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Update on the Recommendations of the Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred
1. Introduction
Scottish Ministers are committed to promoting equality of opportunity and social justice for all. Scotland's society is dynamic and it is culturally diverse. We are all the stronger for the variety of cultures, nationalities and faiths that thrive here. Religious intolerance is simply not acceptable in a confident, modern multi-faith and multicultural society like Scotland.
That is why the Report of the Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred, and the 12 recommendations made in the report, has been absolutely central to the development of work to tackle religious intolerance in Scotland. In December 2002, while launching the Working Group's report, the First Minister commented:
"This is a very important day in the history of Scotland. It is a day when Scotland can grow up and move away from the past divisions…I want Scotland to be a society where we respect cultural differences, and celebrate our rich and diverse religious traditions. I want all Scots to be proud of the Scotland we live in today…We cannot allow ourselves to be dragged down by the deadweight of religious hatred and sectarian bigotry.
"Modern Scotland must challenge bigoted attitudes and bigoted behaviour wherever it is found. These measures signal our determination that Scotland will no longer tolerate acts of religious hatred."
Following the consultation on the Working Group's report, which ended in March 2003, a commitment was made to tackle sectarianism and implement the recommendations of the Working Group in the government partnership agreement Partnership for a Better Scotland in May 2003. This report outlines the work that has been taken forward to implement the recommendations of the Working Group. The report sets out what work has been undertaken as a direct result of the recommendations and what these actions have achieved. The report also highlights work that is currently in hand to tackle issues around religious intolerance.
We must thank the Working Group for its work. We must also thank the many people who engaged with this important issue and who contacted us when the report was published. Some were able to respond to the report itself. But we also heard from many more people who, while they had not read the report, still had something to say. We listened to the views put forward.
2. Background
In this section we have briefly summarised the key areas examined in the Report of the Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred to give you an idea of the context that the recommendations were made in. The full report is available and can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/society/trhr.pdf .
Remit
The Working Group was given the following remit:
"Consider the need for legislation to combat religious hatred (in particular the creation of a new category of statutory aggravations; and the creation of a new offence of incitement to religious hatred) and if appropriate develop effective and workable proposals for legislation to increase the protection to religious groups in Scotland.
"Consider whether non-legislative action could be taken as an alternative."
Consultation
A full public consultation exercise was undertaken on the Working Group's report between December 2002 and March 2003. In total 72 responses were received to the consultation and those publicly available have been placed in the Scottish Executive library.
Issues
The main issues which the Working Group addressed in their report can be summarised as:
- The need to acknowledge that manifestations of religious intolerance and religious hatred are not acceptable in modern Scottish society.
- The need for contemporary research to define the extent of the problem, to track changes in attitudes and to evaluate projects and programmes seeking to effect a longer-term change.
- Safeguarding freedom of speech.
- Dealing with cultural sectarianism and violence in the particular context of football matches.
The Working Group considered issues of legislation. The Group felt that the introduction of Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, discussed under Recommendation 1, to make specific provision for offences aggravated by religious prejudice met the need for specific legislation and that further legislation was not required at this time.
3. Working Group recommendations and Scottish Executive responses
Recommendation 1 The Lord Advocate should issue up-to-date detailed guidelines to the police on their handling of alleged offences, including any specific consideration of any motivation of religious hostility, to ensure that any element of religious motivation or hatred is fully recorded in their report to the Procurator Fiscal. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 25 explicitly agreed with this recommendation. None disagreed.
Comment
Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 was introduced on 27 June 2003 to make specific provision for offences aggravated by religious prejudice. Where a person commits an offence which has a motivation of religious prejudice, Scottish courts must now take religious prejudice into account and also state any extra element of the sentence which they are giving for the aggravation.
During the period 27 June 2003 - 29 February 2004, the police reported 262 cases involving an allegation of religious aggravation to the Procurators Fiscal. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has recently conducted a review of the first six months of the investigation and reporting of offences aggravated by religious prejudice. This will be published soon.
On the same date the Lord Advocate issued guidelines to the police about the investigation and reporting of incidents involving religious prejudice. These state that the police must ascertain the perception of the victim and witnesses as to the motive for the crime and that this information must be included in the report to the Procurator Fiscal.
Conclusion
Recommendation 1 has been fulfilled.
