Equality and Human Rights Mainstreaming Strategy

 Existing reporting requirements include:  

• PSED Mainstreaming report. The Scottish Government’s Equality outcomes and mainstreaming report is published every two years in line with our legal requirements as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. The next report will be published in April 2025.   
  • PSED Reg 12: places a duty on Scottish Ministers to publish proposals to enable better performance of the equality duty.  
• any Human Rights Scheme and reporting that will be brought in by the Bill.
• treaty reporting - The Scottish Government is accountable for compliance with international human rights requirements in devolved areas and contributes to regular reporting cycles regarding implementation of human rights treaties. For example, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4-5 years.
• the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation)(Scotland) Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 16 January 2024. As well as introducing a compatibility duty that will make it unlawful for public authorities to act incompatibly with the UNCRC requirements, as set out in the Bill, the Act introduce new reporting requirements on Scottish Ministers and public authorities.

The new reporting requirements will:

1. require Scottish Ministers to publish a Children’s Rights Scheme, setting out the arrangements the Scottish Government is putting in place to fulfil its duties under the UNCRC Bill and to secure and further strengthen children’s rights;
2. require Scottish Ministers and listed authorities to report on steps they have taken to ensure compatibility with the incorporated UNCRC rights and obligations and to secure better or further effect of children’s rights; and
3. require Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish a Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) in the following circumstances: all new Bills, some SSIs, COVID-19 related school closures, and all decisions of a strategic nature that relate to the rights and wellbeing of children. 

The Scottish Government has also accepted a recommendation from the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls to deliver an annual statement, followed by a debate in the Scottish Parliament, on gender policy coherence. This statement will cover activity being undertaken by the Scottish Government to deliver gender mainstreaming.