Scottish Funding Council Equality Outcomes Report 2015
Issue date:
30 April 2015
Summary:
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, here, we report progress to deliver our
equality outcomes to advance equality and diversity both externally, supporting
the colleges and universities that we fund; and internally, to support our staff.
FAO:
Staff and students of Scotland’s colleges and/or universities, and SFC staff
Contact: Halena McAnulty
Further
information: Job title: Senior Policy / Analysis Officer
Department: Access, Skills and Outcome Agreements
Tel: 0131 313 6500
Email: [email protected]
Scottish Funding Council
Apex 2
97 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HD
T 0131 313 6500
F 0131 313 6501
www.sfc.ac.uk
Contents
Ambition
3
Our role
4
Our strategic plan
5
Meeting the Equality Duties
6
SFC’s Equality framework
7
Consultation
8
Reflecting on our published equality outcomes
9
Our revised equality outcomes
12
External College and University Equality Outcomes
14
Internal SFC Equality Outcomes
28
Monitoring our progress
34
1
Ambition
Our ambition is to make Scotland the best place in the world to learn, to educate, to research and to innovate. To be truly competitive in a globalised world, our economy must draw on the talents
and ability of everyone in society. Equality is a necessary goal if we want a society in which everyone is treated fairly, regardless of difference, and given the opportunity to fulfil their potential in life.
For the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), this means deepening our understanding and action on equality with equality considerations to be central to policy development, decision making and delivery
in order to realise the potential of its staff, all students and supporting equality in college and university careers to improve life chances for all.
Central to our decision making is the principle that,
‘No one should be denied opportunities because of their race or ethnicity, their disability, their gender or sexual orientation, their age or religion. This principle underpins all the work of
the Scottish Government’
www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality
Over the next 10 years, we want to transform the economic and social wellbeing of individual learners and Scotland as a whole. In doing so, we will make a significant contribution to the Scottish
Government’s strategies for investment, innovation, inclusive growth, and internationalisation and, ultimately, its goal of creating a more successful country. Equality and diversity is paramount to
this ambition.
We will align our organisational approach to deliver our equality outcomes, and demonstrate the innovation, competence and high standards of performance expected of modern public bodies in
Scotland to advance equality and diversity.
The SFC is committed to equality of opportunity and to a culture that reflects difference. Captured in our values developed by the staff collective, we work together, and with others; fairness, trust,
respect, honesty, openness, commitment. We recognise that as a public body and an employer, we have a fundamental role to promote and demonstrate the ways in which we support and advance
equality and diversity, communicate our commitment to continually advance and embed equality meaningfully and sustainably. Supporting participation in public life, tackling prejudice and
promoting understanding are included within the statutory duties. We intend that this is addressed in our sustained commitment to staff and students in the colleges and universities that we fund,
and our staff body.
There is still a great deal of work ahead to fully embed equality across all functions. We recognise through the process of earnest reflection in our mainstream reporting, and the revision of our
equality outcomes, strategic plan and 10 year ambition, we could do more to support equality and diversity. SFC is expected to both lead and support the sectors to deliver on its Public Sector
Equality Duty (PSED), a relationship that will require ever closer involvement, and a coordinated programme between SFC and relevant key sector agencies is required to help us to deliver
meaningful equality outcomes, demonstrate mainstreaming and evidence impact that is driven by consideration for all protected characteristic communities. We look forward to continued work
with the sector, students, partner agencies and SFC staff to advance the equality and diversity agenda.
2
Our role
The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) is the national, strategic body that is responsible for funding teaching and learning provision, research and other activities in
Scotland's 25 colleges (see Colleges that we fund) and 19 universities and higher education institutions (see Universities and Higher Education institutions that we fund). We are more commonly
known as 'the Scottish Funding Council' or 'SFC'.
Our statutory duty is to secure coherent, high quality further and higher learning provision by colleges and universities in Scotland, and the undertaking of research.
We do this by investing in the development of a coherent college and university system which, through enhanced learning, research and knowledge exchange, leads to improved economic,
educational, social, civic and cultural outcomes for the people of Scotland. Our main activities are to:
•
Support national priorities in widening access to learning, skills, research, knowledge exchange and innovation
•
Deliver our statutory and other functions, including payments to colleges and universities, and efficient corporate services
•
Develop and manage Outcome Agreements with colleges and universities
•
Facilitate strategic change and collaboration in colleges and universities
We also provide resources to colleges to support students on further education programmes. Funding for students on higher education programmes is provided by another body - the Student
Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).
SFC is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Scottish Government and was established on 3 October 2005. The SFC replaced the former Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC)
and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and brought together funding and support for Scotland's colleges and universities under one body.
Our Funding contributes to the costs of teaching and skills development, research, innovation, knowledge exchange, widening access, student support and bursaries, buildings and equipment and
strategic initiatives.
The SFC employs circa 115 staff who are involved in a range of roles including policy development and implementation, analysis, finance, management and associated support functions.
3
Our Strategic Plan
Looking back
Our strategic plan for 2012 to 2015 committed SFC to contributing positively to a more equal society through advancing equality and good relations in our day-to-day business, and through meeting
our duties under the Equality Act 2010, and other legislation. It set out an ambitious programme for change and reform over the next three years. We have committed to work with colleges,
universities and our partners to lead and support change in further and higher education, which improves the life chances of learners and supports jobs, growth and sustainability.
In that time we have radically changed our relationship with colleges and universities by introducing an outcomes-based approach to funding from Academic Year 2012-13. Now in its fourth year,
the outcome agreement process is bedding in and supporting the SFC to set out each year the outcomes that it expects colleges and universities to deliver in return for the significant public
investment in further and higher education. And it also allows colleges and universities to make clear the contribution that they can make to the priorities of the Council and the Scottish
Government.
Looking forward
We are currently developing our strategic plan for 2015-18. This is likely to set out:
1. Our ambition: to make Scotland the best place in the world to learn, to education, to research and to innovate
2. Our key task: to care for and develop the whole system of colleges and universities and their connections and contribution to Scotland’s educational, social, cultural and economic life
3. Our three key outcomes: high quality learning, world-leading research and greater innovation in the economy
4. How we will know we are successful
For each outcome, and for our key task, we will set out:
• our ten-year ambition
• the current foundations
• SFC’s Programme for Change
Advancing equality and diversity
Within the Programme for Change to advance our key task, we are committed to placing equality and diversity at the heart of what we do. We believe that this approach will better enable us to
mainstream equality and diversity across our work.
