Gender Equality Scheme 2008-2011

JUSTICE

PORTFOLIO RESPONSIBILITIES

The Justice portfolio plays a key role in supporting the achievement of our objective for a safer and stronger Scotland - helping local communities to flourish and to become stronger, safer places to live that offer improved opportunities and a better quality of life. It also contributes to our work to tackle disadvantage, prejudice and discrimination. The justice system seeks to punish offenders and discourage them from re-offending while protecting the rest of society.

The Justice portfolio has responsibility for:

the development of civil and criminal laws which protect society, promote mutual respect and help us all to thrive;
the administration of an effective, fair and efficient justice system, supported by an independent and valued legal profession;
ensuring public safety through police, fire and community justice services, and co-ordinating preparation for potential civil emergencies;
securing access to justice; and
the effective and proportionate regulation of charities.

The Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Court Service and Accountant in Bankruptcy are Scottish Government Agencies of the portfolio and central to delivering our priorities.

GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN

Name of Directorate

Police and Community Safety Directorate

Directorate responsibilities

Police and Community Safety Directorate works collaboratively with key partners to support Scottish Government's purpose of creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable growth.

We do this by ensuring the people of Scotland live in safer communities and benefit from high levels of safety and security from police and fire and rescue services, improved resilience and readiness for emergencies and reduced levels of violence and drug misuse. Our objectives are to:

Improve police services;
Improve fire and rescue services;
Improve Scotland's resilience and readiness for emergencies;
Increase the effectiveness of drug misuse prevention and treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts;
Make our communities safer and less violent; and
Ensure Justice policies are based on sound evidence.

Statement of Directorate Commitment to the Promotion of Gender Equality and how this helps to deliver Government's national purpose and outcomes and contributes to progressing the Government's gender equality scheme objectives.

We are committed to addressing inequalities and discrimination that men and women face. We seek to mainstream equalities into our work and to take positive action to eliminate discrimination in development of our policies. In doing so we highlight to the organisations and agencies we work with that our duty also extends to them.

We are committed to undertaking Equality Impact Assessments for all new and developing policy, and involving both men and women when appropriate. Where Equality Impact Assessments identify the need for specific actions to be taken to ensure the needs of both men and women are met we will put these in place. We are also undertaking work to ensure all staff are aware of their responsibilities under the equality duties.

What is known about the experiences of, and issues for, women and men affected by the Directorate's Responsibilities

In 2003 women were more likely than men to think that crime was an extremely or quite serious problem in Scotland, 85% of women compared to 80% of men.
There were also some differences in perceptions according to age. Young women aged 16-24 were most likely among women to think crime was a serious problem, while young men aged 16-24 were least likely among men to think so.
Women were more likely than men to perceive people having their homes broken into as fairly common in their area, 30% compared to 26%,
The oldest age group tended to be more likely to report feeling unsafe. This was particularly the case for women, where 52% of women aged 60 or over reported feeling unsafe walking alone after dark.
Women were also more likely than men to report feeling worried about becoming the victim of a crime.
48% of women said they worried about being mugged, robbed or assaulted, compared to 27% of men.
There are crimes of which women are overwhelmingly the victims, such as rape and other forms of sexual assault, and domestic violence.
While men are the majority of perpetrators of violence against other persons, they are also the majority of victims of violence. This is particularly the case for males in the 15-25 age group.
Men in all age groups are more likely than women to have used some kind of drug at some point in the past, and to have used some kind of drug within the last year.

