Mainstreaming_report_2025_DRAFT
Argyll and Bute Council · 8 May 2025
Back to Policy and Resources Committee — 8 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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Argyll and Bute Council Equalities Mainstreaming Report and Equality Outcomes 2025 April 2025
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Table of Contents Section 1: Background context ............................................................................................... 3 1.1 Public Authorities covered by this Mainstreaming Report ......................................... 3 1.2 Legislation ................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 Mainstreaming Equality within Argyll and Bute ......................................................... 4 1.4 Key Documents ........................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Learning and Development Activity .......................................................................... 6 1.6 Workforce ................................................................................................................. 7 1.7 Partnership working.................................................................................................. 8 1.8 Equality Forum ......................................................................................................... 9 1.9 Gypsy Traveller Working Group .............................................................................. 9 1.10 Other groups and representation ....................................................................... 10 Section 2: Monitoring and Continuous Improvement ............................................................. 10 2.1 Review of our Equality Impact Assessment process............................................... 10 2.3 Community Engagement ........................................................................................ 11 2.4 Disability Confident accreditation............................................................................ 11 2.5 Review of workforce data ....................................................................................... 11 2.5 Awareness raising .................................................................................................. 11 2.6 Working with refugees ............................................................................................ 13 2.7 Community Engagement ........................................................................................ 14 Section 3: Equality Outcomes (2019-2023, extended to 2025) ............................................. 14 3.1 Argyll and Bute’s Equality Outcomes (2019-2023, extended to 2025) .................... 14 Section 4: Equality Outcomes (2025-2029)........................................................................... 21 4.1 Developing our new outcomes ............................................................................... 21 4.1 Argyll and Bute’s Outcomes (2025-2029) ............................................................... 23 4.2 Equality Action Plan (2025-2029) ................................................................................ 25 Section 5: Workforce Monitoring and Reporting .................................................................... 25 Our detailed workforce reporting has been published separately. (Appendix One: Workforce as of years ending 31 March 2023 and 2024.) ................................................. 25 6.0 Policy Statement with regard to Equal Pay: ............................................................ 26
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Section 1: Background context 1.1 Public Authorities covered by this Mainstreaming Report Argyll and Bute Council's Equalities Mainstreaming Report and Equality Outcomes 2025 covers the following listed authorities: • Argyll and Bute Council • Argyll and Bute Education Authority • Argyll and Bute Licensing Board. 1.2 Legislation The Equality Act 2010 brought together for the first time legislation relating to the nine protected characteristics of race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. The Act requires public authorities, when carrying out their functions, to: • Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation. • Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. • Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and subsequent amendments are designed to help public sector organisations meet their duties as set out in the Equality Act. The requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty include: • Report on mainstreaming equality. • Publish equality outcomes and report on progress. • Assess and review policies and practices. • Gather and use employee information. • Publish gender pay gap information. • Publish statements on equal pay. This mainstreaming report describes how the three public authorities it covers have been making progress in these areas. That inequality of opportunities is not only an issue for people with protected characteristics is reflected in other legislation, including: • Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010, commonly referred to as the Fairer Scotland Duty, which seeks to tackle socio-economic disadvantage and reduce inequalities of outcome. • Islands (Scotland) Act 2018. Since our last mainstreaming report was published, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 has come into effect.
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1.3 Mainstreaming Equality within Argyll and Bute Mainstreaming equality means integrating equality into an organisation’s day-to-day working. This means taking equality into account when acting as an employer, or planning and providing services. 1.4 Key Documents Previously, the Council has aligned its corporate outcomes with those of the Community Planning Partnership. This is no longer the case. In September 2024, the Council approved a new set of priorities and principles. These were one of the inputs we considered when developing our new set of equality outcomes. As part of wider work looking at the council’s performance management arrangements, we are working to rationalise our strategies and create a new set of corporate/strategic outcomes. We recognise the need to ensure our equality work and outcomes align with wider organisational strategy, and this is reflected in our newly adopted equality outcomes. (See section 4). The Council's Constitution The Council's Constitution : • Sets out the council’s principles of decision making; these include a commitment with regard to human rights and the Public Sector Equality Duty (part A, page 10). • States that responsibility for determining and implementing the Council’s policies in relation to the promotion of equality of opportunity and initiatives to combat discrimination sits with the Policy and Resources Committee (Part C, page 70). • Sets out the Council's requirement that contracts awarded by the Council contain an obligation obliging contractors to comply with all duties arising from the Equality Act 2010 (Part E, pages 187-8). Employee Code of Conduct The Employee Code of Conduct includes a section which deals specifically with Equality and Diversity. It sets out the council's commitment to equalities and signposts readers to the council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, Equalities Mainstreaming Reports, and Dignity at Work Policy. It states: The Council will promote an ethos in which self-respect and respect for others are of the utmost importance. All individuals will be valued equally and therefore be given every opportunity to fulfil their maximum potential in society. The Council insists that those who suffer discrimination, whether direct or indirect, receive fair treatment and adequate remedies and affirms that it will address appropriately all sources of discrimination. The Code of Conduct makes it clear that 'any instances of discrimination, harassment or victimisation at work will be viewed as a serious matter'.
