Equality and Human Rights Budget Advisory Group minutes: March 2026

Attendees and apologies

• (Interim Chair) Simon Fuller, Scottish Government
• Jillian Matthew, Audit Scotland
• Sara Cowan, Scottish Women's Budget Group
• Alison Hosie, Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Nick Bland, Scottish Government
• Rachel Craig, Scottish Government
• Tom Lamplugh, Scottish Government
• Angela Nolte, Scottish Government
• Niall Davidson, Scottish Government
• Rob Priestley, Scottish Government
• Ashley Ross, Scottish Government
• Simon Wakefield, Scottish Government
• Yuki Tsujino, Scottish Government

Apologies

• Chris Birt, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
• Stephanie Griffin, Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Joanna Anderson, COSLA
• Mirren Kelly, COSLA
• Jennie Barugh, Scottish Government

Guests/Observers

• No guests or observers to note

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions (agenda item 1)

The Chair welcomed attendees and noted that temporary chairing arrangements had been agreed with the previous interim Chair, Emma Congreve, and that Simon Fuller would act as interim Chair on a temporary basis until the post-election period. The Chair stressed the temporary nature of this arrangement in the context of wider work on budget improvement going forward. External members confirmed they were content with this arrangement.

Previous Meeting Business (agenda item 2)

Members approved the note of the previous meeting. Officials provided an update on actions from the previous meeting, confirming that all actions had been completed and closed. It was noted that Action 1.8, relating to the Scottish Human Rights Commission budgeting toolkit, remained in development and that development was likely to continue into autumn.

Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment (SIIA) Feedback and Emerging Findings from Evaluation (agenda item 3)

Scottish Government (SG) officials outlined the scope, noting that this is a process, rather than an impact evaluation, noting that impacts of new approaches would be determined in forthcoming years. The evaluation is covering: 

• budget tagging; 
• integrating five legal duties into one assessment; 
• piloting an intersectional gender impact assessment; 
• readability and accessibility; 
• the impact of delayed publication; 
• and the degree to which evidence informed budget choices. 

Officials outlined the evaluation methods used, including internal interviews, surveys, focus groups and stakeholder engagement. It was also noted that this EHRBAG meeting would form part of the evidence and stakeholders were invited to follow up with any further feedback if they wished to do so, either in writing or by arranging a further meeting. 

While still a work in progress, emerging findings include the following:

• Budget tagging: Feasible, though resource-intensive to establish. Consistency required further work.
• Integrating impacts: Feasible, with challenges where data was limited.
• The intersectional gender impact assessment required significant resources. Accessibility had improved, with potential to explore further means of communication. Feedback on delayed publication was mixed.
• Integration with decision-making: Evidence had been shared internally at an earlier stage. Direct effect on decision-making was difficult to prove, with some anecdotal evidence gathered. Stakeholders called for greater transparency.
• Future process design: Key themes included streamlining, better identification of the best placed officials in each portfolio, and improving visibility of benefits.

Discussion points:

• Members raised how expertise built up within the Scottish Exchequer could be extended into portfolios. Officials noted that clearer and more visible analysis would increase the incentive for portfolios to engage.
• There was a suggestion that further development could explore case studies of where analysis had supported portfolios. Officials acknowledged the challenge presented by attempting to spread analysis too widely.
• Members welcomed the SIIA as an improvement and noted that budget tagging had improved visibility. Members called for clearer evidence of where tagging was informing decisions. Officials noted that if data was to be collected over multiple years this could support greater transparency.
• Members welcomed the evaluation and acknowledged the shorter document, while noting it remained text-heavy. A member noted that the SIIA was being used for internal work and that they may be able to provide further feedback in due course. Officials noted that SG was working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to draw on international experience.
• Officials acknowledged the difficulty of capturing softer influences on decision-making and highlighted the benefits of taking a systematic approach to collecting Ministerial views. It was noted that the Scottish Exchequer was conducting a series of meetings with Ministers on the wider budget process.

The Chair summarised that the publication was an important and positive step. Officials noted the word count had been reduced by 60% with no negative feedback received on the shorter document. The evaluation would be provided to the post-election administration and published thereafter.

Equality and Human Rights Budget Advisory Group (EHRBAG) Action Plan Progress Update (agenda item 4)

The Chair introduced the update on the remaining actions in the EHRBAG Action Plan and highlighted the recommendation to bring to a close reporting on the current action plan and to move to consider work to further embed equalities and human rights in the budget process, as part of wider budget improvement. In seeking external members’ views on this, he emphasised that while the remaining actions are considered complete for the purposes of reporting on the Plan, in a number of areas work would continue to realise the wider outcomes associated with the actions. Officials spoke to the update paper summarising progress and next steps.

Officials noted that the Mainstreaming Action Plan provided a robust mechanism for next steps of a number of actions. Themes from the 2021 recommendations were similar to those in the Mainstreaming Action Plan. It was noted that, while actions had been achieved as written, work to improve outcomes would continue. Discussion had already taken place on moving away from a list of actions towards a more focused and measurable approach. Similarly, officials also noted an evaluation informing continual improvement work around the newly introduced strategic integrated approach to impact assessing the Budget, as well as the potential for other areas to be considered for further improvement in relation to wider budget improvement. 

Discussion points:

• The recommendations in the paper, principally that reporting on the action plan should be considered completed and closed, were agreed to.
• There was acknowledgement that progress had been made. In considering a forward work plan, it was encouraged that the Group consider outcomes before outputs, distinguishing between completion of actions and real change. 
• An additional contribution supported an outcomes-focused rather than actions-based approach. It was noted that the post-election period was a good opportunity to also review Group membership.
• Members agreed with both, and a suggestion was made that a separate discussion among external members to reflect on recommendations and the process for taking them forward in the next session could be considered.

In concluding the discussion, the Chair noted agreement around future opportunities and approaches. He welcomed any further views to the Secretariat and indicated that advice on the remaining actions and plans for further embedding equalities and human rights in the budget process would be put to incoming Ministers after the election period. He noted the proposal for a separate external members' discussion and offered SG support to facilitate this, should it be required.

Look Ahead (agenda item 5)

The Chair noted that this would be the last meeting of the Group before the Scottish Parliamentary Elections in May. While welcoming reflections, he noted that members’ views on the Group's remit and ways of working approach had been collected in previous discussions and that this would be incorporated into advice for incoming ministers after the election period. The Chair noted that the new parliamentary term presented an opportunity to build on the work-to-date and to develop areas to focus further improvements in the context of wider budget improvement. 

Any other business

There was no other business raised.