The Communities portfolio is concerned with both people and places. Its fundamental aim is to make Scotland a country where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a decent quality of life through affordable housing in strong and confident communities, having access to learning and employment opportunities, and living free from poverty, inequality and discrimination We use our front line experience to help Ministers develop policies and programmes relating to housing and community regeneration and then deliver them. Our role is to help deliver the policy objectives and Partnership Agreement commitments of Scottish Ministers. We report to the Communities Ministers and work closely with them, along with colleagues in the Scottish Executive Development Department. We also have a housing regulation and inspection function to improve standard and protect the interests of tenants. Our activities also bring us into contact with other portfolios in the Executive.
The following key objectives for Communities Scotland received Ministerial approval when and were published in our Corporate Plan 2005-08:
In 2005 the agency worked with a range of equality group interests to produce our equality strategy and action plan which lay out our equality commitments. For the majority of these we are taking a six equality strand approach to our work. There are however, some additional gender specific commitments.
We consulted widely, to produce the strategy. One key event in the consultation process was hosting a national equalities master class, supported by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration. It involved eight individual consultation focus groups on the strategy, including one on gender, looking at the agency's proposals from the perspectives of each of the six individual equality strands and one focus group for people facing multiple discrimination.
Focus group participants were asked to identify and prioritise areas for action for the agency. These are the objectives which were published in our final strategy. In 2008 we will return to these groups to involve them in reviewing the strategy
Our priorities for 2006/08 are listed below. These are a combination of areas of corporate work across the whole agency, as well as pieces of specific divisional work that will cut across our regeneration, housing, or investment remit.
Key policy areas where the department is or will take forward gender equality |
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Scottish Executive Objective - To increase the supply of affordable housing where it is needed most.
Scottish Executive Objective - To improve the quality of existing houses and ensure a high quality of new build. |
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Policy | Action | By whom | By when | Outcome expected |
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Our Housing and Investment Programme: |
Affordable Housing Investment Programme - which will fund a further 7,100 houses for social rent and low cost home ownership. | We will subject the Scottish Housing Investment Framework to an equality impact assessment. The EQIA will include involvement with disabled stakeholders and the diversity advisory group. | Head of Investment | The assessment will be carried out during 2006/07 | EQIA report will identify any issues which impact unfairly on men or women. These will be addressed wherever possible. |
We will equality impact assess the Local Housing Strategy process and we will revise the LHS guidance. | Head of Strategic Planning | Completed by June 2007 | EQIA report will identify any issues which impact unfairly on men or women. These will be addressed wherever possible. |
Funding for housing adaptations. | We will equality impact assess this policy. The EQIA will include involvement with the diversity advisory group. | Head of Investment | Completed by March 2007 | EQIA report will identify any issues which impact unfairly on men or women. These will be addressed wherever possible. |
Central Heating and Warm Deal programmes - which will install or repair central heating systems in 12,000 homes and ensure insulation measures are installed in 11,000 homes. | We will equality impact assess both programmes. | | | EQIA report will identify any issues which impact unfairly on men or women. These will be addressed wherever possible. |
Scottish Executive Objective - To improve the quality of services to tenants and homeless people |
Our Regulation and Inspection Process Develop a risk-based approach to regulation and undertake 30 regulatory assessments and eight inspections. Publish a clear statement of our regulatory expectations in relation to equalities practice and performance. | We will publish a revised inspection framework for equalities setting out clearly what we will look at in inspection and how we will assess performance. We will publish a revised self assessment framework. We will continue to involve our tenant advisory group and tenant assessors group, in which both men and women are well represented. | Head of Inspection, Regulation and Inspection Division | Ongoing | Regulatory inspection process which ensures housing providers can respond to gender specific needs. |
We will develop closer working arrangements with the Equal Opportunities Commission and the CEHR. | Director of Regulation and Inspection | During 2007/08 | Registered social landlords meet the expectations of the new gender duties by incorporating them into our inspection process. |
We will continue to take an equalities focus in our inspections, which will further consider gender issues. | Director of Regulation and Inspection | Ongoing | |
We will publish an equalities thematic study which covers all six equality strands, including gender equality. | Head of Inspection | Publish by Dec 06 | |
We will provide guidance to the housing sector highlighting any new EOC statutory code of practice that is developed. | Head of Inspection | During 07/08 | |
Scottish Executive Objective - Building stronger, safer communities through regeneration and tackling anti-social behaviour |
The Community Regeneration Fund Support all 32 Community Planning Partnerships to evidence that they are regenerating the most deprived communities and communities of interest against the agreed outcomes set out in their Regeneration Outcome Agreements, | We will continue to support an ongoing programme of direct support for Community Planning Partnerships to help meet legislative requirements including new gender duties. The Equal Opportunities Commission has been involved in the development or a continuous improvement strategy in this area of work. | Regeneration Equalities Team | Ongoing | Evidence through ROA annual reports of positive outcomes for both men and women across the five national "closing the opportunity gap" targets. |
