Equality Act 2010 reports accessibility: FOI release

Information requested

As you will be aware, the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 [as amended] requires that public bodies [of which government is one] gather data and publish reports on progress on mainstreaming the equality duty [section 3 of the Regulations], to gather and use employee information [section 6 of the Regulations] and to publish gender pay gap information [section 7 of the Regulations].

Public bodies are also required to publish these reports ’in a manner that makes the information published accessible to the public’ [section 10 of the Regulations]

I am looking to research how well public bodies are doing in performing those duties in the context of just how many of the reports are being asked for or are downloaded and read from government’s web site by members of the public. It is in this context that I am writing to ask, under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, that you to provide me with the following information.

In relation to this year, 2025, when reports were required to be published by end-April 2025 on Mainstreaming Equality [section 3 of the regulations], Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics [section 6 of the Regulations], and Gender Pay Gap [section 7 of the Regulations], can you provide me with:

1. The number of downloads to date since end-April 2025 of government’s Mainstreaming Equality 2025 [section 3 of the Regulations] report from government’s web site and captured by the web management system
2. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 by government from the public [by email, text message or other means] for a paper copy of the Mainstreaming Equality 2025 report
3. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a copy of the Mainstreaming Equality Report in an alternative format [please provide the overall aggregate number of all requests irrespective of format]
4. The number of downloads to date since end-April 2025 of government’s Gender Pay Gap 2025 [section 7 of the Regulations] report from the Board’s web site and captured by the web management system
5. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a paper copy of the Gender Pay Gap 2025 report
6. The number of requests received to date and since end-April from the public for a copy of the Gender Pay Gap 2025 report in an alternative format [please provide the overall aggregate number of all requests irrespective of format]
7. The number of downloads to date and since end-April of government’s Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics 2025 report [section 6 of the Regulations] and captured by government’s web management system
8. the number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a paper copy of government’s Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics 2025 report
9. the number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a copy of the Board’s Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics in an alternative format [please provide the overall aggregate number of all requests irrespective of format]
10. does government routinely capture this information on how often these three reports are accessed or requested ? If yes, how far back [from 2012 onwards] has the data been captured ?
11. does government use the data gathered to measure and report on the effectiveness of its performance in meeting the duty to publish reports in a manner ‘accessible to the public’ ? If yes, please provide a copy of the most recent report on effectiveness and who it was formally considered by within government’s governance arrangements ?

I acknowledge that government may call these reports by different titles, which is why I have cross-referenced these to the sections of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 which apply.

Response

1. The number of downloads to date since end-April 2025 of government’s Mainstreaming Equality 2025 [section 3 of the Regulations] report from government’s web site and captured by the web management system.

Answer: We do not currently collect data on the number of times the report/publication is downloaded.

2. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 by government from the public [by email, text message or other means] for a paper copy of the Mainstreaming Equality 2025 report .

Answer: No requests have been received for a paper copy of the Mainstreaming Report 2025.

3. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a copy of the Mainstreaming Equality Report in an alternative format [please provide the overall aggregate number of all requests irrespective of format].

Answer: No requests have been received for a copy of the Mainstreaming Report 2025 in an alternative format.

4. The number of downloads to date since end-April 2025 of government’s Gender Pay Gap 2025 [section 7 of the Regulations] report from the Board’s web site and captured by the web management system.

Answer: We do not currently collect data on the number of times the report/publication is downloaded.

5. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a paper copy of the Gender Pay Gap 2025 report.

Answer: No requests have been received for a paper copy of the Gender Pay Gap 2025 report.

6. The number of requests received to date and since end-April from the public for a copy of the Gender Pay Gap 2025 report in an alternative format [please provide the overall aggregate number of all requests irrespective of format].

Answer: No requests have been received for a copy of the Gender Pay Gap 2025 report in an alternative format.

7. The number of downloads to date and since end-April of government’s Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics 2025 report [section 6 of the Regulations] and captured by government’s web management system .

Answer: We do not currently collect data on the number of times the report/publication is downloaded 

8. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a paper copy of government’s Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics 2025 report.

Answer: No requests have been received for a paper copy of the Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics Report 2025.

9. The number of requests received to date and since end-April 2025 from the public for a copy of the Board’s Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics in an alternative format [please provide the overall aggregate number of all requests irrespective of format].

Answer: No requests have been received for a copy of the Workforce Headcounts and Composition by Protected Characteristics Report 2025 in alternative formats.

10. Does government routinely capture this information on how often these three reports are accessed or requested ? If yes, how far back [from 2012 onwards] has the data been captured?

Answer: We do not currently collect and have not previously collected data on the number of times this or previous reports have been accessed or requested.

11. Does government use the data gathered to measure and report on the effectiveness of its performance in meeting the duty to publish reports in a manner ‘accessible to the public’ ? If yes, please provide a copy of
the most recent report on effectiveness and who it was formally considered by within government’s governance arrangements?

Answer: Not applicable, see question above.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested. The reasons why we do not have the information are explained in
the answers above. 

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