Recommendation 2 The Crown Office should update its guidelines to prosecutors to ensure that any religious elements in an offence are brought before the court and are not withdrawn in return for an accused agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser offence during plea negotiation. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 24 explicitly agreed with this recommendation. Two respondents disagreed. They considered that this would be unduly restrictive where the pleas otherwise on offer were acceptable to the Crown.
Comment
Guidelines about the interpretation and enforcement of the legislation were issued to prosecutors on 27 June 2003 (Crown Office Circular 9/2003). The guidance includes an instruction to Procurators Fiscal that there is a strong presumption against acceptance of a plea which excludes available and admissible evidence of the religious prejudice aggravation. Any reduced or partial plea will require to be fully justified and the reasons for taking such a plea should be recorded. Reduced or partial pleas are not acceptable where the complainer is a member of a particularly vulnerable group or where such religious aggravation may be associated with other forms of prejudice and, in particular, racist behaviour.
The instructions to Procurators Fiscal for religious cases state that warning letters may be issued but only in exceptional cases and then only on the authority of the District Fiscal. The issuing of warning letters in race cases is presently under review.
Conclusion
Recommendation 2 has largely been fulfilled; the arrangements allow some scope for discretion by the Crown in the public interest.
Recommendation 3 The Crown Office should establish suitable methods to record the incidence of religious motivation in offences prosecuted and the outcome in each case (including whether the accused was convicted and the sentence received). |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 25 supported the recommendation. One respondent noted that the recording of such an offence would take place automatically if the provisions on offences aggravated by religious hatred became law. This has indeed become the case.
Comment
The Crown Office has prepared and instigated a new charge code to allow charges with this aggravation to be tracked through the system. The monitoring system provides a return on the number of cases prosecuted and allows access to details on the outcomes in so far as they record the verdict. The sentence is recorded by the Scottish Courts Service. This is because the Crown Office prosecutes in the public interest and the sentence is not a meaningful measure for them.
During the period 27 June 2003 - 29 February 2004, the police reported 262 cases involving an allegation of religious aggravation to the Procurators Fiscal. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has recently conducted a review of the first six months of the investigation and reporting of offences aggravated by religious prejudice. This will be published soon.
Conclusion
Recommendation 3 has been fulfilled so far as the Crown Office is able to.
Recommendation 4 Religious hatred is a complex problem, enmeshed as it can often be in a mixture of cultural, political, historical and racial identities. The Scottish Executive should commission research which will provide a statistical and descriptive baseline of incidents of religious and sectarian hatred and which can set this within the wider context of hate crime and violence more generally. Any such research should be able to follow cases through the criminal justice system, from reporting to the police to disposal in the courts. It would be essential that any such research should seek to understand the motivation of offenders and the impact on their victims in order to inform future initiatives designed to combat religious hatred. Research should also be commissioned into contemporary sectarianism to augment the historical research already available and to provide information as to which approaches to tackling these problems might be effective. Additionally all projects and programmes designed to reduce sectarian attitudes should be the subject of evaluation so that best practice can be spread rapidly and effectively. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 28 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed. Two respondents recommended that research should also focus on the experience of the families of Irish Catholic immigrants.
Comment
As a starting point, the Scottish Executive's Criminal Justice and Social Justice Equalities Research Teams, in consultation with the Executive's Equality Unit, undertook a literature review of religious prejudice. The review, which has now been completed, had an emphasis on sectarianism and was designed to bring research knowledge in this area up to date. The review has allowed the Executive to gain a better understanding of the issues surrounding sectarianism and religious intolerance. It has also helped the Executive to identify areas where a specifically targeted piece of research would plug the gaps between existing research work and help to bring about a more holistic understanding of these problems.
Before commissioning further research work, the Executive will be meeting with a broad range of academics who have a specific interest in sectarianism, so that they can gain a better understanding of their work and how this can be used to help develop policy in this area. This series of meetings began on 7 June 2004.
Conclusion
Recommendation 4 has been partly fulfilled as the literature review has been completed. Further work will be undertaken to determine what additional research is required, and we might progress specifically focussed work to examine reports of religiously aggravated crimes. This work will be considered as part of the Executive's broader strategy and linked to the work being undertaken to address Recommendation 11.
