« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
CHAPTER 8: MAINSTREAMING GENDER EQUALITY
Introduction
8.1 Effective mainstreaming is at the heart of successfully implementing and meeting the gender equality duty.
8.2 Mainstreaming means the systematic integration of an equality perspective into the everyday work of government, involving policy makers across all Government directorates, as well as equality specialists and external partners. This approach aims to ensure that public policies, practices and services understand and respond to the different needs of men and women, boys and girls in Scotland.
8.3 To support colleagues to mainstream equality and assess the impact of their policies on equality groups we developed an Equality Impact Assessment ( EQIA) Toolkit. Details about our approach and our EQIA toolkit are provided in chapter 5 of our gender equality scheme. Mainstreaming is a key element of delivering the gender duty and we therefore made mainstreaming gender equality one of our scheme objectives.
What we said we would do
8.4 Our scheme set out our commitment across Government to mainstreaming gender equality and to continuing to use our Equality Impact Assessment tool as the main mechanism for doing this.
What we've done
(Also see all others chapters)
Equality Impact Assessment
8.5 As indicated in chapter 1, the Scottish Parliamentary elections were held in May 2007 and resulted in the formation of a new Scottish Government. As would be expected, it has taken time for new policy priorities arising from manifesto commitments to be established and for clarification as to which existing policies would continue and in what form.
8.6 As a result the number of published equality impact assessments ( EQIA) is lower than we would have liked and stands at 17 (as at 20 March 2008), although many more are underway. A properly completed impact assessment can take weeks or even months to complete. The Scottish Government's ( SG) Equality Unit continues to provide support in assisting staff to undertake the EQIA process and holds monthly EQIA surgeries. In addition, the Equality Unit undertakes 'outreach' work going out and talking to staff about impact assessments; since April 2007 over 80 different policy areas have held meetings with the Equality Unit.
8.7 To be able to effectively monitor the implementation of the EQIA process across the Government's directorates, changes are being made to the Business Planning tool ( BPT) used by the SG to include reference to equality impact assessments. Individual policy areas will be required to flag intentions to impact assess and set targets and milestones. The system will allow us to monitor which policy areas are undertaking impact assessments and highlight any policy area that has not included EQIAs into their processes.
8.8 From March 2008 senior officials will also be required, as part of the SG internal assurance process, to set out how the requirement to undertake EQIAs is being met in those areas for which they are responsible.
8.9 In addition to our work on equality impact assessment, we have undertaken a variety of activities to mainstream and promote gender equality more generally. Examples of these initiatives are provided below.
EPBPAG
8.10 We have continued to work with our Equality Proofing the Budget and Policy Advisory Group ( EPBPAG) to improve the presentation of information about equalities issues in the Scottish Government's budget documents, raise awareness about the need to mainstream equalities into both policies and budgets and investigate ways of monitoring Government expenditure on different equality groups.
Data Gathering
8.11 The Scottish Government is continuing to collect, analyse, disaggregate and disseminate analytical data (social research and statistics); provide focussed analytical support for the EQIA process; provide written and oral briefing across SG policy areas; and provide guidance and practical support to policy makers and analysts (for example, in December 2007 we published Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland: 2006, which is available on the SG website). Further information about data gathering is provided in chapter 10.
Gender Equality Toolkit
8.12 We commissioned the Equal Opportunities Commission to produce a self-evaluation tool for schools in relation to gender equality, which advises schools of their gender equality duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and promote equality of opportunity between women and men, boys and girls. The toolkit was launched on 4 September 2007.
Better Health, Better Care
8.13 The Government's action plan for health and wellbeing, Better Health, Better Care, sees a positive step forward in the inclusion of equality and diversity within health care in Scotland. This action plan shows a clear commitment towards a person-centred, empowering health service where the patient is seen as a partner.