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The Employee Code of conduct is available on the Council's My Council Works website, which is accessible to any employee with internet access. It is also appended to the Council's Constitution (as Part F part 3). Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy The purpose of the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy is to make sure that the organisation, employees and elected Members do not unlawfully discriminate against people with protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010. It also ensures that we oppose and avoid all forms of unlawful discrimination, and ensures equality, fairness and respect for all in the council’s employment. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy includes links to other relevant documents and resources: • Manager’s Guide to Recruitment and Selection. • Dignity at Work Policy: Eliminating Workplace Bullying and Harassment Policy and Procedure. • Disciplinary Procedures and Code of Practice. • Grievance Procedure. • Employee Code of Conduct. • Code of Conduct for Councillors. • Guidance on the Councillors’ Code of Conduct. • Advice Note for Councillors on Bullying and Harassment. • Equality and Socio-Economic Impact Assessment. • Complaints. • Phased Return to Work and Other Reasonable Adjustments: Manager’s Guide. • Supporting Attendance at Work Policy. Procurement Section 4.3 of the Council's Procurement Strategy 2022/25 states: The Council is mindful that the impact of procurement is far greater than this definition of a ‘process’ and our vision, objectives and principles as set out in this Strategy illustrate the contribution that effective procurement arrangements can make to wide ranging socio-economic agendas. These include equality and diversity, a successful local economy, a thriving voluntary and third sector, environmental issues and value for money for Argyll and Bute residents. Section 5.2 includes the following commitments: Ensuring procurement activity contributes towards the Council’s general Equality Duty towards all stakeholders in Argyll and Bute and beyond; Continuing to promote sustainability, fair work practices and the importance of equality and equal treatment through procurement. Section 5.5 covers the mandatory requirements of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and Statutory Guidance Obligations. Item 5 relates to 'Payment of a living wage – to persons involved in producing, providing or constructing the subject matter of regulated procurements’.
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Argyll and Bute's Sustainable Procurement Policy 2022/25 also makes reference towards equalities, including the following: d) In relation to social considerations, our priorities will be: • To ensure there is no intentional discrimination against specific groups of people when undertaking procurements - Equalities and Diversity considerations will be embedded throughout the procurement process; • To ensure that our contract terms require suppliers to support the health, safety, welfare and rights of their employees and supply chain – ensuring that the Council does not support human trafficking or modern slavery. Education The council’s website contains key documents and information relating to the following topics: • Additional Support Needs • Argyll and Bute's Autism Strategy • The work of the Corporate Parenting Board and a link to the Corporate Parenting Strategy. • Mental health: guidance about mental health and wellbeing in children and young people. • Argyll and Bute Children and Young People's Service Plan • School uniform scheme: describes how Argyll and Bute Council is working with its schools and third sector partners to roll out an innovative scheme that sees school uniforms children have outgrown being reused or recycled, thereby ensuring all students have access to uniforms. 1.5 Learning and Development Activity All staff are required to complete equalities training. The council's Equality and Diversity e-learning course is mandatory for all networked staff and should be completed as part of induction. The training is available through our online e-learning platform, LEON. Our e-learning equality training course is also available to community groups within our area via the council’s website. In addition to our mandatory equality and diversity course, we host further equality- related resources on LEON. These included e-learning courses, podcasts, and recorded webinars and cover topics including: • Neurodiversity • Identifying ableist language • Children’s rights • Digital accessibility • Allyship • Unconscious bias • Plain English • Menopause
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• Mental health • Deaf awareness • Engaging with communities • Various resources relating to gender-based violence and domestic abuse • Protecting children • Trauma informed training. Equalities is a standing item on the agenda of the regular meetings held by the council's Training Centre; these meetings involve all people who are involved in the delivery of training. The Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership delivered a number of training events in 2023/4 and 2024/5. In addition to events focussing on domestic abuse, they also covered human trafficking, harmful traditional practices, women’s rights workshops, and animal abuse as a form of coercive control. Professional Learning Programmes are in place for Education staff. The Argyll and Bute Career-long Professional Learning (CLPL) catalogue provides a range of professional learning opportunities for staff at all levels. This has led to an increased awareness of equalities and knowledge of both internal and external supports that are available. CLPL sessions include: • Young Carers – Carers (Scotland) Act 2016: how to identify young carers and covers the young carers statement • Mentors in Violence Protection (MVP): a peer mentoring programme that gives young people the chance to explore and challenge attitudes, beliefs and cultural norms that underpin all forms of gender-based violence in our society • Keeping the Promise: three sessions to support staff to achieve the ‘I Promise Award’ • Money Counts: the course aims to build the confidence of staff to offer income maximisation help and explains how to ask about money worries and where and how to refer for support. All staff are signposted to external equalities CLPL offers via the Argyll and Bute Leadership and Professional Learning website. External offers include: • Education Scotland Professional Learning Activities: becoming an anti-racist educator; Racial Trauma: the consequences of racism on mental wellbeing; and Talking about racism: steps to improve racial dialogue in education • GTCS Equality and Diversity Hub Professional Learning about equalities also features in the Argyll and Bute Probationer programme and Aspiring to Headship programme. In addition, the Head Teacher Conference structure allows for one annual conference that is dedicated to the priorities of the Wellbeing, Inclusion and Attainment team, ensuring equality priorities remain a strong focus. Agendas for the meetings alongside evaluations are evidence of the impact of this approach. 1.6 Workforce Workforce planning has been embedded across the organisation. Workforce planning requires we understand the current profile of our workforce and identifies how we can make sure it will meet the future needs of the organisation. Key outcomes of the workforce plan include ensuring we have a balance between
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younger and older employees and the health and wellbeing of our employees is supported. Workforce planning meetings are held annually, during which HR Business Partners and Third Tier managers discuss workforce risks. Ahead of these workforce planning meetings, Services are provided with a dashboard showing the profile of their workforce. We also monitor the workforce through regular Health of the Organisation reports. 1.7 Partnership working Examples of partnership working and groups include the following: • Community Planning Partners are invited to attend the council’s Equality Forum meetings. • We have an active Violence Against Women Partnership operating within the area. • Employability Partnership. • UNCRC implementation group. • Ukrainian Resettlement Group. • Child Poverty Action Group. • Financial Inclusion Advisory Group. Much of the work relating to socio-economic disadvantage within Argyll and Bute is managed through the FIAG and the child poverty action group. Membership of the FIAG is drawn from elected members, council officers and partners. The FIAG fulfils an anti-poverty role, covering and taking account of the Fairer Scotland Duty. The HSCP has previously shared the Council’s approach to Equality and Socio- Economic Impact Assessments and is going to adopt the council’s new Integrated Impact Assessment process. This brings Council and HSCP processes into closer alignment. Education works collaboratively with HSCP, Live Argyll and third sector organisations through the UNCRC Working Group and in line with Argyll & Bute’s Children and Young People’s Service Plan. Planet Youth is a community partnership approach helps us learn about what is needed to keep our young people safe, healthy and happy. In Argyll and Bute, the Planet Youth project is led by Education and Public Health. This shared approach has helped improve strategic links. The intention is to further enhance strategic links through the work of a central coalition to be established in 2025; this will help support the work of the local coalitions that are already in place. The Planet Youth project’s survey, carried out every two years, has allowed us to capture data about young people’s experiences in five of our nine secondary schools. Data from the Planet Youth survey and approach is already informing other priorities such as the Shaping Places for Wellbeing project, Child Poverty Action Plan and the Sexual Health Strategy Group.
