COMMITMENT
Actions identified in scheme | OUTCOMES
Work undertaken or work not undertaken and reasons why | FUTURE ACTION
Work underway or planned | DEADLINE/ TIMING | CONTACT
Lead Unit working on this |
Publishing Scheme |
(1) In collaboration with Executive departments, agencies and associated departments, the Equality Unit will produce an annual scheme report for consideration by Ministers and senior management. The report will be made available to the public and to the Scottish Parliament. | This is the first annual report | We are committed to continuing to report annually and to developing and improving the format of our reporting. | annually | Equality Unit with support of departments, agencies and associated departments |
(2) Every three years the Executive's scheme will be thoroughly reviewed and appraised in close collaboration with departments, agencies and associated departments and in consultation with all those affected by or with an interest in the scheme's effectiveness. | An Executive-wide steering group, the Race Equality Scheme Implementation Group (RESIG), was set up in April 2003 with a responsibility for the effective implementation of the Executive's duties under the RR(A)A | RESIG will continue to meet. The group's role and functions will be kept under review to ensure it meets the Executive's commitment to meet its duties effectively. A detailed review of the Executive's scheme will start in Summer 2004. | November 2005 | Equality Unit with support of departments, agencies and associated departments |
Assessing existing policies and functions |
(3) Review with departments, agencies and associated departments the effectiveness or otherwise of the assessment toolkit as a means of assessing the impact of policies and actions and adjust it accordingly. | In consultation with CRE Scotland, the assessment tool has been revised to take better account of departmental outcomes and actions taken to achieve these. These revised toolkits were completed by departments in summer/autumn 2003. The completed assessment is now the key document for managing the implementation of Departments commitment to race equality. | Through RESIG, we will continue to review the usefulness of the toolkit and revise it as necessary. We will continue to work to develop ownership of the Scheme and plans and Action Plans. We will ensure that the scheme is used in conjunction with other business planning tools such as departmental delivery plans and divisional plans. | ongoing | Equality Unit with Directorate of Corporate Development. |
(4) a) Departments, agencies and associated departments will report progress on the promotion of race equality against their respective assessment tools and action plans once a year. b) In support of this process assessment tools and action plans will be reviewed every six months. | a) This was completed by departments in November 2003 and has been collated into this report. b) Assessment tools and action plans were reviewed by the Equality Unit taking account of CRE advice and reissued to departments. | a) We will agree with Departments/Agencies how best they will publish and promote their progress on race equality to stakeholders and staff including through the intranet and departmental websites. b)Review will take place through RESIG. | a) end of 2004 b) 6 monthly | a) departments/ Equality Unit b) RESIG |
(5) The annual reporting on departments', agencies' and associated departments' progress in promoting race equality is to be an integral part of the annual business planning cycle. | The Equality Unit is liaising with the Changing to Deliver, Portfolio Planning and Best Value teams to ensure effective mainstreaming of race equality. | The roll out of our new policymaking checklist will include the mainstreaming of race equality as an integral part of the application of the tool We will continue to work closely with colleagues in Changing to Deliver on mainstreaming race equality. | ongoing | All |
(6) When developing new policies departments, agencies and associated departments will undertake a race equality assessment of their proposals and identify specific action, if there is an identified need, to promote race equality or to counter-act any possibility for racial discrimination. Such action should be proportionate to the level of impact identified. | a) please refer to individual department's action plans for detail on this. b) The Equality Unit is reviewing training and liaising with departmental development advisors to establish links with business briefings. | To ensure effective mainstreaming into business management systems. | ongoing | a) All b) Equality Unit |
Consultation |
(7) We will engage with all stakeholders on the continuous improvement of our scheme. | Our Scheme is a live document. We disseminated it widely in December 2002, alerted the media, and made it available on our website. AN explicit invitation to provide comments is written into the scheme. We have made available copies of individual departments' assessment tools. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have established a Race Equality Advisory Group. | a)This report will be widely distributed and promoted as an opportunity to access a further detailed assessment of our actions. b) We will conduct an in-depth consultation to establish mean s by which departments can consult more effectively on their work to promote race equality c) The annual review will include a survey of stakeholders to assess the impact of the scheme. | a) ongoing b) During 2004 in order to put systems in place in 2005. c) Conduct in early 2005 | Equality Unit |
(8) All departments, agencies and associated departments, having determined through systematic assessment that new policies and processes will have an impact on race equality, however minor, will have to apply the Executive's published guidance on consulting with equality groups. | a) Since November 30th our Guidance on Consulting with equality groups has been used as part of a wider consultative process. Please refer to individual department's action plans for details of their consultation arrangements b) In December 2003 the Executive released updated internal consultation guidance which mainstreams a consideration of equalities issues. | b) A series of workshops are being run to train Executive staff on this guidance. | b) During 2004 | All |
