Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 - accredited body fees and discounting proposals: partial equality impact assessment
Partial equality impact assessment in relation to Disclosure Scotland’s consultation on accredited body fees and proposals for discounting under the PVG scheme.
4. Stage 2: Data and evidence gathering, involvement and consultation
Include here the results of your evidence gathering (including framing exercise), including qualitative and quantitative data and the source of that information, whether national statistics, surveys or consultations with relevant equality groups.
Characteristic [1] |
Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence |
Source |
Data gaps identified and action taken |
|---|---|---|---|
Age |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. However, the current total membership of the PVG Scheme is 1,600,597, with the working age breakdown:
It is important to note that the active size of the PVG Scheme has been artificially inflated by scheme members not leaving when they cease to do regulated work. It is estimated that 850,000 scheme members are actively participating in regulated work. 16-24 year olds have been consistently more likely to be in relative poverty compared to older adults. In 2019-22, 36% of people in households with household heads aged 16-24 were in relative poverty after housing costs (160,000 people each year). In comparison, the age groups 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64 all had similar, lower poverty rates between 17% and 22%. Pensioner households were similarly less likely than the youngest households to be in poverty. People aged 35-59 were the most likely to say they had undertaken any kind of volunteering in 2022. 49% of those asked in the Scottish Household Survey 2022 in this age group had volunteered, compared with 43% of respondents aged 16-34 and 44% of those aged 60 or over. The formal volunteering rate, which is most relevant to regulated roles and the PVG Scheme, was similar between age groups, with roughly 1 in 5 respondents of all age groups saying they had volunteered in the last 12 months. The types of volunteering that different age groups undertook varied more widely, however. For example, younger volunteers (aged 16-34 and 35-59) were more likely than older volunteers (aged 60 or over) to support organisations working with children’s education and schools, youth or children’s activities outside school, or engaging in physical activities, sport and exercise. Due to the proximity to schools and children, these volunteering roles are more likely to require PVG scheme membership. |
Disclosure Scotland system report Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019-22 (data.gov.scot) Economy strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Labour market statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Scottish Household Survey 2022: Key Findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) |
It is currently unknown what age breakdowns of people in receipt of the identified benefits are and the likelihood against PVG scheme membership. Work is ongoing to identify routes to sound estimates. Further investigation of Disclosure Scotland’s systems required to establish whether any age groups benefit from the QVO fee waiver at a higher rate. |
Disability |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. Poverty rates remain higher for households in which someone is disabled compared to those where no-one is disabled. In 2016-19, the poverty rate after housing costs for people in households with a disabled household member was 23%. This compares with 17% of people in a household with no disabled household members who were in poverty. In 2019, the disability pay gap was 16.2%, and in the period January to December 2022, the disability employment gap was 31.9%. The employment gap was wider for men compared to women (35.9% and 28.2% respectively), and was wider for white groups compared to racialised minority groups (32.8% and 22.9% respectively). In 2020, an estimated 12.2% of Scotland's 14,458 looked after children were recorded as having a disability. This is higher than the overall proportion of children with a disability (10%). School leavers with additional support needs in 2019/20, continue to be less likely to enter positive destinations on leaving school, with 87.2 per cent in positive follow-up destinations compared to 94.9 per cent for those with no additional support needs. |
Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2017-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2016-19 Work-and-Wellbeing-Discussion-Paper-1.pdf (d1ssu070pg2v9i.cloudfront.net) Coronavirus (COVID-19): impact on equality (research) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Children's Social Work Statistics Scotland 2019/2020 Summary Statistics for Follow-up Leaver Destinations, No.3: 2021 Edition |
Work is ongoing to establish whether an estimate can be made of people in receipt of disability-related benefits who may be likely to be making job applications for roles requiring PVG scheme membership. It is noted it may not be possible to come to a reliable estimate based on available statistics. |