Recommendation 5 In their licensing scheme, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) should not only make it a condition of licence that clubs have policies against sectarian behaviour but also that the clubs take steps vigorously to enforce those policies at matches. Failure to do so should carry penalties up to, and including, the loss of a licence. Clubs should be required to report on the measures and the effectiveness of measures in tackling sectarianism. The police, in liaising with the clubs and the SFA, should also report on these matters. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 29 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Comment
As part of the Scottish Football Association's (SFA's) National Club Licensing Scheme, clubs in the Scottish Premier and Scottish Football leagues will be required to have and promote clear policies against racism and sectarianism.
The intention behind the final sentence of the recommendation is that the SFA, as the licensing body, should be able to consult the police and have the benefit of any views the police wished to offer on the effectiveness of individual clubs' policies and practices in tackling sectarianism. It is in any event likely that the SFA would wish to take account of any views from the police on wider issues relating to public safety and order encompassed within the licensing scheme, for example stewarding and general compliance with clubs' responsibilities as set out in the 'Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds'. The SFA is taking this forward.
Conclusion
Football authorities are acting to fulfil recommendation 5.
Recommendations 6 and 7 are linked and are discussed together. Recommendation 6 Football clubs should take specific action against supporters indulging in insulting sectarian behaviour, for example by excluding them from the ground for one or more matches through the confiscation of season tickets or reducing seat allocations to supporter's clubs where a member of that club has behaved in an unacceptable way. In liaison with the police, clubs should take steps to ensure increased effectiveness of monitoring and subsequent discipline of supporters who use sectarian behaviour at away matches. The clubs should publicise the numbers of people who have been warned or suspended or banned from matches as a result of unacceptable behaviour and the names of those banned as a result of such behaviour. Recommendation 7 The police, Procurators Fiscal and football clubs should share information in order to identify and deal with those supporters who are charged with or convicted of offences at or near football grounds including those involving an element of religious hatred. In particular, the police should, as soon as is practicable, inform a supporter's home club if they arrest that supporter for such an offence. Procurators Fiscal should inform a supporter's home club of any action that is being taken against the supporter. If a football supporter is convicted of any offence committed in the context of a football match, then the Sheriff Clerk should inform that supporter's home club at the time of conviction. |
Consultation response
Recommendation 6: Of the 72 respondents, 29 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Recommendation 7: Of the 72 respondents, 30 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Comment
More formalised information links between the police, the prosecution service, the courts and the clubs would be likely to lead to an increase in numbers warned, suspended or banned, particularly in relation to the away matches played by the Old Firm. We recognise that there are practical difficulties for clubs in taking action against supporters who misbehave who have bought tickets for an individual match, as opposed to season-ticket holders.
Recommendations 6 and 7 suggest that football clubs should receive information about the identities of alleged offenders at various points in the criminal justice process - arrest, prosecution and conviction - if their offence or alleged offence is committed in the context of a football match.
Where not otherwise provided for in legislation, rules concerning the sharing of information are governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 and associated Regulations. Data protection is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive met with Strathclyde Police and the office of the Information Commissioner to discuss these issues. Police and football clubs can work together to alert each other to trouble-makers, for the purposes of crime prevention, as long as there are clear protocols and rules regarding the processing of the information that both will hold. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) has now endorsed a protocol for the sharing of information between the police and football clubs. This protocol is being rolled out by police forces across Scotland.
The Sheriff Clerk is not part of the information sharing protocol and does not as a rule inform supporter's home clubs about convictions. The Sheriff Clerk would only pass on this information if specifically instructed to by a judge or if required to by a statutory provision. However, since the police are party to the relevant information and since they have an ongoing crime prevention and public order role, we have concluded that information sharing between the police and football clubs will be sufficient to meet the objectives of Recommendations 6 and 7.
Of course football clubs, without any intervention from the police, have the power to refuse entry to their grounds, provided that they do not do so through unlawful discrimination (for example on the grounds of race) and entry refusal is based on defined regulations applied by the club to ticket holders, such as the club rules. If the clubs are aware through their own means of people who have behaved unacceptably, they can exclude them from the ground if they so wish. The Old Firm have recently issued a number of bans to their club's supporters for sectarian behaviour, some of which have attracted a great deal of publicity, and these have sent out a strong message to football fans.