(9) All departments, agencies and associated departments that have applied the guidance will need to demonstrate to the public, the Scottish Parliament and Ministers the process for consultation they have adopted and its outcomes. In future reports, for clarity of reporting, progress on this commitment will be reported together with 8. | All consultation results are made publicly available on the website. Increasingly departments and agencies have been applying consultation techniques that go beyond issuing documents for comment in an effort to better capture the views of all of Scotland's communities. | | ongoing | All |
(10) As part of the continuous improvement of our scheme we will consult periodically with all groups and communities affected by it through the application of our published guidance on consulting with equality groups. In future reports, for clarity of reporting, progress on this commitment will be reported together with 8. | See actions detailed under 8 | We will conduct a wide-ranging review of our scheme. | Prior to November 2005. | Equality Unit |
Monitoring |
(11) The monitoring and reporting of race related issues should be integrated within the existing corporate, departmental and agency business planning and performance management reporting cycles. | The Equality Unit is liaising with the Changing to Deliver, Portfolio Planning and Best Value teams to ensure effective mainstreaming of race equality and monitoring thereof. | As part of our work on mainstreaming we will ensure that budgets which can be monitored are built in. We will track progress on this through RESIG | Monitoring systems in place by November 2004. Keep under continual review | Senior Management of depts, agencies and associated depts. |
(12) In developing new policy departments, agencies and associated departments should give proportionate and appropriate consideration to its potential impact on minority ethnic people and agree relevant indicators to track progress. | Both the development of a better policy making checklist and of the mainstreaming equality website will provide a far more systematic basis for policy makers to take full account of the implications for minority ethnic communities of new policies from the beginning of the policy making process. Please refer to individual departments' action plans for specific detail on this. | RESIG to assess new development and review systems together with Business planners. We will track performance by departments on this through the annual report. | ongoing | All policy areas |
(13) We will enhance our capacity to disaggregate data on minority ethnic communities and progress work on ethnicity classifications. | An Ethnicity Classification Subgroup of RESIG was set up in October 2003 to review ethnicity classifications. The Central Statistics Unit (CSU) have completed an analysis of the census data by ethnicity. The analysis formed the background for a seminar on ethnicity results from the 2001 Census held in February 2004. The aim of the seminar was to discuss the results from the Census with internal and external stakeholders and to agree on priorities for future research. | a) We are in discussions with stakeholders to establish a broader cross-public sector Ethnicity Classification group. | 2004 | Statisticians, with support of Equality Unit |
(14) As part of their ongoing assessment of policies and functions, departments, agencies and associated departments should review and where necessary revise their monitoring and reporting systems with regard to the promotion of race equality. In future reports, for clarity of reporting, progress on this commitment will be reported together with progress on 11 and 4. | Please refer to individual departments' action plans for specific detail on this. | Please refer to individual departments' action plans for specific detail on this. | Ongoing | All |
(15) We will work with the CRE, Audit Scotland and stakeholders on improving the auditing of those public sector functions and policies that impact on race equality. | The Audit and Inspection Group, co-chaired by CRE Scotland and the Executive, has completed the 1 ststage of work with audit and inspection bodies on providing guidance and support as public bodies and in relation to their duties inspecting others. | We will continue to work with CRE Scotland and audit and inspection bodies to establish practical means of disseminating guidance and support. | Ongoing 2004-5 | HMIs and sponsor departments |
Publishing |
(16) We will publish an annual report on the scheme as an integral part of our yearly Equality Report. | This is the first annual report. | a) We are committed to continuing to report annually and to developing and improving the format of our reporting. b) RESIG to review the method for annual reporting | a) annually b) 2004 | Equality Unit with support of departments, agencies and associated departments |
(17) Departments, agencies and associated departments will use existing means, where this is practicable, for publishing their progress in promoting race equality. Where this is not an option alternative means will be considered. | This annual report provides a summary of action undertaken by departments. More detailed information is available in their individual action plans. | We will explore how departments themselves can promote their work on race equality and demonstrate that they are meeting the requirements under the legislation. | 2004 | All |
(18) Departmental race equality assessments will be available on request. | Hard and electronic copies of each department's action plan are available on request. | We will investigate ways of making these more accessible. | 2004 | Equality Unit and Departments |
(19) We will use the internet to publicise our work on promoting race equality. | The scheme and other reports on race are available through the Executive website The One Scotland Many Cultures Website and our mainstreaming website contain further information on our work to promote race equality | We will continue to publicise our work as widely as possible. | ongoing | All |
Improving access to information and services |
(20) Departments, agencies and associated departments will review the accessibility to information and services to minority ethnic people as integral part of their assessment of policies and functions. | Please refer to individual departments' action plans. Each department has progressed this in different ways. | Departments will continue to review how best they ensure accessibility to information. | ongoing | All |