Police and Community Safety Directorate Gender Equality Action Plan

Policy	Action	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome
Key actions which are designed to address gender equality issues identified from evidence and actions which contribute to progressing the Government's gender equality policy objectives ( GEPO).
Support colleagues to carry out EQIAs	Review the need to support colleagues in preparing EQIAs as part of analytical planning and programme development process	Justice Analytical Services	Ongoing	Better awareness of the availability of gender statistics and research

Key actions within the Directorate areas of responsibility where gender equality is being mainstreamed.
Policy	Action	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome
Firearms marketing campaign	Carry out an Equality Impact Assessment Ensure procurement contracts address issues identified by EQIA Ensure any evaluation of the campaign captures views of men and women	Police Powers, Performance and Resources	September 2008	Men and women's awareness is raised.
Review of Police recruitment standards	Carry out an Equality Impact Assessment Involve Gender organisations in the review Ensure any guidance that results from the review sets out a response to any equality issues.	Police Powers, Performance and Resources	December 2008	Police circulars on recruitment will take account of issues for men and women.
Develop a national Sex Offender Strategy	Carry out an Equality Impact Assessment Ensure procurement contracts address issues identified by the Equality Impact Assessment	Police Powers, Performance and Resources	January 2009	The strategy will address issues specific to women.
Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey	Include a section on findings in relation to equalities issues in the next publication of the report.	Justice Analytical Services	September 2009	A better understanding of the crime and justice issues that affect men and women.
Sponsor the Scottish Police Services Agency ( SPSA) to provide national policing services	Ensure SPSA are aware of their requirement to have a Gender Equality Scheme	Police Organised Crime and Support Services	Ongoing	The Duty is met by more public bodies
Public appointments to SPSA	Continue to use the public appointments guidance	Police Organised Crime and Support Services	Ongoing	Public appointments are more open to men and women
Provide training and development services for Scotland's Fire and Rescue Services	Continue to train all trainees in equality & diversity issues in relation to the Fire and Rescue Service role map Continue to provide equality & diversity training as part of all leadership development programmes in relation to the Fire and Rescue Service role maps Ensure the training equipment and facilities are accessible to all participants Ensure equalities legislation is adhered to when recruiting staff	Scottish Fire Services College, Scottish Resilience	Ongoing -Relates to SFSC Business Plan 2007-2010 Ref 4.6.1	All participants in training programmes are aware of the Gender duty. Training and employment opportunities are open to male and female fire fighters
Deliver Community Fire advice	Carry out an Equality Impact Assessment Continue to collect information on groups vulnerable to fire and target campaigns accordingly.	Scottish Resilience	Ongoing	Advice and awareness raising is tailored to men and women if necessary
Strategy to tackle drug misuse	Carry out a Equality Impact Assessment Implement actions identified through EQIA Include men and women in the EQIA process	Drugs and Community Safety	August 2008	The Strategy will address any issues specific to men and women that are identified in the EQIA
Manage the 'Cashback' programme to distribute money from proceed of crime	Carry out a Equality Impact Assessment	Drugs and Community Safety	August 2008	The programme will address any issues specific to men or women that are identified in the EQIA
Develop a strategy for a resilient Scotland	Carry out Equality Impact Assessment to ensure the strategy applies equally to men and women.	Scottish Resilience	January 2009	The Scottish Government's strategy is understood by stakeholders
Review of the National Anti-social behaviour strategy	Carry out a Equality Impact Assessment Involve men and women in the review	Drugs and Community Safety	August 2008	The strategy will address any issues specific to men or women that are identified in the EQIA

GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN

Name of Directorate

Criminal Justice Directorate

Directorate Responsibilities

Criminal Justice Directorate works with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Ministers, other Directorates, other justice organisations, local authorities, the voluntary sector and other contributors. It works to provide the legal framework, systems and services in criminal justice and licensing that are needed to support the Government's purpose, strategic objectives and outcomes, to contribute to a Safer and Stronger Scotland.

Our objectives are:

To contribute to reducing reoffending and help the reintegration of offenders into mainstream economic and social activity
To develop and prioritise effective community justice penalties
To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system with particular emphasis on the needs of victims of crime, vulnerable witnesses and Scotland's diverse communities
To develop the legal framework in criminal law in the interests of a just and fair society
Improve public protection through criminal justice policy and procedures

The Criminal Justice Directorate is aiming to secure a system in which men and women are and feel fairly treated in accordance with their needs whether as victims, witnesses, accused persons, offenders, parties to civil law disputes and employees or office holders of justice services.