Conclusions
Recommendations 6 and 7 have been largely fulfilled, however, this is an on-going issue and the success of the protocol endorsed by ACPOS will need to be evaluated to ensure effectiveness. We will ask ACPOS for feedback on the protocol after 12 months. Because we believe the powers of the police are sufficient to fulfil the objectives of Recommendations 6 and 7, we are not looking to prosecutors or to Sheriff Clerks to pass on information about prosecutions or convictions to football clubs.
Recommendation 8 Given the evidence of lower levels of offending of all forms when Old Firm matches are held with an early start this should, as far as possible, become the norm. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 30 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Comment
The traditional start time for football matches is 3 p.m. An early kick-off (for example at noon or 1 p.m.) basically gives spectators less time for drinking alcohol before the match.
The joint response of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), Scottish Premier League (SPL) and Scottish Football League (SFL) indicates that this recommendation is already standard practice and early kick-offs for league matches between Celtic and Rangers Football Clubs are already the norm.
Conclusion
Recommendation 8 has therefore been fulfilled.
Recommendation 9 The Group was advised that the availability of sectarian material for sale outside football grounds adds to provocation. All local authorities should therefore license Street Traders and should use their powers to attach conditions to such licences preventing Street Traders from selling any offensive sectarian material in the context of football matches. The police should monitor the adherence of Street Traders to the terms of their licence and report any breaches to the local authority who should act by suspension of licence. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 29 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Comment
The Minister for Finance and Public Services wrote to all local authorities asking them to review their licensing provisions for street traders, with a view to preventing the sale of sectarian and paramilitary material, particularly outside football grounds. The letter also encouraged local authorities, with the assistance of the police, to ensure that any provisions put in place to prevent the sale of such material are enforced and appropriate action taken against such offenders. The breach of a condition attached to a street traders' licence, as well as providing grounds for suspension of the licence, can constitute an offence under section 7 (2) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. Local authorities with premier league clubs in their area have responded positively - either stating that they had such conditions in place already or that they would review their existing provisions and determine whether changes were required.
Strathclyde Police have carried out spot-checks near Ibrox Stadium and Celtic Park and have confirmed that on those occasions there was no evidence of sectarian material on sale.
Conclusion
Recommendation 9 has been fulfilled.
Recommendation 10 The police, the Crown Office, the Scottish Executive, local authorities, relevant voluntary organisations, the Scottish Football Association and the Old Firm Clubs should join together at senior level to co-ordinate and monitor a continuing response to religious hatred as it affects their individual responsibilities. They should develop policies to spotlight and target religious intolerance. They should also evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the work undertaken in response to our recommendations. This Group should provide the Scottish Executive with a snapshot report after a year. This report should be presented to the Scottish Parliament. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 29 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Comment
It is clear that the dismantling of sectarianism in Scotland requires education and debate. It is important that a co-ordinated approach is taken and that relevant experts are gathered to lead on this. There is also a need to consult with those who are taking forward work to tackle religious intolerance at community level and draw on a broad range of expertise and experience to ensure that Scottish Executive policy is well informed and will deliver real benefits for the people of Scotland.
The Executive therefore needs to proceed on a number of fronts. The establishment of an operational co-ordination group will provide a forum for public agencies with responsibility and interest in tackling sectarianism in Scotland to support the Executive in developing and delivering a unified strategy to tackle sectarianism in Scotland. Specifically, this group will:
- Ensure that key messages are driven through at operational level and work co-ordinated as effectively as possible.
- Link in with other stakeholders, particularly in the voluntary sector, and proactively seek to progress and support their work.
- Disseminate good practice through existing networks.
It is hoped that the group will be established in the summer of 2004.
The Executive also needs to tap into the wealth of experiences that voluntary and local groups have had in tackling religious intolerance within communities. The establishment of a group to cover these interests will provide a forum for a range of organisations involved in tackling sectarianism on the ground to support the Executive in the development and delivery of a unified strategy. This group will allow voluntary and local organisations to discuss their experiences, what we can learn from these, and how lesson learnt can be applied to projects tackling sectarianism across Scotland. This group will be ideally placed to identify projects being taken forward across Scotland to tackle sectarianism and religious intolerance and to identify areas of good practice where anti-sectarian projects are delivering real benefits for communities with a view to publicising these.
