Item 13 Appendix 3
West Dunbartonshire Council · 21 May 2025
Back to Corporate Services Committee — 21 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Assessment No 1225 Owner Nicola Docherty Resource Transformation Service CCCF FirstName Surname Job Title Head Officer Nicola Docherty Co-Ordinator Performance and Strategy Team Members Ricardo Rea, Nicola Docherty (Please note: the word 'policy' is used as shorthand for strategy policy function or financial decision) Policy Title WDC Equality Mainstreaming and Outcomes Plan 2025-2029 The aim, objective, purpose and intended outcome of policy To detail the Council's Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming actions for 2025-2029. The plan also shows how we intend to integrate related considerations such as Human Rights including UNCRC rights and socio economic considerations. The Plan details how the council will meet the three needs of the Public Sector Equality Duty, eliminate discrimination (E), advance equal opportunities (A) or foster good relations (F). The Plan meets the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 Service/Partners/Stakeholders/service users involved in the development and/or implementation of policy. Council services, service users through the West Dunbartonshire Equality Forum, Equality and Diversity Working group of Elected members and Council Officers. Does the proposals involve the procurement of any goods or services? No If yes, please confirm that you have contacted our procurement services to discuss your requirements. No SCREENING You must indicate if there is any relevance to the four areas Duty to eliminate discrimination (E), advance equal opportunities (A) or foster good relations (F) Yes Relevance to Human Rights (HR) Yes Relevance to Health Impacts (H) Yes
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Relevance to Social Economic Impacts (SE) Yes Who will be affected by this policy? Service users and potential service users, Council employees, Council Services, Partner Organisations The policy reflects the need to consider intersectionality https://www.womankind.org.uk/intersectionality-101-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/ 'The re-opening of the economy and society, as well as limiting damage, will in the medium to longer term provide an opportunity to do things differently to address long standing structural inequalities.' Scottish Government, July 2nd 2020 https://www.gov.scot/publications/equality-fairer-scotland-impact-assessment-evidence- gathered-scotlands-route-map-through-out-crisis/pages/3/ People living in west Dunbartonshire, people accessing services in the area, private and public sector and voluntary organisations Who will be/has been involved in the consultation process? Council officers and elected members, including work through the Councils Equality and Diversity Group. Discussions with members of the West Dunbartonshire Equality Forum in November 2024 and March 2025. Past consultations and surveys, including those on our British Sign Language Action Plan have also been drawn upon. West Dunbartonshire Equality Forum (WDEF) expressed a desire for more open discussion of Council budgeting and more participation in how services were designed. A more strategic approach to anti-poverty work was also desired. WDEF also noted the importance of Tackling the housing crisis Inclusive growth and inclusive economy Tacking child poverty Tacking domestic abuse Sustaining council services Childcare provision Safe and sustainable transport Community cohesion and empowerment The effects of COVID 19 are still relevant. COVID 19 has been erroneously described as a great leaver; in fact, it has more severely impacted on already disadvantaged groups, in terms of health and employment, and potentially education. Deepened concerns around the cost of living, and poverty crosscut. Progress on the 2021-2025 report has been solid in some areas and less strong in others - Better meeting the accommodation needs of Gypsy travellers, has seen significant
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progress - Increased participation of some but not all ethnic groups, this an emphasis will remain for 25-29. - Some increased participation of younger people, but we have judged this needs to be a more specific focus for 25-29.
