The Evaluation of the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-2025

Action 1

Publish statistics for the ‘Prefer not to say’ option for data on sex, in line with recent Scottish Government guidance. Improve the completeness of data collected on ethnicity and provide more disaggregated data by ethnicity. Explore the development of more granular disability data. Explore the development of data to be collected on trans status for looked after children aged 16+.

None – no change in approach required.

Delayed: Data collection on sex/ gender was updated in line with Scottish Government guidance, including a new preferred not to say option. Validation checks on ethnicity data have been strengthened but completeness remains an issue. The development of more granular disability data is being explored with partner organisations and local authority data providers. Data on trans status yet to be developed.

Action 2

Work directly with data providers to improve the completeness of data collected on religion and provide more disaggregated statistics. Improve the completeness of data collected on ethnicity and provide more disaggregated statistics in published tables and any future dashboard presentation of statistics, where currently only some headline statistics at a national level are disaggregated by ethnicity. Explore the development of more granular disability data, to identify specific types of disability/specific health conditions. Explore the development of data to be collected on trans status for older children, and ‘Prefer not to say’ option for data on sex, in line with recent Scottish Government guidance.

None – no change in approach required.

Delayed: This action faced similar challenges to Action 1: Data collection on sex/ gender was updated in line with Scottish Government guidance, including a new preferred not to say option. Validation checks on ethnicity data have been strengthened but completeness remains an issue. The development of more granular disability data is being explored with partner organisations and local authority data providers. Data on trans status yet to be developed.

Action 3

A: Include analysis of equality variables in reports produced by the Scottish Government where sample sizes allow for this without risking disclosure.

B: Ensure that analysis of equality variables is conducted in any reports commissioned by the Scottish Government that use GUS data through inclusion in the specification of requirements used in any procurement exercises where sample sizes allow for this without risking disclosure.

C: Ensure that future data collections continue to include questions collecting data on equality variables, including adding a question about marriage to the Sweep 12 questionnaire – this will now be appropriate as the participants will be aged 20.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Scottish Government published a report of the findings of Sweep 11 of Growing up in Scotland on 29 October 2025. Life at 17: initial findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study (Sweep 11) includes analysis by sex, disability and area deprivation across the range of themes covered in the report. Information on the cohort members’ marital status was also collected for the first time at Sweep 11. Sweep 12 of the study has continued to collect equality information.

Action 4

Based on feedback from the consultation respondents, we will investigate the addition of a supplementary table covering the attainment of school leavers who have been assessed or declared as disabled. This will bring the tables into line with other associated education statistics by providing data for disabled school leavers in addition to data on school leavers with Additional Support Needs.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Our Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destination Statistics publication now provides a breakdown of attainment for school leavers who are assessed or declared disabled in table 6. This was introduced in the 2021/22 school leaver publication and will be updated when new figures are released each February. Since completing this action, the team have been asked to include a similar breakdown for special school leaver.

Action 5

We will improve the consistency of ethnicity recording across Justice Organisations through adopting the 2022 Scottish Census Ethnicity Classifications.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Through the Cross Justice Working Group on Race Data and Evidence, justice organisations agreed to adopt the 2022 Scottish Census ethnicity classifications as the standard for data collection purposes across the justice system. Each organisation is to move towards implementation as soon as practicably possible. The Cross Justice Group will continue to provide support to justice organisations.

Action 6

We will publish a compendium of ethnicity information as it relates to individuals who have been in contact with the justice system. It is intended this will also include ethnicity analysis from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) using a pooled sample of data from 2008/09 to 2019/20.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Ethnicity in the justice system: evidence review was published in April 2023.

Drawing data from a range of data sources, the publication presented quantitative evidence relating to race and ethnicity in the justice system in Scotland. This was the first time that such data has been collated and published together. The topics included:

(i) perceptions of crime, safety, the police and the justice system,

(ii) experiences of crime

(iii) people's interactions with different elements of the justice system when they come into contact with it, and

(iv) the ethnic composition of the justice workforce

Action 7

We will undertake analysis of the SCJS by ethnicity using a pooled sample of SCJS data (from 2008/09 to 2019/20) to investigate how experiences and perceptions of crime may vary for people of different ethnicities in Scotland.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: A new analysis of the SCJS findings has been undertaken, combining the nine surveys conducted between 2008/09 and 2019/20 comprising 90,000 interviews. This pooled sample made analysis by ethnicity possible for the first time.

Findings on topics such as experience of crime, perceptions of crime, fear of crime, feelings of safety, and perceptions of the police and justice system were published in the Ethnicity in the justice system: evidence review.

Action 8

We will undertake a series of equality “deep dive” research projects into specific aspects of criminal activity including on police recorded hate crime, cyber-crime and drugs analysis.

Amendment at interim review (2024): Original data audit referred to hate crime, not crime in general but this word was missed off the action, should be: We will undertake a series of equality “deep dive” research projects into specific aspects of criminal activity including on police recorded hate crime, cyber-crime and drugs analysis.

Completed: To date, JAS has published two "deep dives" on the characteristics of police recorded hate crime. The original study was published in February 2021: Characteristics of police recorded hate crime in Scotland: study. The most recent was published in January 2023: Police recorded hate crime - characteristics: updated study. Hate Crime statistics for the year 2024-25 were published in February 2026 and include information on the characteristics of age, sex and ethnicity of victims and perpetrators.

