Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026: Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement
The Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement considers the impacts that decisions made in the Scottish Budget are likely to have on different groups of people in Scotland. It is a supporting document to the Scottish Budget and should be read alongside associated Budget publications.
Annex C: Further detail on Key Budget Decisions
This section provides some further detail on the six policy specific budget decisions summarised in Chapter 2. This detailed information has been provided by the relevant policy areas, and are as follows:
- Social Security Assistance
- Affordable Housing
- Concessionary Fares
- Employability
- Drugs and Alcohol Policy
- International Development
Framework for this analysis
This information is structured around a set of 6 questions for policy makers[1] developed with the Scottish Government’s Equality and Human Rights Budget Advisory Group (EHRBAG). They are intended to be used when making budget decisions ‘to identify ways in which budget decisions could be improved to advance human rights and address inequalities'.
The questions policy areas were asked to consider are as follows:
1. What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
2. What do you know about existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
3. How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
4. How will your budget decisions contribute to the realisation of human rights?
5. Could the Budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
6. How will the impact of the budget decisions be evaluated?
References
Social Security Assistance
| 2023-24 outturn | 2024-25 outturn (Autumn Budget Revision) | 2025-26 budget | Change 2024-25 to 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £5.2 billion | £6.0 billion | £6.8 billion | £0.8 billion |
The figures are the Social Security Assistance Level 3 budget line. This includes all social security benefits administered by Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Welfare Fund. The 2025-26 Budget is based on the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s December 2024 independent forecasts.
What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
We have established a radically different social security system built on dignity, fairness and respect to support those people in Scotland most in need and tackle inequality. Over the last six years we have paid our clients £17 billion through 14 benefits, seven of which are unique to Scotland. We currently pay benefits to over 1.4 million people - around one in four people in Scotland. Social Security is absolutely pivotal to the national missions to end child poverty. International evidence shows that social security spend is an important means through which governments can reduce inequalities and improve short, medium and long-term outcomes for individuals and households.[1] This can serve to reduce future demand on services and increase tax revenues. Whilst additional spend on social security can reduce inequality, cuts to benefits have the potential to widen inequalities.[2] An example of this is the way that the link between need and entitlement has been removed with the introduction of the benefit cap and the two-child limit by the UK Government and the impact this has had on child poverty.[3]
What do you know about existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
Inequalities and poverty
Twenty-one per cent of Scotland’s population (1.11 million people each year) were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2020-23.[4] It is estimated that 17 per cent of the population (940,000 people each year) were living in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2020-23.[5] In 2020-23, 60 per cent of working-age adults (430,000 working-age adults each year) in relative poverty after housing costs were living in a household where someone was in paid work.[6] There are some households more likely to be in poverty than others. For example, many disabled people face additional living costs due to structural barriers.
In 2020-23, 24 per cent of children (240,000 children each year) were in relative poverty.[7] Some types of households with children are known to be at a particularly high risk of poverty. These include households with single parents, three or more children, those with a disabled person, of an ethnic minority background, with a child aged under one, or a mother aged under 25.
Sex
Women's poverty and child poverty are intrinsically linked. Throughout Scottish society, irrespective of other protected characteristics, evidence shows us that women undertake the great majority of caring in both the formal and informal sectors, with care being both paid and unpaid. While caring for children can bring many positive benefits to those who take that role, usually women, it also carries some specific challenges. For many it means a reduction in the number of hours they can work or career progression options they may be willing to take. The vast majority of lone parent families are headed by women, and we know that in the event of separation or the loss of a partner, women can be especially vulnerable to entering poverty.[8]
Pregnancy and Maternity
Women continue to be more likely to be the primary carers for children, which can restrict the type of work and working patterns they can take up. In a recent survey by Maternity Action, nearly two-thirds of respondents (64 per cent) said that they worried a lot about money while they were pregnant or on maternity leave and a further third said that they sometimes worried.[9]
Age
In the last 15 years, the youngest households (household heads aged 16-24) have been consistently more likely to be in relative poverty compared to older households. In 2020-23, 39 per cent of people in households in this group were in relative poverty after housing costs. In comparison, the age groups 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64 all had similar (and lower) poverty rates between 17 per cent and 23 per cent.[10]
Similarly, children living in households where the mother is aged 25 or under, are at higher risk of being in poverty.[11]
Disability
Disabled people experience higher rates of poverty and are more likely to access social security. Many disabled people face additional living costs due to structural barriers, for example inaccessible physical environments, which disability-related benefits are paid to contribute towards. If income from disability benefits is removed from households to allow for a more like-for-like comparison, 28 per cent of households with a disabled member were in relative poverty in 2020-23 compared to 17 per cent of those where no-one was disabled.[12]
Similarly, households where someone is disabled, are at higher risk of experiencing child poverty.[13]
Race
An evidence review published by the Scottish Government reported that ethnic minority groups are more likely to live in low-income households and are most negatively affected by the cost-of living crisis. This is also the case for households with a disabled person.[14]
Over the five-year period 2018-23, people from non-white ethnic minority groups were more likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs compared to those from the ‘White - British’ and ‘White - Other’ groups.
The poverty rate was 50 per cent for the ‘Asian or Asian British’ ethnic groups and 51 per cent for ‘Mixed, Black or Black British and Other’ ethnic groups (no population estimates available due to the small sample).
The poverty rate amongst the ‘White - Other’ group was 22 per cent (80,000 people) and that of the ‘White - British’ group was 18 per cent (840,000 people).[15]
Child poverty rates are also higher in ethnic minority households.[16]
Religion
Over the five-year period 2018-23, Muslim adults were more likely to be in relative poverty (61 per cent, 40,000 each year) than adults overall (19 per cent), after housing costs were taken into account. Of adults belonging to the Church of Scotland, 16 per cent were in relative poverty after housing costs (160,000 adults each year), compared to 17 per cent of Roman Catholic adults (90,000 adults) and adults of other Christian denominations (21 per cent; 70,000 adults).[17]
The most recent published statistics show that there is a high percentage of social security clients with no religion (59 per cent), and this is likely linked to age (adults aged under 45 make up around 70 per cent of Social Security Scotland clients and are also more likely to have no religion).[18]
How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
The benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland primarily provide targeted payments to support low-income families to alleviate poverty; and financial support to disabled people to compensate them for the additional costs associated with disabilities. There are also benefits provided to financially support people caring for disabled people.
Social Security Scotland spend supports the achievement of a Fairer Scotland in a number of ways, including:
- Reducing Child Poverty: In 2024-25, the Scottish Child Payment alone is projected to impact the relative child poverty rate by six percentage points, meaning it will keep 60,000 children out of relative poverty in that year.[19]
- Reducing Income Inequality: Distributional modelling by the Scottish Government[20] and the Institute for Fiscal Studies[21] shows that changes made to the tax and welfare system by the Scottish Government in previous budgets has served to reduce inequality and target financial support at those who need it most. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that, on the action being taken in Scotland: “Amongst the poorest 30 per cent of households, those with children will see their incomes boosted by around a sizeable £2,000 a year on average, driven by higher benefits for families with children.”[22]
- Reducing Poverty and Protecting Households: There is emerging evaluation evidence that the new devolved benefits administered by Social Security Scotland are positively contributing to reducing financial pressure on households, reducing poverty, debt, material deprivation and food insecurity. Further evaluation of the Five Family Payments which will explore these themes further is underway, and due to be published in summer 2025.
- Promoting Equality: Equality Impact Assessments show that women, disabled people and people from ethnic minority groups are likely to benefit most from new Scottish benefits such as the Scottish Child Payment.[23]
- Improving Health: Early evaluation evidence of benefits such as the Scottish Child Payment,[24] Best Start Foods[25] and Best Start Grant[26] show that these benefits are improving health outcomes through, for example, enabling parents in low-income households to provide more, and better quality food for their children.
- Improving Wellbeing: Evaluation evidence shows the introduction of new family benefits has led to improved family wellbeing in low-income households, through reducing money-related stress and anxiety for parents, improving children’s wellbeing from having their basic needs met (e.g. reduced distress caused by being hungry) and improving parental confidence and self-esteem.
- Increasing Social Participation: The evaluation of the Young Carer Grant[27] showed that the grant is helping young carers improve their own quality of life by taking part in opportunities which are the norm for their non-caring peers.