We recognise that there is still a great deal of work to be done to embed equality and diversity across all of our areas of work. For this reason we have identified equality and diversity as one of
seven priority areas for development over the lifetime of the next strategic plan. We will put in place a team with responsibility for leading this development programme. Our improvement advisor
will work alongside that team to enable us to make best use of established improvement methods and to help promote the spread of the improvements we make.
4
Meeting the Equality Duties
On 28 May 2012, the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 came into force. They apply to the SFC and their purpose is to enable us to meet our obligation under the general
duty to:
• Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation or any other prohibited conduct
• Advance equality of opportunity by having due regard in particular to the need to: remove or minimise disadvantage; meet the needs of particular groups that are different from the needs
of others; and encourage participation in public life
• Foster good relations, which involves in particular, the need to tackle prejudice and promote understanding.
The Specific Duties require us to develop and review equality outcomes
• prepare and publish a set of equality outcomes by 30 April 2013 – and then at intervals of not more than four years – to enable the SFC to better perform the general duty
• consider relevant evidence relating to people who share a relevant protected characteristic, and take reasonable steps to involve people with those characteristics, or who represent those
with a relevant protected characteristic
• publish reasons if the equality outcomes do not cover every relevant protected characteristic
• review and publish a report on progress made towards achieving the set of equality outcomes by 30 April 2015 and subsequently at intervals of not more than two years
Publish equality outcomes and report progress in meeting them
In this document we have reflected on our published equality outcomes. Furthermore, we have chosen to revise each outcome to better articulate a result that we aim to achieve in order to further
one or more of the general duties. Each equality outcome applies to all protected characteristics. In preparing our equality outcomes we have ensured that they apply to our college and university
students and staff, and to our SFC staff.
5
SFC’s Equality policy framework
Our published equality outcomes and related information can be found here. http://www.sfc.ac.uk/aboutus/our conduct/Equality.aspx
We seek to develop our leadership of equality and diversity and strategic planning to support our ambition for equality of opportunity regardless of background or protected characteristic to
improve people’s life chances and eliminate disadvantages arising from individual characteristics.
Externally facing, the commitment to improve equality and diversity runs across our legislative priorities, for example, at education policy level, priority areas for advancement of equality have been
identified in the Letters of Guidance to SFC by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, embedding within outcome agreements and by the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce
(DSYW). When considering relevant evidence, the Scottish Government’s evidence finder tool brings together equality evidence across a wide range of policy areas including post-16 education and
we will make use of this where appropriate www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/Equalities
Equality is part of SFC’s widening access agenda. However, we need to distinguish between under-representation, deprivation and disadvantage and the relationship these have to protected
characteristics. A protected characteristic population may be under-represented due to disadvantage or by barriers to participation, though not due to deprivation or socio-economic disadvantage.
There may be intersectionality of one or more protected characteristic and compounded issues, particularly socio-economic deprivation, that for students, present complex barriers to learning,
retention and success. We want to understand this better and our work to improve disclosure is imperative.
Internally, the SFC has an equality and diversity policy which covers all staff and it sets the overarching framework on how the Council as an employer will act and also how we expect staff to behave.
This policy underpins and links to all other SFC staff policies including recruitment and selection, training and development and staff appraisal. It was last reviewed by the Policies and Procedures
Working Group (PPWG) through consultation in March 2014. We will review this to ensure that it is communicating most effectively the responsibilities of all staff to support equality and diversity.
Our SFC Mainstreaming Report 2015 provides further and more detailed information. Our reflection on how we mainstream equality has enabled us to reflect on our equality outcomes.
SFC Mainstreaming Report 2015: http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/About the Council Our Conduct/SFC Mainstreaming Report 2015.pdf
SFC Mainstreaming Report 2013: http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/About the Council Our Conduct/Mainstreaming report.pdf
6
Consultation
A requirement when developing equality outcomes, is to consider relevant evidence relating to people who share a relevant protected characteristic, and take reasonable steps to involve people
with those characteristics, or who represent those with a relevant protected characteristic.
We know that involvement with SFC staff, college and university staff and student representatives and our wider networks will help to review and improve our equality outcomes and help monitor
progress and demonstrate impact. During the revision of our equality outcomes, we have not had time to consult externally, and intend to. Importantly, we will continue to involve staff and our
recognised trade union which is Unite, learners and our wider networks including the National Union of Students (NUS), Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), the College Development Network (CDN), Lead
Scotland, the Disabled Students Advisory Group (DSAG), Who Cares? Scotland, Equality liaison groups, Colleges Scotland, Universities Scotland (US), and Scottish Government – this list is not
exhaustive - in the implementation and review of our plans for action. We also commit to ongoing dialogue with specialist organisations, such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC),
reflecting their advice and ideas on best practice. SFC is supporting a framework for improving strong and effective students associations, launching in May 2015. This will set an excellent model for
engagement and self-evaluation against baseline principles and themes to support engagement and fair representation for students. Progress will be reported in the next review.
Overall, we consider that we could do more to gather and analyse evidence from across the protected characteristics to help to determine the key equality and diversity issues and help the SFC to
develop outcomes that are relevant and specific to the institutions we fund and our staff, and provide the basis against which to evidence progress towards those outcomes. We can consider
equality data such as employment monitoring information, administrative data, complaints and grievances, results of impact assessments, commissioned research and student data along with
relevant national and regional evidence disaggregated by protected characteristic. Qualitative data and evidence such as that from surveys, involvement activities, internal research or feedback
forms can also help inform our understanding of the most significant equality and diversity issues, particularly for protected characteristics where there may be a lack of ‘hard data’ about different
groups’ needs and experiences.
We have revisited the equality outcomes that we published in April 2013 and identified that our focus was broad and our outcomes read as outputs. For this reason, it has been necessary to revise
them at the same time as reporting. The revised equality outcomes are disaggregated to distinguish between the external facing equality responsibilities to support the colleges and universities that
we fund, and the internal function to support our staff. We have not had enough time to report progress against our revised outcomes in time for submission of this report but we will work with the
ECU and EHRC to advance and evidence our work further on equality and diversity and ensure that actions are linked to our operational plan.
7
Reflecting on our published equality outcomes
An equality outcome aims to achieve results to further one or more of the needs of the general duty. The previous duties required institutions to set objectives but this specific duty goes further.
‘This specific duty aims to bring practical improvements in the life chances of those who experience discrimination and disadvantage’.
EHRC Scotland (2012) Equality outcomes and the public sector equality duty: a guide for public authorities (Scotland)
Our revised equality outcomes are a product of our reflection on how well we are advancing equality and diversity, and we have used the mainstream reporting process to establish equality
outcomes and resultant actions. We identified the need to create improved equality outcomes to better express the results we aim to achieve. These outcomes represent the areas that we regard as
priorities for action, based on the evidence that we have assessed. The actions that we will take to achieve these outcomes are those which we consider will be most effective and within our capacity
to deliver our equality and diversity ambition. We have developed outcomes that support progress on one or more of the needs of the general duty, for one or more of the relevant protected
characteristics, and planned actions or activities for each outcome related to the policies, functions or practices to be delivered by the SFC.