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Please outline any particular need/barriers which equality groups may have in relation to this policy list evidence you are using to support this and whether there is any negative impact on particular groups. Specific group to consider Needs Evidence Impact Age Fair access to education is needed for school age children Digital inclusion has grown in importance as a means just getting day to day tasks accomplished, and a means of participation and involvement. Direct engagement with young adults under the age of 25 remains a challenge ‘…high degree of overlap between digital exclusion and deprivation. Those who are older, on low incomes, live in social rented accommodation or live in poorer neighbourhoods are significantly less likely to have digital access' Locally discussion with Deaf people and discussions at national fora would suggest that older Deaf people may be particularly digitally excluded. We have proposed a focus on 16-24, and 25-34 year olds in our Equality Outcomes. Actions to support this will take into account the target groups. The approach was designed to be positive in terms of participation for younger people. In terms of actual impact there has been increased consideration of the needs of Children and Young People. Maintaining a focus on increasing digital inclusion can help with tacking social exclusion overall, and aid participation for some members of some groups e.g. older people, including older Deaf people Disability For 21-25 the Council committed to reducing the disability pay gap For 25-29 The Council is committed to increasing participation and ensures that appropriate channels The disability pay gap decreased over 21-25 Engagement with disabled people has been maintained over 21-25. Wider use of digital communication has There has been solid progress in terms of engaging with BSL users, and considerable progress in terms of BSL video content on the Council's website
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are available to support this. This includes making digital communications more accessible and driving digital inclusion. persisted after lockdowns and is now more mainstream. However, face to face methods are still vital to support inclusion and participation Positive in terms of participation Gender Reassign The Council is committed to encourage participation of all people in Communities Confidentiality can be a special concern for trans people Diversity monitoring of Citizens Panel, Budget and other surveys suggests that the proportion of trans respondents is generally between 0.4% and 0.7% this is roughly in line with Scotland’s Census 2022 which found that 19,990 people were trans or had a trans history, this figure equates to 0.44% of people aged 16 and over. There is no equality outcome in the proposed set that targets this group specifically. However, our mainstreaming actions including on EIA work are designed to help build in equality across all protected groups. Marriage & Civil Partnership This area crosscuts with sex This area crosscuts with sex No evidence of any unique challenges for this protected group. This area crosscuts with sex No unique differential impacts. Pregnancy & Maternity This area crosscuts with sex This area crosscuts with sex. Mainstreaming actions including on EIA work are designed to help build in equality across all protected groups. There is no equality outcome in the proposed set that targets this group specifically. Neutral. Race The Council wants to increase ethnic diversity of its workforce in line with the local population. The Council wants to increase participation of underrepresented ethnic groups. The proportion of BME staff increased from 0.34% to 0.7% from 20/21 to 24/25. The Council recognises that our current workforce profile still shows an under representation of BME employees in comparison to the West Dunbartonshire. A range of further actions are planned for 25-29. The Outcomes proposed 2025-2029 include increasing participation of ethnic minority groups, which we believe will have a positive impact, providing a better informed approach to service design and delivery. We also believe that this helps foster good relations between protected groups.
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Some BME and White minority ethnic groups are underrepresented in participation in our Citizens Panel and Budget consultations for example Chinese, Gypsy/Travellers and Polish people Mainstreaming actions are designed to have a positive impact on workforce diversity. Religion and Belief The Council is committed to encourage participation of all people in Communities There is some cross cutting of religion with ethnic group, though of course these are not the same thing, but for example 90% of people who identify as Pakistani also identify as Muslim Citizens Panel, budget and other survey diversity monitoring suggest that responses by religion and belief are roughly in line with the population make up There is no equality outcome in the proposed set that targets this group specifically. However, our mainstreaming actions are designed to help build in equality across all protected groups. Mainstreaming actions on employment support will support greater workforce diversity. Sex The council is committed to tackling gender based violence The Council (like other Councils) workforce is heavily gender segregated in some roles and there has been little movement between 2021 and 2025. A range of actions are in place on encouraging and supporting uptake of STEM by girls and young women, and care by boys and young men. Equally Safe at work and equally safe in practice work has progressed over the last two years focusing on the linked areas of gender based violence and gender pay gaps One Licensing Board Outcome for 2025-29 aims to increase membership of underrepresented groups, including women on the Licensing Forum Mainstreaming actions on employment support will support greater workforce diversity. There is an opportunity to ensure that we recruit more widely, and reduce occupation segregation in this area