- Supporting Employment: Evaluation evidence[28] shows Job Start Payment helps meet up-front costs of a new job, support young people to take up employment and increase confidence. Evidence[29] also shows that Young Carer Grant is supporting carers with employment and training.
- Boosting the Economy: In 2024-25, the Scottish Government will invest a record £6.3 billion in new and devolved social security benefits to support the most vulnerable in our society. This is £1.1 billion more than the UK Government allocation to the Scottish Government for social security as part of the fiscal framework. Through multiplier effects, this additional £1.1 billion of social security spending could result in a £300 million boost to GDP in Scotland’s economy in the short term (in 2024-25 prices).[30]
Social Security Scotland has actively targeted specific groups to promote benefits and maximise take-up rates. For example, people from non-white ethnic minority groups face particular barriers, especially those with English as a second language. Social Security Scotland creates all of its promotional materials in seven alternative community languages with other languages available on request. In 2023-24, 92 per cent of ethnic minority respondents rated their experience with Social Security Scotland staff as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, a higher proportion than among White respondents (85 per cent).
Social Security Scotland will collect information to support someone’s application if they ask. This can take time – but under the DWP, people had to do this themselves. Additionally Short-term Assistance is available to any client who is currently receiving Disability Living Allowance and does not meet the Adult Disability Payment criteria or sees a reduction in their mobility or care component. These are marked distinctions between the Scottish and UK systems, and the latest survey of people who applied for disability assistance shows that 90 per cent of people who attended a consultation about their application said they were treated with dignity and respect.[31]
In summary, our Social Security budget decisions are directly leading to improved incomes, reduced child poverty and a consequential lessening of inequality caused by that poverty.
How will your budget decisions contribute to the realisation of human rights?
We have built our system and our budget decisions around the essential principle that social security is a human right, essential to the realisation of other human rights. We enshrined this in the 2018 Social Security Act, which required the Scottish Government to create Our Charter,[32] setting out what people should expect from the social security system. It underpins how the Scottish Government will ensure we are taking a human rights based approach to what we do and how we will demonstrate dignity, fairness and respect in all of our actions. In designing the Charter, people with lived experience were empowered to share decision making with Government; making key decisions about the commitments that should be made. The Charter Measurement Framework, also co-designed with people with lived experience, involves research with clients, staff and stakeholders on an annual basis to measure how people feel they are treated when they interact with Social Security Scotland.
Most recently, we carried out a substantial review of the Charter, in line with requirements in section 18 of the 2018 Act. Given the strengths of the methodology used to design the original Charter in 2019, the review adopted a similar co-design approach. This brought together policy makers, individuals and organisations with experience and expertise on the provision of social security assistance in Scotland. New commitments include providing clients with more information on what they can expect from our social security system and increased accountability for delivering the Charter commitments. Stakeholder organisations praised the Charter, saying it makes it clear dignity, fairness and respect are at the heart of what Social Security Scotland does. Participants highlighted the positive culture of Social Security Scotland and of feeling “listened to” amongst other positive statements, while people working in Social Security Scotland described it as “a mission statement”.
Could the budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
The impact that devolved benefits make to recipients continues to be monitored through research and analytical activity conducted in line with our published evaluation strategies.
People with lived experience of social security systems continue to help us to shape both the development of policy as well as practical improvements such as the style and language used in letters, application process and accessibility of our buildings.
How will the impact of the budget decisions be evaluated?
Our approach to evaluation[33] of the first wave of benefits that were devolved to Scotland was published in 2019. Since then, we have published eight evaluation reports under this strategy. By drawing together evidence from a variety of sources, including management information, research conducted by Social Security Scotland, official statistics and bespoke qualitative research with clients and other organisations, we are able to understand the impact of the benefits on clients’ experiences and outcomes. This helps us to understand the overall contribution of Social Security to reducing poverty and tackling inequalities. Further work is planned for 2025, including the publication of the next phase of evaluation of the Five Family Payments.
In October 2021, we set out our plans for evaluating the disability benefits being devolved to Scotland[34] to consider the impact of key policy changes. Since then, we have published four evaluation reports under the strategy.
As part of the annual progress report on the performance of the Social Security System, we undertake an assessment of how the system has affected the circumstances of people living in households whose income is adversely affected, or whose expenditure is increased, because a member of the household has one or more protected characteristics. This draws on a variety of sources, including Social Security client and diversity statistics which helps us understand the applications and outcomes by each of the equality groups.[35]
References
1 tackling-income-inequality-the-role-of-taxes-and-transfers.pdf (oecd.org)
2 cumulative-impact-assessment-report.pdf (equalityhumanrights.com)
3 The two-child limit: poverty, incentives and cost | Institute for Fiscal Studies (ifs.org.uk)
4 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
5 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
6 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
7 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
9 Maternity cost of living survey - Maternity Action
10 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
12 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
15 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
16 Tackling child poverty: first year progress report - Annex C - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
17 Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 (data.gov.scot)
19 Child poverty cumulative impact assessment: update - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
20 The Scottish Government’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
21 Analysis of Scottish tax and benefit reforms (ifs.org.uk)
22 Analysis of Scottish tax and benefit reforms (ifs.org.uk)
23 Equality Impact Assessment - Scottish Child Payment (www.gov.scot)
24 Interim Evaluation of Scottish Child Payment (www.gov.scot)
25 Best Start Foods: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
26 Best Start Grant: interim evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
27 Young Carer Grant: interim evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
28 Job Start Payment: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
29 Interim Evaluation of Scottish Child Payment (www.gov.scot)
30 Economic impact of spending on social security - Technical note - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
31 Adult and Child Disability Payment Client Survey Jan - March 2023 (socialsecurity.gov.scot)
32 Social Security Scotland - Our Charter
33 Devolved benefits: evaluating the policy impact - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
34 Devolution of disability benefits: evaluation strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Affordable Housing Supply Programme
| 2023-24 outturn | 2024-25 outturn (as per Autumn Budget Revision) | 2025-26 budget | Change 2024-25 to 2025-26 £m |
|---|---|---|---|
| £707.8 million | £595.9 million | £767.7 million | £171.9 million |
What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
The Affordable Housing Supply Programme’s (AHSP) main aim is to increase the supply of affordable homes across Scotland, working towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70 per cent for social rent and 10 per cent in rural and island communities. The AHSP helps to fund the delivery of homes for social rent, mid-market rent and low-cost homeownership, including acquisition of existing properties and, where appropriate, returning long term void properties back into use. The programme is key to delivering increased supply, which is central to addressing the current housing emergency.
What do you know about existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
Housing costs are an important factor related to income inequality and poverty. Research evidence suggests that poverty is one of the core drivers of homelessness in the UK, and Scotland specifically. The rented sectors have a larger share of households on lower incomes than households who own with a mortgage (according to the Scottish Household Survey 2022, 53 per cent of social rented and 31 per cent of private rented households have a net income of £20,000 or less, compared with 10 per cent of households owning with a mortgage).[1] Households in the rented sectors spend a greater proportion of their income on housing costs than owner-occupied households. The average (median) share is similar for households who rent socially (22.5 per cent in 2022-23) and privately (22.4 per cent), which is significantly higher than for households owning with a mortgage (6.5 per cent) and owning outright (2.2 per cent).[2] Internal Scottish Government analysis of a small sample of cases in 2021 found that rent arrears were the most common ground for bringing a case requesting eviction of a private tenant to the First Tier Tribunal.[3]
In terms of other equalities groups who experience inequality of outcomes related to housing and/or, may benefit from affordable housing availability: single parents, who are mostly women, are more likely to be in rented, social housing; around one in four children in Scotland currently live in poverty; young people are disproportionately likely to experience housing insecurity and homelessness; and there is evidence that transgender people may suffer poorer outcomes related to homelessness and have poor experiences accessing housing. People from ethnic minorities are more likely to be in households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness.
Households with someone experiencing long term sickness or disability, as well as those living in rural areas, are more likely to be in fuel poverty. Additionally, in terms of fuel poverty related outcomes, older residents and those with disabilities are more likely to require higher levels of heat to meet their needs. Therefore, these groups may benefit from the availability of homes built to building standards for energy efficiency.