Sex |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. In 2021, 1,277,500 women aged 16 years and over were estimated to be in employment in Scotland. The employment rate (16 to 64 year olds) for women was estimated at 70.7%. 1,324,300 men aged 16 years and over were estimated to be in employment in 2021. The employment rate (16 to 64 year olds) for men was estimated at 75.8% in 2021. The gender employment gap was 5.1 percentage points in 2021. In 2018, 16.3% of men in employment worked in the public sector compared to 35.4% of women. Almost half of women in Scotland (47.4%) work in the public administration, education and health sector. The latter two areas are more likely to require PVG scheme membership than other roles. Men and women were equally likely to undertake formal volunteering in the past year. This is the type of volunteering most likely to attract PVG scheme membership. Women (and particularly racially minoritised women) are more likely to be in insecure work and are overrepresented in sectors referred to as the 5 Cs of cashiering (retail), care, catering, cleaning and clerical. These sectors have historically low pay, low progression and low status but can provide more flexibility to allow women to undertake caring responsibilities. Again, care roles are more likely to require PVG scheme membership. |
Regional Employment Patterns in Scotland: Statistics from the Annual Population Survey 2018 8. Volunteering - Scottish Household Survey 2022: Key Findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Gender Pay Gap Action Plan: Analytical Annex (www.gov.scot) Fair Work action plan: becoming a leading Fair Work nation by 2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2018-2022: annex 3 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) |
Work is ongoing to establish whether an estimate can be made of the gender split of people in receipt of identified benefits who may be likely to be making job applications for roles requiring PVG scheme membership. It is noted it may not be possible to come to a reliable estimate based on available statistics. |
Pregnancy and maternity |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. Disclosure Scotland has not found any relevant evidence regarding this characteristic in relation to these proposals. |
||
Gender reassignment |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. Disclosure Scotland has not found any relevant evidence regarding this characteristic in relation to these proposals. |
||
Sexual orientation |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. Disclosure Scotland has not found any relevant evidence regarding this characteristic in relation to these proposals. |
||
Race |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. In 2015-20, people from non-white minority ethnic groups were more likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs compared to those from “White – British” and “White – Other” groups:
Respondents to the Scottish Household Survey are asked questions about their ethnicity in the labour force survey interview. "Minority Ethnic" describes all ethnic groups excluding those who answered "White" to the first question. The minority ethnic group aged 16 to 64 has consistently had a lower employment rate than the white group. The employment rate for the minority ethnic group aged 16 to 64 was estimated at 62.1% in 2021. This is significantly lower than the rate for the white group (73.9%). Therefore, the ethnicity employment rate gap was estimated at 11.7 percentage points. ‘White: Scottish’ adults were more likely to have done any type of volunteering in comparison to minority ethnic adults (by a difference of 13 percentage points). All ethnic groups were active in organisations focussed on the local community and neighbourhood. Additionally, minority ethnic respondents were the mostly likely of all ethnicities to volunteer in organisations focussed on religion and belief. |
Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2017-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Regional Employment Patterns in Scotland: Annual Population Survey 2018 (www.gov.scot) 8. Volunteering - Scottish Household Survey 2022: Key Findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) |
As with other protected characteristics, though evidence has been found relating to poverty rates, it has been difficult to apply these to the intersection between receiving benefits or care experience and likelihood of making a PVG application. |
Religion or belief |
Disclosure Scotland does not gather equality information as part of its application process. There is some evidence on relative poverty rates after housing costs for those of different faiths: in 2015-20, these rates were higher for Muslims (52%, compared to 18% for adults overall, between 15% and 19% for Christian denominations and 21% for people of other religions). On 31st July 2020, of the estimated 14,458 children who were looked after in Scotland, 11.8% were recorded as having a religion, while 26.1 per cent had no religion. However, the majority of children, 62.1%, had an unknown religion. |
Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2017-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) |
As with other protected characteristics, though evidence has been found relating to poverty rates, it has been difficult to apply these to the intersection between receiving benefits or care experience and likelihood of making a PVG application. |
Contact
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback