Guidance on inclusive design for town centres and busy streets

This is so fundamental that it should almost go without saying.
Two points that should be borne in mind though:
1) Ensure that the designers are fully involved in the consultation process, so that they understand the subtleties of different sets of needs (which may often conflict). in other words, the client shouldn't consult then brief the designer - that risks "Chinese whispers" - the message getting distorted. Although the client does need to ensure the designers really do understand all issues.
2) Ensure that the requests made by those with Protected Characteristics don't prejudice the success of the design for all users.

The missing piece is often the post completion evaluation.
Scottish Government (perhaps through Transport Scotland) should establish a central "library" or resource bank so that lessons learned from projects are passed on to all local authorities and to the designers of future projects.

Beware of confusing "know it best" with "know best."
This is the value of a resource bank - so that lessons learned can be shared, and often fears allayed.

And at times that suit all parts of the local community. That may mean anti-social hours or long hours for consultations.

I fundamentally disagree. This is based on what people are familiar with, not on trying to improve the situation for everyone. Cars have come to dominate the street, and kerbs are the clearest way to tell drivers the space is theirs and theirs alone: "pedestrians keep off, this is the road!"
It also discriminates against other Protected Characteristics: older or weaker wheelchair users can't get up a 60mm kerb, so what should be a space for all to share becomes closed off.
The issue is both design AND enforcement: level surface streets should be designed to make the car drivers feel slightly unsure, so they take care and move slowly. They should have a VERY low speed limit that is properly enforced so that ALL people, with or without Protected Characteristics can use the space safely.
This consultation appears to have been written by an advocacy group for one Protected Characteristic trying to determine what is best for ALL users of a space.

"Pavement cafés should be located adjacent to the building frontage so that staff and customers do not conflict with the general direction of pedestrian travel or otherwise obstruct the pedestrian corridor."

This could be misinterpreted to mean "contiguous with the building frontage." A pavement café area well separated from the building frontage may allow a clearer pedestrian corridor along the building facades, even though it requires staff to cross the pedestrian flow.

In-line” or direct crossings are preferred by ALL people over “staggered” crossings.

Utility companies should be required to fully reinstate on completion, to the standard the street was in before they started. All too often their reinstatement leaves the surfaces badly damaged

This reinforces my point about Scottish Government establishing a resource bank or library of post-construction analysis so that lessons learned can be shared to new projects