Scottish Government high level action plan in response to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

6: Non-discrimination

Thematic Tags

Non-Discrimination; Equality; Public Sector Equality duty; Socio-economic background; Disability; Racialised minorities; Gypsy/Travellers; Persons of African or Asian descent; Migrants; Refugees and asylum seekers; Faith and belief; Fair work; Social security; Adequate housing; Education

Concluding Observation 25b

The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] Enact the outstanding provisions of the Equality Act 2010, in particular part 1 (1), on the public sector duty regarding socioeconomic inequalities.

Context

Equal opportunities are primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. However, the encouragement of equal opportunities, excluding actions based on prohibition or regulation, is devolved to the Scottish Government. Additionally, Scottish Ministers have powers to establish duties to enable public authorities to improve their performance of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which is the general duty on public sector authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful behaviour that is banned by the Equality Act 2010, including discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and to advance equal opportunities and foster good relationships between people who have protected characteristics and people who do not. We have established a public sector improvement equality duty stakeholder reference group, with duty bearers and equality advocacy organisations, to inform the development of proposals to improve the operation of the PSED in Scotland.

The public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities is set out in legislation in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. In Scotland, it is known as the Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD). It places a legal responsibility on certain public bodies in Scotland to actively consider how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage when making strategic decisions.

When deciding how to fulfil the FSD, named public bodies must take into account the statutory guidance issued by Scottish Ministers. In October 2021, we published revised statutory guidance, which drew on learning and practice from the first three years of implementation, and was developed with input from the Improvement Service, Equality and Human Rights Commission, public bodies and stakeholders.

From the introduction of the FSD in 2018 to September 2022, we funded a National Duty Co-ordinator based in the Improvement Service who offered support, advice and training on the FSD to public bodies to help embed practices.

Key Actions

We will publish a set of proposals to improve the operation of the PSED in Scotland. These proposals will support duty bearers to more effectively discharge the three needs of the PSED. We plan to publish the proposals in our regulation 12 report in December 2025.

We will continue to take action to meet the 2025-29 Equality Outcomes. We developed these outcomes following engagement with nearly 120 duty bearer organisations. The outcomes emphasise a proactive approach to addressing structural inequalities in Scotland.

Concluding Observation 25c

The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] Prevent and combat discrimination, racism, stereotypes and inequalities faced by persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, including Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, persons of African or Asian descent and members of Jewish, Muslim and Hindu communities, and migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers by implementing targeted awareness-raising campaigns and affirmative action measures in such areas as decent work, social security, adequate housing, healthcare and education.

Context

While the Equality Act 2010 is reserved legislation, its implementation is central to our efforts to create a fairer and more inclusive Scotland. It underpins our work across devolved areas to advance equality, eliminate discrimination, and uphold the rights of individuals and communities. Our actions contribute directly to the National Performance Framework’s vision of a Scotland where everyone can thrive and participate fully in society.

Our Hate Crime Strategy and Delivery Plan sets out our vision for a Scotland where everyone lives free from hate and prejudice. The strategy includes improved support for victims, enhanced data collection and analysis, and additional focus on ways to prevent hate crime. Delivery of the strategy is overseen by the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force in April 2024. The act provides legislative protections against offences aggravated by prejudice against disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, variations in sex characteristics, and age.

Our Faith and Belief Engagement Strategy supports inclusive policymaking by fostering meaningful dialogue with diverse communities, promoting mutual understanding, and advancing community cohesion as a foundation for tackling hate and discrimination.

Our third New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy sets out our vision for a welcoming Scotland where refugees and people seeking asylum are able to rebuild their lives from the day they arrive. We published an accompanying delivery plan which outlines the specific actions partners will take and within what timelines to implement the strategy. We work with our partners, the Council of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), and the Scottish Refugee Council to deliver this work.

In June 2025 we published our Disability Equality Plan, co-produced with disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), setting out a whole of government approach to advancing disability equality. It includes investment of £3 million, with £1.5 million allocated to a new fund improving access to support and services for disabled people. The plan marks a significant step toward realising the CRPD in practice.

We published the Anti-Racist Employment Strategy in December 2022. Embedded in and given an intersectional focus through our Fair Work Action Plan, the strategy seeks to address the causes of the ethnicity pay and employment gaps. It provides resources and guidance to help employers and commits us to actions including increasing the capability of senior leaders, encouraging use of positive action schemes and improving support for employers on recruitment and training. We have provided £1.3 million in projects for ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups through the workplace equality fund. The Fair Work Convention’s Framework defines fair work as work that offers opportunities to effectively challenge, job fulfilment, opportunity, respect and security. This means better fair work outcomes for all, as well as specific improvements in the experience of work and the workplace for women, disabled people, and people from ethnic minorities.

In June 2025, an independent archival report into the historical policies and actions applied to Gypsy/Traveller communities in Scotland was published. In July 2025 the First Minister told the Scottish Parliament that these policies were unacceptable and made a formal apology to the communities.

In January 2025, at an anti-racism summit of education leaders, the First Minister recognised that racism exists within our education system – interpersonally and institutionally – and committed to eradicating racism through our anti-racist actions and policies. Work to achieve this is being taken forward within the Anti-Racism in Education Programme (AREP) which takes an intersectional approach, cognisant of the different experiences of racism and discrimination for those with intersecting characteristics such as gender, disability and religious identity. Within its scope, the AREP covers both visible and non-visible ethnic minority groups.

