CHAPTER 15: EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN AND NON DISCRIMINATION
The 2007-13 Scotland Rural Development Programme will comply with and, where appropriate, contribute to Community policy on equal opportunities for men and women and non-discrimination, in accordance with Article 8 of Council Regulation ( EC) 1698/2005 and the Scotland Act 1998. The Scottish Executive is committed to promoting equality of opportunity in all aspects of life.
The UK is a signatory to the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Human Rights Act 1998 and subsequent legislation in Scotland protects against discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Section 29 of the Scotland Act 1998 provides that an Act of the Scottish Parliament may not be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, as they are defined in the Human Rights Act. Section 57(2) provides that a member of the Scottish Executive has no power to make any subordinate legislation, or to do any other act, which would be incompatible with rights under the Convention.
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 outlaw age discrimination at work, prohibiting unjustified direct and indirect age discrimination, and all harassment and victimisation on grounds of age, of people of any age, young or old. In addition, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 has introduced a duty on the public sector to promote equality for disabled people. The Act came into force on 4 December 2006 and has been designed to mirror the duty to promote race equality, but takes account of the differences between race relations law, and disability discrimination law.
Design and implementation of the SRDP
The Scottish Executive has a Race Equality Action Plan that highlights the need for reliable data on race equality issues in rural areas. Equality and non discrimination issues were addressed in the public consultation in 2006 on the development of the new SRDP. Responses were received from organisations with interests in equality and non discrimination, including the Equal Opportunities Commission. Some respondents felt that the SRDP is highly targeted in terms of its beneficiaries and that this militates against its ability to address broader equality issues, although the LEADER approach was recognised for offering an inclusive approach to rural development. Some specific areas were suggested where the SRDP could foster inclusion, including public access, migrant workers and young people. Our proposals on complementarity with other funding programmes (see Chapter 10) shows how the SRDP is only one of a number of funding streams that support a broad range of rural development objectives and a wide range of potential beneficiaries. Under internal Scottish Executive arrangements for proofing policy on equality issues, we have carried out an Equality Impact Assessment ( EIA) on the SRDP.
Monitoring and Evaluation of the SRDP
As set out in Article 81 of the RDR, where the nature of the assistance so permits, data relating to the indicators of the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework shall be broken down by sex and age of the beneficiaries.
The SRDP is open to anyone to apply for assistance if they meet the eligibility criteria set out in Regulation 1698/2005. We shall consider whether further monitoring along these lines is feasible during the course of the Programme and provide feedback to the Commission as necessary through the annual reporting arrangements and the interim and ex post evaluations.
Throughout the programming period, we will be mindful of any changes in national and international legislation and comply with those where appropriate. We shall also maintain close contact with the Scottish Executive Equality Unit which will continue to be available to provide advice to Ministers and officials on the implementation and monitoring of equality policy.