Embedding equality in Perth and Kinross’ outcome approach
1. Project Summary
The Improvement Service, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and
Scottish Government worked in partnership to deliver the action research
project, Improving Local Equality Data (ILED), over twelve months from
February 2011.
The project provided hands-on, tailored support to four local authorities /
CPPs to develop and use the equality evidence base to measure progress
towards equality within the outcomes approach.
Each local project team selected areas for support based on their unique
priorities and circumstances.
Equality was to be considered as an integral part of the outcomes approach
for each of the strategic priorities identified by Perth and Kinross Council, to
feed in to a revised Single Outcome Agreement. Public protection was
selected as the strategic priority in which to pilot and develop an approach to
mainstreaming equality through involvement in ILED.
The ILED project management team supported Perth and Kinross to build a
picture of national evidence in relation to the key equality priorities they
identified, and to strengthen the position of equality within the Community
Safety Strategic Assessment.
2. Strengths of the Approach
Work to mainstream equality into the strategic work of the council is a long
term process. The ILED project management team supported one part of the
process. The main strengths of the process to date are detailed below.
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Exploring how to develop equality in mainstream strategic planning
Involvement of police helped to build knowledge and understanding of
partner agencies’ approach to equality measurement and
management.
3. What We Did
Four strategic priorities were identified by the council prior to their involvement
in ILED. These would be reflected in a revised Single Outcome Agreement for
Perth and Kinross. The strategic priorities were:
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Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC)
Public Protection
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Health and Social Care Integration
Regeneration
Public protection was chosen as the area in which to pilot and develop
equality issues within an outcomes approach. This was selected because the
Perth & Kinross Community Equality Advisory Group (CEAG) members have
previously identified ‘fear of crime’ and ‘feeling safe’ as important issues to
them. The CEAG brings together community representatives with an interest
and a focus on all nine equality protected characteristics and related matters.
A review of national equality evidence in a public protection context was
produced by the Improvement Service to help to inform discussions.
A small working group comprising the council and the police reflected on
current public protection priorities and concerns for protected characteristics
within the Perth and Kinross area, particularly in relation to:
 Young women and the criminal justice system
 Domestic abuse experienced by minority ethnic women
 Issues faced by young LGBT people – particularly bullying in schools,
and rural factors
The group agreed that it would be helpful to collate local and national
evidence on these areas from a range of sources, to give context and
comparison for issues faced within Perth and Kinross. An evidence-gathering
template was developed to support consistency in gathering and presenting
evidence
At the same time, work was underway on a Community Safety Strategic
Assessment for Tayside Police. This would have a key role in shaping the
next Community Safety Strategy, and the outcomes that the police aimed to
achieve.
It was important to ensure that equality featured as a prominent part of the
Community Safety Strategic assessment. The group agreed that the evidence
gathered through ILED should be integrated into the Community Safety
Strategic Assessment.
Support was provided by the Improvement Service to the Community Safety
Analyst to help identify and include equality issues in the Strategic
Assessment more generally, through sharing relevant research evidence and
providing feedback on developing the document.
The aim of the Strategic Assessment is to identify, assess and prioritise the
key issues which impact on community safety within Perth and Kinross. It
also takes account of other contextual factors which may impact on delivery.
Through the area profile, and consideration of the research evidence, the
Strategic Assessment identified a number of public protection areas which are
a priority for the Perth and Kinross area:
 Violence against women
 Alcohol
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Serious and violent crime
Drugs
Anti-social behaviour
Road Safety
Unintentional injuries
Wildlife Crime
Bogus Caller Crime
A Threat Risk Matrix was used to assess each area in turn in relation to the
priority that it should be given within the new Community Safety Strategy.
Five point scales were used to assess both: Threat - Likelihood of
occurrence, where 1 is highly unlikely and 5 is almost certain to occur, and;
Risk - Level of harm, where 1 is nil/none and 5 is very high. From these, a
combined Threat x Risk score was produced.