How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
The Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) contributes to the following National Outcomes: Health, Communities, Human Rights, Education, Children, Poverty, Economy and Environment. Warm and affordable homes are much more than just bricks and mortar, they provide the foundation for family life and the security families require to work, learn and thrive. Ensuring families have suitable accommodation, free from overcrowding, gives children a safe space to do their homework and have friends home from school. Affordable and secure housing removes a significant barrier for parents who can then focus on accessing employment or training opportunities.
In terms of those experiencing income inequality, evidence published in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation UK Poverty Review suggests that having a higher share of renters in the affordable social housing sector in Scotland has been an important factor in keeping poverty rates in Scotland lower in the past.[4] Internal estimates suggest that keeping social rents lower than market rents benefits approximately 140,000 children in poverty each year. Those equalities groups identified as being more likely to experience either poverty or housing insecurity are likely to benefit from increased availability of affordable housing options.
AHSP provides homes that meet energy efficiency building standards. Homes in the social housing sector are required to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) for energy efficiency and repair. For both fuel poor and extremely fuel poor households, the lowest rates of fuel poverty are associated with living in buildings with higher energy efficiency standards. Those groups that are more likely to experience fuel poverty (such as those in rural areas or those experiencing long-term sickness or disability); as well as those more likely to experience poor outcomes related to living in underheated homes (such as older residents and those with disabilities) may benefit from the increased availability of warm, more energy efficient homes.
A Strategic Housing Investment Framework (SHIF) was agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to determine the allocation of funding to 30 of the 32 local authority areas, (funding for Glasgow City Council and City of Edinburgh Council is agreed separately and includes funding from the Local Government Settlement). The SHIF formula takes into account four indicators; affordability, deprivation, rurality and homelessness. Each local authority has flexibility to apply the available Scottish Government funding to strategic priorities it identifies within its geographic area.
Local authorities have statutory responsibility to assess housing requirements locally and set out policy and investment priorities to meet this through its Local Housing Strategy. Local Housing Strategies should be underpinned by a robust Equality Impact Assessment. A Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) should be undertaken as alongside the Equality Impact Assessment with any outputs published separately. Local authorities may decide to extend the EQIA process to include wider Human Rights considerations and produce an Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment. Due consideration should also be given to the Fairer Scotland Duty when developing their Local Housing Strategy.
The AHSP budget will increase by almost £172 million when compared to 2024-25. The increase in budget will have a positive impact on the scale and pace of delivery across Scotland and help address inequalities as outlined previously.
How will your budget decisions contribute to the realisation of human rights?
The Right to Adequate Housing is a human right. As part of local authorities’ strategic housing role, they consult widely on their Local Housing Strategy and Strategic Housing Investment Plan. The increase to the budget will help to provide more high quality affordable homes and in turn help the realisation of the Right to Adequate Housing.
Could the budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
Local authorities have statutory responsibility for assessing local housing requirements. However, the Scottish Government works closely with them to achieve this and to assure that the basis of these assessments is robust and credible. Similarly local authorities have statutory responsibility for identifying and prioritising the types, location and tenure of investment priorities through its Local Housing Strategy (LHS) and Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP). The Scottish Government undertakes formal review of both the LHS and SHIP. The allocation or management of homes upon completion rests with the relevant landlord.
The Scottish Government published Quarterly Official statistics on approvals, site starts and completions of affordable homes supported by funding through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme. In addition, as part of our response to the housing emergency we are monitoring a range of performance indicators. These indicators include homelessness, households in temporary accommodation (including households with families), empty homes and data on void properties.
Local Authorities are required to produce annual Strategic Housing Investment Plans and an annual review of its Local Housing Strategy to monitor progress.
References
1 Scottish Household Survey 2022: Key Findings - Housing data table 1.8. There is evidence to suggest that social rented and private rented households may be slightly under-represented in the 2022 achieved sample. Users should take this into account when interpreting totals aggregated across all housing tenure groups.
2 Housing costs include the following where applicable: rent (gross of housing benefit); water rates; mortgage interest payments; structural insurance premiums; ground rent and service charges. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom property in the private rented sector in the year to September 2023 was £841 (source: Scottish Government, Private Sector Rent Statistics, Scotland, 2010 to 2023) as compared with an average monthly rent (across all dwelling sizes) of £380 in the social rented sector in 2022-23 (source: Scottish Housing Regulator, Charter indicators and data by outcomes and standards).
3 A New Deal for Tenants - draft strategy: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Concessionary Fares
| 2023-24 outturn | 2024-25 budget (as per Autumn Budget Revision) | 2025-26 budget | Change 2024-25 to 2025-26 £m |
|---|---|---|---|
| £357.5 million | £370.4 million | £414.5 million | N/A |
*This is a demand led scheme. Final figures for the current financial year will not be available until the new financial year once all claims for operators have been received.
What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
The overall aim of Concessionary Fares policy and the budget attached to it is to provide Scotland-wide free bus travel to all residents of Scotland aged under 22, eligible disabled people and everyone aged 60 and over. The key objectives of the concessionary travel scheme for older people are to:
- allow older and disabled people improved access to services, facilities and social networks, promoting social inclusion;
- improve health by promoting a more active lifestyle for older and disabled people;
- remove the restrictions of the previous local off-peak concessionary fare scheme which was limited in offering access to facilities;
- promote a modal shift from private cars to public transport;
- maintain a viable position for bus operators with a standard reimbursement rate;
- provide opportunities for improvements to public transport, such as assisting development of multi-operator ticketing and the use of electronic ticket machine technology;
- facilitate a more effective administration of the system by adopting a standard reimbursement rate and shifting operational responsibility from local authorities to Transport Scotland; and
- provide a stimulus to the introduction of smart ticketing.
In addition, extending free bus travel to all children and young people under 22 aims to improve access to education, leisure and work, while enabling them to travel sustainably early in their lives, and contributes to tackling child poverty.
What do you know about existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
Socio-economic status and where people live:
- People on lower incomes have less access to private modes of transport and are more reliant on public transport.
- People on lower incomes are more likely to use bus services and do so more frequently than those on higher incomes. Forty-five per cent of households with an annual income up to £10,000 had used a bus at least once in the past month compared to 30 per cent of households with an annual income of over £50,000, in 2022.
- Access to, and affordability of, public transport remains a key issue for people on lower incomes and is a particular issue for rural and island communities.
- Evidence of the experiences of low-income families indicates that transport often determines and constrains their options in terms of household spending and their day-to-day experiences. Transport is required for day-to-day engagement with services and support networks including accessing healthcare, education, childcare, caring responsibilities, employment, shopping and engaging in leisure activities.
Protected characteristics:
- People aged under 22 rely on buses for transport more than any other age group.
- Disabled adults are more likely to use the bus than non-disabled adults and are less likely to drive.
- Particular ethnic minority groups are more likely to be reliant on bus travel and are also more likely to be in poverty than non-ethnic minority groups.
How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
People on lower incomes and from particular protected groups rely on and use bus travel more than others. The schemes offer a range of benefits including financial savings, reduced isolation, a sense of greater independence, and increased confidence in using public transport. A consultation held on the future of the Older and Disabled Persons Scheme in 2017 showed that bus pass holders see the scheme as having improved their mental and physical wellbeing, and that it had encouraged a modal shift from car to public transport, and increased use of the bus. The under-22s concessionary travel scheme, launched in January 2022 to support children and young people living in Scotland, allows them to travel for free, reducing their travel costs. The scheme targets under-22s as they are more likely than older age groups to travel by bus, find other public transport expensive and be in low-paid or insecure work. More than 176 million free bus journeys have been made since the Scottish Government introduced free bus travel for under 22s in January 2022. There are now around 783,000 cardholders signed up and around 6 million journeys being made each month.
How will your budget decisions contribute to the realisation of human rights?
With 176 million free bus journeys made by under-22s across Scotland, this policy is supporting the delivery of our National Transport Strategy by helping young people, and families with children, cut costs for everyday and leisure travel, while at the same time protecting our climate and supporting more active forms of travel.
