The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

A Review of the Scottish Executive's response to the Race Equality Advisory Forum's Recommendations

1. Introduction

The last few years have seen significant developments in legislation, policy and practice relating to race equality, including the introduction of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RR(A)A). The Race Equality Advisory Forum (REAF) has helped the Executive to take forward its duties to promote race equality and its work to eliminate institutional discrimination. Many of the REAF recommendations are now underpinned by the RR(A)A and incorporated within the Executive's Race Equality Scheme.

This report draws together the Executive's progress to date in addressing the recommendations made by REAF. It also examines related initiatives in reference to the wider duty under the RR(A)A to promote race equality.

1.1 Background to REAF

The establishment of REAF was announced in July 1999 by Jackie Baillie, MSP, then Deputy Minister for Communities. Individuals from a range of communities, backgrounds and areas of interest were invited to join. The forum divided into working groups which produced eight detailed action plans covering: Education; Enterprise and Lifelong Learning; Health and Social Care; Housing; Local Government; Planning; Social Inclusion; and Voluntary Sector Issues. They also produced general overarching recommendations for the whole Executive and additional recommendations on public appointments. REAF's final report Making it Real, A Race Equality Strategy for Scotland was published in October 2001.

In 2002, the Executive published Committing to Race Equality an initial response to the challenge set out by REAF. This set out the key areas of work and identified some priorities and cross-cutting themes. It also outlined the mechanisms and processes for taking forward REAF's recommendations. The Executive also published a separate response to the Voluntary Sector Issues Action Plan within the overall response to the Review of Funding for Black and Minority Ethnic Groups in the Voluntary Sector.

REAF provided valuable information on:

• the experiences and concerns of communities;
• new ways of building and improving dialogue with minority ethnic communities; and
• a way forward through detailed sectoral action plans.

The report recommendations provided an important base for the Executive's race equality work.

1.2 Changing context

Since the Race Equality Advisory Forum (REAF) reported, the introduction of the RR(A)A has changed the context of work on race equality.

In order to deliver on its duties under the RR(A)A, the Executive has:

• drawn up a Race Equality Scheme (November 2002);
• established a Race Equality Scheme Implementation Group (RESIG) (April 2003);
• published its first Race Equality Scheme Annual Report (March 2004).

Race Equality Scheme

The Executive's Race Equality Scheme was published in November 2002. This set out relevant public functions in relation to the duty. As required by the order, it also sets out our arrangements for delivering on the following specific duties:

• Assessing and consulting on the policies proposed for adoption;
• Monitoring for any adverse impact of policies on the promotion of race equality;
• Publishing the results of assessments, consultations and monitoring;
• Ensuring public access to information and to services; and
• Training staff in issues relevant to the duty.
• Employment monitoring duties for employment of staff.

During the preparation of the Race Equality Scheme all Executive departments and some agencies conducted a detailed assessment of policies and functions for their race equality impact. Guidance provided explicitly referred to the REAF report. This helped to ensure that REAF's recommendations were built into this process in a systematic way.

These duties now address and supersede many of the recommendations made by REAF.

RESIG

RESIG was established in April 2003 as an Executive-wide steering group with responsibility for the effective implementation of the Executive's duties under the RR(A)A. RESIG has senior level representation from Executive departments and some agencies and has responsibility for embedding race equality work in the organisation. It meets bi-monthly

Race Equality Scheme Annual Report

The Executive's first Race Equality Scheme Annual Report provides an up-to-date progress report on race equality work across the Executive. We are committed to continue reporting on our progress on race equality and to developing accessible formats.

Further details on our work can also be found on the Equality Unit and One Scotland Many Cultures website.

1.3 Key initiatives

The Executive has continued to progress its key strategies:

Equality Strategy

The Executive published its Equality Strategy 'Working Together for Equality' in November 2000. It provides a framework for building work on race, gender and disability and for developing work in areas of sexual orientation, religion and age. The Strategy promotes a vision of an open, just and inclusive Scotland where respect and understanding are fostered and where everyone is encouraged and enabled to live, work and take part in society to their full potential, free from prejudice and discrimination. The Equality Unit publishes annual reports of our progress against this strategy.

Diversity Strategy

The Executive's Diversity Strategy, published in 2000, sets out a number of specific action points aimed at increasing the diversity of staff. The focus in the early years is on increasing numbers of staff from under-represented groups - women, people from minority ethnic communities and disabled people - at all levels in the organisation. An updated version of this strategy will be released in early 2004. For more detail please see the Employment Section of this report.

The Executive has undertaken some major initiatives to promote race equality since REAF reported. For further information please refer to our Race Equality Scheme Annual Report.

The Anti-Racism Campaign

The One Scotland Many Cultures anti-racism campaign was launched in September 2002. This campaign is an integral part of our work of promoting respect for the different cultures in Scotland, and the elimination of prejudice and discrimination. It builds on work to eliminate institutional racism with a wider campaign message which seeks to tackle and challenge racism in all its forms.

Scottish Refugee Integration Forum (SRIF)

SRIF, chaired by the then Minister for Social Justice, was set up in January 2002 to enable Scotland's statutory and voluntary agencies to work in partnership, to support refugees more effectively. SRIF agreed the following remit: "In partnership with the Scottish Executive and in consultation with the wider public and voluntary sector interests to develop action plans to enable the successful integration of refugees in Scotland and the provision of more accessible, co-ordinated and good quality services."

SRIF published an action plan in February 2003 and in August 2003 the Executive issued a Scottish Refugee Integration Forum Action Plan- Progress Report. A further progress report will be published in February 2005.

Gypsies/ Travellers

The Executive has been developing a range of initiatives and projects to promote equal opportunities for Scotland's Gypsies/Travellers. Our Equality Strategy, and Race Equality Scheme identify Gypsies/Travellers as a minority group facing prejudice and discrimination. We conduct a twice yearly count of Gypsies/Travellers on council sites, private sites and unauthorised encampments. In January 2003 we published guidance to support education authorities, schools and others in developing inclusive approaches to meet the education needs of Gypsies/Travellers, and others with similar experiences in interrupted learning. Guidelines for Managing Unauthorised Camping by Gypsies/Travellers was published in March 2004.

Project Support and Development

We have sponsored and supported a range of projects aimed at promoting race equality. These include:

• work with the STUC on tackling racism and mainstreaming equality in the workplace;
• the UK Asian Sports Championship;
• a Mori Poll assessing the needs of minority ethnic young people;
• a series of conferences entitled 'Equal Futures' organised by Children in Scotland;
• three year funding for a Scottish Development Worker to work with Show Racism the Red Card to produce a range of anti-racist educational resources, which aim to harness the high profile of professional football to combat racism.

1.4 Aims and Structure of this Report

REAF worked closely with the Scottish Executive to build a solid foundation for our work on race equality. Our work on race equality has continued to evolve since REAF reported and this report intends to reflect this.

This report aims to respond to REAF's recommendations to the Executive ¹ considering the wider context of progress on race equality in each thematic and sectoral area. Where individual recommendations are referred to the page and recommendation number from the original report is referenced. This report also refers readers to further information sources.

Many of REAF's recommendations have been addressed by our duties under the RR(A)A. Therefore, this report will not systematically audit each of REAF's recommendations. The Equality Unit has worked closely with colleagues across the Executive to draw together information for this report providing a comprehensive update on the areas covered in REAF's recommendations.

This report is divided into the following sections:

• progress on the main themes and general recommendations of the REAF report;
• responses to the action plans for individual departments/divisions;
• future plans for race equality work.

« Previous | Contents | Next »