Publication - Impact assessment

Coronavirus (COVID-19) business support: equality impact assessments

Published: 11 March 2022
From: Director-General Economy
Part of: Business, industry and innovation, Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Economy
ISBN: 9781804351864

Detailed equality impact assessments (EQIAs) for the COVID-19 business support funding issued between March 2020 and April 2021.

Supporting documents

Pivotal Event Business Fund

Name of Grant:

Pivotal Event Business Fund

Policy Lead

Derek Bearhop, Major Events Policy

Legal power used:

As VisitScotland is a NDPB it is covered by the Scottish Budget in particular Schedule 1 purpose 8 of the Budget (Scotland) Act 2021 which gives the Scottish Ministers the power to fund tourism.

Funding is delivered through the grant making powers of

Sections 126 and 127 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. It is made on the basis that the funding is fostering employment as an express purpose as well as stopping areas being blighted by the collapse of employment; and
Section 23 of the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 that gives Scottish Ministers authority to make payments to anybody who appears likely to promote the development or understanding of cultural or scientific matters.

Grant Overview:

During the course of 2020-21 the Scottish Government announced £31.5 million of support for events. This is intended to help the events sector in Scotland recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The £11.4 million ‘Pivotal Event Businesses Fund’ (increased from an initial £6 million) will help ensure the survival of event businesses critical to the ongoing success of the events sector in Scotland.

As at December 2020 when the fund launched, COVID-19 restrictions continued to be in place to the extent that events and mass gatherings are still severely limited. The impact of this is that the events sector has been almost completely unable to operate since March 2020, and that despite the positive progress in vaccine development, it is anticipated that the recommencement of events may not begin at scale until the spring of 2021. Despite the impact of wider events funding programmes and other COVID-19 related financial support, it is evident that some events businesses may still not survive beyond this winter.

The fund is open to event businesses whose primary role as organisers, suppliers, contractors and venues is critical to the survival of the events sector in Scotland, and upon whom the wider events industry and supply chain are most reliant for their own business and operations.

Funding is prioritised towards those businesses that can evidence and demonstrate that they play a pivotal role across the events industry in Scotland and are in financial difficulty as a direct result of COVID-19.

Applicants can apply for grants from £25,000 up to a maximum £150,000.

Further details are available in the guidance for applicants^[430].

This funding will support otherwise strong and viable businesses, protecting the business base, jobs and livelihoods helping prepare for a stronger economic recovery.

Executive Summary:

Strategic Context

Events make a key contribution to Scotland’s economy, boost Scotland’s profile internationally and can enhance community engagement, empowerment and inclusion. Major events can act as a catalyst for investment in infrastructure and built environment. They can increase tourism in the long term due to strengthened brand and improved infrastructure.

The Scottish Government recognises the massive impact that COVID-19 restrictions are having on the events sector in Scotland, which was worth £6 billion annually to Scotland’s economy. Significant international events have been postponed, such as EURO 2020 which was due to be co-hosted in Glasgow in summer 2020. Some activity has moved to broadcast only or online, however, thus far online activity has proved difficult to monetise.

There is a long lead in time to plan and prepare for most events.

As such, fluctuating levels of restrictions are particularly difficult for events as organisers and suppliers have little certainty about whether their event will actually be able to take place, resulting in them carrying significant risk. Parts of the sector have indicated that even if they are permitted to resume, as would be possible for some at levels 1 and 0, they will not be commercially viable while physical distancing and low attendance caps are in place. Re-opening the sector will be important to the recovery of Scotland’s economy. It will be of benefit to the event businesses directly, and those employed within them, but also allows for the potential of wider benefits from customer expenditure to begin to be restored. Furthermore, it has had a wider positive impact on socialisation and general wellbeing. Restrictive measures, particularly at the higher levels, could have a negative impact on this.

In order to address the needs of many sectors adversely impacted by the pandemic, a range of business support funds were introduced over several months to provide emergency funding to help secure jobs, safeguard businesses and to alleviate hardship, including the Pivotal Events Business Fund.

Within this context of needing to react quickly, there was limited opportunity to gather evidence on the possible impacts of funding streams. Therefore this document draws upon the Equality and Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment^[431] undertaken for Events Sector Guidance, which underpins the return of events, supporting consideration of the impact of events on people with protected characteristics.

Expected Impacts on Protected Groups

Overall we expect that individuals who have protected characteristics who work at or attend events will benefit directly from this fund through ensuring that key events businesses remain viable during the period they are unable to operate due to SG restrictions. This means that they will be able to restart once restrictions are eased, supporting longer term employment directly and employment at other supply chain businesses indirectly due to their pivotal nature. This will also benefit people who attend events as more events will be able to take place as critical businesses and capacity in the sector will have been maintained.

We think that this is likely to have most differential impact on people with protected characteristics relating to age, race, disability and gender. For example, younger people are disproportionately more likely to work in the events sector and attend events (see evidence section for further details).