Going forward, the full roll-out of the new police crime management system should open the door to much more analysis in the years ahead and we will keep progress in this area under review.

Action 9

We plan to request ethnicity data on crimes of homicide from Police Scotland from 2021/22 onwards for inclusion in the Homicide in Scotland publication.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Ethnicity data on the victims of homicide and accused persons has been collected since 2021-22. Due to the low number of homicides recorded each year in Scotland we are considering the appropriate date for inclusion in the homicide in Scotland publication.

Action 10

We will promote an intersectional approach to justice data and evidence, including through aiming to better understand intersectionality in the justice system by reviewing existing evidence and undertaking a feasibility study across our publications to explore the practicability of developing more intersectional analysis.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: This action has brought added focus to equality and intersectional analysis in justice. The work undertaken has increased knowledge and highlighted the importance of intersectional analysis within justice. A summary of evidence on Minoritised Ethnic Women's Experiences of Domestic Abuse and Barriers to Help-Seeking was published in August 2024. A lived experience research report Diversifying Justice: Revealing domestic abuse realities and viable help seeking pathways for South Asian women in Scotland was published in March 2025.

Action 11

We will promote best practice and support justice organisations with their data collection and reporting, including workforce data, through mutual support and sharing of good practice.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Through the work of the Cross Justice Working Group on Race Data and Evidence, justice organisations have been supported to collect and report on more equality data and to do so in a consistent format.

Action 12

We will aim to better understand what available evidence exists on experiences of people with different characteristics in the justice system. We will consider the feasibility of collating and publishing this for more characteristics (e.g. disability) as has already been done with ethnicity and gender and consider the feasibility of updating these existing compendiums.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: This action has brought added focus to equality and intersectional analysis in justice. The work undertaken has increased knowledge and highlighted the importance of equality analysis within justice. An analysis of the ethnicity of individuals who were proceeded against and sentenced in Scottish Courts was published in April 2023. A report looking at equality factors in the journey times (from offence to verdict) for accused persons prosecuted in Scottish courts was published in March 2025.

Action 13

Seven of the nine protected characteristics are currently collected (no data collected on pregnancy and maternity or on marriage and civil partnership). By 2025, we will publish equality analysis of outcomes, and key process variables by disability category. This will be additional to existing highlevel equality breakdowns of benefit outcomes currently published. An assessment will be undertaken during 2023 of the quality of data collected on Adult Disability Payment (benefit launched late in 2022), including the equality data, and the appropriate time to publish breakdowns for various category of disability. An assessment will take place during 2023 of possible new intersectional analysis of lowincome benefit award outcomes on the basis of cumulative data since benefit launch, leading to a revised intersectional analysis for publication by the end of 2024.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Social Security Scotland published their annual client diversity and equalities analysis up to March 2025 on 26 August 2025. The publication provides statistics on the diversity characteristics of people applying to Social Security Scotland between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, and also includes intersectionality analysis. The intersectionality analysis reports on how the number of applicants and their approval rates vary when looking at two characteristics combined and increases the depth of information we publish. Social Security Scotland are continuously aiming to improve the quality of these statistics by refining data processes and methodology.

Action 14

The Analysis and Insight team will set out their plans for benefit-specific client surveys, and the initial round of related fieldwork. This will include surveys dedicated to Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment. During 2023, a review will take place on the quality of the survey data that has been gathered in the above surveys, and to scope the possibility of producing equality breakdowns of new variables, breakdowns by impairment categories for those with disabilities and a projection for intersectional analysis from client survey data. At present, it is considered that there will be only a small likelihood of further breakdowns by refugee, trans status, and sexual orientation, and intersectional breakdowns where base sizes allow.By 2025, a cycle of reporting will be established that delivers this additional analysis. This is likely to include amendments to the annual report, and some benefit-specific reports on a less frequent basis.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Intersectionality analysis was included in the annual Client Satisfaction Survey report 2024/25 (published November 2025), with the expectation that this will continue annually and also be included in future biannual Client Satisfaction Survey publications

Action 15

In July 2023, a client diversity report will be published that breaks down high-level indicators by equality characteristics already collected: age, disability, sex, religion and race. This will be part of the July 2023 annual update and will establish a yearly cycle of equality data on the Scottish Welfare Fund. Some analysis may take place in 2022, but the 2023 report will be pending any observations by the Review of the Scottish Welfare Fund reporting in 2023 and subsequent discussions with local authorities around possible improvements to data collection.

During 2023, consideration of the relevant aforementioned review recommendations for equality data for new data collections will take place, with a view to implement ahead of the 2024 annual update.

None – no change in approach required, however the team changed the content of the report over each iteration to explore different aspects of the data.

Completed: Three reports on equalities have now been published alongside the last three annual reports on the SWF. The first report summarised each category, and looks at award rates. The second report added a section on the intersections between different equality categories, and the third focused more on gender differences across a selection of applicant characteristics. The reports have highlighted where data quality is poor, and there have been some efforts by local authorities to make more efforts to collect this data from applicants, with limited success. We intend to continue these reports in the future, and we continue to derive further value from the data we hold by producing other topic reports in a similar manner each quarter, as inspired by the original equalities report.

