Stonewall payments and Diversity Champion applications: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any application Scottish Government made (or intend to make) from 01-01- 2021 or in 2022 (to date) to be a "Stonewall Diversity Champion" or to be included on Stonewall's "Workplace Equality Index," including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please redact personal details if necessary.
2. Any feedback you received in 2021, or to date, from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme.
3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2021 or 2022 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be entitled to withhold it).
4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind, if no further assessment was done).
5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in 2021; (ii) in 2022 to date, whether or not as payment for goods or services.
6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.

Response

1.

Scottish Government did not make an application to be a Stonewall Diversity Champion in the year 2021. 2021 was the third year of a three year membership subscription beginning in 2018. In reference to Scottish Government's application to be included in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for 2022, I refer to the following FOI request with details of our application: Scottish Government submission to Stonewall for 2022 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Please note that the Workplace Equality Index program was not offered in 2021 due to the challenges many employers faced in immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2.

Please see initial feedback from Stonewall in an email received 09th February 2022 in relation to Scottish Government's 2022 application to the Workplace Equality Index. This feedback can be summarised by the following.

Scottish Government has achieved a placement of 89th in Stonewall’s Top 100 employers for the 2022 Work Equality Index (12th in Government and Regulatory Bodies sector), and received a Gold Award for work undertaken in relation to trans and bi equality inclusion in the workplace.

3.

An exemption(s) under section(s) 12(1) applies - Complying will exceed the upper cost limit of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The upper cost limit is applied when it is established it would take over 40 hours of work or £600 to complete a request While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is because it would be necessary to individually check and collate a large number of records in relation to communications received from Stonewall since 2021. We have estimated that locating, retrieving and providing all of that information would take in excess of 40 working hours of staff time. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. For example, you may wish to request further information regarding communications received from Stonewall during a shorter time period. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx

You may also wish to note the following other recent FOI releases which also discuss communications with Stonewall. Communication with Stonewall and Equality Network January to February 2021: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ; Communications between Scottish Government and Stonewall Scotland: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

4.

No equality impact assessments have been carried out in connection with any of these applications.

5.

Please note that much of the information you have requested is in the public domain. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact us again and we will send you a paper copy. Information regarding Equality and Human Rights Budget Funding amounts for the organisation you have enquired about, Stonewall, is available in the public domain and can be found at Equality funding: national and intermediary bodies 2017-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) for 2017-20, and for 2021 onwards at Equality and Human Rights Fund: projects funded - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

You may also wish to note the following other recent FOI releases which also discuss payments to Stonewall in 2019/20 and 2020/21: Funding of Stonewall or any associated subsidiary by Scottish Government: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot); Payments made to Stonewall Equality Limited: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

(ii) To date in 2022, Scottish Government has also paid £3,000 to Stonewall for a one year membership subscription.

6.

We continue to keep Scottish Government's participation in corporate memberships and benchmarking schemes under review.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 20220028570 - information released

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