This feeds into the National Transport Strategy’s priorities, which are to reduce inequalities; take climate action; help deliver inclusive economic growth; and improve health and wellbeing. In turn, the National Transport Strategy contributes primarily to the National Performance Framework Outcomes Communities; Economy; Environment; and International, and also to the following human rights:
- the right to an adequate standard of living;
- the right to a healthy environment; and
- the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
Could the budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
Earlier this year, Transport Scotland published the Fair Fares Review[1]. This was undertaken to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the future long-term viability of a public transport system that is more accessible, more available, and more affordable for people throughout Scotland. As part of this work the current provision of concessionary travel schemes was reviewed and we reaffirmed our commitment to maintaining the existing eligibility to the National Concessionary Travel Schemes for those who currently benefit.
While the Scottish Government has no plans to extend the concessionary travel schemes beyond the current eligibility criteria or to amend the scope of the existing schemes, we are committed to undertaking further policy development to consider better targeting of public funds towards supporting access to public transport for those who need it most, including consideration of concessionary travel support for those experiencing financial poverty.
How will the impact of the budget decisions be evaluated?
Monitoring
Uptake and registration data for the scheme are routinely monitored, providing information on how many of those eligible for the scheme are taking advantage of concessionary travel.
Evaluation
The roll-out of the concessionary scheme to under-22s is subject to an evaluation. A baseline and one year on report have already been published, looking at uptake and benefits of the scheme from scheme users. Future evaluative work will take place up to five years post-implementation. This will focus on longer-term impacts and outcomes.
Data has been gathered on all protected groups and socio-economic status through the evaluation. One of the specific objectives of the scheme is related to poverty and this will be reflected in monitoring and evaluation of the scheme. The Older and Disabled People’s scheme will also be evaluated in 2025-26 providing evidence of whether the scheme is delivering against its stated objective.
Transport spend and perception of affordability is routinely monitored via questions asked in the Scottish Household Survey. This allows for analysis of spend level on public transport and whether this is affordable by socio-economic background, protected characteristics, and geographic location. This feeds into monitoring and evaluation of the National Transport Strategy which has, as one of its four priorities, reducing inequalities.
Further information can be found on the Transport Scotland website[2].
Refrences
1 https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/ioxaohtk/fair-fares-review.pdf
2 https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/transport-and-travel-in-scotland-2022/
Employability
| 2024-25 budget | 2025-26 budget | Change 2024-25 to 2025-26 £ million |
|---|---|---|
| £90 million | £90 million | £0 million |
What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
The most recent Programme for Government sets out the Government’s ambition to “support those already in work, help more people back into work, and address long term economic inactivity.” Employability has a key role to play in this. No One Left Behind is our shared approach to delivering employability support with Local Government. Since Fair Start Scotland closed to new referrals at the end of March 2024, all devolved services have been delivered through No One Left Behind.
It builds on the values established at the outset of devolution, and introduced principles that underpin our policy and delivery:
- provides flexible and person-centred support;
- is more straightforward for people to navigate;
- is better integrated and aligned with other services;
- provides pathways into sustainable and fair work;
- is driven by evidence, including data and the experience of participants; and
- supports more people – particularly those facing multiple barriers – to move into the right job, at the right time.
This includes improving the outcomes and impacts of our investment in employability and skills for the six priority family groups by collaborating across government and with stakeholders and users. This will contribute to the Scottish Government’s ambition to “Provide employability support to meet the needs of all parents or carers on a demand-led basis.”
What do you know about existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) for the No One Left Behind employability approach was published in 2019, and an updated EQIA was published in 2022 in line with the next phase in the policy development.[1] The EQIA is currently being reviewed, with a view to publishing another updated version to reflect further implementation of the approach from April 2024.
Socioeconomic status:
Individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to experience barriers to participation in the labour market such as lower levels of education and social capital, fewer opportunities to enter and progress in employment, and less access to flexible working for health or caring responsibilities.
Economic Inactivity:
Despite relatively low unemployment rates, economic inactivity remains a concern, with a contributor to the size of this group being more people reporting as long-term sick or disabled. There is local variation, with areas of high unemployment also tending to have high economic inactivity. This represents a lost opportunity for people, employers, and for Scotland as a whole.[2]
Protected characteristics:
- Many individuals face significant challenges and barriers to obtaining and sustaining work, including disabled people, those with long-term health conditions, lone parents and people from minority ethnic groups.
- The proportion of unemployed people who are long-term unemployed increases with age.
- Young people (aged 16-24) are more likely to be unemployed than older age groups and are vulnerable to long term employment ‘scarring’. Young people (aged 18‑24) are more likely to earn less than the ‘real Living Wage’ and are more likely to be financially vulnerable and in unmanageable debt.[3]
- Disabled people are less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people; earn less on average; are less likely to be employed in contractually secure work; are less likely to have access to fair work; and are more likely to be under-employed, work part-time and work in lower-paid occupations.[4]
- The employment rate for people from minority ethnic groups has been consistently lower than for white people and, compared with the general population in Scotland, they are more likely to earn a lower income and be in relative poverty.[5]
- Women experience a range of barriers in the labour market that lead them to be paid less on average than men, which drives the gender pay gap. In 2024, the gender pay gap for full-time employees in Scotland was 2.2 per cent and in the UK was seven per cent. The gap in Scotland has been narrower than the UK gap since 2003.[6]
- These barriers relate to the type of jobs women are more likely to do (job selection), how much these jobs pay (job valuation) and whether they can move into higher-paid jobs (job progression).[7]
- Women (and particularly minority ethnic women) are more likely to be in insecure work and are over-represented in sectors that have historically low pay, low progression and low status, but that can provide more flexibility to allow women to undertake caring responsibilities.[8]
- People with multiple protected characteristics can face heightened barriers to employment, for example:
- intersectional barriers further hamper women’s opportunities, such as those experienced by disabled women, ethnic minority women and women over 50. Women experiencing the menopause while in work can require additional support;
- the ethnicity employment rate gap for women has been consistently higher than the gap for men, and a non-disabled white person is more than twice as likely to be in employment than a disabled person from a minority ethnic group.[9]
This budget line will support us to address these challenges by directly funding tailored, person-centred employability services in each of the 32 Local Authority areas.
How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
Our services aim to actively advance equality of opportunity for all participants by removing barriers to obtaining sustainable employment. Of the 67,150 people supported under the No One Left Behind approach between April 2019 and June 2024, 20,743 people (31 per cent) entered employment. While there is more work to be done, evidence shows that No One Left Behind delivery is making progress with participants from minority ethnic backgrounds. Overall, people from a minority ethnic background have accounted for 10 per cent (6,412) of No One Left Behind participants since April 2019. The proportion of minority ethnic participants has varied across years with the highest proportion (14 per cent) in the most recent full year (year five – 2023-24). In the most recent quarter (April – June 2024), the proportion was 15 per cent.
We continue to work with partners to promote and communicate available employability support through No One Left Behind, targeting those with protected characteristics, including disabled people. We have seen positive progress in the number of disabled people accessing No One Left Behind support since implementing a new local delivery model in April 2022. Twenty six per cent of participants accessing No One Left Behind in 2023-24 were disabled, compared to 18 per cent in 2022-23. In the most recent quarter, 30 per cent of participants accessing the service reported a disability, the largest proportion in a single quarter to date.
We have also seen similar positive trends in the number of people with a long-term health condition accessing No One Left Behind. Forty per cent of people reported having a long-term health condition in 2023-24 compared to 28 per cent in 2022-23 and three per cent in 2021-22.
Of the 64,502 people who started to receive No One Left Behind support from April 2020, 18,204 (28 per cent) were parents. The number of parents has generally increased, reaching a high of 7,530 (35 per cent) parents in the most recent full year (2023-2024). Since April 2020, 56 per cent of parents supported through No One Left Behind services were lone parents, 23 per cent had three or more children, 20 per cent were disabled (and 16 per cent with a disabled child or adult in the family), 19 per cent were from a minority ethnic background, 12 per cent were aged under 25 and eight per cent had a child aged under 12 months.[10]
Our recently published No One Left Behind Strategic Plan sets out our priorities and actions for the next three years which include our plans to increase the positive impacts on a number of equalities groups, for disabled people and those with a long-term health condition and for parents in the six priority family groups.[11]
How will your budget decisions contribute to the realisation of human rights?
Scottish Ministers have been clear on their determination for our employability services to be voluntary, seen by participants as an opportunity, with the principles of dignity, fairness and respect at their heart. In line with internationally recognised rights to work and to work in just and favourable conditions, the Scottish Government approach does not seek to push people into poor-quality work as quickly as possible, but rather to support people, particularly those facing multiple barriers, to move into the right job, at the right time, with the aim of increasing sustainability of employment in the long term.
