Equality and human rights mainstreaming strategy

Annex B – Legal Context and wider landscape

Public Sector Equality Duty

Specifically, the Equality Act 2010 (‘Equality Act’) provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. Section 149 places a duty on public authorities, and others who exercise public functions, to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited under the Equality Act
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not

This is known as the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The Scottish Ministers have used their available powers to enable the better performance of the PSED by placing detailed requirements on specified Scottish public authorities through the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (‘the SSDs’).

The SSDs support Scottish listed public authorities to improve performance of the PSED by requiring them to: report progress on mainstreaming equality; propose and publish equality outcomes; assess policies and practices from the perspective of equality; and publish employee information on pay and occupational segregation. The Scottish Government is committed to improving the operation of PSED and are phasing in changes to improving the regulatory regime.

Human Rights

The Scottish Government has domestic legal duties (under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Scotland Act 1998) in respect of rights drawn from the European Convention on Human Rights (known as ‘Convention rights’). Other public authorities in Scotland also have similar domestic legal duties under the Human Rights Act 1998. Civil and political rights sit at the heart of devolution and all acts of public authorities (including the Scottish Ministers) and all policies and legislation must be compatible with Convention rights.

The Scottish Government is also accountable for compliance with international human rights treaty requirements in devolved areas. The Ministerial Code places an overarching duty on Ministers to comply with international law and treaty obligations, and the Scottish Government contributes to regular reporting cycles regarding implementation of human rights treaties. The Scottish Government is therefore accountable for ensuring that devolved legislation and policies are compatible with international human rights standards, and that human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

There are a range of provisions in the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (‘the UNCRC Act’) that require us to further embed children’s rights considerations into legislation, policy, and practice. The UNCRC Act introduces a duty for public authorities not to act incompatibly with the UNCRC requirements, a legal requirement for the Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments and make statements of compatibility in relation to legislation. The UNCRC Act also places reporting requirements on the Scottish Government and listed public authorities in relation to actions taken and planned to ensure compliance with the compatibility duty in the UNCRC Act and to secure better or further effect of the rights of children.

Wider Landscape

The Strategy will be the overarching framework within which Scottish Government’s current work to strengthen the legislative environment for equality and human rights in Scotland sits. This include the following;

• Human Rights Bill. Proposals for the Bill aim to further advance a human rights culture in Scotland by giving domestic legal effect to international economic, social, cultural rights and environmental standards, as well as rights relating to women, disabled people and racialised minorities. Incorporation of these rights will improve outcomes for people in their everyday lives and help to ensure that everyone is treated with fairness and dignity, in areas like health and housing.

Embedding international human rights in Scotland in this way aims to ensure that these rights play an even more central role in our strategies, policies, and decision making processes across all areas of Government and the wider public sector.

The Scottish Government consulted on proposals for the Bill in 2023. In July 2025 a detailed Discussion Paper was published, consolidating extensive developmental work undertaken to date with the aim of supporting further engagement with stakeholders. The Scottish Government has committed to introducing the Bill during the 2026-31 Parliamentary session, subject to the outcome of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

Our ongoing programme of improvement of the effectiveness of the operation of the PSED in Scotland. This will include delivering on two key changes: extending the pay gap reporting duty to include reporting on ethnicity and disability pay gaps and working on toolkits for listed public bodies’ use of inclusive communications. These should be highly impactful in terms of advancing equality in Scotland for some of the most disadvantaged groups. This reinforces our commitment to advance equality and human rights mainstreaming throughout the public sector, with the goal of bettering the lives of Scotland’s most marginalised people. Improvements to the PSED regime will also be explored through non-regulatory changes and using existing regulations to direct listed authorities to consider specific matters when carrying out their duties under the SSDs. We are also exploring how to improve alignment with other reporting obligations and how to create a more cohesive regime as part of our ongoing programme of improvement activity.

• National Performance Framework. The National Performance Framework (NPF) is Scotland’s wellbeing framework and sets out an overall purpose and vision for Scotland. The National Outcomes, which support the purpose, are enshrined in legislation, and are decided in consultation with the people of Scotland. Policy development in Scottish Government is informed by Scotland’s NPF and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

These key areas of policy development will make Scotland a global leader in how equality and human rights are protected in legislation. This strategy will create the framework to support implementation of all these changes and drive changes best addressed out with legislation.