In some cases an outcome will lend itself to a quantitative target against which progress can be measured/evidenced, such as a specific increase in the number of students with a particular
characteristic. However, for some areas it may not be appropriate or possible to include a numerical target, but how progress will be measured can be expressed in a range of ways, for example
through indicators of changes in staff or student behaviours.
We previously stated that in line with our strategic plan we would:
1. Add relevant objectives for widening access and equalities in Outcome Agreements for all institutions
SFC introduced outcome agreements in AY2012-13. Outcome agreements have become a powerful tool in demonstrating what colleges and universities deliver in return for public investment.
The relationship-based engagements ensure our funding decisions take account of the context within which colleges and universities operate. This helps us differentiate our approach where it
is appropriate while consistent methods of reporting through an outcome agreement document. This helps us to support the college and university sector to show impact at a national level.
The process has encouraged many institutions to mainstream equality into core strategy and will be continued (evident in the ECU briefings on progress http://www.ecu.ac.uk/guidanceresources/governance-and-policies/outcome-agreements/ ). We recognise that this is an action and have reflected this in our revision.
2. Continue to identify, develop and spread good practice in widening access and equalities
While it is recognised that this will take time to embed, refine and evidence, prominence of equality and diversity is heightening within the outcome agreement negotiations. Tied to funding,
this raises the status and has created activity, sharing of practice and an open dialogue. The funding of, and our work with ECU, CDN and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) has played a
pivotal role, and this will be evident in the mainstream reporting by individual institutions. We want to be sure that we are capturing that activity and impacts in the right way within the
outcome agreements, especially where an area of under-representation is evident. We want to work with our institutions, the ECU, CDN, HEA and EHRC to identify, build and share examples
of good practice in this area. We recognise that this is an action and have reflected this in our revision.
3. Set benchmarks for progress in promoting greater equality in research careers
Whilst developing our equality outcomes in 2013, we applied for, and were successful in achieving the European Commission’s HR Excellence in Research award (HR Excellence). In doing so
we had to demonstrate clear progress and commitment to working further with Scottish universities to enhance how they attract, manage and develop research staff. This is part of a
concordat to increase the attractiveness and sustainability of research careers in the UK, and to improve the quantity, quality and impact of research for the benefit of UK society and the
economy. Also over this period, it was proposed that changes be made to the Research Excellence Grant (REG) and an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was undertaken. Using HESA 2010-11
8
data, the EIA examined the extent to which any changes in funding may have a differential impact on any one group of people who share a protected characteristic. The Assessment
concluded that it was unclear what impact, if any, the changes in funding would have on groups of protected characteristics. Whilst it was possible to establish what the characteristics of
research staff were at institutions that would receive more/less funding, it was not possible to give a definitive answer on whether or not the variation in funding brought about by changes
would impact on any protected group.
The Council’s Board agreed to introduce additional requirements that would help deliver positive equality and diversity outcomes related to research staff. This position reflected the views of
stakeholders, including NUS Scotland, and the approach set out by REF2014 that included new standards for consideration of equality and diversity in selection of staff and their work for
inclusion in the exercise. In addition to continuing to place the expectation on institutions to adhere with the Equality Act 2010, institutions will now also be required to address equality and
diversity issues specific to their institution as part of the Outcome Agreement process. This represents a positive change in the SFC’s approach to addressing equality and diversity issues and
will create new opportunities for the SFC to support improvements in a strategic way and we revised our equality outcomes to enable us to maximise and broaden opportunities across career
stages and across sectors. Research careers are now included within our revised Equality Outcome 2.
4. Work with institutions to find ways of addressing issues of gender segregation in programmes
Over the period that this report covers, the Scottish Government published ‘Developing the Young Workforce - Scotland's Youth Employment Strategy’, which contained their implementation
plans jointly agreed with local government. We are working very closely with them and a range of agencies such as Skills Development Scotland (SDS), CDN, Scottish Qualifications Authority
(SQA) and Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) to implement the Youth Employment Strategy which includes the development of a Gender Action Plan. We are in the process
of reviewing senior phase school pupils studying SCQF Level 5 and above by dominant programme group and gender. This work is being supported by a Gender Steering Group which includes
representation from both sectors, the Scottish Government, NUS and SDS. In AY 2016-17 we will also be supporting the Scottish Government’s KPI for gender as outlined in their
implementation plan for DYW. We recognise that there is work to be done to support more even patterns – at both a sectoral and an institutional level - of participation, retention and
success by different groups of learners, from protected characteristic groups, including by gender and with consideration to those from areas of deprivation and care backgrounds where they
interact. This is where our equality, access and inclusion priorities meet and this is reflected within our revised Equality Outcome 1.
We also expressed our commitments in relation to our role as an employer and the staff of the Executive of SFC:
1. Create an explicit linkage in practice between HR policies, the policy development process and equalities issues and outcomes
HR policies are subject to consultation and negotiation (as appropriate) between the SFC Management and elected members of the recognised trade union, Unite. This process is distinct from
the wider development of externally facing policies carried out elsewhere in the Council and there are no plans to link them. However, as part of the review of staff policies consideration is
given to equality and diversity issues, Unite has an elected official who has specific responsibility for equality and upon review of staff policies, equality impact assessments (EIAs) are carried
out to. This review of staff policies takes place through our Joint Negotiation and Consultation Forum and its Policies and Procedures Working Group. Through the development of the
mainstreaming report, we identified that this constitutes a set of actions and we want to move from activity to evidence that Equality and diversity consideration is central to SFC policy
development, decision making and delivery. This is reflected in our revised internal Equality Outcome 2.
2. Further develop the use of Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) and the embedding of EIAs in all of our activities both as good practice and also as a means of further mainstreaming
equalities in all of our work and promoting culture change to embrace equality and diversity
The responsibility for EIAs was cascaded to each SFC operational group. During the development of policies and procedures, staff involved in the policy development were required to carry
out an EIA process to take full account of equality dimensions. Consistent use of EIAs needs to be improved and monitored across SFC to ensure that we are able to take correct account of
protected characteristics and how they are impacted by SFC policies. A review of our EIA process is planned for 2015-16 to ensure it is both current and relevant. This will include a revision to
guidance and relevant professional learning to establish the best approach. To support its re-launch, staff training will be delivered to ensure all SFC staff are aware of the importance of EIAs
in supporting policy development to better meet SFC’s public sector equality duties. This theme is picked up and continued in our new revised internal Equality Outcome 2.
