Introduction
WHAT IS THE EQUALITY STRATEGY?
The Equality Strategy is an ambitious long-term
project by the Scottish Executive to encourage equality of opportunity
in all aspects of Scottish Life. Although legislation for equal
opportunities is a reserved issue for Westminster, there is
no barrier for the Scottish Parliament to actively promote this
issue through a strategic approach and through non-legislative
initiatives.
AIMS OF THE STRATEGY:
- Making better policy and providing services (mainstreaming,
consultation, research & measurement)
- Promoting equal opportunities and tackling discrimination
(raising awareness, promoting best practice, communications,
developing partnerships, increasing under-represented groups
in public appointments)
- Setting standards by being a good employer (including
targets for improving representation)
THE CASE FOR AN EQUALITY STRATEGY:
According to statistics collated by the Scottish
Executive:
- One in five households in Scotland contain someone with
a disability
- Women make up 52% of the population but remain under-represented
in public life
- Racist incidents recorded by the police have increased
by 76% over the last year
- Other groups experience discrimination on grounds of sexual
orientation, age and religion.
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE PROPOSALS:
Some of the specific actions the Scottish Executive
will take are to:
- Include equality objectives in all Scottish Executive
Departments Business Plans
- Publish statistics which compare the position of men and
women in a range of areas
- Present a preliminary equality report to the Scottish
Parliament in Summer 2001 and publish the first full Scottish
Executive Annual Report on Equality Issues in Summer 2002
- Improve the arrangements for consultation with equality
interests
- Develop an Equality Communication Strategy
- Begin work to enable the Scottish Executive to assess
the equality impact of budgets
- Publish proposals on public appointments
- Embark on the development of a national framework of guidance
for translating and interpreting services for the public
sector in Scotland.
THE APPROACH - MAINSTREAMING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
The strategy commits the Executive to mainstream
equality; i.e. ensuring that awareness of equality is built-in
from the start to the development of policy, the design of services
and the monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
Initially, the mainstreaming philosophy will begin
in the civil service. However, the proposals also talk specifically
about the public sector and given UNISON's high profile in this
area, there are clearly areas that would allow for us to have
an active involvement as UNISON is committed to the principle
of mainstreaming we need to develop our role.
UNISON'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE STRATEGY
The Executive has made it clear that they want
to work in partnership with many public bodies to achieve this
strategy, including trade unions. UNISON therefore has the opportunity
to make an important and valuable contribution. Nevertheless,
as UNISON pointed out in response to the initial consultation
document, partnership working is only ever effective if the
process is transparent and if the key partners are truly representative
of those they claim to represent and who directly inform their
views. UNISON also believes that the Scottish Executive should
lead by example and that they should consider developing legislation
to ensure that Local Authorities and other publicly-funded organisations
have an obligation to train all their staff over the widest
range of equality issues and that all public bodies are held
accountable for their policies in equal opportunities.
WHAT BRANCHES CAN DO
This is a long-term strategy and it is important
that branches start to engage in regular discussions with employers.
As the funding for Local Government and the NHS comes from the
Executive, it would be useful to have on record not just their
commitment to the principle of the strategy but to have them
set out their own proposals as to how they intend to achieve
it in their own workplace.
Branches should start to engage in regular discussions
with their employers to:
- establish how they will take forward
the Equality Strategy;
- review existing Equal Opportunities
policies and how they could be improved;
- highlight good examples of equality
practices.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Equality Unit
Scottish Executive
2nd Floor West
St. Andrew's House
Edinburgh EH1 3DG
0131 244 0123
0131 244 1824 (fax)
www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/social/wtem-01.asp
