Rural Support (Improvement) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024: equality impact assessment

Cross Compliance (GAEC)

Title of policy/ practice/ strategy/ legislation etc.

The Rural Support (Improvement) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024

Minister

Mr Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

Lead official

Brian Service

Officials involved in the EQIA

Brian Service and Andy Paterson.

Directorate: Division: Team

Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Economy: Agriculture and Land Transitions: Cross Compliance Team

Is this new policy or revision to an existing policy?

Revision to existing policy

Screening

Policy Aim

The Scottish Government is bringing forward the commitment in the Agricultural Reform Programme to introduce new requirements for Peatlands and Wetlands to limit further releases of GHG emissions.

Scotland has around 2 million hectares of peatlands of which around three quarters (1.4 million hectares) are degraded through drainage, extraction, overgrazing, afforestation and development. The remaining quarter, roughly 0.5 million hectares, of peatlands are in good condition. Degraded peatlands are a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, currently accounting for around 15% of Scottish annual net total.

Cross Compliance and is a set of mandatory requirements that farmers and crofters have to comply with in return for receiving support scheme payments. One of the requirements Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition no. 6 (GAEC 6) relates to soil organic matter.

New Peatlands and Wetlands requirements will be implemented from 2025 under existing GAEC 6 to limit further greenhouse gas emissions by restricting certain damaging agricultural activities.

Who will it affect?

New Peatlands and Wetlands requirements will only affect farmers and crofters in Scotland who claim supports scheme payments and who have Peatlands and Wetlands within their farm/croft boundary and were intending to carry out a damaging agricultural activity.

What might prevent the desired outcomes being achieved?

Inability to deliver on time due to IT or other delivery capacity issues.

Stage 1: Framing

Results of framing exercise

The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill EQIA contains evidence on the wider agricultural and rural population, which has been included in this EQIA’s data gathering section.

Scottish Government officials in Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services conducted a data gathering exercise and produced a summary of agricultural census based age and gender statistics.

Extent/Level of EQIA required

Following consideration it was felt that an exhaustive EQIA was not appropriate. Officials undertook a literature review and have provided links to evidence which is relevant to the characteristics and their relationship with rural Scotland and agriculture.

Stage 2: Data and evidence gathering, involvement and consultation

Include here the results of your evidence gathering (including framing exercise), including qualitative and quantitative data and the source of that information, whether national statistics, surveys or consultations with relevant equality groups.

Characteristic^[4]: Age

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

Rural areas tend to have an older population when compared to the rest of Scotland. Specifically, rural areas have a lower proportion of the population in the age range 16 to 44 but a higher proportion of people aged 45 and over. This is particularly true for the age range of 65 and over in remote rural areas.

Source

annex-portfolio-assessment-update-key-risks.pdf (www.gov.scot)

Rural Scotland Key Facts 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Characteristic: Disability

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

Less than half of people living in rural areas of Scotland live within a 15 minute drive time to a GP by public transport, with only around two thirds of people in rural Scotland within a 15 minute drive time by public transport to a post office. There is broadly the same level of disabled people in rural and urban areas. Disabled people tend to be more dependent on public transport so lower levels of public transport provision can have a greater impact on disabled people in rural areas.

Source

annex-portfolio-assessment-update-key-risks.pdf (www.gov.scot)

Rural Scotland Key Facts 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Characteristic: Sex

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

Research commissioned by Scottish Government in 2017 identified a range of issues that impact women in agriculture and limit their participation in the industry. Key barriers to participation identified were: lack of time; childcare responsibilities; lack of opportunities; and perceived lack of skills. Other issues found to impact women negatively in agriculture were: inheritance norms; under-representation in leadership; and lack of training.

There is a significant gender pay gap for women in remote rural areas (median gross annual pay for women full-time employees £27,231 compared to £32,021 for men).

Source

Main Findings - Women in farming and the agriculture sector: research report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

annex-portfolio-assessment-update-key-risks.pdf (www.gov.scot)

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Characteristic: Pregnancy and maternity

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No evidence.

Source

N/A

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Characteristic: Gender reassignment

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

There is limited reliable data on Scotland’s trans population, much less those in rural areas or agriculture sector.

Source

N/A

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Characteristic: Sexual orientation

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other (LGBO) population of Scotland is estimated at 2.6%. A higher proportion of the population identify as LGBO in urban areas than in rural

Source

Scottish surveys core questions: 2018 analytical tables - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Data gaps identified and action taken

Gap at agricultural sector level

Characteristic: Race

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

There is little evidence of Rural Agriculture and Island (RAI) portfolio spend in this area. Spending in other portfolio areas may impact on this inequality. However, much of the damage and negative experience is likely to be linked to migration policy which is reserved to the UK Government. Seasonal workers in Scottish agriculture have also been shown to face difficulties with xenophobia and racism in previous years. Further research is underway into this topic.

Source

annex-portfolio-assessment-update-key-risks.pdf (www.gov.scot)

Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2017-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Data gaps identified and action taken

Gap at agricultural sector level

Characteristic: Religion or belief

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No evidence.

Source

N/A

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Characteristic: Marriage and civil partnership

(the Scottish Government does not require assessment against this protected characteristic unless the policy or practice relates to work, for example HR policies and practices - refer to Definitions of Protected Characteristics document for details)

Evidence gathered and Strength/quality of evidence

No evidence.

Source

N/A

Data gaps identified and action taken

N/A

Stage 3: Assessing the impacts and identifying opportunities to promote equality

Having considered the data and evidence you have gathered, this section requires you to consider the potential impacts – negative and positive – that your policy might have on each of the protected characteristics. It is important to remember the duty is also a positive one – that we must explore whether the policy offers the opportunity to promote equality and/or foster good relations.