Scottish Government funded employability provision is commissioned through Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs). This has seen the consolidation of a variety of national and local funding into a single, all-age offer of support, with delivery shifting from national to local models. This has simplified the landscape for people and created greater scope for partners to inform provision through LEPs, supported decisions to be taken closer to participants, and enabled local labour market conditions to shape the focus of services more closely.
Lived experience is an important part of the policy and product development process around No One Left Behind and there are specific targeted user groups that focus on listening to the people who are benefiting from the work. The ‘Shared Measurement Framework’ also helps us understand the support needed by particular groups and what works and what doesn’t. We have recently improved our data collection to capture more detailed data on equality groups to support efforts to improve reach of our services and impact.
Could the budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
‘No One Left Behind’ was developed out of a recognition that a person-centred, place-based model of support and associated funding would create the right conditions to maximise opportunities and reach for those who need this most. Local Government partners were identified as best placed to lead on this as they know their local communities, and through the development of a partnership approach with the LEPs a wide range of partners are involved to represent and challenge all aspects of opportunity in all areas.
Through continued investment in our employability commitments in 2025-26, we will continue our work to tackle child poverty and prioritise support for those who face complex barriers to accessing the labour market. In particular, we are working to ensure that a specialist employability offer is in place across Scotland which is all age and all disability for those who require it. This is in line with our commitment to at least halve the Disability Employment Gap by 2038.
We will continue to gather and use relevant data to help target activity to advance equality of opportunity for people of all ages.
How will the impact of the budget decisions be evaluated?
In August 2023, we published an implementation evaluation covering No One Left Behind, which presents positive findings regarding the delivery of our policy intent in practice, as well as recommendations to shape development moving forward. We are committed to ongoing evaluation of our devolved employability services. In addition, we collect information quarterly from each of the 32 Local Employability Partnerships on their provision, including participant characteristics aligned with census data, which informs quarterly statistical publications. This data allows us to monitor the impact of our services on an ongoing basis and will be used to inform decision making at both a national and local level.[12]
The No One Left Behind Strategic Plan 2024-27 was published in September 2024, outlining our priorities for devolved employability services and reaffirming our commitment to continuous improvement. We are committed to transparency when it comes to the priorities and actions set out in the plan and have made a commitment to publish annual updates which will share progress, highlight good practice across the employability system, present the benefits realised by people accessing services, and address challenges that arise head on.
References
3 http://data.gov.scot/wealth/, https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings-2022/.
4 https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-disabled-people-employment-action-plan-year-2-progress-report/pages/4/, https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-disabled-people-employment-action-plan-year-2-progress-report/pages/4/https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-disabled-people-employment-action-plan-year-2-progress-report/pages/4/, https://www.gov.scot/publications/labour-market-statistics-for-scotland-by-disability-january-to-december-2022/, https://d1ssu070pg2v9i.cloudfront.net/pex/carnegie_uk_trust/2016/11/Work-and-Wellbeing-Discussion-Paper-1.pdf, , https://www.gov.scot/publications/labour-market-statistics-for-scotland-by-disability-january-to-december-2022/, https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-disabled-people-employment-action-plan-year-2-progress-report/pages/4/
5 https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-labour-market-people-places-regions-protected-characteristics-statistics-annual-population-survey-2021/, https://data.gov.scot/poverty/#Ethnicity.
9 https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-labour-market-people-places-regions-protected-characteristics-statistics-annual-population-survey-2021/documents/, https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-disabled-people-employment-action-plan-year-2-progress-report/pages/4/
11 No One Left Behind – Employability Strategic Plan 2024-2027 (www.gov.scot)
Alcohol and Drugs Policy
| 2023-24 outturn | 2024-25 outturn | 2025-26 budget | Change 24-25 to 25-26 £ million |
|---|---|---|---|
| £93.8 million | £80.4 million | £80.9 million | £0.5 million |
*£19 million of Alcohol and Drug Partnership funding baselined for 2025-26 i.e. moved from Alcohol and Drugs to NHS Territorial Health Board allocations.
What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
Through the National Mission, the Scottish Government committed an additional £250 million over five years to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of those impacted by drugs and alcohol. Much of the work supported through the Mission targets both drug and alcohol services which are often delivered in tandem at the front line.
The National Mission plan, published on 9 August 2022, sets out how we plan to deliver the National Mission over the duration of this parliament.
All funding is agreed to, and distributed with the intent of achieving the overall aim and the supporting outcomes set out in the outcomes’ framework:
- Outcome 1: Fewer people develop problem drug use. We will deliver a set of standards for children and young people that outline what they should expect when seeking help for a drug or alcohol problem, and develop a consensus statement with Public Health Scotland on prevention of substance use harm amongst children and young people.
- Outcome 2: Risk is reduced for people who take harmful drugs. Activity within this outcome includes opening drug checking facilities in Dundee, Glasgow and Aberdeen and continuing to expand the provision of naloxone – a lifesaving medicine to reverse an opioid overdose. We will also continue to improve our Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) surveillance system.
- Outcome 3: People at most risk have access to treatment and recovery. Within this outcome we will increase to the number of residential rehabilitation beds in Scotland from 425 to 650 and increase the number of people receiving public funding for their placement to 1,000 a year by 2026.
- Outcome 4: People receive high quality treatment and recovery services. In alignment with this outcome, we will publish a National Specification for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services in 2025 and fully implement the ten Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards by April 2026. We will also continue to deliver the Workforce Action Plan to ensure a resilient, skilled and trauma-informed workforce.
- Outcome 5: Quality of life is improved for people who experience multiple disadvantages. Some of the activities we are taking forward under this outcome include improving mental health and substance use treatment to support the delivery of MAT and ensuring the justice system is closely aligned to support those with lived and living experience.
- Outcome 6: Children, families and communities affected by substance use are supported. To support this outcome, Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) are implementing the Families Framework, and we are developing Family Inclusive Practice pathways. We are also working to improve support for women who use drugs.
The year 2025-26 sees £19 million of the annual Alcohol and Drug Partnership funding baselined, providing additional security over funding.
What do you know about the existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
Below is a summary of some of the work and data trends in relation to socio-economic and protected characteristics and drug and alcohol use. A systematic evidence review was carried out to support the Equality Impact Assessment work for the strategy development and is used as a live document by the division. While quantitative data is limited for many of the protected characteristics, improvements to data collection are being delivered through the introduction of the Drug and Alcohol Information System database (DAISy) which has started to collect this data.
Socioeconomic status and where people live
Drug and alcohol death rates are linked to deprivation. In the most recent National Drug Related Death Database report from Public Health Scotland (published October 2024),[1] over half (54 per cent) of the people who died a drug-related death in 2020 lived in the 20 per cent most deprived neighbourhoods in Scotland. Statistics from National Records of Scotland show that, in 2023, people in the most deprived 20 per cent of areas of Scotland were 15.3 times more likely to die from drug misuse[2] than people in the least deprived areas, and four and half times as likely to die of alcohol-specific causes.[3] These ratios are much higher than for deaths from all causes where the ratio is around two.
Over one third deaths of people experiencing homelessness in 2022 were due to drug misuse (36 per cent, 89 deaths). Alcohol specific deaths accounted for 13 per cent (32 deaths).[4]
Around half (51 per cent) of individuals completing an initial assessment for specialist drug treatment in 2022-23 were considered unemployed.[5]
Protected characteristics
Sex
Around seven in ten people starting specialist drug or alcohol treatment in Scotland are men. In 2022-23, men accounted for 68 per cent (11,495) of people starting (women: 32 per cent, 5,421).[6] Drug misuse and alcohol-specific deaths are more common among men than women - deaths among men made up 69 per cent of all drug misuse deaths[7] and 67 per cent of alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland in 2023.[8]
A comprehensive review looking at drug related deaths among women was published by Scottish Government in 2018.[9] This highlighted intersections between gender and other axes of inequality such as public sector austerity measures, abusive or coercive relationships, commercial sex work, experiences of trauma and mental health issues.
