Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation Programme 1: Entrepreneurial People and Culture Equality Impact Assessment (Record and Results)

Stage 4: Decision making and monitoring

Identifying and establishing any required mitigating action

Have positive or negative impacts been identified for any of the equality groups?

Many policies in Programme 1

are expected to positively impact equality groups, especially those explicitly mentioned such as women, young people and those from under-represented groups. No negative impacts have been identified, however, we will consider with analysts how to bridge knowledge gaps on entrepreneurship and people with Protected Characteristics and consult these groups during the planning and delivery phases. This includes all groups with Protected Characteristics except those pertaining to Marriage and Civil Partnership. Analysis and research pertaining to women will be taken forward by the the Ana Stewart Review.

Is the policy directly or indirectly discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010^[29]?

No

If the policy is indirectly discriminatory, how is it justified under the relevant legislation?

N/A

If not justified, what mitigating action will be undertaken?

N/A

Describing how Equality Impact analysis has shaped the policy making process

At the time of publication of NSET in March 2022, the Scottish Government published the NSET Equality Position Statement which outlined the equality evidence that was considered during the production of the NSET. This research has informed the development of this EQIA.

This EQIA has found that there are numerous challenges facing people with Protected Characteristics in participating in entrepreneurial careers. This is especially the case in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crises. However, by targeting specific groups and interventions, NSET Programme 1 aims to help individuals overcome some of these barriers.

The EQIA have found that, although there are numerous challenges facing people with Protected Characteristics in participating in entrepreneurial careers, Programme 1 aims to positively impact and support these groups to access entrepreneurial careers.

Actions in NSET that look to specifically address barriers in accessing entrepreneurial careers include:

• Embedding entrepreneurship in the Young Person's Guarantee;
• Adapting and reviewing Scotland's apprenticeship system so that it is available for start-ups and early scale-ups to use, focusing in particular on providing opportunities for women and other under-represented groups and on specific skills, such as digital;
• Proactively promoting business start-up opportunities to those at risk of redundancy through the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) programme; and
• Setting targets and focusing on providing access to support programmes from amongst the most under-represented groups, particularly women, those on low incomes and those without qualifications at further or higher education, including the six priority groups at greatest risk of child poverty. This would include the offer of financial support for those who are unable to afford time out from a full-time job or caring responsibilities to develop ideas.

However, these actions do not explicitly target all Protected Characteristics and this EQIA has also identified that intersectional knowledge gaps exist in relation to barriers that all these groups face with regards to entrepreneurship. Additional data would be helpful pertaining to entrepreneurship and the following Protected Characteristics: age (16-24 and 50+), disability, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race and religion or belief. We also do not have a full picture of the barriers to entrepreneurship and would benefit from more information about these groups. In relation to data, the only exception is the protected characteristic of sex as the Ana Stewart review on women's entrepreneurship is currently underway to close knowledge gaps related to the experiences of women in entrepreneurship.

We will therefore consider with analysts how to fill knowledge gaps for all Protected Characteristics as Programme 1 progresses. This data gathering exercise will feed into future EQIAs which will be developed for the four projects as policies develop further. Timelines will be shared alongside future delivery plans.

Cost/resourcing implications

The Scottish Governments Resource Spending Review (RSR), published in May 2022, set out the high level parameters for resource spending to 2026-27 and outlined our spending plans to deliver Programme for Government and Bute House commitments. Since the publication of the RSR in May, the cost crisis has meant that Scotland has faced both a significant reduction in the Scottish Government's spending power alongside the impact of the cost crisis on households, families, businesses, public services and the third sector. These restrictions both limit the Scottish Government's ability to respond to the cost crisis in-year, not least due to restrictions on borrowing powers, but also present challenges in future years. Those challenges are not just restrictions on overall expenditure, but also uncertainty over expenditure plans in the future, exacerbated by UK-wide economic and political volatility. Resource and budget(s) will be agreed on the basis of these spending challenges and an economic environment which is expected to remain highly uncertain into the medium-term. Consideration of costs attached to delivery will be included in project-level EQIAs.

Monitoring and Review

Specific policy interventions for actions within Programme 1 are yet to be developed. As these policies develop, each of the four projects we will carry out an EQIA to ensure that the specific barriers for each Protected Characteristic are fully considered for these differing projects. Timelines of these EQIAs will be made available alongside NSET Delivery Plans.

This EQIA analysis will be kept under regular review, with new data and evidence analysed as we improve data collection for continuous learning and development to monitor the impact of the Strategy on people with Protected Characteristics.

In terms of monitoring, we will publish an annual progress report from the NSET Delivery Board, which will include equalities monitoring.