9
3. Develop and implement succession planning and staff development to address imbalances in the equalities profile of the organisation, for example, gender balance at Deputy Director and
above
SFC has introduced regular “succession” planning as part of the Resource Request Group (which considers all requests for staffing within SFC). However, for succession planning to work we
need to have senior vacancies/opportunities to become available to staff through a transparent recruitment process. Low levels of staff turnover and tighter restrictions on public spending
have served to limit opportunities within SFC. However, there is also a need to carefully balance internal only recruitment processes with fully open recruitment (where vacancies are both
internally and externally advertised) to ensure there is a flow of staff from outside SFC to ensure we can work to achieve a better balance of staff across protected characteristics. Building
upon extensive investment in staff development we have also participated in both 2013-14 and 2014-15 in the Aurora Leadership Development programme for women. This programme,
though designed for higher education institutions, is also relevant to SFC as it contains a unique blend of workshops, group work and mentoring which help to develop networks, confidence
and capabilities of women who take part. Having been involved in this programme from its commencement we plan to continue our participation beyond 2015 and consider other
developmental measures to build further leadership capabilities within our female members of staff. Our new revised internally facing Equality Outcome 1, below, will through better
monitoring, information, understanding and directed positive actions ensure we continue the work we have already started on this theme.
10
Our revised equality outcomes
We have revised these external and internal outcomes as follows:
External facing, to support the colleges and universities that we fund:
Equality Outcome 1
More even patterns – at both a sectoral and an institutional level - of participation, retention and success by different groups of learners, from protected characteristic groups and including
those from areas of deprivation and care backgrounds where they interact
Equality Outcome 2
Understand the diversity of college and university staff, management and governing bodies leading to specific Equality Outcomes for improvement by AY 2017-18
Equality Outcome 3
An improved and aligned evidence base for equality, informed by increased rates of disclosure across protected characteristics
Equality Outcome 4
Advancement in the mainstreaming of equality and diversity within colleges and universities within the outcome agreement process
Internal facing, to support our staff and organisational development:
Equality Outcome 1
We will better understand and improve equality and diversity within our workforce through increased disclosure and positive action initiatives
Equality Outcome 2
Equality and diversity consideration is central to SFC policy development, decision making and delivery
11
External College and University Equality Outcomes 2015-17
12
Evidenced justification (see link above):
Key Themes:
• There is a significant gender imbalance in a
range of subject areas that males and
females choose to study at both Colleges
and universities.
•
We have also seen significant
improvements in our data in relation to
disability and race. Where there is
compulsory data collection, there is
excellent progress. We have an ambition
that this will extend to sexual orientation,
religion and belief and gender
reassignment. We need to work with the
sectors, over the next three years, to build
up the disclosure rates
•
We suspect that the data we are collecting
in the outcome agreement documents in
relation to profound and complex needs is
not adequately and consistently reflecting
the size and profile of this group.
•
Through outcome agreements, we expect
institutions to make a full assessment of
under-representation and need, with a
view to further improving access,
participation and success among specific
groups of learners.
This advances General Duty 2
‘Advance equality of opportunity between
people who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not’
under 25 and those aged 25 plus. This will be started once the
Gender Action Plan is published and the implementation plan is
underway. We expect this to be summer 2016.
Disability – We will review the funding we allocate to colleges to
support learners with additional educational support needs. An
outcome of this review will be to report the outcomes achieved
from these funds and to set ambitions for future improvements.
This will be will be implemented through our Outcome Agreement
process and guidance and will apply from AY 2016-17 onwards. Our
guidance for AY 2016-17 will be published in summer 2015.
commence summer 2016.
•
We will be able to identify and report on the
specific outcomes achieved by each college
region from our funding for additional
educational support needs. We will seek
specific commitments to these outcomes
from this funding through our Outcome
Agreement Guidance for AY 2016-17 onward.
This guidance will be developed in summer
2015.
Gender – We are developing a Gender Action Plan (as outlined in the •
case study of the mainstreaming report). This plan will include
specific milestones and ambitions to tackle significant subject
gender imbalances such as computing, engineering and nursing and
other gender issues such as poorer retention and prior attainment
for males. This will apply to both colleges and universities and will
complement the Scottish Government’s KPI - 8 on gender as per
Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy. The SFC Gender Action Plan
will be will be implemented through our Outcome Agreement
process and guidance and will apply from AY 2016-17 onwards. Our
guidance for AY 2016-17 will be published in summer 2015.
We will achieve the ambitions outlined in our
Gender Action Plan for AY 2016-17 and
subsequent years. This will be monitored
through an assessment of the draft and final
outcome agreements which we will receive in
January 2016 and March 2016 respectively.
The achievement of the commitments will
then by monitored and confirmed through
our HESA and FES data sets in December
2017.
We will hold a conference for both sectors and key stakeholders
such as the EHRC to discuss and share good practice in relation to
gender prior to the development of our guidance in summer 2015.
Care leavers – We will develop a three year national ambition for
those with a care background with milestones to address
declaration, intake and educational outcomes. Justification for this
is described in more detail in the case study of the mainstreaming
report. This will apply to both colleges and universities and will
complement the Scottish Government’s KPI - 11 on care leavers as
per Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy. The SFC national
ambition for those with a care background will be implemented
through our outcome agreement process and guidance and will
apply from academic year 2016-17 onwards. Our guidance will be
published in summer 2015.
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•
We will achieve the milestones and
ambitions outlined in our national ambition
for those with a care background. This will
be monitored through an assessment of the
draft and final outcome agreements which
we will receive in January 2016 and March
2016 respectively. The achievement of the
commitments will then by monitored and
confirmed through our HESA and FES data
sets in December 2017.
We will work with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and other
partners to better prepare all young people for employment by
taking forward the ‘Advancing Equalities’ recommendations from
the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. The
actions from this will include:
•
The Governance group will assess our agreed
milestones and timelines at their February
2016 and May 2016 meetings.
•
The outcomes of the workshop will be used
to assess and review our developing the
workforce and access outcomes in our
Outcome Agreement Guidance for AY 201718 onwards. This will be monitored through
an assessment of the draft and final outcome
agreements which we will receive in January
2017 and March 2017 respectively. The
achievement of the commitments will then by
monitored and confirmed through our HESA
and FES data sets in December 2018.
•
Projects will that focus on equality and
diversity entirely will be set additional
requirements in their offers of funding and
equality impact assessments will be required
as a condition of all grants.
