Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund Equality Ieva Morrison Equality Unit, Scottish Government

Equality Act 2010 – “protected characteristics” Age Disability Gender reassignment Marriage and civil partnership Pregnancy and maternity Race Religion or belief Sex Sexual orientation

Unlawful behaviour Not allowed to discriminate, harass or victimise another person because they have any of the protected characteristics There is also protection against discrimination where someone is perceived to have one of the protected characteristics or where they are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic

What is discrimination? Direct discrimination - treating one person worse than another because of a protected characteristic Indirect discrimination - putting in place a rule or policy or way of doing things that has a worse impact on someone with a protected characteristic than someone without one, when this cannot be objectively justified

Equality is not necessarily about treating everyone the same 5

Issues to think about What do you know about your service users? Age, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion/belief etc. Are there any groups that are underrepresented amongst your service users? If so - do you know the reasons why? How are you addressing underrepresentation? If your service is targeting one group (disabled children, for example) – think about diversity within that group (minority ethnic disabled children, for example)

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Issues to think about (cont.) What do you know about the diverse needs and experiences of the different groups of people using your services? Do you engage with a diverse group of service users when developing/reviewing your services? How is your service ensuring that it identifies and addresses barriers to access? How is your service meeting diverse needs?

In summary We are looking for: 1)That you know who your service users are in all their diversity 2)That you can demonstrate that you understand the diverse needs of your service users and that you shape your services accordingly 3)That you are addressing underrepresentation, and that you are widening access by identifying and removing barriers 4)That you engage with a diverse group of service users when shaping your services 5)Innovative approaches to how you address underrepresentation and meet diverse needs