Anti-racism delivery plan 2026-2030

2 Executive Summary

The Anti-Racism Delivery Plan 2026-2030 sets out Scotland’s commitment to embed anti-racism as a systemic principle across government and public services. Building on a decade of work under the Race Equality Framework (REF) 2016-2030, this plan responds directly to the evidence, learning and feedback gathered in recent years. It addresses issues that communities have told us about, such as consultation fatigue, the need for consistent delivery, stronger accountability, and meaningful partnership.

The vision underpinning this Plan is:

A Scotland that tackles racism head-on and is committed to ending it - upholding equity, justice, dignity, and respect for all communities. System change will be led by government, shaped with communities, and driven through policy and practice across public bodies and wider society so that everyone can flourish and participate fully in life in Scotland.

This Delivery Plan is designed to turn that vision into reality by dismantling systemic and structural racism so that fairness and inclusion are lived experiences for everyone.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has made significant progress through the REF and two underpinning action plans. Key achievements include:

• Anti-Racist Employment Strategy to address labour market inequalities.
• Anti-Racism in Education Programme to embed anti-racist practice and diversify the education workforce.
• The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care issued a public anti-racism statement recognising racism as a significant public health issue and setting the expectation that anti-racism is embedded across health and care services. NHS Boards are now developing and delivering anti-racism plans, covering both workforce and patient care.
• Legislative reforms on hate crime and policing to improve fairness and accountability.
• The establishment of the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland to help tackle systemic racism within the Scottish Government and across the wider public sector.

These successes reflect the government’s strong commitment to systemic change. However, reviews and continuing stakeholder engagement indicate that maintaining sustained progress depends on stronger implementation, more visible leadership, robust data, and deeper community partnerships.

Feedback also highlighted the need for greater accountability and inclusion of lived experience to create lasting change for communities.

In 2024-25, stakeholders reinforced calls for systemic reform, stronger community cohesion, deeper partnerships, and measurable outcomes to track progress.

This Delivery Plan responds to those calls by prioritising delivery over further consultation. It identifies five strategic priorities to guide systemic change:

• Deliver in partnership: Co-produce solutions with communities, embed lived experience, and strengthen governance for shared accountability.
• Coordinate and build capacity: Improve connections across government, provide training and guidance, and enable consistent outcome-setting and reporting.
• Measure and evaluate: Develop robust indicators and transparent reporting to track progress and impact.
• Be accountable internationally: Align with human rights obligations and uphold global standards while ensuring domestic accountability.
• Work with Gypsy/Traveller communities: Sustain progress on accommodation, health, education, and anti-discrimination, building trust and tackling exclusion.

The Anti‑Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS) will play a role in supporting the delivery of systemic change by strengthening evidence, insight, and accountability across government and the public sector. As a national centre of expertise, it will bring together data, evidence, and lived experience to inform decision-making, improve coherence, and help drive more consistent progress.

By providing constructive challenge and supporting better use of data, AROS will enhance the design, delivery, and accountability of anti‑racism policy and practice across Scotland.

To prevent siloed approaches, the Plan brings together high-level commitments from across government portfolios to better integrate anti-racism across core government work. This integration will be achieved through centralised accountability and governance that will require policy areas to set measurable outcomes, report progress, and revise actions on a regular basis. These commitments span the six REF themes:

• Overarching Work: Strengthening governance, mainstreaming equality and human rights, improving ethnicity data, and embedding accountability.
• Community Cohesion and Safety: Tackling hate crime, improving justice systems, and fostering inclusive communities.
• Participation and Representation: Increasing diversity in public appointments and improving participatory policymaking.
• Education and Lifelong Learning: Embedding anti-racism in education, addressing attainment gaps, and diversifying leadership.
• Employability, Employment, and Income: Tackling workplace discrimination, supporting fair work, and addressing child poverty.
• Health and Housing: Reducing racialised healthcare inequalities, improving mental health support, and delivering better housing outcomes, including for Gypsy/Traveller communities.

The Plan also outlines immediate next steps to build the conditions to support delivery. These include establishing a coalition of partners to collectively codesign governance; developing whole of government accountability arrangements; creating a shared measurement framework; embedding lived experience leadership; supporting implementation across portfolios; and ensuring continuous learning, adaptation, and transparency. Taken together, these actions set a clear path for the next four years that focuses on practical delivery, stronger governance, and sustained partnership.

This is a focused, adaptive plan. Commitments will evolve through governance structures, community engagement, and emerging evidence to ensure anti-racism remains dynamic and systemic. Together, these actions lay the foundation for a fairer, more inclusive Scotland - where every person can thrive and participate fully in national life.