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1.8 Equality Forum Set up in 2013, the council's Equality Forum has been running for over a decade. The forum’s Its Terms of Reference were reviewed and updated in early 2018 and again in 2023. The purpose of the Equality Forum is to enable issues relating to equalities to be raised. In turn, the forum helps Argyll and Bute Council to deliver its obligations as set out in the Equality Act 2010. Meetings take place quarterly. However, members of the Equality Forum may use the forum as a 'sounding board' at any time, with such communications taking place outwith the formal meeting cycle. Membership of the Equality Forum is drawn from across council Services and partner agencies, enabling better coordination and collaboration. 1.9 Gypsy Traveller Working Group In 2019 the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) launched the first ‘Improving the Lives of Scotland’s Gypsy/Travellers’ strategy. One of the key aims of the strategy was for the Gypsy/Travellers community to ‘have a seat at the table, are listened to, and have a say in the decisions that affect their lives’. The Gypsy/Traveller Working Group (GTWG) was established as the forum which aims to make this happen in Argyll and Bute. The responsibilities of the GTWG include: • Understanding the accommodation needs and preferences of Gypsy/Travellers to inform future provision • Work with Gypsy/Traveller communities to raise awareness of rights and entitlements • Ensure that our public services are responsive to Gypsy/Travellers needs and preferences • Provide leadership to tackle racism and discrimination • Strengthen community development and engagement • Work with Gypsy/Travellers to improve their involvement in national and local decision making The core membership of the GTWG includes representation from the key strategic partners involved in delivering accommodation, health, education, advocacy, and community safety for the gypsy/travellers community as well as community representation which is central to the effectiveness of the group. Core partners include: • Gypsy/Travellers Community • Argyll & Bute Council o Housing Services o Education o Community Development o Regulatory Services o Legal & Regulatory Support • Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) • Fire Scotland • Fyne Homes
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• MECOPP • Police Scotland • STEP • West Highland Housing Association Community representatives have identified a number of initial priorities to be taken forward by the Gypsy Traveller Working Group. • Engagement: Over the years there have been many round table discussions. However, the community often felt there were no outcomes from these. The establishment of the GTWG has been welcomed to co-ordinate future actions. • Awareness: The community would like to see actions to try breaking the stigma, and raising awareness of the issues of the discrimination, they experience. • Education: There is a lot of bullying experienced in local schools by Gypsy/Travellers. To try to address, it was agreed the Education system was the best way to reach younger generations to raise awareness of Gypsy/Traveller community culture. • Accommodation: The GTWG have acknowledged that both sites Dunchologan and Bayview require significant upgrades to meet long-term needs of current and future tenants. 1.10 Other groups and representation Other groups that deal with aspects of equality and fairness include but are not limited to: • UNCRC Incorporation Group: the purpose of this group is to ensure Children’s Rights are embedded across the organisation in line with legislation and best practice. • TU Liaison Group. • Strategic and Departmental Management Team meetings. • LGBTQ+ Network (Education led). • Mentors in Violence Prevention Steering Group (Education Led). • Violence Against Women Partnership Section 2: Monitoring and Continuous Improvement 2.1 Review of our Equality Impact Assessment process In 2024/5, we reviewed and replaced our Equality and Socio-Economic Impact Assessments with a new Integrated Impact Assessment process. We did this for several reasons: 1) The Equality and Socio-Economic Impact Assessment form needed to be amended to meet website accessibility standards 2) In a review of our EqSEIA arrangements, carried out in 2023, Internal Audit recommended we develop a proposal for an online tool 3) The number of impact assessment frameworks we have to consider when developing a new proposal has increased.
