Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-25 consultation

Closed 7 Oct 2022

Opened 1 Jul 2022

Contact

Equality Analysis

equalityevidencestrategy@gov.scot

Feedback updated 24 Mar 2023

We asked

From 1 July to 7 October 2022, the Scottish Government held a consultation on a draft plan to improve and strengthen Scotland’s equality evidence base. Alongside this consultation, the Scottish Government also undertook six engagement events.

You said

There were a total of 116 responses to the consultation, of these 29 were from individuals and 87 were from organisations, including equalities/advocacy groups, public sector and other organisations. The engagement events were attended by around 200 representatives from a range of organisations.

Overall, there was general agreement on the need for a strong equality evidence base upon which services can be designed and policy can be made. There are, however, some concerns over the robustness of much of the existing evidence due to small sample sizes, meaning that robust statistics cannot be produced for some groups from nationally representative datasets, and evidence gaps in relation to specific characteristics across a range of topics.  

We did

We commissioned a research organisation, Why Research, to carry out an independent analysis of the consultation responses and we have published the analysis report  on the Scottish Government website as an annex to our new Equality Evidence Strategy (Annex C). An easy read summary of the main findings of the analysis has also been published.

We have also published the responses, where permission has been given to do this, on Citizen Space.

We have used the views communicated to us through the consultation and the events to develop Scotland’s Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-2025, including the vision, principles and actions to strengthen the equality evidence base. The strategy was published on 24 March 2023.

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

We are consulting on a draft plan to improve and strengthen Scotland's equality evidence base. The responses we receive through this consultation will help to shape this plan, which will form the basis of Scotland's new Equality Evidence Strategy.

The development of Scotland's next Equality Evidence Strategy, covering the years 2023 to 2025 will mark the conclusion of the first phase of the Scottish Government's Equality Data Improvement Programme (EDIP). This phase was launched in April 2021 and aimed to lay the groundwork in strengthening Scotland's equality evidence base.

The EDIP, and in turn the new strategy, will enable policy makers to develop sound and inclusive policies to improve service delivery and outcomes for people in Scotland. The launch of the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-25 will mark the commencement of the second phase of the EDIP. This will be a three year programme of implementing the actions set out in the improvement plan.

We have split the consultation into four sections:

  • Section 1: Seeks views on the vision for equality data improvement over the period 2023-25
  • Section 2: Seeks views on the proposed improvement actions, including how these should be revised and prioritised, and any additional actions that should be considered for inclusion
  • Section 3: Seeks to understand when and how equality evidence is used and any barriers faced
  • Section 4: Seeks to understand who is producing equality evidence and any barriers faced

This consultation builds on recent stakeholder engagement carried out by the Scottish Government on equality evidence and data, and is focussed specifically on shaping the overall vision and the specific actions for inclusion in the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-25.

The consultation sits within our wider planned approach to engaging with stakeholder organisations throughout the development of the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-25.

If you are unable to respond using our consultation hub, please send the Respondent Information Form to: equalityevidencestrategy@gov.scot (see supporting documents for Respondent Information Form).

Read the consultation paper.

Stakeholder events

Alongside the written consultation we are also planning stakeholder engagement events. These events will provide an opportunity to ask questions, raise any suggestions or ideas you may have and engage in informal discussion.

These events will be centred on key themes and issues arising from this consultation and are due to take place from August 2022 onwards. The goal will be to seek further detailed insight into areas of user interest. This will ensure that the improvement plans and proposed actions:

  • are comprehensive
  • are challenging
  • will lead to more robust data to for more inclusive policy making

Why your views matter

This is an opportunity to provide your knowledge, views and expertise to help us continue to shape proposals to improve the equality evidence base together.

What happens next

We will publish the results of the analysis of responses to this consultation. Your responses to this consultation will be gathered and analysed to input directly into the development of the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-25, of which the equality data improvement plan will be a central component. Our goal is to build on Scotland's Equality Evidence Strategy 2017-2021 to further strengthen equality data for policy making and service delivery in Scotland. This will include addressing gaps in the evidence base by developing our Equality Evidence Finder. By taking part in this consultation and in any ongoing engagement activity you will be playing a key role in helping us reach this goal.

Interests

  • Main hub