Age
In 2021-22, the median age of people presenting for initial assessment for specialist drug or alcohol treatment was 40 years. People starting treatment for alcohol tended to be older, with a median age of 46 years, compared to 36 years for people starting treatment for drugs, and 33 years for co-dependency. In 2022-23, the median age was 41 years (alcohol: 47 years; drug: 36 years; co-dependency: 33 years).[10]
The age profile of drug misuse deaths has become older over time, with the average age increasing from 32 years in 2000 to 45 years in 2023.[11] The age profile of alcohol-specific deaths has also become older over time - in the last decade, the average age has increased rapidly from 56 to 60 years old between 2013 and 2023.[12] Alcohol-specific deaths in women tend to be at slightly younger ages than for men.
In 2021, the Scottish Government published an evidence review exploring changing trends in drug and alcohol use and harms among younger people.[13] In 2017, Scottish Drugs Forum published a report on the needs of older people with drug problems[14] (classed as those over 35). There have also been a number of qualitative studies looking at the needs of older people with alcohol problems.
Disability
There is limited quantitative data in relation to disability. During the 2023-24 financial year, 72 per cent of people who started specialist community-based drug or alcohol treatment had their disability status recorded as ‘not known’.[15]
In 2022-23, four per cent (762) of people starting treatment for substance use reported at least one impairment; 34 per cent (6,141) reported no impairments. However, impairment status was not known for 64 per cent (10,802) people.[16] Impairment status has been identified as an area for improvements in data collection and recording.
There is evidence that people with drug problems often have co-occurring health conditions. Among drug-related deaths registered in 2020, 52 per cent had a medical condition recorded in the six months prior to death (most commonly respiratory illness, blood borne viruses and epilepsy); 46 per cent had a recent psychiatric condition (of which, depression and anxiety were most common).[17]
Disability and incapacity rates are likely to be higher among people with drug or alcohol problems, however it is widely recognised that underdiagnosis is also an issue for this population.
There is also a growing body of evidence showing an association between problem drug and alcohol use and learning difficulties and neurodiversity.
Race
There is no routine data in relation to drug or alcohol use, morbidity or mortality by ethnic group in Scotland through regular household surveys, as representative sampling is inhibited by the small size of this group. During the 2023-24 financial year, one third of people who started specialist community-based drug or alcohol treatment had their ethnicity recorded as ‘not known’.[18]
In 2022-23, ‘White Scottish’ service users accounted for 66 per cent (11,165) of people starting treatment for drug or alcohol use in Scotland.[19] Other White and White or Other British were the next most common ethnicities. However, in 26 per cent (4,347) of cases, ethnicity was recorded as ‘not known’. This has been identified as an area for improvement in data collection and recording and is currently being explored by Public Health Scotland.
In England and Wales there is more data by ethnic group, however as ethnic minority groups make up a significantly larger share of that population these findings cannot be considered indicative of the Scottish context.
Religion
Similarly to race section above, there is very limited data for the Scottish context. However, UK-wide research suggests there is a clear cultural dynamic to some drug use which is concentrated to individuals of specific faiths or ethnic origin. Similarly, many recovery groups and initiatives are rooted or originated in faith-based organisations (such as the 12 Step programme).
Sexual orientation and gender identity
We do not yet have reliable data on problem drug and alcohol use or treatment by different ethnic groups or for LGBT communities, however qualitative research highlights that there are diverse trends and needs among these groups. In 2022, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) published a review entitled ‘What are LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of alcohol services in Scotland?’[20] which found that LGBT people are at risk of drinking excessively as a response to shame, stigma, or family rejection, and become dependent on alcohol and face additional barriers. In particular, this study found transgender members of the LGBT community were particularly at risk of facing barriers to such services.
How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
For 2025-26 we have baselined a further £19 million of Alcohol and Drug Partnership funding, taking their total annual baseline allocation to £76 million. This will have the impact of providing additional stability and therefore improving services.
Elsewhere the budget is stable in cash terms. Maintaining the budget under significant financial constraints is a clear indication of the priority of this policy area. Budget commitments include a proportion of Agenda for Change allocations that are being made to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, allowing for services to maintain staffing levels. We have also made sure that front line third sector services are able to continue delivering for the people who need them.
There is a stark socioeconomic dimension to problem drug use (and problem alcohol use), and therefore our substantial financial commitment to the National Mission can be seen as a wider effort to tackle socioeconomic inequalities. The majority of drug and alcohol funding to local areas is distributed on an adjusted National Resource Allocation (NRAC) formula to ensure that areas of most need are prioritised. The formula is largely the same as the standard NRAC with minor adjustments to reflect higher prevalence of problem drug use. In addition, some specific funding streams are distributed on a formula based on prevalence rates of drug-related deaths and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standard funding is adjusted according to local need. Funding via the Corra Foundation to grass roots organisations takes into account local need and inequalities at the assessment stage.
How will your budget decisions contribute to realisation of human rights?
In January 2021 the former First Minister announced a new National Mission to reduce drug deaths and harms supported by an additional £250 million over the lifetime of this Parliament, to 2026:
- In 2021-22, the total Drugs and Alcohol budget was £140.7 million.
- In 2022-23, the total budget was £141.9 million.
- In 2023-24, the total budget was £155.5 million.
- In 2024-25, the budget was £156 million.
Audit Scotland stated in their 31 October 2024 report that from 2014-15 to 2023-24 funding for alcohol and drug services doubled.[21]
Around three quarters of our total available budget is distributed through health boards and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships through both a baseline allocation direct to Health Boards and through allocations via the drug and alcohol policy budget line.
We also invest money in third sector and grassroots organisations to ensure better outcomes through more holistic approaches to service delivery. The remaining budget is managed centrally to support national initiatives, policy development and support third sector partners.
Could the budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
An improved, human rights based framework for decision making
We are supporting the National Collaborative – a participatory process – to develop a Charter of Rights for people affected by drugs and alcohol. The Charter will be published in December 2024.
The Charter will set out how existing rights apply for people affected by substances. The purpose of the Charter is twofold: to help people understand their rights in an everyday context and how to challenge situations which aren’t right; and to provide a framework to improve decision making – including future budgetary decisions – at a local and national level.
The Charter will be accompanied by an implementation framework and guidance for duty bearers.
Increasing local flexibility to maximize impact
Most of the budget is devolved to local areas to respond to local need. Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) report their activity to support initiatives designed to support people with the protected characteristics as part of the annual reporting process.
In line with the Verity House Agreement, we are considering ways in which to increase local engagement on budgeting and increase local flexibility.
Responding to future threats and trends
Surveillance: Increased prevalence of new substances is a concern across the whole of the UK and could result in increased deaths and harms. We have invested in surveillance and monitoring systems to increase access to evidence on changes in drug supply and drug use trends.
Workforce: A resilient and skilled workforce has been identified as a cross-cutting priority underpinning the National Mission to reduce deaths and improve lives. The Scottish Government has published a Drugs and Alcohol Workforce Action Plan, setting out the actions that we will take to deliver a skilled, resilient and sustainable workforce.
The trend of a disproportionate increase in drug deaths among women is of concern and we are actively looking at ways to ensure services are gender-inclusive and trauma-informed and working with local areas to meet the needs of women who use drugs.
How will the impact of the budget decisions be evaluated?
Alcohol and drugs policy takes an evidence-based approach building on the strong evidence base for both harm reduction and treatment approaches, alongside wider targeted, universal and environmental prevention. Much of this is outlined in the drug death task force evidence paper.
Monitoring
The National Mission Annual Report outlines progress across the programme towards the National Mission Outcomes. A set of metrics has been developed to monitor progress. This broad range of measures aims to provide a detailed understanding of National Mission progress. An analytical National Mission Monitoring Report, outlining progress using these metrics, is published annually.
Evaluation
The National Mission is being independently evaluated by Public Health Scotland (PHS), ensuring that the evidence around impact is considered in a balanced and objective way. The National Mission Evaluation Framework[22] was published by PHS in May 2024. Lived and living experience is being consulted throughout the evaluation process and a lived experience survey will run until the end of December 2024. The Scottish Government has also commissioned individual evaluations of key policy areas which will also be led by PHS. The final evaluation report will be published in 2026.