•
Where possible we will report on the impact
of these funds through our first triennial
review reporting (outlined in the
mainstreaming report). We will develop an
interim report by Autumn 2015 and will
publish a full report by Summer 2016.
Identify and address significant gender imbalance in subjects /
employment sectors in colleges and universities.
•
See Gender section above
We will continue to use our outcome agreement process to achieve
access and equality excellence in all colleges and universities.
•
Develop relevant objectives for widening
access, equality and diversity in OAs for all
institutions. For national underrepresentation we will set a new set of
ambitions which we will implement through
the AY 2017-18 outcome agreements. This
will be monitored through an assessment of
the draft and final outcome agreements
•
•
•
We will update our joint agreement with the SDS (which was
signed by both Chairs and both CEOs) to outline specific
actions and timelines that we will undertake to achieve a
collaborative approach. This will be achieved by December
2016.
We will support a governance group which will meet
quarterly with representation at Director level from each
organisation to oversee these actions and timelines. The
group will meet in August, November February and May.
We will hold a workshop on work experience and placements
to discuss good practice. This will include the consideration
of equality issues particularly in relation to gender (gender
occupation segregation, those with a care background and
disability). This will be completed by June 2015.
We will seek evidence based funding bids from our £4m SFC Impact
for Access fund to get the greatest impact from our widening access
and equality initiatives.
Where under-representation exists nationally in either or both of
the sectors we, and will set ambitious national targets for the next
set of three year outcome agreements which will be developed in AY
2017-18. These ambitions will be developed and presented to our
Board for approval in June 2016.
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Where under-representation exists institutionally (comparative to
the rest of the sector and/or the profile of the region where the
institution exists) our outcome agreement managers will discuss and
agree ambitious targets to move towards addressing the underrepresentation. These targets will be agreed in the AY 2016-17
outcome agreements which will be finalised by March 2016.
Monitor the activity relating to learners with profound and complex
needs on college courses involving formal recognition of
achievement over time to evidence improvements and demonstrate
impact.
Initial work on this has identified that there is not a consistently
applied definition or agreed definition of this group across the
sector, nor is it adequately recorded in our national statistics. This is
the first step we need to achieve if we are to adequately monitor the
activity of this group.
The work required to achieve this cannot be completed for the AY
2016-17 Outcome Agreement Guidance and as such it will be
postponed to the 2017-18 Outcome Agreement Guidance which is
due to be published in summer 2017. This gives time to achieve the
following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
August 2015 - Build a proposal to define the group and agree
how it will be measured
October 2015 - Test and consult on the proposal
December 2015 - Set up statistical processes to measure the
agreed definition
January 2016 - Work with Outcome Agreement Managers
and college regions to ensure the proposal is understood
March 2016 - Develop guidance in relation to the definition
and its measurement
Summer 2016 - Implement the new guidance
16
which we will receive in January 2017 and
March 2017 respectively. The achievement
of the commitments will then by monitored
and confirmed through our HESA and FES
data sets in December 2018.
•
For institutional under-representation we will
agree targets to move towards addressing the
under-representation for AY 2016-17
onwards. This will be monitored through an
assessment of the draft and final outcome
agreements which we will receive in January
2016 and March 2016 respectively. The
achievement of the commitments will then by
monitored and confirmed through our HESA
and FES data sets in December 2017.
•
Through our AY 2017-18 Outcome Agreement
Guidance, we will have published an agreed
definition of profound and complex needs
which can be consistently applied in each
college region and can be statistically
collected and monitored. This will have been
achieved by summer 2017.
We will then develop a baseline and a report
(including other equalities and outcomes
achieved) for this activity from FES by
December 2018.
Work with CDN to analyse and assess the measures of progress in
their ‘Disabled student transitions’ project
•
Work with universities to evidence the impact of contextualised
admissions. We will seek to assure ourselves that through
contextualised admissions universities are reaching out to all who
have the potential ability to benefit from higher education
regardless of their circumstances or background. This will include
consideration of equality and diversity, disadvantage and
deprivation and the interplay of all three. We will seek to have
developed this work to enable us to present our evidence as part of
the triennial review reporting cycle.
•
We will assess the impact of the college student support policies,
student support budget and individual college student support
allocations. This assessment will include consideration of equalities,
disadvantage and deprivation and the interplay of all three.
•
We will have a better evidence base and
therefore a deeper understanding of the
student support system and its impact on
students by December 2015.
We will also assess the impact of these policies and funds on the
changes to the benefits system and the implications of the
introduction of Universal Credit.
•
We will be able to consider (within the funds
available to us), how best to target these
funds. If appropriate, this will enable us to:
o develop proposed changes to the
budget for student support and/or
future student support policies and/or
individual college region funding
allocations by April 2016;
o Seek advice on the proposed changes
by summer 2016; and
o Implement the proposed changes in
guidance with affect from AY 2017-18
onward.
This will include the following activities:
•
•
We will present the impact of various funding scenarios to our
Access and Inclusion Committee in May 2015.
We will undertake a detailed analysis of the student profile
currently accessing funds in each region by December 2015
Working with key partners to develop understanding of whether
there is any underrepresented group at Post-graduate level and
developing policy to address any barriers.
We will work with partners to develop the evidence base on who
undertakes taught postgraduate (PGT) study to inform the
Government’s review Group by summer 2015. Following any actions
focused on PGT, we will consider any implications for postgraduate
researchers by December 2016.
17
includes surveys, professional dialogue
reporting, college reports and evaluation of
outcome agreements
We will report on the evidence of the impact
of contextualised admissions through our first
triennial review reporting (outlined in the
mainstreaming report). We will develop an
interim report by autumn 2015 and will
publish a full report by summer 2016.
We will consider the recommendations of the
review group and take appropriate action by
December 2015 to see what role there is for SFC
to ensure all can access PGT study.
•
World-leading research
Greater innovation in the economy
High-performing Colleges and
Universities
Foster good relations between people
who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not
Strategic intent
Scotland will be nurturing, developing and
training the future international research
leaders to contribute to a stronger, more
productive and resilient economy with
economic growth driven by innovation
from our institutions.
Evidenced justification
The Careers in Research Online Survey
(CROS) 2013 indicates that ‘in many areas
the rate of progress has slowed and a
plateau may have been reached…different
efforts may need to be made for there to
be substantial further change in the
future’, we are currently discussing how to
make the maximum impact and this is
referred to throughout the revised action
plan as ‘Ensure enhanced impact and
alignment of SFC funded equality and
diversity related activity (November 2015)’.
•
We will take forward Vitae’s recommendations from their analysis of the Career
Research Online Survey (CROS) and Principal Investigators Research Leaders
Survey (PRILS).
