Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Commonwealth Citizens) Bill: EQIA

Key Findings

The Bill’s single purpose is to make changes to candidacy rights at local government elections for citizens of Commonwealth countries with limited leave to remain. The Bill promotes equality of opportunity relating to participation in elections on the grounds of race, as it extends candidacy rights to some Commonwealth citizens, bringing their rights into line with existing rights for other foreign nationals resident in Scotland. The ability to stand as a candidate at local government elections in Scotland is in line with the Scottish Government’s view that those who choose to make Scotland their home should have the ability to participate in elections.

While currently there is a difference in candidacy rights between Commonwealth citizens with limited leave to remain and other foreign nationals with limited leave to remain, this is not a discriminatory or unlawful differentiation, therefore the Bill does not seek to eliminate unlawful discrimination. There is no impact on promoting good relations between people of different races.

The EQIA for the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill outlined the impacts of the provision in that Bill which intended to extend candidacy rights to all foreign nationals with limited leave to remain, and while this Bill is amending an oversight relating to a specific subset of foreign nationals, some extracts from that EQIA are relevant to this Bill.

The protected characteristic of race, as defined in the Equality Act 2010, includes colour, ethnicity, nationality and citizenship. The most recent statistics published by National Records of Scotland estimate that there were around 397,000 non-British nationals living in Scotland in the year ending June 2021 (including 165,000 non-EU citizens) but many of the Commonwealth citizens falling within this group would have indefinite leave to remain and so already have candidacy rights in local government elections.

It is difficult to estimate the number of people who will gain candidacy rights at local government elections as a result of this Bill, however the total number of affected people is likely to be low. Accurate statistics on numbers of Commonwealth citizens, resident in Scotland, with limited leave to remain are not readily available. It is not known what proportion of foreign nationals resident in Scotland have limited leave to remain in the UK, but is considered likely to be significantly smaller than the total number of foreign nationals when taking into account those who have indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Accurate estimates of the proportion of resident foreign nationals with limited leave to remain are not readily available. However UK Government statistics show that between 2016 and 2025, 1,085,301 people gained indefinite leave to remain (excluding EU settled status) in the UK. Assuming relatively equal spread of people across the UK, approximately 8%, or around 86,800 people, could be expected to have lived in Scotland and gained indefinite leave to remain over this period.

There is no robust data available on the proportion of councillors in Scotland who are from minority ethnic groups. The Scottish Government sought to improve the quality of diversity data available on candidates and elected members in Scotland at the 2022 council elections, by conducting the Local Government Candidate Diversity Survey 2022. The response rate to the survey was very low, with only 28% of candidates responding. Of the candidates who responded, 68% identified their ethnicity as White Scottish, with 92% identifying with any white group. 2% identified as Asian and 5% another ethnic group. 1% of respondents preferred not to say. Those findings should, however, be treated with caution due to the low response rate.

This change made in this Bill does not have an impact on the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.