Scotland's equality evidence strategy 2017-2021

2. Purpose

High quality equality evidence and analysis is vital to underpin effective and inclusive policy making in Scotland. However, despite improvements in recent years, there remain gaps in Scotland's equality evidence base. This paper sets out a four year strategy (2017-21) describing the equality evidence gaps we have identified in concert with our partner organisations and academic colleagues, and detailing a strategic approach to strengthening Scotland's equality evidence base.

Responsibility for addressing these gaps in data and evidence will be shared across a range of organisations and interests. The Scottish Government cannot, and should not, take responsibility for attending to all evidence gaps. There is opportunity for data and information to be collected by the public sector, academic institutions, the third sector and from within communities themselves. The public sector has responsibilities under the equality duties and it is incumbent on all organisations to think about their role in funding, designing or undertaking data collection, research and analysis to fill evidence gaps. The Scottish Government will work collaboratively with partners to improve the equality evidence base for Scotland.