Distribution and monitoring of enterprise and social-enterprise support funding: FOI release

Information requested

I am seeking recorded information about how Scottish Government funding for enterprise and social-enterprise support is distributed, and what monitoring exists of who is declined by funded delivery partners. Where exact figures are not held, please provide the nearest held equivalent or direct me to where it is published.

For each of the last three financial years, the total Scottish Government funding allocated to support the start-up and growth of enterprises and social enterprises, and the names of the delivery partners or intermediary organisations (for example Firstport) through which this funding is delivered.

The amount passed to each such delivery partner / intermediary organisation in each of those years.

For these programmes, the proportion of funding delivered directly by the Scottish Government versus delivered via intermediary or delivery-partner organisations.

What reporting the Scottish Government requires from these delivery partners — in particular, whether it requires or receives any data on declined or rejected applicants, including the number of applications declined and the reasons for decline.

Whether any equality monitoring is collected — by the Scottish Government or by its delivery partners — on the protected characteristics (in particular sex and race/ethnicity) of (a) successful applicants and (b) declined applicants to these programmes.

Any Equality Impact Assessment held in relation to these programmes or their eligibility criteria, including any assessment of how accessible they are to ethnic-minority women and migrant women.

Whether the Scottish Government audits or reviews the application-decline decisions of its funded delivery partners, and if so, what that process consists of.

If any element is exempt, please release the remainder rather than refusing the request as a whole, and please contact me to clarify scope if helpful rather than refusing on grounds of cost.

Finally, in light of the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010, I would ask the Scottish Government to consider whether equality monitoring of declined applicants — including by sex and ethnicity — ought to be introduced where it does not currently exist, so that any disproportionate impact on ethnic-minority and migrant women can be identified and addressed.

Response

1. I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in electronic form.

2. Some of the information you have requested is available from various websites listed throughout this response. 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.

3. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold some of the information you have requested. However, you may wish to contact the partner organisations and intermediaries referenced in this response who may be able to help you. The reasons why we do not have the information are explained in the Annex to this letter.

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 202600518020 - Information released - Annex

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