•
•
•
•
•
Ensure institutions recognise the link between SFC funding in relation to REF and
expectation that they will apply the recommendations of the REF Equality and
Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP) in their internal development work.
•
•
Introduce additional requirements to deliver positive equality and diversity
outcomes related to research staff that reflects the views of stakeholders,
We are currently reviewing the impact of
including NUS Scotland, and the approach set out by REF2014 that included new
our funding for and activity around equality standards for consideration of equality and diversity in selection of staff and
with the aim of realigning our equality
their work for inclusion in the exercise.
strategy to fit better with the duties of the
Equality Act 2010, the Quality Assurance
Agency Scotland quality assurance
processes and Outcome Agreements. This
is ongoing and progress will be monitored
Strategic investment funding includes equality expectations within its basic
and reported.
perimeters and conditions of funding
This advances all three General Duties;
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination,
harassment, victimisation and other
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•
•
•
equality outcomes to assess the
outcomes relating to governance
Evaluate findings of ECU’s ‘College
staff equality project’ incorporating
college surveys, increased staff
equality commitments included in
OAs and evidence presented in
specific duties reports
Survey results show less marked
gender differences for Scottish
participants
Rise in HEI contributions to surveys
Increased mentions around
researcher equality and diversity in
OA documentation
Increased numbers of Scottish HEI
staff participating in researcherrelated training (incl. Aurora)
Institutions report on both the
volume and impact of the training
Increase the requirements on HEIs
to help deliver positive equality and
diversity outcomes related to
research staff
Evidenced statements of progress
in all OAs
We will consult with relevant
stakeholders by September 2015.
Reporting is more effectively
aligned with the expectations
placed on institutions through the
Equality Act 2010 and is evident
within the outcome agreement
process
Every Offer of Grant issued from
April 2015 will have equality
expectations and reporting
requirements. SFC will work with its
partner agencies to establish
reasonable but challenging targets,
for example, 50% gender split
•
•
conduct that is prohibited by the
Equality Act 2010
Advance equality of opportunity
between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not
Foster good relations between people
who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not
Institutions supported by ECU to deliver Athena Swan
•
A year on year increase in the
number of institutions and
departments securing/advancing
existing Athena Swan awards.
SFC will seek to work with the sector to drive the shift in research culture that is
required to ensure that every individual with the potential and desire to be an
excellent researcher is recognised and adequately supported to realise that
potential
•
More robust data collection and
monitoring of both SFC formulaic
research grants and strategic
research funding to facilitate
potential development of gender
focused outcomes.
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and expertise to support all staff and
students regardless of background or
protected characteristic.
Evidenced justification (see links above)
Key theme:
• We recognise the need to work with the
sectors, over the next three years, to
build up the disclosure rates and
introduce, where possible, additional
compulsory fields to enable more
meaningful sector analysis of the
protected characteristics to support
targeted developments.
• We do not place sufficient emphasis on
institutional staff data within the
outcome agreement process to be
placed to effectively evidence need or
support improvements. This is an action
that we will take steps to improve on.
This advances all three General Duties;
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination,
harassment, victimisation and other
conduct that is prohibited by the
Equality Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity
between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not
• Foster good relations between people
who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not
We will support evidence and informed decision making through our published
statistics and analysis. This will include data on the measures outlined in the
Outcome Agreement Guidance prior to the deadline of the draft Outcome
Agreement submissions in January each year.
Use data to promote awareness of equalities issues more widely and effectively,
identifying areas of good practice as well as areas where further development is
needed.
•
•
•
•
We will publish our data for
protected characteristics by sector,
region and institution in relation to
access, inclusion and equality in our
Learning for All report in March
2016 and March 2017.
ECU statistical reports and analysis
Evidence base underpins internal
and external communications and
events
Outcome agreement guidance
(published in Summer 2015 (for OAs
relating to AY 2016-17) and
Summer 2016 (for OAs relation to
AY 2017-18)
Review our collection of college and university staff data, and where necessary,
make data collection on sexual orientation, religion and belief compulsory
•
Data submissions come into line
with the other compulsory
protected characteristics that the
SFC collects
Establish a strategy for gender reassignment so that a comparative data
collection can be developed between the HESA approach for universities and
similarly for colleges
•
Consultation with both sectors and
the Statistical Advisory Group for
Education (SAGE) to establish
approach
Work with the sectors, over the next three years, to build up the disclosure
rates. This will allow for more meaningful sector analysis of the protective
characteristics
•
Bring declaration Sexual Orientation
and Religion & Belief in line with
other protective characteristics to
over 90%
Monitor trends across the college sector in relation to all protected
characteristic data collected to identify specific issues of under-representation
or disadvantage to support targeted policy developments
•
Through our Learning for All
publication We will report on all
three areas and we will identify
where they intersect and identify
compounding issues
Equality and diversity data reviewed
annually and presented to the SFC’s
equality and diversity focus group
•
Support the public bodies in their scrutiny of equality and diversity by providing
quarterly reports taken from FES online, disseminated by SFC
22
•
Robustness of these reports will
improve over the reporting period
Improve understanding of regional need by protected characteristics
23
•
Monitor and report trends in
regional profile by protected
characteristic
equality outcomes within Outcome
Agreements.
Demonstration and promotion of competence in embedding equality in OAs
•
This advances all three General Duties;
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination,
harassment, victimisation and other
conduct that is prohibited by the
Equality Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity
between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not
• Foster good relations between people
who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not
Develop dialogue between SFC and equality teams in institutions to build closer
working relationships to inform equality issues and good practice
•
Commitment to support FE/HE equality and diversity conferences and events to
show progress, disseminate learning and support networking across sectors and
agencies eg. SFC, Education Scotland, Skills Development Scotland, EHRC, NUS
•
Participation from all college
regions and HEI monitored to assess
engagement
Distinguish between under-representation, disadvantage and deprivation to
identify ever more clearly, the equality issues from the access issues
•
Further development of specific
measures for protected
characteristics
Disaggregated data by SIMD and
protected characteristic
Improved understanding of
intersectional challenges
•
•
Develop hard evidence of where institutions are in terms of complying with the
legislation and better aligned internal and external facing process to support
this. Namely, evidence-based decision making by institutions communicated
coherently
•
•
•
Support institutions to evidence active and purposeful engagement with
equality across levels, staff and students, including funding for specific projects
to develop competencies in mainstreaming equality in the curriculum, learning
and teaching with projects for colleges supported by CDN, and projects for
universities supported by HEA
•
•
•
25
Assessment of improved alignment
between equality outcomes,
statements in OAs and strategic
decisions
Programme of meetings with
institutional representatives and
SFC Access policy staff
Evidenced policy and decision
making communicated in equality
reporting and highlighted in the
outcome agreements
Critical evaluation by ECU and
more institutions progressing
through the College Mainstreaming
Programme delivered by ECU
Use of Scottish Government’s
Equality Evidence Toolkit for Public
Bodies
Endorsement of equality and
diversity work by senior leaders,
student representatives and
network groups beyond the
institution’s equality lead evidenced
in statutory reporting and outcome
agreements
Institutional participation in the
‘Attracting student diversity &
enabling success in HE/FE’ delivered
by ECU, CDN and HEA over the
period 2015-17
Recognisable developments in
institutional approaches evaluated
by CDN and HEA
Working with QAA Scotland and the Teaching Quality Forum, we will ensure that
the recommendations in the revised QAA Quality Code are embedded as part of
institutional approaches to quality assurance and enhancement
•
Work with the QAA Scotland, the
Teaching Quality Forum and ECU to
evaluate the impact of the guidance
and the way in which it is being
used by institutions.