Residential rehabilitation is one of these areas of focus and evaluation will specifically monitor and assess the impact of National Mission funding on access to residential rehabilitation services and recovery outcomes for individuals. This work will establish a solid evidence base around the range of residential rehabilitation treatment models and establish what works best for whom. The PHS baseline evaluation report about the Residential Rehabilitation programme was published on 13 February 2024. The baseline findings suggest that the Residential Rehabilitation programme is contributing to improvements in access to rehabilitation in Scotland.
References
2 Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2023 | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)
3 Alcohol-specific deaths | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)
4 Homeless Deaths 2022, Report (nrscotland.gov.uk)
7 Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2023 | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)
8 Alcohol-specific deaths | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)
9 https://www.gov.scot/publications/drug-related-deaths-women-increasing-scotland/
11 Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2023 | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)
12 Alcohol-specific deaths | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)
16 Drug and Alcohol Information System (publichealthscotland.scot)
19 Drug and Alcohol Information System (publichealthscotland.scot)
21 https://audit.scot/uploads/2024-10/nr_241031_drugs_alcohol.pdf
22 Evaluation of the 2021–2026 National Mission on Drug Deaths - Publications - Public Health Scotland
International Development
| 2023-24 outturn | 2024-25 budget (as per Autumn Budget Revision) | 2025-26 budget | Change 2024-25 to 2025-26 £m |
|---|---|---|---|
| £12.3 million | £11.5 million | £12.8 million | £1.3 million |
What outcome is the policy and associated budget decision aiming to achieve?
The Scottish Government is committed to a dual approach to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: to tackle poverty and inequality at home in Scotland and to help developing countries to grow in a fair and sustainable manner. International development is a crucial element of Scotland’s global contribution and a demonstration of our commitment to being a good global citizen.
At the forefront of our efforts is our ‘International Development Fund’ to support and empower our partner countries, and a ‘Humanitarian Emergency Fund’ to respond to international humanitarian crises.
The 2024-25 Programme for Government states that: ‘We will protect our commitments on climate justice, international development, and humanitarian assistance, launching new programmes to support good global citizenship, connecting Scotland to the Global South’.
The Scottish Government’s international development work is a key deliverable of Scotland’s International Strategy[1] which commits to implementing international development programmes in a way which aligns with our International Development Principles[2]. It also sets out how we will take a feminist approach, in line with our Feminist Approach to International Relations[3], of which international development is a key delivery area.
What do you know about the existing inequalities of outcome in relation to the budget area?
This spend relates mainly to activities in Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan which are the Scottish Government’s priority partner countries as set out in Scotland’s International Strategy (all of which are lower-income or lower-middle income countries with significant inequalities challenges).
Decisions around international development spend are informed by detailed consultation with each of the governments in partner countries, as well as local civil society organisations in each country, concerning the inequalities our funding will reduce. Preliminary Equality Impact Assessments have also been conducted, and gender equality is mainstreamed across all new international development programmes.
Decisions around humanitarian spend are shaped by our Humanitarian Emergency Panel, which meets regularly to assess global crises and advise on how our funding would have the greatest impact.
In terms of existing inequalities in line with the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010 (as well as socio-economic disadvantage), we understand key relevant inequalities to our international development and humanitarian work to include the below. We also recognise that disadvantage is experienced in groups beyond those defined under protected characteristics and, critically, that the intersection of forms of disadvantage compounds structural inequality.
Socio-Economic Disadvantage
In 2024, 309 million people are estimated to face acute hunger in 71 countries across the world. Food crises are driven by the interaction of underlying poverty, structural weaknesses, economic shocks, weather extremes, and conflicts and insecurity. In 2023, nearly 282 million people (21.5 per cent of the analysed population in 59 countries and territories) globally faced high levels of acute food insecurity, requiring urgent food and livelihood assistance. Escalating conflicts in Palestine and Sudan have driven extremely high levels of acute food insecurity.[4]
Globally non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death and disability, killing around 41 million people each year – with 75 per cent of deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries. This number is predicted to rise with the World Health Organization (WHO) predicting that NCDs will be the main cause of death and disability in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by 2030. Indeed, many countries are facing a ‘double burden’ with increasing rates of NCDs coupled with ongoing high mortality from communicable disease. This is the case within our partner countries of Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia with 35-50 per cent of deaths as a consequence of NCDs. NCDs are inextricably linked to poverty, and amongst the poorest billion, more people under 40 years old are dying from NCDs, than HIV, tuberculosis and maternal deaths combined.[5]
Age
The UN estimates that four in five countries (out of 104 studied) have suffered learning losses as a result of the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that, without additional measures, approximately 300 million children will lack basic numeracy and literacy skills, and that 84 million children and young people will be out of school by 2030.
The impact of this is disproportionately affects some children and young people, with disabled children and children from the poorest households being more likely to be out of school.[6]
Disability
It is estimated that one in six people experience ‘significant disability’, with 80 per cent of these living in developing countries. Internationally, disabled children remain disproportionately more likely to be out of school than children who are not disabled.[7]
Sex
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a violation of women’s human rights and is widespread globally. Thirty per cent of women are estimated to have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Girls and young women, minority ethnic women, transgender women, and disabled women face higher risks of violence.
Research also shows that VAWG is pervasive in conflict and post-conflict contexts.
The Global Gender Gap Index 2023 shows that Malawi ranked 110 out of 146 countries in terms of gender equality, had a prevalence of gender violence in women’s lifetime of 37.5 per cent, and a child marriage rate of 26.9 per cent.[8] In the same study, in 2024 (Malawi was not represented in this study in 2024), Zambia is ranked 92 out of 146 countries in terms of gender equality, had a prevalence of gender violence in women’s lifetime of 28 per cent, and child marriage rate of 14.6 per cent. For Rwanda, it ranked 39 out of 146 and had a gender violence prevalence of 23 per cent.[9] Meanwhile it is reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2023 that 18.9 per cent of women in Malawi, 47 per cent of women in Zambia and 45 per cent of women in Rwanda aged between 15-49 consider a husband to be justified in hitting or beating his wife.[10]
In 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) formally acknowledged through the adoption of Resolution 1325 how women and girls are disproportionately impacted by violent conflict and war and recognizes the critical role that women can and already do play in peacebuilding efforts. UNSCR 1325 affirms that peace and security efforts are more sustainable when women are equal partners in the prevention of violent conflict, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts and in the forging of lasting peace.[11]
Sexual Orientation
Sixty-three countries have discriminatory laws that criminalise consensual same-sex relationships, which exposes millions of individuals to the risk of widespread discrimination, arbitrary arrest, prosecution, and in six countries the death penalty. Such criminalisation also has historical links with colonialism, with countries that were once colonised by Britain more likely to have laws criminalising same-sex relationships.[12]
How will your budget decisions impact upon different people and places?
Equality Impact Assessments have been conducted for each new international development programme with a summary of expected impacts of the programmes according to the most relevant protected characteristics (and socio-economic disadvantage) below. Budget decisions to maintain or increase spend on international development and humanitarian assistance in future years would support the positive impacts expected of these programmes and the equality-related impacts of the international development portfolio as a whole. We have also published the needs analysis underpinning our health and education programmes on the Scottish Government website.
Socio-Economic Disadvantage
Humanitarian Emergency Fund
The Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) provides lifesaving assistance for crisis-hit communities across the world. This budget has been maintained at £1 million per annum since the inception of the HEF in 2017. The HEF has been activated more than 32 times for 24 countries since it was created aiding in the recovery and rebuilding of lives and livelihoods through provision support including food, shelter and clean water. It has been activated ten times between September 2022 and October 2024 - see our 2024 Humanitarian Emergency Fund report.[13]
International Development – Health
The Scottish Government has committed to supporting development and scale-up of PEN-PLUS services within Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia. This will be delivered through the Health Services Joint Fund (HSJF) in Malawi; the development of two further PEN-PLUS training centres in Zambia; and a pilot of the expansion of palliative care into PEN-PLUS centres in Rwanda.
PEN (Package of Essential NCD Interventions) is a WHO initiative that provides a framework for delivering essential services to manage common NCDs like hypertension, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases at primary healthcare settings. PEN-PLUS builds upon PEN by expanding to first-level referral facilities for more severe NCDs, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatic and congenital heart disease.