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The new Integrated Impact Assessment includes the following impact assessments: • Equality • Fairer Scotland Duty • Island Communities: we have amended the questions asked in this section of the impact assessment • Children’s Rights and Wellbeing: this is a new section • Consumer Duty: this is a new section. Our online tool guides people through the impact assessment process, with guidance built into each section to facilitate completion. To coincide with the launch of the new tool and process, we communicated the changes through emails, posts on the MyCouncil Works website, an article in Cascade (the council’s monthly employee newsletter), and webinars to which all officers are invited. We have also arranged bespoke demonstrations of the new tool to groups of officers upon request. 2.3 Community Engagement We have developed and published a Community Engagement Framework. This Framework is a resource for staff and elected members and gathers in one place • information on methods of engagement • tools to engage • the case studies and contacts to assist with supporting engagement to be relevant and inclusive. See section 4 for more details. 2.4 Disability Confident accreditation The Council reaccredited as a Disability Confident Employer in January 2025. The current accreditation is valid until January 2028. 2.5 Review of workforce data We continue to engage with the Society of Personnel & Development Scotland (SPDS) with regard to improvements to our workforce data, notably around pay gap reporting. We have recently changed our Human Resources and payroll software. As part of the ongoing work to embed the new system, work will continue to encourage the volunteering of equality information. This is reflected in the new equality outcomes for 2025-2029 and actions to deliver them. (See section 4.) We recognise the need for higher rates of disclosure to meet the future requirements for more detailed and robust pay gap reporting. 2.5 Awareness raising There are two kinds of awareness raising which go on within the organisation. The first relates to work targeted at staff, relating specifically to the work they do. The second relates to awareness raising activities which are broader in scope and reach
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(for example through wellbeing webinars and programmes, promotion of events relating to the 16 Days of Action against gender-based violence, Pippa’s podcasts, or social media posts to coincide with awareness days). Education has actively supported awareness raising of Children’s Rights with staff, learners and wider community through the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Awards. We currently have 100% of our schools registered for the award and are working towards 100% of our schools being accredited. In 2024, Argyll and Bute launched the Young Carers Challenge. The challenge is facilitated by Carers Trust Scotland and requires schools to have in place a Young Carers Procedure, a Young Carers Champion, partnership working with carers centres, evidence of case studies, appropriate data recording on SEEMIS (Education’s Management Information System), and awareness raising activity. We will monitor engagement with the challenge and aim to have all schools signed up to this challenge by the end of 2025. Whilst being care experienced is not a protected characteristic, our Education Service continues to raise awareness of this life experience and work towards Keeping the Promise by 2030. We are actively committed to Education Scotland’s Promise Award programme. This professional learning programme aims to promote The Promise message and reduce stigma attached to care experience to anyone working in an education setting. Our Care Experience Education team were the first team in Scotland to receive We Promise team accolade with our Chief Officers Groups being the first local government senior leadership team to achieve the We Promise Award. Alongside this, individuals and whole settings are participating in training to achieve I Promise and We Promise. This is leading to increased understanding of what it is to be care experienced and feedback evidences positive changes in practice from a range of adults working in our settings. Argyll and Bute continue to demonstrate their commitment to our care experienced children and young people by having a dedicated team to both support, challenge and raise awareness of care experience across our settings. Each setting has a Designated Manager for care experienced children and young people who is responsible for ensuring care experienced individuals have the support they need to achieve their potential. Our school data system discreetly identifies each pupil who has care experience, supporting our practitioners to be mindful of their approach. In addition, e-mails with information and opportunities specifically in relation to The Promise are shared with our settings regularly to continue to raise the profile of this cohort. Teachers and Educators cannot support children and young people unless they have timely access to the right information that they need. In Argyll and Bute we made it a priority to create a website solely for practitioners to access everything they need in relation to Additional Support Needs. This allows practitioners to spend more time on what they do best: teaching and learning. The Inclusion and Equality Team has created a number of guidance documents to support teachers and educators. The Managing Challenging and Distressed Behaviour Guidance has been a crucial piece of guidance to help staff work with some of our most vulnerable pupils so that they are included within the school environment irrespective of the challenges they may be facing.
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2.6 Working with refugees The Council has identified ‘reaffirm[ing] our commitment to refugee settlement, valuing the contribution that new families and residents make to life in Argyll and Bute’ as one of the Council’s priorities (2024-2027). The council and its partners have welcomed refugees from Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine to our area and offers them support. The nature of the support given is tailored according to the relevant schemes. Following a review of the outcomes for unaccompanied asylum seeking children Argyll and Bute a new model of support was developed in Autumn 2023. This has seen the support for UASC over the age of 16 transfer from the Social Work Throughcare team to the Resettlement team and the development of a new Resettlement Throughcare pathway. Under our new Resettlement Throughcare pathway model and the associated support those under 16 continue to be accommodated in children’s houses or foster care. Those over 16 move directly into leased properties where they are supported to live independently and are taught life skills. For further information see Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Young People in Argyll and Bute. As of June 2024, In Argyll and Bute we were supporting over 300 displaced persons form Ukraine within our communities. The council’s resettlement team and the wider multi agency partnership provide humanitarian support to recover from trauma, to resettle into a new community and to navigate the complexities of life in the UK. Many of our Ukrainian refugees have come to Argyll and Bute through the Scottish Government’s welcome accommodation, hotels, and been matched by the resettlement team to a host or been allocated social housing or sourced private rented properties. Researchers from Glasgow University have produced A Report on the Emergency Resettlement of People from Ukraine in Argyll and Bute. The Lead Teacher for Leadership and Career-long Professional Learning (CLPL) has supported Ukrainian refugees who have teaching experience or a teaching qualification from Ukraine through the Argyll and Bute Teacher Career Pathway. Since 2022, Classroom Assistant posts have been created for teachers on the pathway to support Ukrainian pupils in Argyll and Bute and to develop the skills and knowledge required to register with GTC Scotland. Colleagues on the Teacher Career Pathway have attended Career-long Professional Learning sessions on Curriculum for Excellence, BGE and Senior Phase, Nurture and Relationships. Teachers on the pathway also have access to the Argyll and Bute CLPL Catalogue and are supported by school staff to develop their knowledge and understanding of Scottish education. The Lead Teacher for Leadership and CLPL has supported one of the teachers through the GTC Scotland application process and they have recently received Provisional Registration. A placement has been arranged at a local school for the teacher to complete the required number of days in order to become a Fully Registered Teacher in Scotland.