Action 16

We will publish further analysis of the food security data collected in the FRS.

None – no change in approach required.

Completed: Additional food security analyses published as part of the poverty report from the March 2023 edition (Tables 41 to 47). Breakdowns are available by high, medium and low food security for the following groups: by age, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion and marital status. Time series information will become available once there are enough years of data.

Action 17

The following actions are not solely focused on statistical data improvements. To improve the broader evidence base on poverty and disadvantage we will carry out a:

Scoping exercise to assess key gaps in users' awareness of existing information (both statistical and broader), and development of a minimum viable product to address this.

Scoping exercise to assess potential for further evidence synthesis/primary research and appropriate dissemination for diverse range of stakeholders.

Course Correction at interim review (2024): The Poverty team felt that this action has been carried out through existing poverty-related publications and resources produced by other teams, as well as a wide range of external organisations. They will therefore re-focus their attention on collating, or signposting to existing evidence, as well as directly engaging with key external organisations.

Completed: Additional analyses were published following the March 2025 update to the poverty statistics in response to a request from the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights.

Action 18

Analyse gender breakdowns of the 2023 OTUS data and analyse all OTUS data by a range of equality variables (age, disability, socio-economic disadvantage) and, where possible, intersectional breakdowns. Publish the OTUS analysis in Scottish Government reports. This will add to the gender analysis of this data already published in December 2020 and feed into the 2023 Gender Equality Index (see Action 19).

Data was analysed and published by sex alone, and did not look into additional age, disability, and socio-economic disadvantage nor intersectional breakdowns.

Completed: The Analysis of the 2023 ONS Time Use survey data for Scotland by sex of respondents was published as Official Statistics in Development in October 2023 (experimental official statistics). The publication outlines differences between women and men in how they spent their time in 2023 across several key activities. These were: time spent on paid work, unpaid work (including activities such as childcare and housework), free time and personal care. The data from this publication fed into the Gender Equality Index produced in 2023 (Action 19).

Action 19

Publish an updated version of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index. This action will be supported by an expert working group comprised of gender stakeholders and data analysts to support the next iteration of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index.

None – no change required.

Completed: The Gender Equality Index 2023 was published in December 2023. Scotland’s Gender Equality Index is designed to represent gender equality numerically, with a score of one indicating no gender equality and a score of 100 indicating full gender equality. In 2023 the index reported a score of 79 out of 100. The index included scores across six key domains namely time, work, power, money, knowledge, and health. In addition, the index provided analysis on women-specific healthcare and violence against women, however this analysis does not influence the gender equality scoring.

Action 20

Gather data on public attitudes to discrimination in the SSAS. Publish findings from the SSAS module on attitudes to discrimination in a Scottish Government report.

Marked ‘No Longer Feasible’ at interim review (2024).

No longer feasible: This action was marked No Longer Feasible at the interim stage of the Strategy. This was due to a wider review of SSAS taking place which caused an issue for the work to be complete within the given timeframe. The review was completed in summer 2025 and a decision was made to commission the discrimination module. Data is now being collected (Autumn/Winter 2025) and results will be published in 2026.

Action 21

Undertake research to synthesise available evidence on key structural intersectionalities, identify gaps and suggest ways in which evidence gaps can be captured through both qualitative and quantitative research.

None – no change required.

Completed: A range of intersections have been considered across equality publications produced by the Equality Analysis team. This includes recently published census analysis for the Gypsy/Traveller and Roma populations, which includes intersectional findings. The analysis presented in these reports fills some of the current evidence gaps on experiences and outcomes associated with Scotland’s Gypsy/Traveller and Roma population, and will allow policymakers to improve services, and support policy development and monitoring. Collection and use of intersectional equality data, including identifying and addressing gaps, is expected to remain a priority in the next Equality Evidence Strategy.

Action 22

We will undertake work to strengthen the evidence base on the experiences of non-binary people in Scotland: By the end of 2023, we will carry out and publish a review of available quantitative and qualitative evidence on the experiences of non-binary people in Scotland. Throughout the period of the strategy, we will expand the range of evidence on non-binary people’s experiences presented on the Equality Evidence Finder to include third sector and academic research.

By the end of 2024, we will engage with stakeholders to identify and agree priorities for filling evidence gaps.

By the end of 2024, we will work with key stakeholders to co-design research to fill priority gaps, working within available budget and other resource constraints.

By the end of 2025, we will publish a report of findings from the commissioned research.

Course Correction at interim review (2024): On completion of the evidence review, a decision was made not to procure research at present. This was due to a number of factors including substantial evidence being gathered during the evidence review process, no clear priority for filling any evidence gaps being identified either internally or by stakeholders, a reluctance to over-consult with the community where there is no clear benefit from doing so. A decision has been made to instead focus on producing outputs from Census data (when this data become available). This update will also appear in a similar action that exists in the Non-binary Action Plan interim update report.

