Procurement on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion roles and training: FOI release

Information requested

1) The number of roles across all components of your operations, directorates and management structures, expressed in numbers of full-time employees (FTE), that are mainly or exclusively focussed on issues of equality, diversity, or inclusivity. This information should encompass all roles based in central offices, as well as those based around the country.

Roles meeting this description could include (amongst other guises) “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer” (EDI) or “Diversity and Inclusion Project Managers”. Please break down, if possible, the number of roles per component part of your operations.

For all roles meeting this description, please also provide, in order of preference, either a) the salary of these roles, b) the pay band of these roles, or c) the combined total salary of these roles. Please provide the information that is most in accordance with your data processing practices.

Please also advise if there are any plans to hire further staff in these areas within the next 18 months, and the roles/pay bands that they are likely to occupy.

2) With the same criteria as above, please provide the number of internal training courses attended by staff which pertain to the issues encompassed by equality, diversity or inclusivity. Please include the name of the courses, the number of attendees, and the duration of the course.

3) Please, if possible, provide details of any internal EDI practices and networks, including the number of individuals who are members of such networks.

4) Please provide details of any external contractors brought in by the department to conduct training, advice, or guidance on issues relating to EDI. Where applicable this should include costs and associated manhours.

5) Please provide details of how equality, diversity and inclusivity is included in your procurement practices, the relative weight afforded to these considerations, and the current value of contracts in which EDI considerations was a part of the procurement process.

Response

Point 1- Please find the information requested in Annex A.

For the second part of this question we have interpreted “further hires” to mean new roles created and advertised externally. There are no current plans to recruit new vacancies of this kind within the next 18 months, however this is subject to change depending on the evolving needs of the organisation. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Point 2 - All of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Parliament website using the following link - Written question and answer: S6W-34875 | Scottish Parliament Website

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Point 3 - For this question we have interpreted EDI practices and networks to mean our Diversity Staff Networks. Scottish Government Diversity Staff Networks align to a characteristic protected by the Equality Act 2010 or recognised through the Fairer Scotland Duty.

Joining an SG Diversity Staff Network is an opportunity for colleagues to connect with peers. They remove barriers to participating by encouraging members to help positively shape the culture of the Scottish Government and create safer and more inclusive workplaces. Some may also choose to use their lived experience to increase understanding of the challenges faced by their members to the wider organisation. They may work with corporate teams on action to improve experience at work. Within a community sharing a protected characteristic there may be a range of needs, interests and experiences, so there may be more than one Diversity Staff Network for each ‘overall’ protected characteristic and their activities can vary. Colleagues can join more than one network, depending on their circumstances. Diversity Staff Networks are championed by the overall Executive Team Diversity and Inclusion Ally and Chair of the SG Diversity and Inclusion Governance Group. The Governance group oversees implementation of the SG Employer Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. Each community has identified a designated Diversity Staff Network. This is the network which has taken on the additional responsibility of being the collective voice for all Diversity Staff Networks sharing the same characteristic in corporate diversity and inclusion governance. They are supported by an ally from the Executive Team and at least one Senior Civil Service (SCS) Champion.

A list of specific diversity networks is attached in Annex B. There are currently no active Diversity Staff Networks affiliated with the protected characteristics of age; marriage and civil partnership; or pregnancy and maternity.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of members of diversity networks.

Point 4 - All of the information you have requested is available from the gov.scot website using the following link. Spend on diversity and inclusion training: FOI release - gov.scot

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Point 5 - Please find information relating to this point below;

Procurement Processes

The public sector equality duty (Equality Act 2010) requires all public bodies in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to: 

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

Specific duties made by Scottish Ministers (Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012) apply when a public authority awards a contract or framework agreement which is covered by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and requires public bodies to have due regard to whether both award criteria and contract performance conditions should include considerations to enable the better performance of the public sector equality duty.

Buyers are being helped and encouraged to consider equality, diversity, and inclusion systematically alongside other social, economic, and environmental factors through use of the sustainable procurement tools and guidance. The tools and guidance have been designed to help buyers identify and pursue equality outcomes in all their procurement activity.

We have embedded a focus on equality, jobs, and training (with a clear onus on protected characteristics) through our long-standing Community Benefits in Procurement policy and guidance.

The allocation of weightings afforded to any considerations in a contract is determined on a case-by- case basis to ensure they are relevant and proportionate to the contract in question.

Weightings and Value of Contracts

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600.

Searching our records for the relative weightings afforded to EDI considerations, and the current value of contracts in which EDI considerations was a part of the procurement process would require the review of at least 7676 contracts totalling over £17.854 billion that are potentially in scope under the request as currently formed. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. It may be advisable to narrow the timeframe or specify particular business areas or indicate specific contracts in which you are interested. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner’s ‘Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs’ on his website at: https://www.foi.scot/how-do-i-ask.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500455764 - Information Released - Annex

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