ScotAccount: equality impact assessment

1.2 Executive summary

Policy Aims

ScotAccount delivers the Digital Strategy commitment to provide a secure and simple way for people to prove their identity online and access multiple public services through one account.^[1] The policy aims to enhance privacy and user control by aligning with Scottish Government identity management and privacy principles,^[2] ensuring data minimisation and user control over what is shared. By adopting a user-centred approach to design, ScotAccount aims to promote inclusion and accessibility and aligns with Digital Scotland Service Standard.^[3]

The policy also supports the digital transformation of Scottish public services by reducing costs, duplication and fraud risk, while improving interoperability, to allow different systems to talk to each other under user control.

Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy^[4] commits to delivering public services ethically and inclusively through digital channels, while preserving other routes of service delivery. People must be able to access public services through the channel that works for them – whether digital, face-to-face, or other established routes. ScotAccount supports its customers in maintaining offline routes for those who are unable or unwilling to use digital channels.

The scope of the EQIA

In developing ScotAccount, the Scottish Government is mindful of the three needs of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010: “eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.” ^[5] Where any negative impacts have been identified, we have sought to mitigate or eliminate these.

We are also mindful that the equality duty is not just about negating or mitigating negative impacts, as we also have a positive duty to promote equality. We are considering how best to work with under-represented groups to gain further insights into impacts and experience of the ScotAccount service, as part of the approach to continuous improvement and service development.

This EQIA covers all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and considers intersectionality with socioeconomic disadvantage. It examines potential impacts of ScotAccount on inclusion, accessibility, and trust, including barriers such as digital exclusion and ID poverty.