A number of extra weighting factors (based on a three point scale) were also
considered:
 Linked with national outcomes
 Partnership responsibilities
 Partnership reputation
 Information available
 Community concern
This generated an Extra Weighting score that was combined with the Threat x
Risk score to give an Overall Score.
This helped to give a very clear sense of the relative priority that should be
given to different aspects of public protection and the extent to which they
should be considered very high priority, high priority or medium priority for
Perth and Kinross Community Safety Partnership to address.
Violence against women is given a very high priority in the strategic
assessment. The assessment notes that women from minority ethnic groups
may be more isolated, and there are religious and cultural barriers to be
overcome. The rural dimension to this is also recognised.
Serious and violent crime is also given a very high priority, with a typical
offender likely to be an unemployed male in his late teens or early twenties.
Alcohol and substance misuse is another factor here.
Alcohol is given a very high priority in its own right, particularly in relation to
concerns about private space drinking, and the influence of alcohol on both
victims and offenders in the commission of crime.
The Community Safety Strategic assessment was published in spring 2012.
4. What Impact the Project had
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Analysis and inclusion of equality issues within the Community Safety
Strategic Assessment.
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Raised awareness of the importance of considering equality aspects of
thematic areas of work.
Helped prompt preliminary discussions on what equality outcomes may
look like for the Council and CPP
Raised awareness and understanding within the Council and partners
(e.g. Police) of the process and challenges around setting equality
outcomes
Raised further awareness of the range of data, both national and local,
required to set meaningful evidence based outcomes.
Prompted decisions to be taken that, wherever possible, there will be
maximum coordination across the CPP on sharing equality outcomes
and including them in the revised SOA
5. Issues or Challenges
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The outcomes approach involves several stages, and these can be
fairly complex especially when developing equality outcomes. For
example: gathering a range of evidence; analysing the evidence in
order to draw out key findings and prioritise potential areas to develop
outcomes; engaging with key internal and external stakeholders
including community groups to help identify key equality issues and
develop outcomes; and identifying how outcomes link or contribute to
strategic outcomes in CPP Single Outcome Agreement or the council’s
corporate priorities. The resource and time required to work through
this process should not be underestimated.
Moving towards an outcome approach can seem ambitious. It is
important to have clear aims and objectives throughout the process, to
help focus and manage the work.
It is important to involve key partners from the outset. Involving
colleagues from other services and organisations to bring a range of
different perspectives, knowledge and expertise, which can help to
enhance and enrich the overall project. Involving the right mix of people
from the outset also helps to encourage buy-in and support for the
project.
Community groups and individuals can provide rich qualitative
information to help build the evidence base available to Councils and
their partners. In order to get the most from the community, it is
important to have a consistent, meaningful and robust approach to
community engagement.
6. Lessons Learned
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The importance of involving a range of stakeholders throughout the
outcomes setting process helps to offer different perspectives and
expertise. It can also highlight different opportunities to enhance the
overall work of a project. For example, in Perth and Kinross, the
involvement of the police meant that there were more opportunities to
link into the ongoing work on the community safety strategic
assessment. This provided another opportunity where local equality
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evidence could be used to help shape and influence a key area of
strategic policy.
Prioritisation is a key part of the process when developing outcomes.
Prioritisation is a complex task and in order to be most effective,
involves analysing and using a range of evidence in conjunction with
local knowledge about work that is already taking place to address
specific issues and challenges. Drawing on the combination of
evidence and knowledge of local work helps to highlight areas where
the outcomes that will have the best impact on citizens should be set.
In a field of competing priorities and requirements, national leadership
can play an important role in helping to focus areas of work.
Interpretations of the ‘outcomes’ language can often vary and it is
important to ensure stakeholders have a shared understanding of
terminology before embarking on work to develop outcomes.
Further Information
Contact details
Paul Graham
 [email protected] 
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