Completed: The Equality Analysis team published the Evidence Review on Non-Binary People’s Experiences in Scotland in November 2024. This review involved engaging with policy and analyst colleagues across government and LGBTQI+ stakeholder organisations. In addition, the team published data drawn from Scotland's Census 2022 on non-binary people in Scotland ('Non-Binary People in Scotland: An Analysis of Scotland's Census 2022'). The results presented in this report has improved understanding of outcomes for non-binary people in Scotland across a range of areas and filled some evidence gaps identified by the Evidence Review on Non-Binary People in Scotland. These publications have both been added to the Equality Evidence Finder, which includes updated existing data on Scotland's trans population, including non-binary people.

On completion of the evidence review, a decision was made not to procure research at present. This was due to a number of factors including substantial evidence being gathered during the evidence review process, no clear priority for filling any evidence gaps being identified either internally or by stakeholders, a reluctance to over-consult with the community where there is no clear benefit from doing so. The Census publication was produced in the meantime and we plan to revisit actions related to filling evidence gaps with stakeholders in 2026.

Action 23

While we are aware of other dashboard tools, the nature of the Equality Evidence Finder means that R shiny is still the best tool for the job, however this continues to be monitored. The following areas will be improved in the EEF: Accessibility. The main areas of inaccessibility on the EEF are charts. We will research and implement the most accessible way to produce charts using R shiny. Usability. We have received constructive feedback on the user interface. Work is ongoing to create a shiny template for the EEF that follows the principles of the Scottish Government Design System which will render the EEF more familiar to users of SG websites, as well as more generally user friendly. Automation. As part of the above redesign, work to automate more of the EEF’s data acquisition will be prioritised. This will include working with analysts to provide data via statistics.gov.scot, to improve the efficiency of uploading data onto the platform and improve the transparency of equality

data held by the Scottish Government. Presenting intersectional data. We are aware of user demand for intersectional breakdowns of data. We will improve the presentation of intersectional data that is already collected. The redesign will attempt to take this into account such that, as more intersectional breakdowns become available they can be added to the EEF without significant further work.

Yes – due to a lack of feasibility in building a Scottish Government design system template in R shiny, the focus of this aspect of the action shifted to improving useability more generally.

Completed: There were four areas outlined in this action. Enough progress was made across the first three areas to consider them complete, although we intend to continue working on each of these areas past the life of the strategy. The Equality Analysis Team have made some progress towards improving the presentation of intersectional evidence however further progress is required before this can be considered complete.

Accessibility – The Equality Analysis team made use of digital accessibility best practice guidance published by the Government Statistical Service and Scottish Government for text, charts, data tables, and dashboards to assess and improve the accessibility of the Equality Evidence Finder. Actions have included applying an accessible colour palette to charts, removing acronyms, and adding alternative text for charts. The team will continue to monitor future changes to accessibility best practice guidance and implement further accessibility improvements where possible.

Useability – Due to a lack of feasibility in building a Scottish Government design system template in R shiny, the focus of this area shifted to improving useability more generally. This has been progressed by working with lead analysts to update and add new evidence onto the Equality Evidence Finder and by making improvements to labelling to be clearer and more intuitive. The team also conducted a user survey and interviews to understand where they can improve user experience. The information from these activities will be used to assess the platforms current usability, understand user's preferences for the presentation of equality evidence, and to inform future platform developments. The team plan to continue improving usability by gathering and acting on insights from users and by supporting lead analysts to continue to update evidence on the platform.

Automation - Improvements have been made to automation by creating scripts that directly read Scottish Surveys Core Questions (SSCQ) statistics outputs and by pulling additional data from statistics.gov.scot. There is room for further automation and the team will continue to explore options for improving automation, including exploring possibilities linked to the statistics.gov.scot improvement project.

Intersectionality – The Equality Analysis Team have developed a prototype for displaying intersectional information on the Equality Evidence Finder. This prototype was shared with users for feedback during user engagement activity which concluded in October 2025. Their next step is to use the learning from these activities to improve the visibility of existing intersectional evidence on the Equality Evidence Finder.

Work on this action has had widespread impact. Firstly, it has improved awareness and use of the Equality Evidence Finder. The work has also led to a strengthening of the lead analyst network, increased awareness of Scottish Government’s mainstreaming approach and the need for equality evidence and fostered a greater sense of collective responsibility for the platform. The Equality Evidence Finder has been used as a key tool for supporting mainstreaming and tasks across government, including supporting Equality Impact Assessments and policy decision making. The automation of commentary has led to improvements in the efficiency of updating the platform going forward. Finally, feedback from the 2025 user survey suggested most users had a positive experience of navigating the platform in its current state.

The equality analysis team are entering a new phase of development for the Equality Evidence Finder. They are in the process of creating a development plan for the future direction of the platform to ensure it is fit-for-purpose in the longer term. This work will be informed by the areas outlined in this action, user feedback, areas of focus identified in the next Equality Evidence Strategy, the priorities set out in Scottish Government’s Equality Outcomes for 2025-2029 and other relevant policies.

Action 24

Run workshops and seminars for public sector attendees to showcase best practice in collecting, analysing and presenting equality evidence.

None – no change required.