We are committed to making sure that the policies, procedures and services that we lead or influence make a positive contribution to improving gender equality. This will involve staff awareness and training and highlighting to the organisations we work with that they too have statutory duties to promote gender equality. We will take positive action to eliminate discrimination and inequality in our policies. We will use evidence to help us to understand the needs and experiences of all genders.

We will undertake Equality Impact Assessments for all new policy activity and apply the findings from them. We will involve gender equality organisations in our development work and in monitoring and evaluation.

As indicated in our aims and objectives, our work in policy, procedure and service development seeks to help offenders to become more economically active; and to build the confidence of the public, including victims of crime and vulnerable witnesses, in a safer and stronger Scotland.

What is known about the experiences of, and issues for, women and men affected by the Directorate Responsibilities.

Disproportionately men make up the vast majority of the prison population (95% in 2005-06). Men are also more likely to receive a custodial sentence. However, over the last ten years the female prison population has increased by over 80%.

Imprisoned women tend to be much more disadvantaged than their male counterparts in terms of addiction and mental health problems. For example 98% of women detained in Cornton Vale have addictions issues, 80% mental health problems, 70% a history of abuse and 50% have self harmed at some stage. This is higher than the average across the prison population - for example, across the board, two thirds of prisoners are found to be using illicit drugs on admission, and around 70% are estimated to have poor mental health sufficient to require clinical support.

However, it is also evident that men make up the vast majority of substance misusers. The vast majority of victims of violent crime are men aged 15-25, and men are the predominant victims of homicide. It is only in the area of domestic and sexual abuse where women represent the vast majority of victims. In 2005 85% of domestic abuse cases involved a female victim and a male perpetrator.

A disproportionate percentage of female accused are currently being remanded to custody - 29% of the average daily custodial population for female accused compared to 22% for male accused.

In 2004/05, there were 56 males per 1,000 of the population with a charge proved against them, compared to 10 females per 1,000 of the population.
Men were more likely than women to receive custodial sentences for crimes/offences committed, with 14% of all males in 2004/05 compared to 6% of women with a charge proved being sent to prison.
Similar proportions of men and women with a charge proved received community sentences (around 12%) and financial penalties (around 63%).
The average number of males in prison has been much greater than the average number of females in prison in the period from 1997/98 to 2005/06.
The numbers of men and women in prison in Scotland have risen by 11% during the last decade.
In 1997/98, the average daily population of females in prison was 186 and this had risen to 334 by 2005/06, representing an increase of 80%.