A round table discussion with a wide range of voluntary and local groups was chaired by the Minister for Communities on 10 May 2004. This was a very positive and productive meeting.
As with all equalities issues, tackling religious intolerance cuts across the interests of many areas of the Executive and a co-ordinated approach to this work will be taken across the Executive. An interdepartmental group has been established.
The Executive is currently developing an anti-sectarian education resource for schools, youth workers and young people. The resource will provide information, interactive material and examples of good practice for teachers and other educationalists to use. The resource is being designed to raise awareness of sectarianism, encourage better understanding of different denominations and faiths and address a wide range of forms of bigotry and religious intolerance. The resource will be piloted this autumn and will be available to all schools and youth workers for the new academic year beginning in August 2005.
On 26 April the Executive held a very successful anti-sectarian conference in Dundee. The conference raised awareness of sectarianism and brought together practitioners to discuss ways of tackling religious intolerance.
In terms of funding for specific projects the Executive is providing 108,000 over 3 years to the Scottish Interfaith Council to promote greater awareness and appreciation of Scotland's multi faith society and 75,000 over three years to Nil by Mouth to raise awareness among children and young people about problems of sectarianism and bigotry in Scottish society.
Most recently the Executive has awarded 649,000 over three years to Sense Over Sectarianism, a project which addresses the problems of sectarianism in Glasgow and the Greater Glasgow areas. This money will allow them to take forward work in two areas. The first is the provision of an educational post to continue their work with children and young people, encouraging them to examine existing attitudes, think differently and become involved in peer education to promote friendship and understanding. The second is to empower individual communities to tackle the problems of religious intolerance, some of which have blighted them for many years, and encourage mutual understanding between different faith groups. This is achieved by providing funding to projects and initiatives which are community-based and community-led.
Conclusion
Recommendation 10 is partly fulfilled. This recommendation also covers on-going issues which will be taken forward as part of the Executive's broader strategy to tackle the religious divides in Scotland.
Recommendation 11 The co-ordinating group should seek to encourage, sponsor and evaluate project programmes and research designed to change sectarian and other aspects of religious hatred. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 29 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed.
Comment
The operational co-ordination group will have a role to play in the development of research work, although the lead will continue to lie with the Scottish Executive's research teams. The Executive already has systems in place for project evaluations and these would be used to commission and manage projects in the usual way. Others, who may sponsor projects and programmes, for example local authorities, should be encouraged to undertake evaluations and the research team would be happy to provide advice as appropriate.
Conclusion
Recommendation 11 will be taken forward as part of the Executive's broader strategy to tackle the religious divides in Scotland. This work ties in with that being taken forward to address Recommendation 4 and work on these two recommendations will be combined.
Recommendation 12 Following the evaluation of the current advertising campaign promoting a tolerant society the Scottish Executive should consider a campaign to promote a Scotland free from religious hatred. |
Consultation response
Of the 72 respondents, 21 agreed with the recommendation and none disagreed. Some gave useful suggestions about how such a campaign could be formulated.
Comment
Research conducted after the completion of the first phase of the 'One Scotland. Many Cultures' campaign suggested that there was a correlation between recognition of the campaign's imagery, messages and brand and greater awareness or concern about racism in Scotland. The campaign's message is one of a Scotland within which we are all welcome irrespective of differences. To that extent it assists the message we want to convey in tackling religious intolerance. We believe that at this stage tackling sectarianism and raising awareness of the issues surrounding it might best be done on a more local basis, allowing the particular circumstances of areas and communities to be better reflected. So, whilst we see a connection between work to tackle racism and the work to tackle religious intolerance, we do not think that an identical approach to promotion is suitable. We believe that the emphasis at the moment should be to tie awareness raising to local activity.
We are aware that Glasgow City Council will be launching a localised campaign to tackle discrimination including sectarianism in September 2004. The impact of this campaign is to be evaluated and we will discuss with the council what conclusions can be drawn from the evaluation to maximise the effectiveness of future campaigns.
The Executive will consider this in dialogue with the co-ordinating group and voluntary organisations referred to in the response to recommendation 10.
