameworks and to align with 5.4.

Timescale

Medium-term

Status

In progress

Action 5.6

What we said we would do

We will explore non-binary people’s experience of the continuum of gender-based violence in order to develop a greater understanding on which to build an evidence-based approach to policy making, service provision and funding.

What we have done so far

We considered this action as part of the Evidence Review on Non-Binary People's Experiences in Scotland, published in November 2024. However, gender-based violence against non-binary and trans people was not covered in any of the sources identified for this review. This has been highlighted as a priority area for possible future research.

Next steps

We will engage with both LGBTQI+ and gender stakeholder organisations to gather evidence about gender-based violence against non-binary and trans people to identify need, barriers to access, and options for addressing these for this group. We will listen to those with lived experience to better understand the experiences of non-binary and trans people and use our findings to make improvements, where possible. The timescale of this action has been adjusted from short-term to medium-term due to the limited evidence available on gender-based violence against non-binary and trans people and the complexity of this action.

Timescale

Medium-term

Status

In progress

Action 5.7

What we said we would do

We will consult with VAWG and LGBTQI+ organisations within the engagement process of the Equally Safe strategy refresh.

What we have done so far

We published our refreshed Equally Safe strategy in December 2023 which recognises LGBTQI+ people’s experiences of domestic abuse and other forms of gender-based violence. Key LGBTQI+ stakeholders were consulted as part of the engagement process and helped shape the strategy and its references to LGBTQI+ people’s experiences. The Scottish Government continue to fund LGBT Youth Scotland and SACRO to deliver support to LGBTQI+ people experiencing gender-based violence.

Timescale

Short-term

Status

Complete