Green Freeports Programme: equality impact and Fairer Scotland Duty assessment

Executive summary

The Green Freeports programme aims to support business to create high-quality, well-paid new jobs, promote regeneration and make a significant contribution to achieving our net zero ambitions.

This Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)/ Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FSDA) considered the impact of the Green Freeports programme as a whole and therefore covers both Green Freeport locations. Both Green Freeports also conducted individual EQIAs as part of their business cases.

The EQIA/FSDA undertaken for the Green Freeports programme identified mainly positive outcomes on equalities groups and people facing socio-economic disadvantage, with a greater impact on some groups than others. It should be noted that many impacts intersect across protected characteristics and individuals therefore may benefit from a range of measures and incentives. The EQIA/FSDA identified some potential negative impacts and risks for people with protected characteristics and socio-economic disadvantage. Mitigations for these are most effectively put in place by the individual Green Freeports. Plans for them have already been built into the Green Freeports’ business cases and are detailed in the conclusion section.

The commitments made by the Green Freeports in their business cases will be subject to robust monitoring and reporting requirements, which will inform the monitoring and evaluation of the Green Freeports programme overall.

This EQIA/FSDA will be reviewed in 2028 or earlier if deemed appropriate.