It may also be seen that women are disproportionately impacted in a positive way by the funding. The proportion of women working in the events industry is similar to the proportion in the overall workforce; however, research has highlighted a disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on women. Women are more likely to have reduced hours, been made redundant, and been furloughed. Women working from home have had additional responsibilities (childcare and work). Not all women have been affected equally – young and minority ethnic more affected and pregnant women are also significantly impacted.

Actions taken to ensure equality

In developing the Fund we engaged with stakeholders including the Event Industry Advisory Group.

This helped us shape guidance in a way which recognises the importance of assessing new and revised policies against the needs of the general equality duty as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. The Scottish Government also considered whether the measures could constitute direct and/or indirect discrimination.

We are also mindful that the equality duty is not just about negating or mitigating negative impacts, we also have a positive duty to promote equality. We have sought to do this through provisions contained in the measures or by support and guidance available. For example, highlighting in guidance that, where face coverings are used, event organisers should consider impacts on different groups. For example, people who are deaf and may lip read, and how they will be able to speak to workforce.

Key Findings - impact assessment of benefits and/or disadvantages.

The Scottish Government understands the impact COVID-19 has had on businesses, which is why £4.3 billion has been committed to business support as a whole, including specific funding for events. This emergency funding has supported otherwise strong and viable businesses, protecting the business base, jobs and livelihoods of people across the range of protected characteristics, many of whom have been disproportionately affected by COVID 19.

The events industry in Scotland as defined by SG assessment of SIC codes comprised 3,830 businesses (IDBR, 2020) and 4,634 individual units (SABS, 2018).^[432] In 2019 it employed approximately 57,000 part-time and full time employees as well as approximately 6,300 self-employed workers (APS, 2019).

Overall we expect that individuals who have protected characteristics who work at or attend events will benefit from the Pivotal Events Business Fund through more events being able to take place when measures are lifted (supporting employment). Businesses will require appropriate risk assessment and implementation of measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 which will allow them to resume safely.

Given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic there are gaps in knowledge and in the evidence base. We are developing data, research and understanding of lived experience as we move forward. The headline data, engagement and information gathered to underpin the Event Sector Guidance EQIA but which is also relevant here includes:

Age: Older People and Children and Young People

Approximately 51% of the events workforce is under the age of 35 compared to around 35% for Scotland’s workforce as a whole. A disproportionately young workforce could result in a heightened risk and impact (in terms of lost lifetime earnings) of unemployment in the industry.

Therefore providing support to sustain businesses through this funding could disproportionately positively impact on young people employed in the events sector. It could also disproportionately positively impact on young people attending events as these may be more likely to take place due to availability of this support for firms facing hardship so they avoid insolvency.

Sex: Men and Women

The proportion of women working in the events industry is similar to the proportion in the overall workforce - 47% and 49% respectively. However, for Events Catering Activities, women make up 56% of the workforce and for Other Reservation Service and Related Activities they make up 73% of the workforce.

Research has highlighted a disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on women. Women are more likely to have reduced hours, been made redundant, and been furloughed. Women working from home have had additional responsibilities (childcare and work). Not all women have been affected equally – young and minority ethnic more affected and pregnant women are also significantly impacted. Mothers are 23% more likely than fathers to have lost their jobs (temporarily or permanently) during the current crisis. Of those who were in paid work prior to the lockdown, mothers are 47% more likely than fathers to have permanently lost their job or quit, and they are 14% more likely to have been furloughed.

Therefore providing support through this funding to sustain these businesses until restrictions ease and the sector can restart could disproportionately positively impact on women working in Events Catering Activities and women working in Other Reservation Service and Related Activities

Race

With events, and in particular casual labour, Eastern European, African and others have been identified as potentially at risk groups. In terms of participation and attendance, access is in danger of being restricted by COVID due to financial implications and lack of additional resources hitting ethnic minority families hard. According to the Ethnic Minority National Resilience Network (Scotland) which is coordinated by BEMIS Scotland, minority ethnic communities have disproportionate vulnerabilities to COVID19 exposure. This is represented in both social and health outcomes. For example, due to the immigration status of some minority ethnic individuals it is financially harder to self-isolate because their precarious employment circumstances mean they will not receive furlough pay or state benefits. This means they are more likely to work in low paid and non-unionised work environments where PPE and social distancing regulations are not being appropriately adhered too.

Therefore providing support to allow events to take place , will allow people employed at these events to have work, could disproportionately positively impact on people from some minority ethnic groups who work on events.

Individual health circumstances and protected characteristics should therefore be considered and discussed with the workforce before prioritising who is asked to return to work and when.

Disability

The top concerns that disabled people have about visiting places as lockdown restrictions lift are: People not respecting and honouring social distancing; not having access to venues’ or public toilets when outside; and having to queue or wait outside venues, especially when weather is bad.^[433]

Individual health circumstances and protected characteristics should therefore be considered and discussed with the workforce before prioritising who is asked to return to work and when.