Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation Programme 1: Entrepreneurial People and Culture Equality Impact Assessment (Record and Results)

Summary of results for the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) undertaken to consider the impacts on equality of Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation Programme 1: Entrepreneurial People and Culture

This document is part of a collection


Stage 3: Assessing the impacts and identifying opportunities to promote equality

Do you think that the policy impacts on people because of their age?

Age

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation

X

Programme 1 will have positive impacts on young people (16-24) in particular as policies in this programme aim to support developing young people's entrepreneurial journeys. Examples of policies positively supporting young people access high-value careers in entrepreneurship include: embedding entrepreneurship in the Young Person's Guarantee, reviewing the apprenticeship system, creating a pathway to role models and promoting project-based entrepreneurial learning across the school and post-16 education curricula.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

Project 1 actions on embedding first rate entrepreneurial learning across the school and post-16 curricula includes actions on embedding entrepreneurship in the Young Person's Guarantee and adapting the apprenticeship system. Actions seek to upskill young people to thrive in our current and future economy. At the same time actions in Programme 1 will drive social mobility and allow people to create fulfilling careers.

Promoting good relations among and between different age groups

X

Two examples of actions in Programme 1 that will have a positive effect on the relations between different age groups are:

  • Actions targeting those at the post-16 level and offering apprenticeships which have the capacity to bring together people from a range of age backgrounds; and
  • A mentoring programme which will match up people from different backgrounds, experiences and ages.
Do you think that the policy impacts disabled people?

Disability

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to positively impact disabled people. To ensure the impact is positive disabled people and groups will be consulted in the development and delivery phases of policies.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

During the development and delivery of Programme 1 policies, continuous consideration should be given to offering opportunities both online and offline to better suit people with mobility issues. This has been carried out for the roll out of the National Network of Tech Scalers but it should be considered whether this should also be done for other physical incubation/accelerator spaces such as the pre-scaler hubs.

Promoting good relations among and between disabled and non-disabled people

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations between disabled and non-disabled people, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations As policies are developed, evidence which will help measure success in promoting good relations will be gathered.

Neurodiversity[27]

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to positively impact neurodivergent people. However, the success of this will depend on whether neurodivergent people and groups are explicitly mentioned and consulted in the development and delivery phases of policies.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to address barriers to access and positively impact neurodivergent people. To ensure the impact is positive, we will engage with neurodivergent people and groups as policies develop.

Promoting good relations among and between neurodivergent and neurotypical people

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations between neurodivergent and neurotypical people, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think that the policy impacts on men and women in different ways?

Sex

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

X

Within Programme 1 there are various workstreams underway to support more women into entrepreneurial careers and to support the upskilling of women.

Therefore Programme 1 of the NSET has a positive impact on the ability of women to choose and advance a career in entrepreneurship.

NSET recognises that there is a considerable gender gap in Scotland in entrepreneurship and part of the aims of NSET aims to bridge these structural and entrenched inequalities.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

Programme 1 has a positive impact on the ability of women to choose and advance a career in entrepreneurship.

Promoting good relations between men and women

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations between women and men, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think that the policy impacts on women because of pregnancy and maternity?

Pregnancy and

Maternity

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

x

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to positively women or parents caring for children. To ensure the impact is positive, pregnant people or those caring for children are explicitly mentioned and consulted in the development and delivery phases of policies.

Research and stakeholder engagement has shown that mothers and households with a single earner, struggle more with cashflow and the resources and time to start an entrepreneurial career.

Therefore, during the development and delivery phases of policies in Programme 1 should continue to consult with people in this category.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

Motherhood has a significant impact on the number of hours that some women can work which then affects their pay and income relative to non-mothers and men.

Even before the pandemic, lone parents, the majority of whom are women, were more likely to be in unmanageable debt and/or financially vulnerable and more likely to live in deprived areas.

Since the start of the pandemic, mothers have been more likely than fathers to have left or lost their job, or to have been furloughed, and spent on average two hours longer per day caring for children during lockdown compared to fathers.

Promoting good relations

X

While no material impact, has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations between pregnant people, those caring for children and those who are not, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think your policy impacts on people proposing to undergo, undergoing, or who have undergone a process for the purpose of reassigning their sex? ( NB: the Equality Act 2010 uses the term 'transsexual people' but 'trans people' is more commonly used)

Gender reassignment

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to address barriers to access and positively impact transgender people. To ensure the impact is positive, we will engage with transgender people and groups as policies develop.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

Further consultations should be carried out with stakeholders to understand what type of support will be needed to attract and support transgender entrepreneurs. There is an opportunity in the design of these programmes to be more inclusive of transgender entrepreneurs.

Promoting good relations

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations between transgender and cisgender people, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think that the policy impacts on people because of their sexual orientation?

Sexual orientation

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to positively impact LGBT+ people. However, there is an opportunity for these policies to more positively support LGBT+ people.

It is not clear to what extent LGBT+ people face discrimination when it comes to entrepreneurship but during future development and delivery of policies, further consultations should be carried out with stakeholders to understand what type of support will be needed to attract and support LGBT+ entrepreneurs further.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

From the research it is not clear to what extent LGBT+ people face discrimination in relation to entrepreneurship but further consultations should be carried out with stakeholders to understand what type of support will be needed to attract and support LGBT+ entrepreneurs further.

Promoting good relations

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations between LGBT+ people and heterosexual people, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think the policy impacts on people on the grounds of their race?

Race

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to positively impact people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

However, this will depend on the continuous consultation of minority ethnic groups during the delivery and development phase of Programme 1 policies.

Actions across Programme 1 should ensure minority ethnic people are considered continuously, including for setting up mentoring programmes and support programmes for the most underrepresented groups.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to advance equality of opportunity and recognise that some groups of people, including minority ethnic people, are able to fully participate by offering additional support to underrepresented groups like financial means.

Promoting good race relations

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good race relations, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think the policy impacts on people because of their religion or belief?

Religion or belief

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

X

Actions in Programme 1 aim to promote equal opportunities and equality and have scope to positively impact people from different religious backgrounds.

However, limited evidence is available for this group. We therefore recommend to continue to consult during the development of these policies with religious groups.

Advancing equality of opportunity

X

We know that some religions are at more risk of discrimination. In 2015-20, relative poverty rates were considerably higher for Muslim adults (52%) compared to adults overall (18%).

Promoting good relations

X

While no material impact has been identified to date that would hinder the promotion of good relations, it is the case that successful delivery in line with our commitments to leverage assets to address barriers to opportunity and access should have a positive impact on relations.

Do you think the policy impacts on people because of their marriage or civil partnership?

Marriage and

Civil Partnership[28]

Positive

Negative

None

Reasons for your decision

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

X

No impact has been identified

Contact

Email: Amy.Angus@gov.scot

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