Race Equality Action Plan programme board minutes: December 2019

Attendees and apologies

Attending

• Paul Johnston, Director-General, Education, Communities and Justice (chair)
• Dominic Munro, Director for Fair Work, Employability and Skills
• Joe Griffin, Director for Early Learning and Childcare
• Sean Neill, Deputy Director Health Workforce
• Dave Wallace, Chief Executive, Social Security Scotland
• Gavin Henderson, Deputy Director Civil Law and Legal System
• Graeme Logan, Director of Learning
• Andy Drought, Deputy Direct, Workforce, Infrastructure and Reform
• Laic Khalique, Deputy Non-Executive Director
• Kaliani Lyle, Independent member
• Jess Dolan, Joint Head of Equality Unit (for Stephen Gallagher and Lisa Bird)
• Dave Signorini, Deputy Director Better Homes Division (for Shirley Laing)

Apologies

• Stephen Gallagher, Director for Local Government and Communities
• Nicky Richards, Director, People Directorate
• Lisa Bird, Deputy Director Equalities, Human Rights and Third Sector
• Shirley Laing, Interim Director for Housing and Social Justice

In attendance

• Hilary Third, Equality Unit
• Harry Dozier, Equality Unit
   

 

Items and actions

Welcome

Paul Johnston welcomed everyone to the meeting. The focus of the meeting was to review the initial outcomes of the prioritisation exercise.

It was noted that there was increased Parliamentary scrutiny around race equality. There had been two Equalities and Human Rights Committee sessions discussing the REAP on the 21 and 28 November. There would be a further session on the 19 December where the Minister for Older People and Equalities and Paul Johnston would be giving evidence. The focus of work as a result of  the prioritisation exercise would provide further context  for the Minister and Paul when giving evidence at to the committee.

Prioritisation exercise

The prioritisation exercise was carried out across all areas of the REAP to ensure that the work we do is delivering the best impact. The Delivery Group assessed all current actions and provisionally agreed with Directors which should be prioritised. 

Each Programme Board member gave an overview of the prioritised actions and areas of focus in their portfolios. The outcomes of the prioritisation and continued delivery assurance process would help form the basis for the Year 2 update, to be published in March 2020. 

Data

The need for more robust data was discussed. Understanding the difference between data and evidence gaps and then addressing those issues was an area of significant risk that cuts across all areas. It was agreed that data would be an area of focus for the Board at the next meeting. 

It was also noted that the application of improvement methodology would be an important part of work going forward. 

It was agreed that Equality Unity would help facilitate a meeting with Directors and Delivery Group members with Jason Leitch to discuss how improvement methodology might be applied to the REAP.

Next meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, 10 January – 11:00 – 12:00.