(21) Executive will devise a policy on translation of its public documents | We have commissioned a two-stage research project to review current practice in relation to the provision of TICS within public services. The research will involve an audit of TICS provision in Scotland, followed by a fuller investigation of the practice of providing interpreting and translating support to users of community languages and deaf people in need of communication support. | In 2004 we will reissue the STIC forum's guidance on TICS whilst we are completing our review. Following this research we will revise our policies on translating and interpreting. | Initial findings from the audit exercise will be available by spring 2004. A final report of both stages will be published in autumn 2004. | Equality Unit |
(22) Those departments with responsibility for the delivery of public services by others will continue to work with them to ensure that service provision does not discriminate against minority ethnic people. | Please refer to individual departmental action plans. | | ongoing | Departments with responsibility for the delivery of public services by others |
(23) We will examine ways in which we can best facilitate the sharing of good practice on improving access to public services and information in Scotland. | Please refer to individual departmental action plans for details of specific initiatives. COPFS and the Health department in particular have developed good practice in this area. We held a joint conference with CRE Scotland in December 2003 which provided a venue for sharing best practice. | We held a joint conference in December 2003 with CRE Scotland which provided a venue for sharing best practice. | ongoing | Equality Unit with support of relevant departments |
(24) We will continue to find ways of improving the access to and quality of translating and interpreting services across Scotland. | We have worked closely with stakeholders to devise a specification for a nationwide survey on the promotion and use of TICS. This work is due for completion in autumn 2004 and will inform future Executive Policy on how best to co-ordinate and deliver high quality TICS. (See also 21 above.) | Following the publication of the research we will: - establish a database of translators and interpreters in Scotland; - promote best practice by public sector bodies; - develop a training needs analysis and training strategy. | To be determined following analysis of report findings. | Equality Unit with relevant stakeholders |
Training |
(25) We shall continue to revise existing training events and programmes and, where necessary develop new programmes for all staff, to take full account of race equality and its promotion. | We are committed to providing training throughout the Executive that takes full account of our commitment to promote race equality. To this end we are undertaking a review of our training provision to identify opportunities for mainstreaming equality. | Corporate Learning Services will work closely with the Equality Unit to develop new training events when required. | Summer 2004 | Equality Unit and Corporate Learning Services |
(26) We shall ensure that our training programmes and events do not discriminate against minority ethnic staff. | - More than 900 of our senior managers in the Executive have undertaken a half-day diversity awareness training workshop. - We have now opened up the course to include less senior staff. - A new event for junior staff is being developed - A 2 day, specialised Diversity & Equality training event was designed & delivered to our HR Officers & HR Managers - We have re-designed our existing one-day Selection Interviewing training course to help line managers adapt to the Executive's new, mandatory, competency-based selection interviewing system. - Diversity and equal opportunities have also been mainstreamed into a number of existing Executive courses including courses on management, appraisal skills and training for new entrants. | Diversity and Equal Opportunities will be included in all course updates. | | Corporate Learning Services |
(27) We shall identify ways in which the implementation of our scheme is reflected in relevant training programmes and material. This will be combined with commitment 25 in future reporting. | We are currently updating our Management, administration, diversity and performance management training to reflect this. | Corporate Learning Services will work with the Equality Unit to ensure that up to date information about the Scheme is included in all our training programmes. | Ongoing | Corporate Learning Services |
Contracting and Procurement |
(28) We will review standard contract conditions to ensure that they commit our suppliers to comply with Race Relations legislation and will publish guidance for suppliers on our procurement website reminding them of their obligations. | - Our standard terms and conditions of contract require contractors and their employees or agents to comply with their obligations under RR(A)A. Contractors are also required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that any sub-contractors employed in the execution of the contract. Guidance for suppliers, to the effect that failure to comply RR(A)A may result in their exclusion from tendering opportunities, has been published on the Executive's procurement website. - In August 2003 we hosted the CRE launch of Race Equality and Procurement guidance. (Available at www.cre.gov.uk. ) | -The Executive's Procurement Directorate will issue a reminder to the Scottish public procurement community of the need to consider the CRE's guidance on race relations and procurement in all circumstances where contractors are involved in delivering services to the public. The Executive's procurement policy and guidelines will continue to be based on the fundamental principle that all suppliers must be treated fairly and equally. - The Equality Unit will consider over the course of the year with Procurement whether there are any further measures which might assist in taking account of our equality obligations. | Ongoing | Procurement and Commercial Services Dept |