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Temporary funding has been used to create a temporary Education Support Officer post that provides additional support to schools in relation to supporting refugee/asylum seeking children, young people and their families. Training has been delivered in relation to supporting children with English as an additional language (EAL). Guidance on supporting children with English as an additional language will be in place by April 2025. We continue to support participation in Education Scotland’s Building Racial Literacy Programme. To date we have 3 staff who have completed the programme (one secondary, one primary and one from the central team). A further two staff are currently working towards the completion of the programme. 2.7 Community Engagement The Council has recently produced a new Community Engagement Framework. This is designed to enable a consistent approach to how we engage with our local communities. To develop the framework, a Community Engagement group was set up, bringing together officers from across the council. Although the Framework and its associated resources have been approved and published, the group will continue; raising awareness of, and sharing good practice across the engagement is key to the success of this group. This group has also shown the potential of bringing officers together to create synergies that might otherwise be lost in the siloed organisational structures of the council. A similar approach is being taken by the council’s Data Advisory Group; the latter will be key to improving the collection and use of equality-related data. This is reflected in our new equality outcomes / equality action plan. See section 4 for more details about the Community Engagement Framework. Section 3: Equality Outcomes (2019-2023, extended to 2025) 3.1 Argyll and Bute’s Equality Outcomes (2019-2023, extended to 2025) The Council, Education Authority and Licensing Board developed new Equality Outcomes for the period 2019-2023. Although our equality outcomes were reviewed in 2023, we did not make changes to them at that time because: • the current ones were still seen as being fit for purpose; • Scottish Government was undertaking a review of the Public Sector Equality Duty and was considering the introduction of national outcomes in 2025 which would have given any new outcomes formulated at that stage only two years of life, and; • extending our outcomes by a further two years gave us the opportunity to realign our outcome setting timetable to other listed authorities. (We were out of sync with other local authorities following a review of outcomes a number of years ago.) Outcome: We support our workforce, encouraging participation across all age groups Duty: Advance equality of opportunity Protected characteristics: All, with particular attention to age
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Purpose: We believe that all employees, including those from all the protected characteristics, should be encouraged, and have equal opportunity, to participate fully within the workforce. This principle is set out in the council’s Equality and Diversity Policy. We recognise that the Council, in common with the population of Argyll and Bute more widely, has particular issues and risks relating to the age of our workforce. This is why this outcome emphasises age. We actively encourage young people to join our workforce, to provide long-term opportunities for them in our area and to create our workforce for the future. Actions identified to tackle this challenge relate to succession planning, upskilling of staff, and the recruitment of apprentices. In 2023/24, 14 Foundation Apprentices (Social Services Children and Young People) were enrolled. In 2024/2025 this figure rose to 22. In 2023/24, 3 Modern Apprentices (Social Services Children and Young People) were enrolled. In 2024/2025, the figure was 2. One of the Mas has gone on to secure employment with the council. Also in 2024/5, one Modern Apprentice enrolled in Roads and another in Customer Support Services. In addition, through our workforce planning process, solutions are being investigated to resolve challenges around non-statutory childcare provision and to ensure that resilience is put in place to ensure continuity of service should staff who work with minority groups leave. This is important where the numbers of staff involved are low, making their areas of work vulnerable to change. Work is starting to identify ways to encourage the retention of the 55+ workforce. This work will continue over the next reporting period. We are also engaging with the SPDS’s Equality and Inclusion group which is looking at ways to recruit more diverse workforces; it is benchmarking activity with other council’s and aims to share good practice and recommendations for the future. Outcome: We promote diversity across occupational groups Duty: Advance equality of opportunity Protected characteristics: All, with particular emphasis on sex Purpose: The Council has a highly segregated workforce in some types of job. For example, people working in home care are 99% female. By contrast, employees in Roads and Amenities and IT are predominantly male. We aim to widen opportunity for people in job roles that they may not have considered otherwise and create opportunity for all. See previous outcome and previous Equality Mainstreaming reports. Outcome: We have improved engagement with protected groups
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Duty: Foster good relations Protected characteristics: All Purpose: We aim to make sure the voices and opinions of people from protected groups are heard when we engage with our service users. This is particularly important when people from particular protected groups may have different experiences or needs and whose voices may not be heard so clearly. Digital Accessibility Argyll and Bute Council is committed to ensuring that our online services are accessible to all residents. To enhance awareness and understanding of digital accessibility, we have developed in- house training materials for staff; these are available on LEON. This training material helps make sure that employees are equipped with the necessary knowledge to create and maintain accessible digital content. The council’s Webteam has worked closely with its Communications team to update corporate document templates to meet accessibility requirements. The updated templates are published on our MyCouncil Works site, ensuring that staff have easy access to these resources. To ensure transparency and compliance with the regulations, we are currently reviewing all accessibility statements across our websites and web applications. This review will ensure that the statements are up to date, accurate, and reflective of our ongoing commitment to digital accessibility. The latest Silktide Index report, which evaluates website accessibility across the public sector shows that our commitment to accessibility is being recognised. In February 2025, Argyll and Bute Council achieved a ranking of 29th (out of 364 websites tested) with an overall accessibility score of 99% against the WCAG 2.2 spec. This demonstrates our continued progress in making our digital services more inclusive and user-friendly. To further support accessibility, we have introduced the Recite Me toolbar on our website. This tool provides users with various customisation options, including text-to-speech functionality, reading aids, and styling adjustments, allowing individuals to tailor their browsing experience to their needs. It is important to note that while Recite Me offers additional tools that can be helpful to many users, it does not resolve underlying accessibility issues within the website itself. True accessibility improvements require adherence to WCAG 2.2 guidelines and the ongoing development of fully inclusive web content. Progress towards this can be seen in our Silktide report. Additionally, we have incorporated bespoke customisation features to Recite Me to facilitate easy access to Gaelic translation. This ensures that Gaelic-speaking residents can fully engage with our online services in their preferred language. Child Friendly reports UNCRC legislation has introduced the requirement for Child Friendly Reports in all matters that affect the child/young person. Working through the Children and Young People’s Service Plan and the UNCRC Group, we have developed a range of approaches to report to children and young people. One page versions of The Child Poverty Action Plan, Children and Young Person’s Service Plan and the UNCRC plan have been created, all co-produced with children and young people.
