Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Schemes Contract administration and management: equality impact assessment

Key Findings

The Scottish Government is of the view that an EQIA is required to assess the extent to which changes to the application process could be implemented to reduce discrimination and foster equality.

At Stage 2, the Scottish Government consider evidence about the potential impacts on people in regard to the following characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marital or civil partnership status
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

At Stage 3, we produced the evidence gathered against the characteristics.

Age:

Research suggests that many older people can struggle to access services in the digital age. Furthermore, those who are older are more likely to own their own when compared to those who are younger, which means they are more likely to be able to access the HES Grant and Loan Scheme.

Some processes are already in place to improve certain aspects of the process for older people. For example, paper forms can be provided on request to improve navigation of the process for those that struggle with digital formats.

Disability:

Visually impaired people find it difficult to access information and support for a variety of reasons. For example, less that 7% of books are published in braille, large print and audio formats. The Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) Scotland has found that only 10% of correspondence from health services to blind and partially sighted people is received in their preferred reading format. This leads to people experiencing a loss of autonomy.

Analysis of the Scottish Household Survey 2019 revealed 71% of adults with some form of limiting long-term physical or mental health condition or illness reported using the internet. This was lower than for adults who reported some form of non-limiting condition or illness (90%) and those who had no reported condition or illness (94%) (Scottish Government, 2020c). At the same time, some people with disabilities have challenges accessing digital technology which can leave them feeling disconnected.

Gender reassignment:

EST outlined information on the use of pronouns and titles that must be provided through the application process, highlighting that the application form does not require pronouns, but does include a free text box for title.

Marriage and civil partnership status:

No discernible impact.

Pregnancy and maternity:

No discernible impact.

Race/nationality:

Most established research on the impact of nationality and language in accessing services relates to healthcare access. Some conclusions can still be gleaned from this evidence in that language barriers could act as a significant barrier to accessing the scheme.

HES advice and EST currently access Language Line. This is not instant, unfortunately, but does mean that all customers have access to an appointment based system where they can communicate in their preferred language. There is also the option to change the language on the new application process.

Religion or belief:

No discernible impact.

Sex:

No discernible impact.

Sexual orientation:

No discernible impact.