Completed: The Equality Analysis Team have conducted a learning and development session with the EIHR Directorate to emphasise the importance of equality analysis and involving analytical support throughout the policy cycle. This includes Evidence in Policy Fortnight and the EIHR Academy Development week. These presentations have been recorded and will be made available internally.

Presentations were also delivered to external stakeholders as part of the Equality Evidence Strategy Collaboration sessions which focused on promoting equality data improvement work and gathering views from stakeholders on what they need from equality data improvement work in the future.

Action 25

By 2025, work to consider the appropriateness and feasibility of gathering equality data via the HL1 and PREVENT1 collections will have concluded. Agreement will be reached with data providers (i.e. local authorities) on the changes to be made, and there may be some progress made as to implementing these.

None – no changes required.

Delayed: Resource from this workstream has been diverted to focus on the re-development of the current data collection systems into open source software (SG wide project). Once the re-development is complete, work on the data review will resume and timelines will be revised where required. HL1 data currently collects data on gender, date of birth and ethnicity of the main applicant and their partner.

Action 26

During 2023, Scottish Government housing analysts will work with NRS to establish the range of equalities-based output tables that are already planned to be published as part of the Census 2022 output tables. We will also assess the additional analysis that would need to be produced, along with establishing an appropriate mechanism for analysis of the data, for example by obtaining secure access to the source data, or for additional output tables to be produced by NRS.

Subject to the feasibility of undertaking this approach, during 2024 to carry out the analysis of the Census equality data, focussing on a cross-tab/intersectionality approach looking at how dimensions of equality relate to results from other Census questions, focusing on those on housing. It is intended that the analysis will include reporting on detailed equalities output classifications where possible, such as on detailed age bandings, as well as looking at regional dimensions to results, although this will depend on statistical disclosure control limitations.

None – no changes required.

Ongoing: Work had been scheduled to commence once NRS’s Census output plans had progressed further, with initial preparatory activity expected during Winter 2024/25. A meeting with NRS was held on 16 April 2024 to discuss their planned outputs and the potential role of the Scottish Government in supporting quality assurance, including analysis of protected characteristic breakdowns.

By October 2024, NRS had published Census housing data (originally released in August) with a range of breakdowns and had indicated that further equality-related breakdowns would follow at a later stage.

In January 2025, NRS released the flexible table builders, enabling users to analyse Census data in multiple ways with a wide set of equality breakdowns, supported by integrated statistical disclosure controls. As a result, dental multivariate analysis became feasible through the flexible table builder, and any requirement for secure access to case-level microdata was deemed out of scope.

By September 2025, CAD had been working with NRS through the Census Questions Consultation and was considering the appropriateness and feasibility of collecting additional equalities data within the Census housing module.

Action 27

By the end of spring 2023, produce cross-tabulations of headline survey results by equalities variables and publish them as additional analysis where disclosure rules allow. Carry out and publish a ‘Variations in Experience’ analysis using a generalised linear mixed model (GLMM) model to control for confounding factors within the data. This analysis will examine the relationship between self-reported experiences of patients and a range of patient, GP practice and regional level characteristics. We will use a statistical modelling technique to allow us to take into account all the available factors that have an effect on the likelihood of a patient reporting a positive experience.

None – no changes required.

Completed: A full breakdown of all HACE questions by equalities characteristic and the "Variations in Experience" report, which contains the results of the model, are now available online: Health and Care Experience Survey 2021 to 2022: additional analysis.

Action 28

A: Improve the data collected on age and gender identity by improving the completeness of responses, response numbers from ‘opted-in’ services and the introduction of age and gender identity collection for all staff groups who are employed/ directly managed by out of hours services. B: Investigate the potential introduction of new fields in dataset on race and disability, including exploration of linking data from other sources such as the GP In-hours survey and NHS Scotland Workforce data.

Delayed: A) A new MS PowerApp has been designed by NSS with the intention to allow easier completion and retention of data from previous years, to reduce burden on boards. Data completeness for GPs improved in 2025, with reduced levels of missing data on age and sex, though overall this remains high. NPCCD has been linked to obtain age and sex for individuals where registration number is provided.

B) This action is linked to Action 30. Data has been linked between the in-hours and out-of-hours surveys for the first time in 2025, looking at staff working across both services. We will explore the potential to link to the NHS-employed workforce data which currently does contain data on equality characteristics.

Action 29

Review of existing data landscape to understand the current data available and identify gaps in data provision (complete). Consultation with Scottish Government stakeholders to ascertain women’s health data needs (ongoing). Engagement with dataset owners to understand the availability of further Management Information and barriers to publication (ongoing). Engagement with stakeholders and dataset owners to discuss possible data collection reforms to improve the quality and availability of data on women’s health. Negotiate and agree a data reform action plan with stakeholders and dataset owners. Support implementation of the data reform action plan and track progress

None – no changes required.

Ongoing: An initial review of the data landscape and consultation with SG stakeholders was carried out with the findings published alongside the final Women’s Health Plan (WHP) report (Nov 2024). Agreement was reached for the inclusion of women’s health questions in the 2024 Scottish Health Survey (SHeS), including a bespoke new set of questions on experience and treatment of menopause and perimenopause, and the addition of endometriosis as a separate response option in the long-term conditions section. Work to develop an updated Theory of Change (ToC) and monitoring framework for the next phase of the WHP is underway, including mapping of data sources and potential indicators. This will support future monitoring of progress across relevant equality characteristics, with gender as the primary focus and opportunities for further breakdowns (e.g., age, deprivation, ethnicity, disability) to be explored as part of ongoing engagement with data owners.