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Tackling Rural Poverty The council is working in partnership with the Poverty Alliance as one of the pilot areas in the Tackling Rural Poverty project. Work has in included the creation of a lived experience panel. In turn, this panel has responded to engagement activities around the council’s budget, discretionary housing payments, and the proposed introduction of the visitor’s levy. See also section 1.9. Outcome: People with protected characteristics have improved experiences of services Duty: Advance equality of opportunity; foster good relations Protected characteristics: All Purpose: We aim to make sure that, as far as possible, our services meet the needs and aspirations of people from protected groups and that we work to improve their experience of our services. For information about work around digital and website accessibility, see above. For information about refugees, see section 2.6. Learning Centres In Argyll and Bute, our Learning Centres continue to provide accessible, supportive and inclusive learning environments where children and young people can thrive and reach their full potential supported by staff who are experienced in severe and complex needs. Our Learning Centres develop individualised curriculum plans to include a wide range of flexibility to support all learners’ needs. The focus is on providing holistic education where we meet the social, emotional, physical and educational needs of our children and young people. Our plans to increase the equity of specialist provision for children and young people with complex needs received Council approval in August 2023. We are addressing gaps in provision and we are now creating more high quality Learning Centre provision to serve all four geographical areas here in Argyll and Bute. New facilities will include accessible teaching and outdoor spaces. CALL Scotland We liaise with CALL Scotland regularly to support learners in Argyll and Bute. Communication is crucial to a child or young person being able to be an active participant in their learning and within the wider world; CALL supports teachers and schools to implement best practice and technology to support a wide range of pupils with varying communication needs, including: • eye gazing technology • visual communication for non-verbal pupils, and • technology to support children with literacy issues such as dyslexia. Care experienced children and young people
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We have approximately 300 care experienced children and young people (CECYP) in educational settings across our authority at any given time. Our care experienced children and young people are included and supported through existing authority policy and guidance. Across our educational settings, staff undertake mandatory training which raises their awareness of some challenges our care experienced children and young people can face. This, alongside wider training opportunities such as nurture and trauma-informed practice, supports our staff to build positive relationships our care experienced individuals. Feedback from our care experienced children and young people has evidenced that having positive relationships in their education setting is crucial to their sense of belonging. Investing in our workforce is having a positive impact, ensuring our care experienced children and young people area able to access their right to education. We have invited the representation of our care experienced children and young people, for example at senior leader conferences which were attended by two of our Children’s Houses, through participation project opportunities, and working directly with members of the Care Experience Education Team (CEET). Our CEET can link school and home and work towards removing any barriers to education, leading to increased wellbeing and attainment for our care experienced children and young people. The CIRCLE Framework The CIRCLE Framework is a way of organising and supporting input using a staged system of support, beginning with setting up an inclusive classroom. CIRCLE focuses on whole school and classroom environments in terms of the physical environment, the social environment and structures and routines. Rather than thinking about what a learner can and can’t do or only thinking about their underlying ability or disability, the CIRCLE framework encourages us to think more widely, particularly paying attention to aspects of the environment, which impact on the child. This promotes the implementation of a culture of inclusion and equality across schools in Argyll and Bute, encouraging regular consultation with school leaders and practitioners, parents and young people through a whole school approach. Training education practitioners in primary and secondary schools across Argyll and Bute in Inclusion in Practice, The CIRCLE Framework aims to support equity in Argyll and Bute. Promoting effective inclusive practice within the classroom and school environment using the CIRCLE Framework of Inclusion, raises awareness of how to promote a learner-centred approach where all learners are listened to and involved in the management of their own learning. CIRCLE provides the tools to support the assessment, documentation of evidence of assessment, and the supports and strategies to utilise, informed by need and observation. This promotes a whole school approach to inclusion, creating and maintaining inclusive classrooms, supporting learners with skills, supports and strategies to develop independence in their learning and promoting collaborative partnership working. Learners are listened to and involved in the management of their own learning and able to access learning alongside their peers. At the centre is evaluation of the environment in which young people learn, modifications to the environment, both physical and social, establishing structures and routines and approaches to enhance motivation. Often when we consider adapting a child’s environment, we think about the physical space around the child and the resources in place to support them. Equally important is the Social Environment; the attitudes, expectations and actions of the people around the child. Adapting our communication to match a child’s developmental level and communication style, can have a real impact on how well that child is included within the class and school.