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Sexual Orientation The Council is committed to encourage participation of all people in Communities Diversity monitoring of Citizens Panel, Budget and other surveys suggests that the proportion of LGB participants (usually between 4% and 5%) is in line with national estimates of the proportion of LGB people in Scotland, from census 2022 data showing 4% of those 16 or over. There is no equality outcome in the proposed set that targets this group specifically. However, our mainstreaming actions including on EIA work are designed to help build in equality across all protected groups. Human Rights Human Rights Act. As duty bearers the council must protect the rights of workers and services users, and people living in the area, including protecting the right to life, and ensuring that there is no discrimination against anyone The Scottish Human Rights commission recommends that the specific rights of women, disabled people, older people, children and black and minority ethnic people must be further protected and implemented alongside economic, social, cultural and environmental rights in responding to the experience of this pandemic, are taken into account by public authorities. UNCRC Rights; the Council's plans and services affect children and young people both directly and indirectly. We impact assess equality and human rights together, including children's rights. The 2025-29 set of outcomes and mainstreaming goals acknowledge the interaction of these areas. Education outcomes and mainstreaming support children's rights in terms of provision of services. The Council's wider outcomes and mainstreaming goals aimed at 16-24 year olds acknowledge the need for great engagement with this age group. We consider human rights including Children's rights and equality, into everything we do explicitly and to build joint work with communities around this. In terms of mainstreaming Guidance and training on carrying out impact assessments, has been continually developed and explicitly note the need to consider children's rights we will continue this during 25-29
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For example poverty and child poverty are Human rights and issues Health Health and wellbeing sustainability and recovery needs to be supported Differential health impacts have been noted above, by ethnic group. Some groups had poorer health outcomes compared to others before COVID-19, e.g. Gypsy/Travellers, some BME groups compared to some White ethnic groups. Social isolation affects both older people and younger people and was also noted by Deaf people during consultations. The Outcomes and actions identified have the potential to support better mental health, e.g. through increase participation and cultural exchange Social & Economic Impact Fairer Scotland Duty It is important to support inclusive growth, we can help support the basis for this by ensuring that we offer opportunities widely and reach out across all potential groups Scottish Consumer Duty: We have screened for relevance to the Duty, and concluded that there nothing that might be relevant that it is not already addressed in this impact assessment e.g. revising our approach to accessible information. The most income deprived groups have been, are being more negatively affected by COVID 19 the measures that were in place. The cost of living crisis has further affected the most disadvantaged groups the most. The report recognises the challenges for some protected groups and seeks to address some of these in terms of our focus on increasing employment diversity and reducing gender segregation, as part of our mainstreaming work. Cross Cutting We need to have due regard to general and See above in terms of differential impact; we are Many elements of the plan crosscut,
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specific public sector equality duties, the EHRC have empathised that this is especially important at time of crisis The third sector provides many services and supports to vulnerable people that the public and private sector don't Communication best practice has to born in mind protect people and ensure they have a voice; due to the unusual circumstances and situations, it is likely that practice may have to change to meet requirements, however a good basis will be provided by following the Council's communicating Effectively guidance, which will be updated regularly in line with learning aware that these factors can combine to increase disadvantage Starting in 2020 and every year since then, we have added BSL video explainers on how to access Council services. A positive impact from 2021-25, has been a more highly developed use of Equality Impact Assessments, that has supported equality mainstreaming Our approach recognises how different factors interact. We have identified clear priorities that crosscut. interjectionally, e.g. in age and disability, e.g. older Deaf people, and in theme e.g. digital inclusion and participation. Where this is the case, this should add value to the work. How Will the impact of the policy be monitored and reported on an ongoing basis? Although the 2021-25 report was designed during COVID 19 lockdown, some elements could not be predicted, for example repeated lockdowns and slow return to face to face services. The cost of living crisis has added to negative effects. For 25-29 we have developed a range of performance indicators to measure progress, this will build on work from the last 4 years to increase diversity monitoring of Council surveys and engagement and use this data on service planning and review. Progress will be monitored through the Equality and Diversity Working Group. Q7 What is you recommendation for this policy? Introduce Please provide a meaningful summary of how you have reached the recommendation
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EIA 1225: A detailed EIA has been conducted, it notes a range of potentially positive impacts for a range of protected groups, older people and younger people, women and girls, boys, disabled people, Black and White minority ethic groups. No negative impacts are indicated for any protected group. The Equality Outcome set focuses on the protected groups of Sex, Ethnicity, Age and Disability. We anticipate positive impacts especially for women, including younger women people aged 16-34, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities groups that are currently underrepresented in our engagement with communities. Education Outcomes should have positive impacts for males, disabled young people, and for pupils from some ethnic groups. Licensing Outcomes focus on increasing participation for the groups noted above, and on removing barriers for groups to entering licensed trades and/or better engagement with the Licensing system. Our mainstreaming actions cover a review of our approach to accessible communication, and to employment equality and diversity and these are of benefit to the Council. Education Services and the Licensing Board. Outcomes and mainstreaming are designed to complement and add value to each other. UNCRC rights especially participation and provision are supported by the Outcomes and Mainstreaming goals. Fairer Scotland Duty and Scottish Consumer Duty effectively crosscut with work on participation and employment diversity in the plan.