Action 30

A: Improve the quality of data collected on age and sex by improving response rates and exploring linkage to National Primary Care Clinician Database (NPCCD). B: Investigate the quality of data collected on maternity leave. C: Investigate the potential introduction of new fields in this dataset on race and disability.

None – no changes required.

Delayed: A) Response rates had improved from 81% in 2023 to 85% in 2024, but fell to 76% in 2025 due to a shorter collection period. A new MS PowerApp has been designed by NSS with the intention to allow practices to add/amend data throughout the year, rather than in one go and retain previous years data, reducing burden. Communication to practices has also been a focus over the last few years to encourage response. Missing data on age and sex is obtained from linkage to NPCCD or imputed. Levels of imputed age for GPs are <1%. We will continue to work with NSS and NES to reduce burden, and encourage 100% completion of the survey from practices to create more accurate estimates.

B) Maternity leave is currently collected as an aggregate annual total for each practice, meaning that further investigation of this data is not possible without changing the underlying collection.

C) We have investigated the potential to add new categories in the data with working groups for the 2024 and 2025 surveys and with practice managers. Although there was support for the aims, the survey was seen as not appropriate due to staff not having direct access to their own data, the potential for “prefer not to say” to be high and an increased burden to complete. We are continuing to explore if adding to the survey would provide useful data or if other options such as data linkage could be appropriate. Some data is currently available from the GMC. They publish equality data on GPs on their register in Scotland, but this will include those working in-hours, out-of-hours, private practices and elsewhere and not include all staff working in practices (e.g. nurses, ANPs).

Action 31

A: Review existing dataset to identify: (1) where additional fields are required; (2) where options/values/guidance for existing fields needs to be revised and updated. B: For each field identified in (1) above consult with stakeholders and subject matter experts to develop a proposal. Stakeholders include Scottish Government officials (Equalities, Diet & Health Weight Policy, Type 2 Diabetes / Weight Management Professional Advisers), PHS (data processor responsible for dataset analysis and reporting of national statistics) and expert reference group with representatives from NHS boards (data owner). C: Consultation to allow mechanism for gathering feedback from data owners in NHS boards (Healthy Weight Leads). D: Final revised dataset

agreed (between the Scottish Government and PHS).E: Specification of changes required to data collection system (IT system changes required).F: IT system changes made.G: Dataset completion guidance updated and communicated to NHS boards.H: NHS boards begin collecting improved equalities data using updated dataset.I: Improved equalities data forms part of annual data collection, analysis and publication going forwards.

None – no changes required.

Delayed: Progress on this action was delayed due to resource constraints. Public Health Scotland (PHS) is reviewing the weight management dataset, initially focusing on weight management service evolution, reporting needs, and data completeness. A Weight Management Data Development Working Group, including PHS, Scottish Government, NHS Boards, and academics, has been established. These efforts are expected to support future improvements in equalities data.

Action 32

The MHIC is split into 3 parts: Part 1 covers Mental Health and Learning Disability Inpatient Beds. Part 2 covers Mental Health, Addiction and Learning Disability Patients: Out of NHS Scotland Placements Census. Part 3 of the MHIC covers Hospital Based Complex Clinical Care and Long Stay patients. The MHIC is in the process of being reviewed. The MHIC was paused in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for health boards to prioritise critical activities. The MHIC will run in its current form in April 2022. The Scottish Government is exploring new ways of collecting the information for the MHIC primarily to reduce the burden on health boards and to also examine what other data sources might be available to complement or replace parts of the MHIC. Alongside this, the content of the MHIC is also being reviewed to ensure that we are collecting the right data for users to meet their needs. As part of this work, we intend to expand the range of data that is collected to cover all nine of the protected characteristics if possible.

Yes. Improvements were delayed due to additional QA needing done on older parts of the MHIC data.

Completed: Seven of the nine protected characteristics now have data fields to allow collection in the MHIC. Following the conclusion of the Equality Evidence Strategy, the MHIC 2025 Parts 1 and 2 publication were published on 24 Feb 2026.

Action 33

Improve availability of social care equalities data by: a) completing the Care Home Data Review and associated actions to streamline and improve data b) working with PHS to examine options for developing Source data and related data collections, including utilisation of an ethnicity reference file currently being developed c) completing work to help facilitate the transition to an Integrated Health and Social Care Record for the National Care Service (NCS)

None – no change required.