We will joint host two national conferences with the three equality commissions to set out the legal expectation of public bodies working within public partnerships. | As above | By end Feb 2007 | Clarification amongst public authorities of their requirements under the gender duties in carrying our partnership work. |
We will equality impact assess the Community Regeneration Fund. The EQIA will include consultation with stakeholders and the diversity advisory group. | Head of CRU | EQIA completed by Mar 2008 | EQIA report will identify any issues which impact unfairly on men or women. These will be addressed wherever possible . |
Community Voices Network on community engagement at national and local level. | We will evaluate the impact of the Network, the evaluation will include an equalities impact assessment. The EQIA will include consultation with stakeholders and the diversity advisory group. | Manager of The Community Engagement team in Learning Connections | By Mar 2008 | EQIA report will identify the extent of involvement of both men and women within the Community Voices Network. |
Arrangements for delivering the general duty to promote gender equality. |
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| Action | By whom | By when | Outcome expected |
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1. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that your policies, services, functions pay due regard to the need to eliminate any unlawful discrimination between women and men? | We will ensure that equalities guidance for staff is updated to reflect new duties. | Corporate Management Team/ Human Resources | Dec 2006 | All staff will understand their responsibilities to staff and stakeholders. |
We will continue to make completion of equality training mandatory for all staff. | Exchange | Ongoing | As above. |
We will ensure that our computer based equality training modules include gender inequality, particularly in relation to the SE's "closing the opportunity gap" targets | | | Increased awareness of staff as to how poverty affects men and women differently. |
2. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that your policies, services, functions are able to pay due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between women and men? | We will make meeting gender duties explicit in agency's five equality theme areas for 06/08. | Corporate Management Team /Strategic Equality Group | Mar 2007 | Established framework to ensure all gender duties are embedded within operational work. |
We will ensure we use evidence we have on men and women's uptake of our services (for example applications for our Mortgage to Rent scheme or our Homestake scheme) when undertaking Equality Impact Assessments. | Regeneration/ Investment/ Regulation and Inspection/ Corporate Strategy/ Human Resources | Ongoing | Disproportionate impact of our policies between men and women/ girls and boys will be moderated wherever possible. |
We will develop more robust monitoring of our grant giving arrangements and take action where we identify gaps. | Regeneration/ Investment/ Regulation and Inspection/ Corporate Strategy/ Human Resources/ Area Network. | Ongoing | Robust evidence base established to allow for Equality Impact Assessment of our functions and policies. |
Where we assess the strategies of others (for example Regeneration Outcome Agreements or Local Housing Strategies) we will include an assessment of their commitment to promoting gender equality. | Regeneration/ Investment/ Regulation and Inspection | Ongoing | Improved delivery of public services which are sensitive to the needs of men and women/ girls and boys. |
We will ensure wherever possible that our recruitment panels are gender representative. | Human Resources | Mar 2008 | Recruitment processes are fair and inclusive and are seen to be fair and inclusive. |
3. How will you identify gender equality goals and outcomes for your area of work? | We will ensure that gender goals are explicit in agency's five equality theme areas for 06/08. | Corporate Management Team /Strategic Equality Group | Mar 2007 | Set targets and established framework to ensure all gender duties are embedded within operational work. |
All our functions were assessed for gender relevance in November 2004. The ongoing programme of Equality Impact Assessments will continue to address gender issues. | Whole Agency | Ongoing | Any disproportionate impact of our policies between men and women/ girls and boys that is identified will be moderated wherever possible. |
4. How will you ensure that employees, stakeholders and/or service users are consulted in the process of setting gender equality goals and outcomes for your area of work? | We will establish an equalities advisory group to involve equality groups, including disabled people in our work and to inform, in particular, the focus of our Strategic Equalities Group. We will ensure that both men and women are well represented on the group. | Strategic Equality Group | Apr 2007 | Policy development and delivery of services directly influenced by views, needs and aspirations of both men and women. |
We will try and ensure that our Non Executive Management Board members are representative of both men and women. | Human Resources | 2009 | |
We will continue to support the Gender and Regeneration Network. | Community Regeneration | Ongoing | Sharing of good practice in relation to gender initiatives across Scotland and beyond. |
We will ensure that gender issues are covered within CS supplementary questions in SE staff surveys. | Human Resources | Mar 2008 | Identification of any issues. |
We will explore options for establishing a staff group to capture staff views around equality issues. | Human Resources | Mar 2008 | |
5. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that we are able to report on progress on an annual basis? | We will ensure that our Strategic Equality Group continues to report to our Corporate Management Team annually on progress against our equality commitments. | Strategic Equality Group | Ongoing | Continued leadership demonstrated and operational staff held accountable for meeting equality objectives. |
We will ensure that equalities issues are covered within our public Annual Report. | Corporate Strategy | Ongoing | Public accountability for our work. |
We will continue to include equalities as a mandatory corporate objective within each member of staff's performance appraisal. | Human Resources | Ongoing | Equalities will be intrinsic to every member of staff's job remit. Evidence will need to be positively demonstrated. |