Support the ECU and other groups and institutions (that we fund)to develop
guidance on understanding the interaction of competence standards and
reasonable adjustment to support staff involved in quality assurance and
enhancement activities in HE.
•
Work with the QAA Scotland, the
Teaching Quality Forum and ECU
and other groups to develop
meaningful ways to evaluate the
impact of the guidance and the way
in which it has resulted in changed
understanding and behaviour in
institutions.
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Internal SFC Equality Outcomes 2015-17
27
SFC Equality Outcomes 2015-17
Which of the 3 general duties does the EO address?
1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
Which of the 9 protected characteristics does the EO support?
Age - Disability - gender reassignment - marriage & civil partnership - pregnancy & maternity - race - religion or belief – sex - sexual orientation
SFC Strategic Aims 2015-18
Why we will do this?
High-quality learning
World-leading research
Action - What we will do to address the need
Which General Duty does this address?
How we will know that what we are
doing is advancing equality
Greater innovation in the economy
Programme for Change
Coherence & Connections
High-performing Colleges & Universities
High-performing SFC
Internal facing Equality Outcome 1
We will better understand and improve equality and diversity within our workforce through increased disclosure and positive action
initiatives
Programme for Change theme:
High-performing Scottish Funding
Council
Strategic intent:
Full staff disclosure will help us to fully
support our staff. Strategic consultation will
enable SFC to better understand, train and
develop our workforce and this will in turn
empower our staff with the knowledge,
understanding and capabilities to put the
public equality duties into practice in the
work they do, both internally within SFC
and externally with stakeholders. Effective
evaluation methods will enable SFC to
Commitment to identify staff underrepresentation by improved disclosure of staff
information
•
•
•
Because SFC has a predominantly male senior management team and the fact that the
lowest two main staff grades are populated by women this results in the significant gender
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•
Increase in number of staff disclosing
information about protected
characteristics
More comprehensive information is
available to be used to inform
decision making to support all staff
Reports reviewed, recorded and
monitored by equality group
Capacity development for current
female staff to be viable candidates
evidence the impact of positive action
initiatives.
pay gap above. Until we have more women in senior management posts and more men in
the lower two grades this is unlikely to change much.
•
Evidenced justification:
Staff data highlights poor disclosure
• We cannot accurately quantify the
number of staff of minority ethnic
origin currently.
• Gender mix at the Council has been
relatively stable since it was first
created keeping close to a 60:40
female: male split, with the lowest
two main grades being made up
predominantly of women and all bar
one of the senior management posts
being held by males. This gradebased gender segregation at the
opposite ends of the staff grades
extremes has persisted over the
period covered by this report.
•
SFC has a higher percentage of staff
indicating they had no religion or
detailing sexual orientation than
compared with the 2011 census, this is
due to no response, rather than ‘prefer
not to say’ and does not give us
sufficient information. Some work
needs to be carried out to encourage
staff to at least use the “prefer not to
say” response as 16% not giving any
answer does not help us to understand
the needs of our staff or use an accurate
evidence base upon which to develop
informed action.
This advances all three General Duties;
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination,
harassment, victimisation and other
conduct that is prohibited by the
Equality Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity
between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not
• Foster good relations between people
for senior positions
Increased number of applications
for senior posts from women (both
internally and externally)
Evaluate recruitment processes and associated actions to attract those from
•
under-represented groups and develop a more diverse workforce that more closely
reflects Scottish society
Increase in under-represented
groups applying, being short-listed
and getting appointed
Develop a strategic consultation process with staff to be able to seek feedback and
act upon prioritised recommendations to support;
• personal equality issues
• engagement with equality issues more widely and
• where applicable the wider use of training tools to support and promote
equality and diversity matters
Evidence of continual development of a workplace culture where staff feel valued
and where they are treated with equity and fairness
•
Development of more effective
consultation processes with staff,
and consultation with Unite, drawing
upon external guidance and
expertise as necessary
•
Response rate to staff survey
questions on equality and values
Staff engagement and participation
in consultation
•
Gauge the effectiveness of the equality and diversity questions used in surveys
•
Revised questions
Facilitate staff to develop personal understanding of the barriers affecting
individuals (within their staff body and within the sectors that we fund) with
protected characteristics by further developing our staff training and development
programme, for example, the MCR Pathway programme to support care leavers.
This will be reviewed and developed further over the next reporting period.
Annually, staff will receive training, on-going support, time away from the office
and travel
•
Participation in programmes and
attendance at staff information and
staff development plans measured
and impact recorded
SFC will continue to engage with organisations which promote information and
awareness for protected characteristics. For example, the Coalition for Racial
Equality & Rights (CRER) providing training for staff on Race on our 2015 Staff
development day.
Continue to take action to break down barriers to female advancement. Over 2013- •
15 a cumulative total of 23% of SFC female staff have been supported to attend the
Aurora Leadership development programme. This positive action to help develop
•
potential managers and leaders of tomorrow will benefit both SFC and the
individuals taking part. We intend that we will use the on-going evaluation of the
Aurora programme and conduct our own review among our internal participants,
to decide how best to support the programme in the future with the intention to
•
expand.
•
29
Annual feedback and staff response
surveys
Specific evaluation by Aurora
participants of the barriers affecting
women in the SFC, shared and
recommendations implemented
Continued support and development
of targeted staff development
programmes, such as Aurora
Monitoring the progression of SFC
who share a protected characteristic
and those who do not
•
30
Aurora participants
Evidence of culture change within
SFC, such as the informal ‘Lean-In’
peer learning and development
circles recently initiated by SFC
Aurora participants and open to all
women working in SFC
SFC Strategic Aims 2015-18
High-quality learning
World-leading research
Why we will do this?