Ongoing:

a) The recommendations from the CHDR were published in May 2024. The recommendations include specific reference to the need to understand and meet the needs for equalities data. Implementation of the recommendations is being taken forward by the CHD Working Group, which has representatives from across the care home sector. The CHDWG is currently considering key core mininum data requirements from care home data, including what is needed (including if/how data can best be captured) on equalities data. The group aims to have agreed provisional requirements by the end of March 2026, after which they will then be shared with wider care home stakeholders for refinement and agreement.

b) Plans to provide race and ethnicity (R&E) data within social care are reliant on utilising a R&E index being developed within PHS. Testing of the prototype index, and the code of practice developed to address the ethical and governance risks associated with the use of this index, is still ongoing. When the pilot projects testing these resources have concluded, PHS analysts in other teams (including the social care team) will be able to submit requests to use the index in their analyses.

c) Work has progressed on delivering an Integrated and Social Care Record throughout 2025. The Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 which obtained royal assent in July 2025 has conferred a duty on Scottish Ministers to provide a health and social care record for every individual in Scotland, should they desire one. Work is underway to explore the detail of this in secondary legislation. A refresh of the policy intent has been undertaken alongside options for delivery of the record in the short term. Public Service Delivery Scotland and Local Government Digital Office have been selected as delivery partners and a formal commission for work to begin will shortly be issued. Additionally, the public facing element will be delivered via MyCare.scot which has already given some members of the public access to of their health and care info in Dec 2025 with national rollout planned from April 2026.

Action 34

We will consider whether we can include combined years analysis in our annual statistics publications to provide breakdowns of data by equality variables where year-on-year analysis is not supported.

None – no changes required.

Delayed: The key transport data source where equalities analysis is possible is the Scottish Household Survey, with transport-related findings released in the Transport and Travel in Scotland statistics publication (TATIS). As of November 2025, TATIS provides detailed tables for a range of key metrics which provide breakdowns for religion/belief, sex, age, race, and disability/long term conditions. These are supplemented by the annual, standalone Disability and Transport publication.

Following the publication of the 2024 edition of TATIS at the end of November 2025 and the accompanying completion of work undertaken to convert the publication's programming language, we will consider how and whether existing breakdowns can be supplemented with multi-year analysis.

Action 35

Transport Scotland to liaise with PHS to establish the viability of publishing ethnicity information collected by hospitals for those receiving hospital care as a result of road traffic accidents, whether by Transport Scotland as part of their Reported Road Casualties publications, or through PHS

None – no changes required.

Completed: The viability of this information was confirmed and the information was included as an additional table within the Reported Road Casualties publication in October 2023.

Action 36

We will continue to publish our Disability and Transport report on an annual basis, alongside Transport and Travel in Scotland which also includes analysis of disabled people’s travel behaviour.

None – no changes required.

Completed: Transport Scotland have continued to publish the Disability and Transport report on an annual basis. The latest iteration of this report was published in March 2026.

Transport Scotland will continue to refine the Disability and Transport publication in partnership with a steering group of stakeholders.

Action 37

Publish the range of breakdowns as part of the next SHS data release (SHS 2021 data).

None – no change required.

Completed: Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2021 data tables for Volunteering and Trust in Institutions included equalities breakdowns for gender, age, ethnicity, and disability, and key results in relation to equalities breakdowns were highlighted in the Volunteering and Trust in Institutions chapters of the Scottish Household Survey 2021 telephone survey: key findings report. Both the report and the data tables were published in April 2023.

Action 38

Further analysis and publication of equality data already collected. The Scottish Government plans to publish detailed analysis on disability in the labour market in Scotland from the APS by the end of 2023. This analysis would include intersectional breakdowns of disability by age, sex and ethnicity etc.

None – no changes required.

Completed: This publication is now available online: Disabled People by Impairments - Labour Market Statistics for Scotland by Disability: January to December 2022.

Future publications on hold due to quality concerns with the source survey.

Action 39

Analysis and publication of equality data collected through new No One Left Behind data template including on trans status and disability. The Scottish Government plans to publish more detailed analysis on different characteristics for its devolved employability services including intersectional breakdowns of disability, age, sex and ethnicity.

None – no changes required.

Completed: The No One Left Behind quarterly publication now routinely includes equality data breakdowns by protected characteristics such as sex, age, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and trans status. Additional information on long-term health conditions and number of conditions, barriers to employment and protected characteristic breakdowns at Local Authority level are now available, including information on the progress of participants by protected characteristic groups such as sex, age, ethnicity and disability. Some this information is available intersectionally, for example, sex, ethnicity, disability status, barriers and long-term health conditions by age. There are plans to publish more intersectional data over time.

Action 40

The 2020 ‘importance of voting in local elections’ data was published for the first time in January 2021. Due to the impact of the move from a face-to-face to a telephone survey in 2020 due to COVID-19, no comparisons were made with previous years in the 2020 report and the data was not broken down by equality variables. When the 2022 data is available in 2023 an assessment will be made as to what is possible to publish given the sample sizes. The Scottish Government elections policy team will be consulted to see what would be useful. It should be possible to provide breakdowns by age, sex, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion. The general rule of thumb is that we don’t publish breakdowns if the base is smaller than 50. However, even with bases of 50 or larger, the confidence intervals can be quite wide, and so the results need to be interpreted carefully.

Yes - specific questions no longer being asked in this survey meant the action had to be closed at the interim review stage (2024).

No Longer Feasible: The Scottish Household Survey (the dataset the original action was relying on) no longer asks about the importance of voting so this action is marked as "no longer feasible". These questions are asked in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey Core Module, broken down by age group, gender, disability and household income. Improvements to these equality categories are addressed in Action 41.

