National Islands Plan: equality impact assessment

Executive summary

This Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) has examined the potential impacts of the National Islands Plan on people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. The purpose of the Plan is to support the long-term sustainability and resilience of Scotland’s island communities, with population retention and attraction at its core. The Plan seeks to ensure that islanders can access the opportunities and services they need throughout their lives, while making island communities attractive places to live, work and study.

The EQIA found no evidence of unlawful discrimination within the design of the Plan. However, the assessment identified several areas where there is potential for differential impact across protected groups. These include the experiences of older residents, disabled people, women, parents, minority ethnic communities, and LGBTQ+ islanders in relation to access to services, economic participation, and opportunities to influence decision-making.

Mitigations have been built into the Plan, including strengthened commitments to inclusive engagement, improved evidence gathering, and equality-responsive delivery planning. The EQIA has therefore contributed to a more robust, rights-based plan that better reflects the diversity of Scotland’s island communities. Monitoring arrangements have been established to ensure that equality considerations continue to inform implementation.

The plan relies on individual policy areas to deliver actions related to the commitments. Many of these polices would be subject to their own consideration for EQIAs and it is important to note that the overarching, strategic nature of the plan means that the assessment will continue as policies, strategies and services continue to be designed and delivered. Accordingly, this EQIA will remain a living process, reviewed alongside the Plan’s annual reporting cycle, with consideration of equality indicators.