Marlyn Glen

Answer · John Swinney · 15 Mar 2011

Our approach to Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) focuses on ensuring that analysis of equality evidence is embedded from the beginning of the policy making cycle, and shapes the policy on an ongoing basis. As such we expect policies to be influenced by the process of impact assessment and analysis. There are 33 Directorates in the Scottish Government and we do not collate information centrally on amendments made to policies during this cycle.</b></p> <p >We do however provide centralised on-line publication of equality impact assessments from across the Scottish Government and these can be accessed at:</p> <p >http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/18507/EQIASearch</p> <p >The following case studies provide three examples of instances where policies informed by equality impact assessment have led to specific actions.</p> <p >Patients Rights Bill EQIA:</p> <p >During consultation on the Bill one of the issues raised was that without the right help and support some groups of people - younger people, older people (especially those with dementia), disabled people (especially those with learning disabilities and mental health problems) - will find it difficult to enforce their rights. After consideration of the impact on the equality groups it was decided to allocate funding to support the provision of advocacy services to ensure that those who need assistance in upholding their rights can access the appropriate support.</p> <p >In addition, results from the consultation also suggested that disabled people face significant problems in accessing health care, often due to access and communication issues. Provisions in the Patient Rights Bill place NHS bodies under a duty to allow and encourage patients to participate as fully as possible in decisions relating to their health and well being. After consideration of the equality issues (in particular the impact on disabled people, and people whose first language is not English) the Scottish Government decided to provide funding to NHS Health Scotland to support the development of translation, interpreting and communication services (TICS). Investing in the TICS infrastructure will help to ensure that all patients are aware of their rights, are communicated with in an appropriate manner, and are involved in decisions about their care.</p> <p >Drugs Strategy EQIA:</p> <p >In developing the EQIA for the national drugs strategy, a lack of evidence about ethnic minority communities'' use of drugs and treatment services was identified. It identified that 99.3% of new patients accessing treatments were not from ethnic minority groups. Anecdotal evidence suggested that drug taking patterns amongst ethnic minority communities were different to those in other communities which, along with the perceived shame associated with drug taking in many ethnic minority communities, meant that people were not accessing services. Officials explored the potential gaps, barriers and needs in service provision for people from ethnic minority communities. It transpired that drug use amongst these communities was as prevalent per head of population as those in other communities. However, of the 227 drugs services operating in Scotland, only one specialised in supporting people from minority ethnic communities. In response, the Drug Policy Unit commenced work to help make services more accessible to ethnic minority communities.</p> <p >Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers EQIA:</p> <p >The overarching purpose of the Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers Shared Equity Schemes is to help first time buyers, on low to moderate incomes, achieve their home ownership aspirations. A key finding from the EQIA for this policy was that Muslims can find it difficult to buy a home if they want to ensure their purchase is compliant with their religious law and beliefs. Therefore, in order to make the benefits of our policy more accessible and reach a greater number of people, we started working wi

Answer · Alex Neil · 15 Mar 2011

The UK Government is the state party with responsibility for co-ordinating input from devolved administrations and publishing a UK progress report. We are fully engaged in the process, first contributing information to the UK Government in November 2010 to enable them to produce a first draft UK report. We expect to receive this soon for our comment and further input.</p>

Answer · Alex Neil · 15 Mar 2011

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-40271 on 15 March 2011. Scottish Government''s progress, under each of the articles of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, will be included in the UK progress report due to be submitted to the UN in May 2011.</p> <p >All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx">http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx</a>.</p>

Answer · Alex Neil · 17 Mar 2011

Detailed information on pay for employees of each local authority is not held centrally. The Scottish Government published reports in July 2010 giving an overview of progress made across public authorities on tackling the Gender Equality Duty Ministerial Priorities - one of which is occupational segregation, a major contributor to the gender pay gap. Local authority data were included in the overview  sample.</p> <p >The Scottish Government regularly monitors its progress on pay equality in the Scottish Government Main bargaining unit (which comprises staff below Senior Civil Service level in the Core Directorates and Agencies of the Scottish Government). In 2007, the largest difference in average pay between men and women for doing work of equal value was 3.5% (which was within the Equal Opportunities Commission threshold of 5% at that time). In three of the 10 pay ranges (in 2007), the difference was above 2.0%. Subsequent action to reduce pay gaps has led to the most recent position (October 2010) when the largest difference in average pay between men and women for doing work of equal value had been reduced to 1.4%. In six of the nine pay ranges (in 2010), the difference is now below 1.0%.</p> <p >The most recent data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings shows that the difference between median hourly earnings for men and women working full-time in the private sector was 20.8% for both 2007 and 2010. For part-time workers the gap has changed from no difference in 2007 to -1.5% in 2010, meaning that the median part-time wage for women is higher than for males.</p>

Answer · John Swinney · 15 Mar 2011

This information is not held centrally.</b></p> <p >Using the Annual Population Survey (APS), the change in the number of people employed within each of the groups can be estimated. The most recent APS dataset relates to the period July 2009 to June 2010. To determine the change over an 18 month period, estimates from this dataset have been compared to those from the Jan to Dec 2008 dataset. The results are shown in the following table.</p> <p >Table 1: Proportionate Change in Number of Level of People Employed Over 18 Month Period from January to December 2008 to July 2009 to June 2010, Scotland.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=left >&nbsp;</b></p> </td> <td valign=top > <p align=center >Proportionate Change in Level</p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=left >Males</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=right >-4.3</p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=left >Females</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=right >-0.9</p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=left >Under 25s</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=right >-8.5</p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=left >Disabled</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=right >10.2</p> </td> </tr> <tr > <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=left >Ethnic Minorities</p> </td> <td nowrap valign=top > <p align=right >17.0</p> </td> </tr> </table> <p >Source: Annual Population Survey, Office for National Statistics.</p> <p >Notes:</p> <p >1. Estimates based on population aged 16 and over.</p> <p >2. Data is not seasonally adjusted. As the data being compared do not cover the same calendar periods, it is possible that some change may be due to seasonal changes in employment patterns.</p> <p >3. Proportionate change in levels are with reference to the estimates from the Jan-Dec 2008 dataset.</p>

Answer · John Swinney · 15 Mar 2011

This information is not held centrally.</b></p>

Answer · Adam Ingram · 14 Mar 2011

Information on the number of available childcare places is not collected centrally.</p> <p >Information on the number of registrations in childcare centres is available from the Scottish Government''s <i >Pre-School and Childcare Census 2010</i>.</p> <p >Table 9 shows the number of registrations, by age, in all childcare centres for the years January 2008, 2009 and 2010, and is available at:</p> <p >http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/09/28130623/13.</p>

Answer · Adam Ingram · 14 Mar 2011

The Scottish Government seeks to ensure access to high quality, affordable childcare services which match children''s needs and parents working patterns.</p> <p >In Scotland, local authorities take the lead, in conjunction with their local partners, in planning and supporting childcare in their local areas.</p>