Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme - Equality Impact Assessment Results

Equality Impact Assessment for the Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme

Title of policy: The Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of Policy: To provide funding to local authorities to deliver local school milk schemes which widen access to ensure our children’s health benefits from the nutrition available through dairy products and alternatives where they cannot or choose not to consume dairy.

Directorate: Learning

Division: Improvement, Attainment and Wellbeing

The Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme will provide direct funding to local authorities towards their local school milk schemes to replace the funding previously available under the UK school milk subsidy scheme which was administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) on behalf of the Scottish Government by way of a claim system. This Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was undertaken to consider how the new Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme might impact those with protected characteristics.

It was established that while the new Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme will have no negative impact on those with protected characteristics, it would have a potentially positive effect on some (race, disability, religion or belief).

It was established that the new Scottish Milk Subsidy Scheme could have a direct effect on a number of stakeholders, particularly pupils attending public primary or special schools, and also their parents, particularly those with low income. It could also indirectly affect the dairy industry. As the main beneficiaries of the Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme, the views of children and young people had been sought at an early stage in the development of the scheme.

This EQIA indicated that the new Scottish School Milk Subsidy Scheme is expected to have a positive equality impact on those with certain protected characteristics (race, disability, religion or belief). No one with protected characteristics is expected be impacted negatively.