Do you think that the policy impacts on people because of their age?

Age	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations among and between different age groups	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think that the policy impacts disabled people?

Disability	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations among and between disabled and non-disabled people	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think that the policy impacts on men and women in different ways?

Sex	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations between men and women	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think that the policy impacts on women because of pregnancy and maternity?

Pregnancy and Maternity	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think your policy impacts on people proposing to undergo, undergoing, or who have undergone a process for the purpose of reassigning their sex? (NB: the Equality Act 2010 uses the term ‘transsexual people’ but ‘trans people’ is more commonly used)

Gender reassignment	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think that the policy impacts on people because of their sexual orientation?

Sexual orientation	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think the policy impacts on people on the grounds of their race?

Race	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good race relations	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think the policy impacts on people because of their religion or belief?

Religion or belief	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.
Advancing equality of opportunity	The Policy has no impact.	As above.
Promoting good relations	The Policy has no impact.	As above.

Do you think the policy impacts on people because of their marriage or civil partnership?

Marriage and Civil Partnership[5]	None	Reasons for your decision
Eliminating unlawful discrimination	The Policy has no impact.	The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.

Stage 4: Decision making and monitoring

Identifying and establishing any required mitigating action

If, following the impact analysis, you think you have identified any unlawful discrimination – direct or indirect - you must consider and set out what action will be undertaken to mitigate the negative impact. You will need to consult your legal team in SGLD at this point if you have not already done so.

Have positive or negative impacts been identified for any of the equality groups?

No

Is the policy directly or indirectly discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010^[6]?

No

If the policy is indirectly discriminatory, how is it justified under the relevant legislation?

N/A

If not justified, what mitigating action will be undertaken?

N/A

Describing how Equality Impact analysis has shaped the policy making process

No changes have been made to the policy as a result of the EQIA as there were no clear impacts identified which could requirement policy changes.

The ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.

Monitoring and Review

On-going RESAS monitoring of farmer age and gender will likely be ongoing throughout the Agriculture Reform Programme, of which this revised policy is part.

Reviews will be balance with the fact that the ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.

Stage 5 - Authorisation of EQIA

Please confirm that:

• This Equality Impact Assessment has informed the development of this policy:

Yes

• Opportunities to promote equality in respect of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation have been considered, i.e.:
  • Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation;
  • Removing or minimising any barriers and/or disadvantages;
  • Taking steps which assist with promoting equality and meeting people’s different needs;
  • Encouraging participation (e.g. in public life)
  • Fostering good relations, tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

Yes

• If the Marriage and Civil Partnership protected characteristic applies to this policy, the Equality Impact Assessment has also assessed against the duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation in respect of this protected characteristic:

Not applicable

Declaration

I am satisfied with the equality impact assessment that has been undertaken for the introduction of new requirements for Peatlands and Wetlands and give my authorisation for the results of this assessment to be published on the Scottish Government’s website.

Name: John Kerr

Position: Head of Agricultural Policy Division

Authorisation date: 17/10/24

Equality Impact Assessment - Results

Title of Policy: Cross Compliance – GAEC 6 – new requirements for Peatlands and Wetlands

Brief summary of aims and desired outcomes of Policy: New Peatlands and Wetlands requirements will be implemented from 2025 under Cross Compliance and existing GAEC 6 to limit further greenhouse gas emissions by restricting certain damaging agricultural activities.

Directorate: Division: Team: Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Economy: Agriculture and Land Transitions: Cross Compliance Team

6. Executive summary

The policy aims is:

• New Peatlands and Wetlands requirements will be implemented from 2025 under Cross Compliance and existing GAEC 6 to limit further greenhouse gas emissions by restricting certain damaging agricultural activities.
• The EQIA sought out evidence on characteristics and potential relationship with the revised policy. The limited evidence identified was broadly related to rural Scotland, or farmers, and was on age, disability, sex, sexual orientation and race. There was no evidence identified on pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, religion and believe, marriage and civil partnership
• No change be made to the policy as there was no identified negative impacts.

7. Background

• The Scottish Government is bringing forward the commitment in the Agricultural Reform Programme to introduce new requirements for Peatlands and Wetlands to limit further releases of GHG emissions.
• Scotland has around 2 million hectares of peatlands of which around three quarters (1.4 million hectares) are degraded through drainage, extraction, overgrazing, afforestation and development. The remaining quarter, roughly 0.5 million hectares, of peatlands are in good condition. Degraded peatlands are a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, currently accounting for around 15% of Scottish annual net total.
• Cross Compliance and is a set of mandatory requirements that farmers and crofters have to comply with in return for receiving support scheme payments. One of the requirements Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition no. 6 (GAEC 6) relates to soil organic matter.
• New Peatlands and Wetlands requirements will be implemented from 2025 under existing GAEC 6 to limit further greenhouse gas emissions by restricting certain damaging agricultural activities.

8. The Scope of the EQIA

• The EQIA sought out evidence on characteristics and potential relationship with the revised policy. The limited evidence identified was broadly related to rural Scotland, or farmers, and was on age, disability, sex, sexual orientation and race.
• There was no evidence identified on pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, religion and believe, marriage and civil partnership.
• The evidence was not linked to the change in policy, which is linked to productive livestock and the funding available to farmers – it is likely that these issues are more broadly addressed in the overall development of agricultural policy. Since this revised policy is of a single scheme or a larger policy the EQIA was limited.

9. Key Findings

• There was no identified impact on the characteristics as a result of the revised proposed policy.
• The was because the ability of a farmer or crofter to comply with the new requirements is completely independent from their equality characteristics.

10. Recommendations and Conclusion

• No change be made to the policy as there was no identified negative impacts.