Test and Protect: equality and Fairer Scotland Duty impact assessment

6. Scope

Significant work has already been undertaken on the wider COVID-19: health and social impact assessment. This paper explores the ways in which particular groups (based on Equality Act protected characteristics and socioeconomic disadvantage) are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic as a whole.

The Scottish Government published 'Scotland's Wellbeing: The Impact of COVID-19' in December 2020 which set out that COVID-19 has highlighted existing structural inequalities in society and economy^[6]. Tackling inequality is already central to Scottish Government policy, with many actions already taken forward or planned and as set out in documents including the Race Equality Action Plan; the Gender Pay Gap action plan; A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People; A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan; our British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan; A Fairer Scotland for Older People; A Connected Scotland (our strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness); Equally Safe (our strategy for tackling violence against women and girls); Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan; the Fair Work Action Plan; and the Scottish Child Payment.

The Test and Protect impact assessments that have been carried out are a point in time assessment of the strategy between August 2020 and March 2021 based on iterative analysis of the impact of policies throughout this period. The evidence we gather through these impact assessments alongside ongoing dialogue with stakeholders will therefore help to continue to inform thinking as to how the Test and Protect strategy may need to be refined to remove barriers or disadvantages for particular equality groups or people in poverty, to better advance equality or to foster good relations. These measures may be delivered through changes to guidance, policy or practice.