In September 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care identified racism as a key driver of racialised health inequalities and a significant public health challenge. The statement included an explicit commitment to take an anti-racism stance across health and care. We have issued anti-racism planning guidance, developed in collaboration with stakeholders, including the NHS ethnic minority forum, to NHS Boards.

Key Actions

Our proposals for a Human Rights Bill seek to give further effect to rights for women, disabled people, and racialised minorities. The recently published Discussion Paper details plans to incorporate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and establish an equality provision.

We are providing £7.9 million to third sector organisations in 2025-26 to support anti-racism work, interfaith dialogue, hate crime prevention and asylum and refugee integration projects. The funding aims to support work that brings communities together to challenge misinformation, bridge divides and enhance connections across shared needs and interests.

We are committing an additional one-off £300,000 of funding in 2025-26 to support cohesion projects that are bringing communities together across Scotland to challenge division and exclusion.

We will publish a toolkit, co-developed with COSLA and launched through Victim Support Scotland, to support local authorities in tackling hate and prejudice locally. We will also raise awareness of Education Scotland’s new professional learning resource to help practitioners identify and address prejudice-based behaviours in education and youth work settings, and publish research into effective approaches for overcoming barriers communities face when reporting hate crime.

We are providing approximately £3 million funding from 2025-27 for the establishment of the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS) to support community led efforts to address racism within the public sector. An initial mobilisation phase is underway, focused on building the infrastructure and processes required to operationalise AROS. Once fully operational, it is anticipated AROS will focus on developing strategic partnerships across all sectors to collaboratively embed anti-racism change. This will include working collectively with the third sector (including organisations working with people and communities of African and Asian descent) to ensure lived experience and co-production are at the heart of driving meaningful change for our diverse communities across Scotland. AROS is expected to be operational in early 2026.

Together with COSLA, we are implementing the Gypsy/Traveller Action Plan 2024-26 and have committed or spent nearly £15 million through the Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund over 2021-25 for more and better accommodation. The plan sets out 32 goals across five areas to improve the lives of Gypsy/Travellers: accommodation and planning, education, health, social security and work, and community empowerment.

We continue to speak with Gypsy/Travellers across Scotland to ensure their voices are heard and inform our actions and policies. Our recent listening exercise heard from over 100 individual Gypsy/Traveller voices. The Minister for Equalities will attend further community conversations with Gypsy/Travellers communities over the coming months. We remain open to continuing dialogue and we will explore what more can be done in partnership.

As part of the Disability Equality Plan, we launched the the £1.5 million Improving Access Fund on 07 November 2025. Jointly designed with DPOs, the Fund will provide grants for projects that improve access to essential services and promote independent living, choice, and participation.

A progress report on the Disability Equality Plan will be published in 2026 setting out achievements against the plan’s actions and identifying opportunities for further impact. We are committing to invest £3 million to support the overall disability equality plan and improve the lives of disabled people across Scotland.

We continue to support DPOs to support disabled people through the Equality and Human Rights Fund (EHRF), the Access to Elected Office Fund and the Scottish Access Panel Network. The EHRF supports projects that work to promote equality and tackle discrimination and prejudice; the Access to Elected Office Fund helps disabled people who want to stand for elected office in Scotland and provides practical and financial guidance and support to remove barriers for disabled candidates; and Access Panels are groups of disabled people who volunteer their time to support improvements in accessibility in their local community.

We continue to fund the Independent Living Fund, with an investment of £75.6 million in 2025-26. By opening the fund to new applications in April 2024, we are helping up to 1,400 more disabled people to access the support they need to lead independent lives.

We will undertake several actions to address the barriers faced by disabled people in rural and island communities. These will build on ongoing partnership work being undertaken to strengthen holistic support in communities, including a revised approach to service design based on people’s needs. We will work with DPOs to ensure the voices and experiences of disabled people’s needs are central to service delivery and policy development in island areas, building on the findings of the National Islands Plan Consultation and subsequent analysis.

In early 2026 we will publish guidance on developing a whole-school approach to addressing and responding to racism and racist incidents. We published interim guidance on responding to racist incidents towards children and young people in schools in June 2025.

We are taking forward the Education Reform programme, including the creation of new and reformed national bodies and qualifications by 2031. This provides the opportunity to strengthen and embed equality and human rights within our education system at all levels.

In May 2025 we published our Commitment and Guidance to support the Anti Racism in Education Programme. The guidance will contribute to the development of a proactively anti-racist education system and create the conditions to achieve the aim that by 2030.

We are supporting the Scottish Trades Union Congress to pilot and develop activity designed to promote equality and diversity in the workplace and tackle discrimination at work, we will deliver this by March 2026.

We will develop a healthcare inequalities action plan by the end of 2027. This will include developing the general practice healthcare inequalities programme to reduce barriers to accessing care; developing practical guidance on equitable care to support a systemic focus on health equity that reduces the chance of missing data and digital exclusion; supporting health inequalities training and education for health, social care and social work professionals; and addressing stigma and discrimination and racialised healthcare inequalities.

We are working with Public Health Scotland to improve and normalise race and ethnicity data capture and use across health datasets, taking into account anti-racism and ethical approaches, as well as individual preferences and identities.

For further actions see:

Social security Concluding Observations: 41a to 41d

Housing Concluding Observations: 47a to 47f