Conclusion
The Scottish Executive will broaden out its thinking on publicity as part of its wider strategy to tackle the religious divides and foster interfaith work in Scotland. This will include an evaluation of the benefits of localised advertising campaigns.
4. Summary and Next steps
The following summarises the actions that have been, and are continuing to be, taken in response to the recommendations of the Cross-Party Working Group on Religious Hatred. Outstanding actions, and evaluation of the actions taken so far, will be part of the Scottish Executive's on-going work to tackle religious intolerance in Scotland. The co-ordination of this work will be taken forward by the Executive's Equality Unit.
The Executive will also be taking work forward in areas that were not part of the work of the Cross-Party Group on Religious Hatred. On 15 June 2004 the First Minster announced that he would be appointing an independent expert to review the procedures for marches and parades in Scotland. This will include examining the powers available to councils to take decisions on marches and parades that reflect the wishes of their local communities whilst respecting the rights that organisations and individuals have to organise marches and parades. The Executive is also going to be addressing issues surrounding other faiths, for example Islamophobia, and the effects that this has on Muslim communities and individuals in Scotland.
Recommendation 1
Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 was introduced on 27 June 2003 to make provision for offences aggravated by religious prejudice. During the period 27 June 2003 - 29 February 2004, the police reported 262 cases involving an allegation of religious aggravation to the Procurators Fiscal. Lord Advocate's guidelines to police were issued the same day.
Recommendation 2
Guidelines about the interpretation and enforcement of the legislation were issued to prosecutors on 27 June 2003.
Recommendation 3
The Crown Office has instigated a new charge code to allow charges of religious aggravation to be tracked through the system. Sentence recording continues to be the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service.
Recommendation 4
This recommendation will be taken forward as part of the Executive's broader strategy to tackle the religious divides in Scotland. A literature review of religious prejudice has been completed and further research work is currently being considered. This work will allow the Executive to identify gaps in between the existing pieces of research work, so we may commission any additional research work as required, which will help to give us a holistic understanding of religious intolerance in Scotland. The Executive will be meeting with a range of academics with a specific interest in this area to discuss their work and how this can help us to understand the religious divides in Scotland.
Recommendation 5
The Scottish Football Association is taking this recommendation forward through its National Club Licensing Scheme.
Recommendation 6
Football clubs and the police are working together to address the problems caused by supporters indulging in sectarian behaviour. This is an on-going issue.
Recommendation 7
The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) has endorsed a protocol for the sharing of information between the police and football clubs. This protocol is being rolled out by police forces across Scotland. The Sheriff Clerk is not part of the information sharing protocol and does not as a rule inform supporter's home clubs about convictions. The sharing of information between the police and football clubs is sufficient to action this recommendation. We will arrange to discuss with ACPOS the effectiveness of the protocol after it has been implemented for 12 months.
Recommendation 8
Early start times for Old Firm matches are now the norm.
Recommendation 9
Local authorities have been asked to review their licensing provisions for street traders and take any appropriate action.
Recommendation 10
The Executive:
- Is establishing an operational co-ordination group to oversee the work that it is taking forward to tackle religious intolerance in Scotland.
- Is formally establishing a group to allow voluntary and local organisations that are tackling religious intolerance in communities to feed into the development of policy in this area.
- Has established an officials group to ensure that a consistent approach to tackling religious intolerance is taken across the Executive.
- Is developing an anti-sectarian education resource for schools, youth workers and young people.
- Has held a very successful conference to raise awareness of the problems surrounding sectarianism and how these can be tackled.
- Is funding a range of projects to tackle religious intolerance within communities.
Recommendation 11
This recommendation will be taken forward as part of the Executive's broader strategy to tackle the religious divides in Scotland. This work ties in with that being taken forward to address recommendation 4 and work on these two recommendations will be combined.
Recommendation 12
The Executive will broaden out its thinking on publicity as part of its wider strategy to tackle the religious divides in Scotland. This will include an evaluation of the benefits of localised advertising campaigns for awareness raising and the impact these have on communities. This work will be taken forward as part of the Executive's broader strategy to tackle religious intolerance in Scotland.
5. Comments
If you have any comments on this report you can send your comments by post to:
Michael Napier
The Scottish Executive
Equality Unit
Area 2F
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Or by e-mail to:
Michael.Napier@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
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