Action 41

We will review what equality data is collected and published before the next core module runs. If the core module runs in 2022/2023 data would be published around autumn 2023.

Yes - although the intention was to review what equality data was collected to inform the 2023 collection, the Scottish Social Attitude Survey's move from face-to-face to online collection for 2023 meant that our Core module was instead designed to evaluate the impact of this mode change. Changes to equality data were instead carried out for the next data collection (2025).

Completed: Action is now complete. As noted in interim amendment, in 2023 we ran an experimental reduced module specifically to evaluate mode change, intentionally keeping everything else the same. Full data collection was carried out in 2025, to be published in 2026, with increased coverage of equality variables (data collected on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, transgender status).Once data is available in 2026, an assessment will be made as to what is possible to publish given sample sizes.

Action 42

As part of the Scottish Government’s agricultural statistics group’s Transformation Programme, we are building a new product to replace the June Agricultural Census. Within this work we will improve timeliness, relevance and accuracy of data we will also improve how we report on equality data. The current route to these improvements are unknown however are likely to involve redesigning of questions and/or in the future looking to data linkage with the Population Census.

Yes, using the Agricultural Household Survey instead of June Agricultural Census to collect equality data.

Ongoing: We continue to assess the best routes to improving the collection and reporting of equality data. As part of this assessment we are looking at possible options around question modules and data linkage, while considering overall user needs and data priorities. Also looking at including equalities data in a one-off agricultural household survey in 2025. The agricultural household survey was launched in July 2025 and included questions on equalities data with results to be published in 2026.

Action 43

Scotland’s 2022 Census included questions on all characteristics previously included. Additionally, new census questions gathered information on the characteristics of sexual orientation and trans status/history. The planning and delivery of the 2022 Census predates the development of this plan, including actions that we know will improve equality data, but is ongoing through the period of the next Equality Evidence Strategy so is presented in this improvement plan. Actions include: Consultation and planning – gather feedback and review, then finalise plans. Live Census collection. Processing and quality assurance for the Census. Producing outputs – National Stats Accreditation and UK Harmonisation.

No, actions built on plans for census outputs. There were changes to the timing within the outputs release schedule though the scope and the methods for publishing the data remained consistent.

Completed: The Scotland's Census 2022 data has been published on the Scotland's Census website. There are no further publications planned. NRS have recommended a census be collected in 2031.

Action 44

We will issue a revised version of the laminated card which Registrars show to the next of kin when asking about ethnicity of the deceased. This would provide a clearer explanation of the need for the question and how it should be answered. We will reorder the sequence of questions to ask about ethnicity before country of birth to avoid the two answers being conflated. Revise guidance to Registrars.

Amendment at the interim review (2024): Death registration cards are now completed online and not in-person.

Suggested change to action wording: For in person registrations, we will issue a revised version of the laminated card which Registrars show to the next of kin when asking about ethnicity of the deceased. This would provide a clearer explanation of the need for the question and how it should be answered. We will reorder the sequence of questions to ask about ethnicity before country of birth to avoid the two answers being conflated. Revise guidance to Registrars.

Delayed: The majority of death registrations are now completed remotely and not in person. This means that updating the laminated card used for in-person registrations would have limited impact on what this action was designed to achieve, which is to improve the quality and availability of ethnicity data for mortality statistics. Further consideration is required as to the best method of achieving this following the change in registration method and preference for self-identified ethnicity data, which requires an alternative solution, for example data linkage.

Action 45

2022-23: We will consult local authorities on the feasibility and cost of providing more granular data from their council tax billing systems on households with ‘disregarded adults’, in particular so that data on households with disabled adults can be separately identified within the statistics. 2023-24: Subject to confirmation from local authorities of the feasibility of providing data from their council tax billing systems on households with disabled adults, and the availability of funding for them to pay for any software upgrades necessary, trial and evaluate the extended data collection. 2024-25: Commence routine collection of data on households with disabled adults within the annual collection of data for the small area household estimates. Should the feasibility of collecting relevant data from council tax billing systems not be established, or the likely utility of the data collected judged not to be adequate, then alternative sources of data such as the census will be investigated.

Yes. The analysis of caused a switch of focus to looking to census data as a source of information on households containing disabled people.

The feasibility and utility of collecting more granular data on households with disabled adults from council tax billing systems has not been established. In the absence of data from the (delayed) 2022 Census it had initially been hoped that council tax billing systems might be a viable alternative for collecting information for low level geographies on the number of households with disabled adults. However, an analysis of the data available at local authority level found that nationally only around 15,000 occupied dwellings (0.5% of the total) were identified as being subject to a reduction in council tax because they were the main residence of someone who is substantially and permanently disabled. This averages out at around 2 dwellings per data zone. So moving to pick up this data as part of the annual collection of postcode level data from council tax billing systems would be of very limited utility. There would also be issues around collecting sensitive and potentially disclosive data, and of potential costs to some local authorities of paying their software providers to adjust their reporting tools to provide this information.

This action is therefore judged to have been completed. Going forward, analysis efforts will be refocussed on exploring the data now available from the 2022 Census on households with people with a limiting health problem or disability and/or with specific long-term health conditions.