Socio-economically deprived populations in Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia suffer disproportionately from NCDs due to limited healthcare access, higher risk factors (e.g. hypertension and obesity), and economic strain. PEN-PLUS clinics are designed to directly address these challenges by bringing equitable, affordable, and specialized care to underserved areas through decentralisation, community outreach and cost-effective interventions.[14]
Disability
According to the United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), children with disabilities are among the most marginalized and excluded groups of children; routinely, they are denied their right to quality education.
In line with our current Programme for Government commitments and the International Strategy (Scotland delivering on commitments to be a good global citizen, and sustain Scotland’s approach to solidarity with countries in the Global South towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals), our Realising Inclusive and Safer Education programme is being delivered by Link Education International between July 2024 and March 2029, aiming to remove barriers to quality education for out-of-school children with disabilities and additional support needs. The programme is worth up to £1.5 million per year and is implemented through partnerships with Link Community Development Malawi, School to School International in Zambia and Chance for Childhood in Rwanda. Applying cuts to these programmes will have a commensurate reduction in the number of children with disabilities which these programmes can support into mainstream education.
Sex
International Development – Equalities
The main aim of the three-year Police Scotland Partnership Programme with Malawi and Zambia (2024-27), funded via the International Development Fund, is to prevent violence against women and children in Malawi and Zambia by supporting the delivery of training and upskilling of officers, enhancement of IT systems; improving data collection on impact of interventions and the implementation of further capacity strengthening initiatives. Advancing gender equality, the expected outcomes of this programme include:
- Increased reporting and convictions for incidents of violence against women and girls in Malawi and Zambia.
- Enhanced experience of engaging with police services for women and girls who are victims of violence.
- Attitudinal shifts around gender-based violence and child protection within the police services and wider public.
The Women and Girls Fund, a multi-year programme from 2024-28 funded via the International Development Fund, aims to provide direct funding to women and girl-led organisations in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia to advance gender equality and the rights of women and girls via a participatory funding mechanism. The programme is currently in its participatory design phase and specific outcomes will be confirmed following this phase.
International Development – Education
Gender equality considerations are mainstreamed across our education programmes, and it is also a key objective for a number of education programmes, including the Women and Girls Scholarship which is being implemented by Oxfam and local partners in Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda. In addition, we have a programme in Pakistan which similarly provides scholarships for women and girls. These projects will target thousands of adolescent girls in the poorest quintile of areas, who are generally more likely to be out of school than boys, with COVID-19 recently magnifying that disparity: for example, in all of our partner countries school closures have led to a higher prevalence of early sexual debut and marriages, and increased teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence.
International Development – Peace and Security
The Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship is based around the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which “reaffirms the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflict, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction, and stresses the importance of their equal participation in all efforts for the promotion of peace and security”.
The Fellowship has been held three times per year since 2015 in Edinburgh and online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has built up a fantastic network of over 360 women from 33 countries across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
From October 2024, the fellowship will be delivered through a new Scottish Peace Programme, which will also involve the establishment of a Scottish Peace Platform to coordinate stakeholders in Scotland involved in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
How will your budget decisions contribute to realisation of human rights?
All of our multi-year programmes in 2025-26 – which together constitute up to 90 per cent of our total budget – explicitly support the realisation of human rights across its main thematic priorities of climate justice, equalities (with a focus on promoting the rights of girls and women), health and inclusive education (with a focus on promoting the rights of women and girls and disabled children). Detail on this human rights-based approach is included in advice to ministers as a key part of the approval process for each programme.
Accordingly, all of our programmes include a focus on participation – in the design and monitoring of our programmes in line with our International Development Principles.
Key articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which our international development programmes address include:
Article 25 – Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Article 26 – Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Could the budget be used differently to better address existing inequalities of outcome and advance human rights?
We are currently working, through new and continuing programmes, to implement the commitments set out in our International Development Review, Scotland’s International Strategy and our Feminist Approach to International Relations Position Paper. This includes our commitment to mainstreaming equality across our entire International Development portfolio, taking steps to shift power and be Global South led, and taking a human rights approach.
As part of this, we are continuing to develop an approach to monitoring and evaluation which aligns with these priorities and principles, and works to maximise the positive impacts of spend through both the International Development Fund and Humanitarian Emergency Fund.
Maintaining or increasing funding levels in alignment with public commitments provides certainty to our partner countries and delivery partners and ensures our approach to international development is predictable, flexible and resilient in line with our International Development Principles. In other words, stable and collaborative partnerships with our partner countries help Scotland – in addition to important outcomes on equalities and human rights – to also make progress against the National Performance Framework International Outcome sub-indicators (for example, Contribution of Development Support to Other Nations and ‘Scotland’s Reputation’).
How will the impact of the budget decisions be evaluated?
Our Review of our approach to International Development in 2021 is what led to the current strategic choices we are now implementing. We also set up our International Development: Global South Panel who were consulted on the design of our new programming. Our new approach to gender mainstreaming, which outlines that all new international development spend must advance gender equality. This forms part of our decision-making processes on spend allocation (at application stage).
Each of our programmes is underpinned by monitoring and evaluation efforts which monitor progress against outcomes, as well as the overall success of our programmes. In addition, the International Development Team engage with senior representatives of our partner countries as well as with representatives of the organisations who implement our programmes to discuss, monitor and evaluate impact.
The Scottish Government is increasingly participating in global forums and initiatives - through multilateral organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the UN and the World Bank - who ordinarily will lead on the evaluation of programmes to which the Scottish Government is contributing.
References
2 International development review - principles - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
4 WFP (2024) WFP at a Glance. Accessed 9 September 2024. WFP (2024) Global Report on Food Crises 2024.
5 Global Burden of Non-Communicable Disease Temporal trends in the burden of non-communicable diseases in countries with the highest malaria burden, 1990–2019: Evaluating the double burden of non-communicable and communicable diseases in epidemiological transition | Globalization and Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com) PEN PLUS (2023) The PEN-Plus Partnership: addressing severe chronic non-communicable diseases among the poorest billion - Center for Integration Science
6 UN (2024) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Special Edition.
Unicef (2022) Education data: Out-of-school rates.
Unicef (2022) Seen, Counted, Included: Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities.
Unicef (2024) Data on children with disabilities.
7 WHO (2023) Disability fact sheet. Accessed 10 September 2024.
Unicef (2022) Seen, Counted, Included: Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities.
SG (2024) The Scottish Government International Development Fund: designing a new International Development inclusive education programme
SG Call for Proposals for Inclusive Education programme (disability Strand 1)
8 WEF_GGGR_2023.pdf (weforum.org)
9 WEF_GGGR_2024.pdf (weforum.org)
10 Gender, Institutions and Development Database (GID-DB) 2023 (oecd.org)
The OECD report also consistently reported prevalence of intimate partner violence over the lifetime of the female population between 15-49 across all three of our African partner countries to be higher than the figures reported in the Global Gender Gap Index. The OECD reports these to be: 30% for Malawi, 38% for Rwanda and 41% for Zambia for 2023.
WHO (2024) Violence against women. Accessed 12 September 2024.
WHO (2021) Violence against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018.
UN Women (2019) Respect Women: Preventing violence against women.
WHO (2021) Addressing violence against women in health and multisectoral policies: a global status report.
Swaine, Aisling et al. (2019) Exploring the Intersection of Violence Against Women and Girls With Post-Conflict Statebuilding and Peacebuilding Processes: A New Analytical Framework. Journal of Peacebuilding & Development. 14(1).
The Scottish Government International Development Fund: designing a new International Development inclusive education programme
SG Call for Proposals for Inclusive Education programme (Women and girls scholarships Strand 2)
11 United States Institute of Peace United States Institute of Peace (usip.org)
12 Human Dignity Trust (2024) Map of Jurisdictions that Criminalise LGBT People. Accessed 12 September 20204.
Han, E., and O’Mahoney, J. (2014) British colonialism and the criminalization of homosexuality. Cambridge Review of International Affairs. 27(2).
13 https://www.gov.scot/publications/humanitarian-emergency-fund-annual-report-2023-24/
14 Global Burden of Non-Communicable Disease Temporal trends in the burden of non-communicable diseases in countries with the highest malaria burden, 1990–2019: Evaluating the double burden of non-communicable and communicable diseases in epidemiological transition | Globalization and Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com) PEN PLUS (2023) The PEN-Plus Partnership: addressing severe chronic non-communicable diseases among the poorest billion - Center for Integration Science
Contact
Email: ScottishBudget@gov.scot
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