8.14 This direction of health care builds on the foundations of work done since 2000 to increase the importance of patient focus and public involvement within the health service. In particular, Better Health Better Care builds and learns from the development of the Fair for All initiative, which has been working since 2002 to provide direct support to health boards to deliver sensitive services to patients of different ages, sexes, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religions and disabilities. Fair for All has gathered a wide range of evidence on different people's needs and experiences within the health service, which NHS Scotland will build on in seeking to deliver improvements. The recently launched patient experience programme Better Together will survey 250,000 patients per year, disaggregated by equality strand, which will begin to provide evidence of improved service outcomes from this initiative.
8.15 From 1st April 2008 the work of Fair for All, including Fair for All - Gender, will be taken forward by a new Directorate of Equalities & Planning within NHS Health Scotland.
Multiple and Complex Needs Pilots
8.16 Research 16 has shown that existing public service providers find it difficult to deal with clients who have multiple, or a complex combination of, needs. The Multiple and Complex Needs initiative, being run by the Social Inclusion Division, therefore aims to improve public services for those with multiple and complex needs - some of the very hardest to reach in society who may not have benefited from recent improvements to service delivery because they find it difficult to access services and/or to maximize their own benefit from them.
8.17 The Government has made £4 million available over the last two years to explore ways in which different services can better meet the multiple and complex needs that some individuals and families in society present.
8.18 The projects are designed to help those experiencing poverty as a consequence of issues such as domestic abuse, sensory impairment, HIV/Aids or mental health issues, or indeed access to health and care services. However, all of the projects have the potential to provide insights into good (and, of course, bad) practice that will be disseminated across service providers in Scotland to assist all service providers to better understand and accommodate people experiencing multiple and complex barriers not just to accessing public services but also to their inclusion and participation in civic society.
8.19 A thorough evaluation of all the projects is currently being undertaken to identify what works and what doesn't, and the key lessons learnt will be disseminated to a broad range of service providers to enable them in turn to improve how they engage with people with multiple and complex needs. We expect that evaluation of the projects will provide information and learning on the differential outcomes for men and women who used these services.
8.20 Some examples of specific, relevant projects:
- The Inequalities Sensitive Practice Initiative managed by Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board was funded to develop inequalities sensitive practices in maternity, children, addiction and mental health services for those affected by poverty and other disadvantage. The project has been developing gender specific guidance and training products to improve how mainstream health services cater for these groups through the analysis of the responses of four different types of health service:
- The Women's Reproductive Health Service, for mothers affected by poverty and substance addiction;
- The Starting Well project, for children of families living in disadvantaged areas;
- Community Addiction Teams supporting those recovering from substance abuse;
- The South West Primary Care Mental Health Team for people with 'mild to moderate' mental health problems.
- Women from BME Communities with Physical or Learning Disability ( EMPOWER) project is hosted by the West Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership and was funded to support women from ethnic minority communities in Glasgow who need additional support because of illness or disability. Families from minority ethnic communities have higher rates of chronic disease and disability. The project supports a formal service access coordinator and trains volunteers, especially older women, to act as family mentors on life and home skills to enable more families affected by these problems to access and maximize benefits from support services.
- Tayside Domestic Abuse and Substance Abuse is a consortium of partners in Dundee and Angus which has developed joined-up support services for women, including those with children, who encounter domestic abuse alongside a range of other service needs, including, for example, substance misuse or homelessness. Women who suffer domestic abuse often require support from a range of other services. The project therefore explores the range of needs displayed, the barriers to the effective provision of support, and the relationships, referral and assessment mechanisms used between the support services, with the aim of developing common training for staff.
- VSA Male Carers has developed support services for male carers in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, working in partnership with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils. Male carers are often excluded due to the stereotypical view of women as carers and men as breadwinners in society. Relationship breakdown, family conflict and self harm are a common result of withdrawal from peer groups, while employment difficulties often lead to financial problems. The project will explore ways in which male carers can be encouraged to engage with support services and thus how their needs can be met.
« Previous | Contents | Next »