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SECTION THREE: Progressing the Equality Strategy: Action for Change

Every department of the Scottish Executive has taken action since 2000 to improve the position of equality groups in Scotland. The Preliminary Report on the Equality Strategy (November 2001) contained a detailed round up of action which had been taken or was underway at that time. Closing the Opportunity Gap: Scottish Budget for 2003-2006 and the Scottish Budget Equality Statement attached as Annex A to this report provide further information about actions that have been taken and will be taken in the next three years to help the most disadvantaged people in Scotland. More detailed information on what the Executive is doing on race equality is contained in the Executive's response to the Race Equality Advisory Forum report published in October 2001 and the Executive's Race Equality Scheme published in November 2002.

To give an indication of the range of activities undertaken a selection are listed below.

Education and Employment

Being able to get a job is a vital part of closing the opportunity gap. However for many there are still barriers to getting employment and inequalities experienced in employment. For example, people with a disability or from a minority ethnic community are more likely to experience unemployment.

Women are amongst the lowest paid workers and are concentrated in the lowest paid occupations such as cleaning, catering, clerical work and caring services.

The ability to access skills training and education are key to future employment. Disabled people are less likely to be qualified.

The availability of affordable childcare is a key issue in the participation of women in the labour market and in education and training. If we want people to be able to reach their full potential and for Scotland to have fullest access to the talent that is available then removing the barriers to employment and childcare is critical.

Some of the barriers are experienced early in the education process and the Executive is working to ensure that children and young people have the fullest opportunities in school.

That is why the Executive has:

• Made free pre-school places available for every 3 and 4 year old in Scotland whose parents wish this.
• Invested significantly to widen access to further and higher education, particularly to those from disadvantaged groups. Over 65,000 new further education places have been created since 1998-99.
• Provided over £16 million per year to local authorities to enable them to meet local childcare needs.
• Provided £6 million per annum for the childcare needs of further education students, targeted support for those facing greatest financial hardship including lone parents.
• Provided additional funding to strengthen colleges' ability to offer English Language courses for asylum seekers and others.
• Provided £22.6 million to help disabled young people to move into further education, training and employment. Put in place a range of projects to promote inclusiveness including the development of the BRITE centre which provides training for further education staff in the use of assistive technologies.
• Provided £36 million to improve services for people with learning disabilities and established, with an additional £1.5 million, a Scottish consortium on Learning disability.
• Produced anti-racism and anti-bullying materials for schools.
• Promoted equal opportunities in the training of teachers.

Health and Community Care

Health should not depend on where you live, your income or your background. Access to health should also be equal irrespective of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or religion. The Executive recognises that there are still significant inequalities in access to health and particular problems for different groups in our communities.

That is why the Scottish Executive has:

• Adopted a patient and public focused approach to health.
• Undertaken a stocktake of minority ethnic health policies across Scotland and issued 'Fair for All: Working Towards Culturally-Competent Services'. This guidance is designed to promote a more culturally competent National Health Service (NHS).
• Established a resource centre for ethnic minority health in April 2002 with a budget of £1.1 million. The Health department has also established a Women and Children's Unit and an Older People's Unit to ensure that these interests are reflected in health policy and in other areas of policy across the Executive.
• Established a Disability Steering Group to improve access to health services for people with disabilities and to raise awareness of disability issues among NHSScotland staff.
• Carried out research about the views of older people about their recent experiences of the NHS under the auspices of the Chief Medical Officer's Expert Group on Healthcare of Older People.
• Introduced free personal care for older people.
• Taken action, including high profile advertising, to tackle teenage smoking particularly amongst young girls and pregnant women.
• Promoted breast-feeding and healthy eating.
• Supported projects to work on sexual health including teenage pregnancy and work with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities.
• Increased the support to carers.

Crime and Justice

No one wants to live in fear and be the victim of crime. Yet some in our communities experience assault and violence, harassment and victimisation because of the colour of their skin, their religion, their disability, their gender, their sexual orientation and their age. Action is being taken to reduce the burden of crime on these communities, to work to increase confidence in the system of Scottish justice and to support the victims of crime.

We have:

• Improved the prosecution policy on racist crime and the Crown Office is now pursuing a range of measures to improve race equality.
• Developed a systematic approach to tackling racist crime and the Scottish Police Service is working to increase the diversity of its recruitment.

Police recorded racist incidents

• Made £1 million available to improve security at mosques, synagogues, Hindu and Sikh temples and other places of minority ethnic worship in Scotland.
• Convened a cross-party working group to consider the case for new legislation to counter religious hatred and other measures to counter sectarianism and religious bigotry.
• Radically increased the provision and support for those experiencing domestic abuse. Through award-winning advertising the Executive has dramatically changed the climate in which domestic abuse is being tackled.

• Piloted new ways of delivering quality legal information and advice to asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups.

Social Justice

Social Justice underpins the whole range of Executive policies and it encapsulates the Executive's determination to address issues of poverty and deprivation, alongside issues of discrimination and inequality. There are groups within Scottish society that experience exclusion on the grounds of their race or religion, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation. "Some of these groups such as women as lone parents and single pensioners, minority ethnic families (including refugees, asylum seekers and gypsies/travellers) and disabled people form a disproportionate number of those living in poverty in Scotland. Although there are few data available about LGBT people, there is evidence to show that they may also be vulnerable to poverty." But social exclusion is not just about poverty. 'It also relates to the impact of discriminatory attitudes and practices on the status, influence, well-being and safety of individuals and groups with consequent effects upon their opportunities to learn, earn and lead a full life with dignity'. ¹

That is why the Executive is pursuing a range of actions to further equalities as part of the programme on social justice. In addition to all that is described elsewhere in this report, we have:

• Supported minority ethnic communities through funding of the Black and Minority Ethnic Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS), Ethnic Minority Grant Scheme, Positive Action in Housing, and the two race thematic Social Inclusion Partnerships - Fife Race Awareness and Equality (FRAE Fife) and Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance (GARA).
• Given 10,000 pensioners free central heating and 140,000 people free insulation under the Warm Deal Scheme.
• As part of the work on child poverty, invested £24 million to provide childcare to help lone parents get into further and higher education.
• Improved equal opportunities in the provision of housing.

Sport and Culture

Sport and culture are important for our wellbeing and our social interaction. Making sure that the benefits can be realised by all in our communities is part of the Scottish Executive's strategy in both sport and culture. This is important because sport and culture can provide opportunities for those marginalised in society and can be an important means of self-improvement and community engagement.

We have increased equality in provision in the following ways:

• Taken measures to improve the numbers of women and girls, disabled people and those from minority ethnic communities who participate in sport.
• Introduced measures to tackle sectarianism in football.
• Increased access to museums, galleries and libraries including £1.9 million to abolish charges to main collections in the National Museums of Scotland.
• sportscotland has established an Ethics Group and is promoting equality in its work.

Transport

Transport can have an effect on many areas of life including work, family and social life. Personal freedom can be enhanced through better access to effective and usable transport and different groups in the community may have different transport needs. Older people, and disabled people in particular, face many barriers to using public transport.

The Executive has:

• Introduced free off-peak local bus travel for pensioners and disabled people.
• Established a Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland to advise on the transport needs of disabled people.
• Produced guidance for policymakers on the specific gender considerations to be taken into account when developing transport policy.

¹ From Paper to Scottish Social Inclusion Network Equalities Mainstreaming Working Group by Dr Fiona McKay - August 2002)

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