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Outcome: We take the views of people from protected groups into account when we change our services. Duty: Advance equality of opportunity; foster good relations Protected characteristics: All Purpose: We aim to make sure that the needs and opinions of people from protected groups are taken into account when we make changes to the way we deliver our services. This helps us to make sure that people with one or more protected characteristics have equal opportunity to access the services we provide as those who do not share a protected characteristic. Community Engagement We have developed and published a Community Engagement Framework. This Framework is a resource for staff and elected members and gathers in one place • information on methods of engagement • tools to engage • the case studies and contacts to assist with supporting engagement to be relevant and inclusive. Development of the Framework was led by the council’s Engagement and Communities Lead and included a review of best practice for engagement frameworks nationally, alongside engagement with officers through the council’s Community Engagement Strategy Group, staff consultation, focus groups and senior management meetings of Council and HSCP. The resource is supplemented by a course on community engagement. This is hosted on LEON and is aimed at officers who are new to community engagement activity. As part of the wider work around community engagement and improvements relating to how we gather information, we have produced guidance around how to ask equality questions along with a template of questions which can be used as is or amended to suit specific circumstances. Expectations around consultation and engagement are set out in our impact assessment guidance. Work around enhancing community engagement, including how to reach harder to reach groups, will continue across the next mainstreaming period. Bringing officers together in the council’s Community Engagement group, it has highlighted work around: • Youth Voice • Tackling Rural Poverty In turn, this has opened up wider opportunities for engagement with children and young people and people with lived experience of rural poverty. We are grateful to these groups for their engagement with us and helping to ensure we can capture the interests and views of an increasingly diverse range of people and interest groups. See also section 1.9.
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Outcome: We do not tolerate bullying and harassment of people from protected groups Duty: Foster good relations; eliminate discrimination Protected characteristics: All Purpose: As part of wider work to tackle bullying in schools, we will take action to reduce bullying on the basis of one or more of the protected characteristics. Education’s Anti-Bullying Policy is available online. Education has scheduled a review the policy; this is captured in the actions to support the delivery of our new Outcome 5: Our communities are safe for, and welcoming to, people with protected characteristics. (See below.) The council has made all HR policies available online on the MyCouncil Works website. This means all staff, including non-networked staff, can access information and resources so long as they have an internet connection. Among the HR pages is one about Bullying and Harrassment. This provides information about the council’s zero tolerance approach to bullying, how to raise concerns, how to access support, and links to policies and procedures, and the Employee Assistance Programme. Outcome: The gap in educational attainment between people with and without protected characteristics is reduced. Duty: Advance equality of opportunity Protected characteristics: All Purpose: We work to provide a high standard of education to all pupils, and we want to reduce gaps in attainment between people with, and without, protected characteristics. This will help us to advance equality of opportunity for young people who share one or more of the protected characteristics. Education monitors attainment gaps relating to deprivation, gender, care experience, and refugees. The continued monitoring of these attainment gaps is reflected in an action deliver on our new Outcome 5: We ensure people with protected characteristics are enabled to progress. (See below.) Education has a number of measures in place to support the closure of attainment gaps. These include the following. The Exchange provides a counselling service for all young people in education settings from the age of 10. In addition, KOOTH provides an online service. Both services are promoted across education settings and are signposted within the Health and Wellbeing Drama performance You Are Not Alone which is delivered to S2 pupils. Mental Health and wellbeing of pupils is monitored through the Glasgow Wellbeing & Motivation Profiling Tool, Planet Youth, and School Climate Survey.
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Our care experienced children and young people tell us that they wanted to be ‘treated the same’ as those who are not care experienced. We are mindful of this as we aim to meet their needs, often with a requirement for significantly greater support. We have a range of discreet systems in place to ensure we can provide opportunities for our care experienced children and young people. This includes financial, wellbeing, academic, transition, and post school destination support. For example, if a school is finding it difficult to secure a work placement for a young person, we will meet with partners to explore opportunities. This can help ensure the correct level of support and relational approach is in place, increasing the chance of success and achievement for the young person. Destination data in 2022-23, shows 86.4% of our care experienced children and young people went into an initial positive destination. This increased to 97% in session 2023-24. A bespoke data sharing agreement ensures we can support cross authority transitions to ensure our care experienced children and young people have continuity of support and a well-planned transition wherever possible. Also see above (People with protected characteristics have improved experiences of services). Section 4: Equality Outcomes (2025-2029) 4.1 Developing our new outcomes In drafting proposed outcomes prior to public consultation, we: • Looked at the council’s priorities. • Considered existing areas of activity with which links can be made. • Horizon scanned changes happening outwith the organisation. • Consulted internally with officers in relation to Education, Violence Against Women, Refugees, and workforce-related activities. We have also presented papers with the proposed outcomes to the council’s Departmental Management Teams, requesting input from other Services. • Discussed the development of equality outcomes at the UNCRC Incorporation Working Group and the Equality Forum. • Made a presentation to the CPP Management Committee about our proposed equality outcomes. The public consultation was published on the council’s website and publicised through the council’s weekly ‘Argyll and Bute News Round Up’ email. In addition, organisations known to the Community Development team were emailed to promote the consultation with the intent to reach community groups working with individuals who have one or more of the nine protected characteristics. The public consultation ran from 23 November 2024 to 10 January 2025. In total, 24 responses were received in response to the public consultation, twenty from individuals and four from organisations. Broadly speaking, responses were supportive of the proposed outcomes. See table 1. Table 1: Numbers of respondents agreeing or disagreeing to proposed equality outcomes
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Proposed outcome Agree Disagree No response 1. We make access to information and services for people with protected characteristics 21 3 0 2. Our communities are safe for, and welcoming to, people with protected characteristics 22 2 0 3. We raise awareness of issues and challenges faced with people with protected characteristics along with ways to overcome them. 20 3 1 4. Argyll and Bute is a welcoming place for New Scots to come and settle in. 19 3 2 5. We ensure people with protected characteristics are enabled to progress. 22 2 0 6. Our work relating to equalities and people with protected characteristics is coordinated across the organisation and strategically aligned. 22 2 0 We received some suggestions for wording of the outcomes. Limited changes to wording were made in light of these. Several responses to the public consultation raised concerns that reference to protected characteristics in the outcomes was too limiting and that actions should extend to groups who experience serious deprivation and poverty. However, the wording of the equality outcomes, and specific reference to protected characteristics has been retained because this reflects the requirements of the PSED. Equality outcomes are not delivered as an alternative to work the council already does to address issues relating to deprivation and poverty. Responses reflecting both sides of the trans debate were received in the course of this consultation. Two responses disagreed with all the equality outcomes. One of these was on the basis that making things ‘easier’ for people with protected characteristics will build resentment between them and other groups because this was not seen as equality. The other was on the basis that the outcomes rely too heavily on third sector organisations for their delivery and these are not council led. We disagree on both counts. The Equality Outcomes for the period 2025 to 2029 were approved by the council’s Policy and Resources Committee on 20 February 2025 and the Licensing Board on 22 April 2025. The new outcomes are as follows: 1. We make access to information and services easier for people with protected characteristics. 2. Our communities are safe for, and welcoming to, people with protected characteristics. 3. We raise awareness of issues and challenges faced by people with protected characteristics along with ways to accommodate and support them. 4. Argyll and Bute welcomes New Scots and supports them. 5. We ensure people with protected characteristics are enabled to progress.