Action - What we will do to address the need
Which General Duty does this address?
How we will know that what we are
doing is advancing equality
Greater innovation in the economy
Programme for Change
Coherence & Connections
High-performing Colleges & Universities
High-performing SFC
Internal facing Equality Outcome 2
Equality and diversity consideration is central to SFC policy development, decision making and delivery
High-performing Scottish Funding
Council
High-performing Colleges and
Universities
Strategic intent:
Demonstrate the innovation, leadership and
competence expected of modern public
bodies, and develop our organisation to
deliver ambitious change. Including best
practice in equality impact assessments and
equality and diversity considerations central
to strategy and policy, we will contribute to a
more equal society by placing diversity,
equality and good relations at the heart of
our organisation.
Evidenced justification:
Commitment to continuous improvement
and delivering on the statutory
responsibilities within the Equality Act 2010
This advances all three General Duties;
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination,
harassment, victimisation and other
conduct that is prohibited by the Equality
Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity between
people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not
Governance and Accountability - refocus our energies on embedding the
equalities agenda within SFC. This means strengthening our processes for
equality impact assessments, ensuring staff are trained to support and advance
equality and diversity within SFC, and that the impact on protected
characteristics are considered in development of policy and creation of any
work areas going forward. We recognise that there is still a great deal of work to
be done to embed equality and diversity across all of our areas of work. For this
reason we have identified equality and diversity as one of seven priority areas
for development over the lifetime of the next strategic plan. We will put in place
a team with responsibility for leading this development programme. Our
improvement advisor will work alongside that team to enable us to make best
use of established improvement methods and to help promote the spread of
the improvements we make. This will include;
• Improve leadership of equality and diversity through our Programme for
Change
• Establish equality and diversity focus group
• Map how equality and diversity is positioned and supported across the
whole organisation
• Develop more stringent SFC equality policy guidelines
• Coordinate staff development programme to ensure all staff are trained
eg. unconscious bias, tackling inequality
• Ensure timely and recorded reporting to the SFC Chief Executive Group
• Central to this are our Council committees. Of the five, three of these
committees provide advice to the Council on policy, strategy and funding
issues; the other two are concerned mainly with the Council's
31
•
•
•
•
•
•
Equality and diversity commitment
clearly stated in the new strategic
plan
Organisational Equality Policy
revised with clearly communicated
cross-organisational roles and
responsibilities
Programme of training
implemented and
uptake/effectiveness monitored
SFC staff pilot of PDA ‘Advancing
equality through inclusiveness’
training programme
Programme of knowledge exchange
established and commenced to
develop organisational equality
strategy
Equality and diversity included and
routinely reported within the
Strategic Performance Management
Framework
•
Foster good relations between people
who share a protected characteristic and
those who do not
organisational functions and performance or its regulatory role. The
Access and Inclusion Committee supports the equality and diversity
remit. We will consider how equality and diversity is positioned across all
committee remits over the next reporting period.
Ensure that we equality impact assess all strategic activity and policy
development. To do this:
• EIA guidance will be revised with wider consultation with Scottish
Government
• Effective implementation of the revised guidance will be monitored
•
Profile of, and equality consideration heightened over the next two years and
ongoing coordination with Scottish Government to advance this further.
•
The visibility of equality and
diversity within key policy and
guidance documents has increased
and is easily accessible
Improve the accessibility and clarity of equality information with web portal
development
•
Improved equality and diversity
information will be more easily
located in the main section of SFC
website
Analysis of opportunities to develop
information and internal / external
engagement will be developed
•
•
Outcome agreements and policies are informed by the entire community of a
college and university staff, students and unions.
•
•
•
32
100% of staff who are actively
involved in the production and sign
off of SFC policies should be EIA
trained by April 2016
Equality and diversity focus group
to review progress and include
updates in annual report to the
Board
Evaluation of the opportunities
presented through networks and
consideration of our wider
consultation processes
Develop work undertaken with NUS
and Sparqs
Progress and impact against the
relevant principles and themes
within the ‘Framework for
Improving Strong and Effective
Student Associations’
Monitoring our progressOversight for the promotion of equality and diversity is the responsibility of the SFC Board and is reported through the SFC’s Strategic Performance Management
Framework. As indicated above, we will continue to develop a broader range of strategic equalities measures as part of this Framework. In particular, we are committed to doing more to advance
equality and diversity within our Programme for Change – set out within our Strategic Plan (2015-2018) - such that equality and diversity is at the heart of what we do. To do this, we will adopt the
‘Model for improvement’ methodology as set out in the 3-Step Improvement Framework for Scotland’s Public Services, which provides a solid framework for setting goals, identifying and testing
improvements and measuring progress. Specifically, we will use this framework to support the delivery of our Programme for Change. It will also help us develop a range of appropriate measures,
and balancing measures, to support the implementation of our strategic plan.
We believe that this approach will better enable us to mainstream equality and diversity across our work. We recognise that there is still a great deal of work to be done to embed equality and
diversity across all of our areas of work. For this reason we have identified equality and diversity as one of seven priority areas for development over the lifetime of the 2015-2018 strategic plan. We
will put in place a team with responsibility for leading this development programme. Our improvement advisor will work alongside that team to enable us to make best use of established
improvement methods and to help promote the spread of the improvements we make.
We will also refocus our energy on embedding equality and diversity within SFC, including refreshing our equality strategy to ensure effective governance arrangements for equality impact
assessments, to ensure staff are appropriately trained in equality and diversity policy and practice, and so that the impact on protected characteristics are considered in development of all funding,
guidance and policy areas. We will reflect our progress in an annual report to the SFC Board.
Central to our approach are our Council committees. Of the five, three of these committees provide advice to the Council on policy, strategy and funding issues; the other two are concerned mainly
with the Council's organisational functions and performance or its regulatory role. Our Access and Inclusion Committee provides a specific focus on equality and diversity but we will consider how
equality and diversity is better positioned across all committee remits over the next reporting period.
Information on membership, remits, standing orders and meeting papers are available from the links below.
Policy, strategy and funding

Access & Inclusion Committee

Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee

Skills Committee
Organisational and regulatory

Audit & Compliance Committee

Remuneration Committee
Archive Agendas, papers and minutes from meetings published before 2010 and from former committees that are now obsolete: Quality, Equalities and General Purposes Committee; Investment
Committee; Capital Investment Committee; Chair's Committee; Collaboration & Mergers Advisory Committee; and the Quality, Learning & Teaching Committee are available on the SFC archive.
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