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6. Our work relating to equalities and people with protected characteristics is coordinated across the organisation and its partners and is strategically aligned. In conjunction with these outcomes, we have developed an action plan for their delivery. See section 4.2. 4.1 Argyll and Bute’s Outcomes (2025-2029) Outcome 1: We make access to information and services easier for people with protected characteristics. • Relates to our duties to: Advance equality of opportunity; foster good relations. • Relates to: All protected characteristics. Rationale: This outcome reflects the following considerations: • Scottish Government has talked for several years about encouraging inclusive communications. • UNCRC incorporation includes a requirement to produce child-friendly documents; we wish to develop an environment within the organisation which supports the creation of these documents. Work around the UNCRC is referenced in the council’s priorities. • Accessibility links with other activities including the Council’s BSL plan and website accessibility. • Accessibility links with wider good practice (including the production of easy read documents). Outcome 2: Our communities are safe for, and welcoming to, people with protected characteristics. • Relates to our duties to: Advance equality of opportunity, foster good relations. • Relates to all protected characteristics. Rationale: This outcome: • Serves as an umbrella for a range of activities being carried out by the council and the Education authority. • Enables people to have access to safer spaces. Safer may refer to the physical environment or to community safety. • Encompasses work being carried out by the Violence Against Women Partnership around Violence Against Women and the Equally Safe Plan. • Ties into work Education does around bullying. Outcome 3: We raise awareness of issues and challenges faced by people with protected characteristics along with ways to accommodate and support them.
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• Relates to our duty to: Foster good relations; advance equality of opportunity. • Relates to all protected characteristics. Rationale: This outcome: • Keeps equalities and issues arising around protected characteristics on people’s radar. • Ties in with ‘fosters good relations’. • Reduces organisational risk by ensuring equalities-related issues are better understood. • Makes explicit our support for groups which may find themselves feeling vulnerable in the current global climate. Outcome 4: Argyll and Bute welcomes New Scots and supports them. • Relates to our duty to: Foster good relations; advance equality of opportunity. • Relates to all protected characteristics with particular focus on ethnicity. Rationale: • Work with refugees has been picked up by the Council’s administration as one of its priorities • This outcome ties in with Scottish Government’s New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy Outcome 5: We ensure people with protected characteristics are enabled to progress. • Relates to our duty to: Foster good relations; advance equality of opportunity. • Relates to all protected characteristics with particular focus on ethnicity. Rationale: This outcome relates to: • Closing gaps between different groups, for example around educational attainment. • Creating closer links with workforce planning activities. • Increasing opportunities for those with protected characteristics to their fulfil potential. Outcome 6: Our work relating to equalities and people with protected characteristics is coordinated across the organisation and its partners and is strategically aligned. • Relates to our duty to: advance equality of opportunity. • Relates to all protected characteristics. Rationale: This outcome focuses on how we do things and what could be done better, rather than what we do. We do a lot of good work around equalities and disadvantaged groups, but these are not always linked together. It will: • Ensure more consistent practice within the organisation.
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• Ensure joined up practice, tying into the idea of ‘themes not teams’. • Ties into wider Community Engagement work. • Ties into wider work around data and evidence-based decision making. 4.2 Equality Action Plan (2025-2029) We have developed an action plan to support the delivery of the Equality Outcomes (2025- 2029) and will monitor it regularly for performance and compliance. Section 5: Workforce Monitoring and Reporting Our detailed workforce reporting has been published separately. (Appendix One: Workforce as of years ending 31 March 2023 and 2024.)
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6.0 Policy Statement with regard to Equal Pay: Argyll and Bute Council is committed to the principle of equal opportunities in employment to ensure that employees are not discriminated against irrespective of their age, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender re-assignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, religion or belief. Argyll and Bute Council is committed to ensuring that all staff, irrespective of gender should receive equal pay for the same or broadly similar work, for work rated as equivalent and for work of equal value. The Council’s equal pay objectives are to: • Eliminate any unfair, unjust or unlawful practices that impact on pay; • Take appropriate action to address these accordingly; • Regularly monitor and review the application of policies and procedures and; • Conduct an equal pay review to monitor existing pay practices in line with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Equal Pay Statutory Code of Practice. In order to achieve equal pay for employees, the Council operates a pay system which is transparent, based on clear criteria and free from unlawful bias through the application of the nationally agreed job evaluation scheme and relevant legislation. For Teachers the Council complies with nationally agreed pay and conditions of service. Argyll and Bute Council is committed to ensuring equal pay structures for all its employees and will: • Conduct regular audits to monitor the impact of its pay structure. • Provide training and guidance for those involved in determining pay. • Respond to grievances on equal pay in accordance with the council's Grievance Policy. • Work in partnership with recognised trade unions to ensure that the Council provides equal pay. • Review progress every 4 years.