Criminal Justice Directorate Gender Equality Action Plan

Key actions which are designed to address gender equality issues identified from evidence and actions which contribute to progressing the Government's gender equality policy objectives ( GEPO).
Policy	Action	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome	Contribute to GEPO (Yes/No)
Sponsorship of Victim Support Scotland	Through our financial sponsorship of VSS, we expect them to promote equality and tackle discrimination through their work with victims and witnesses. This is included as a commitment in VSS's corporate plan which is backed up by its Diversity Policy.	Victims and Witnesses Unit and VSS	Ongoing	Effective access to services provided to victims and witnesses.	No
Hate Crime Bill	Support Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill. This Bill will introduce new aggravations for offences motivated by malice or ill will based on a victim's actual or perceived sexuality, transgender status or disability.	Criminal Law & Licensing Division - Sentencing Policy Unit	May 2008 for introduction.	The Bill aims to protect transgender people from crime motivated by prejudice towards their transgender status. One of the provisions of the Bill is a requirement to record when a crime has been motivated by prejudice related to transgender status. This will enable us to build up a better of understanding of the scope of crimes motivated by transgender status and the problems faced by transgender people within Scotland today.	Yes (7)
Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill	Legislate to reform the law on rape and other sexual offences, in light of the Scottish Law Commission's final report on the subject, published last year, as announced by the First Minister in his legislative programme speech in September 2007.	Criminal Law & Licensing Division - Sex Offences Law Team	Legislation expected to be introduced in Parliament in 2008.	Modernised sexual offences, based on equal treatment of the sexes and penalising non-consensual or exploitative sexual assaults. In practice likely to be particularly relevant to women owing to much greater proportion of female victims of sexual violence. Also benefit to men sexually assaulted by men, not covered by current law of rape.	Yes (1)
Extreme Pornography There is concern about the availability of extreme pornographic material. In this context "extreme" means material which is violent and abusive, featuring activities which are in themselves are illegal and in some cases participants may have been the victim of criminal offences.	Creation of a new Scottish offence relating to the possession of extreme pornographic material. Proposed to be included in the forthcoming Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill.	Criminal Law & Licensing Division - Sex Offences Law Team	In force 2010	New offence would: (1) Close the gap between possession of this type of material for personal use and possession for gain or with a view to selling or distributing it and (2) Prohibit possession of images of rape and sexual violence (predominantly against women).	Yes (1)
Human Trafficking Human trafficking, predominately against women for sexual exploitation, is a despicable form of modern-day slavery. We want to make Scotland a hostile environment for traffickers and to protect and support those upon whom they prey.	The UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking was published in 2007. It sets out a wide range of actions on prevention; investigation, law enforcement and prosecution; providing protection and assistance to adult victims; and specific measures on child trafficking. Ongoing work with partners in the Home Office, local authorities, the police and NGOs to improve Scotland's response to this emerging problem.	Criminal Law & Licensing Division - Sex Offences Law Team	March 2009.	Better intelligence on scale and profile of trafficking. Effective enforcement. Improved support services for victims. (predominately involving women).	Yes (1. 8)
Prostitution Prostitution damages lives and corrodes the wellbeing of communities caught up in it. The Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 provides that kerb crawlers as well as and in addition to prostitutes can be prosecuted for soliciting and or loitering.	Monitoring impact of the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007. Working with Police, Local Authorities and support groups to tackle demand, prevent involvement, assist exit and protect communities.	Criminal Law & Licensing Division - Sex Offences Law Team	Ongoing.	Challenging demand for prostitution. Support those trapped in prostitution and assist them to leave.	Yes (8) Yes (10)
Turnaround project for young adult males	To develop a project for young male offenders which draws on the key lessons of the successful 218 project in Glasgow for women offenders.	Community Justice Services Division and North Strathclyde and South West Community Justice Authorities	Full implementation autumn 2008	Reduction in rate of reoffending by young, male, persistent offenders and reduced levels of drugs/alcohol misuse.	No
'Section 306' Publication - 'Costs and Equalities and the Scottish Criminal Justice System'	Section 306 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 requires Scottish Ministers to publish annually equalities information relating to crime and justice (as well as information enabling people engaged in the administration of criminal justice to become aware of the financial implications of their decisions).	Criminal Law and Licensing Division, Sentencing Policy Unit	Annually.	Enabling people working in the criminal justice system to avoid discrimination.	Yes (10)

Key actions to take into account gender equality across main responsibilities, if not already covered above.
Policy	Actions to take forward gender equality	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome
Sentencing Guidelines	Create Scottish Sentencing Council to give effect to sentencing guidelines in line with the SNP manifesto commitment.	Criminal Law & Licensing Division - Sentencing Policy Unit	Ongoing.	Consistent sentencing approaches. Improved credibility of criminal justice system.
Vulnerable victims of crime	National Standards for Victims of Crime includes a commitment that the standards apply to all victims regardless of gender.	All Divisions in Criminal Justice Directorate and Equality Unit plus other Criminal Justice Agencies	Published Feb. 05. Ongoing monitoring of application.	All who have endorsed the standards should be able to demonstrate how they are being applied in practice.
Community Justice Services Review of Community Penalties	To develop a pilot mentoring scheme for female offenders subject to community-based sentences, which addresses gender specific needs.	Community Justice Services Division, with South West Scotland Community Justice Authority	By end 2008	Increased rate of successful completion of community sentences and the reduction in risk of further offending
Supervised Attendance Order	Those defaulting on fines not exceeding £500 are now required to be placed on a Supervised Attendance Order rather than receiving a custodial sentence. National roll-out took effect from September 2007	Community Justice Services Division with Association of Director of Social Work, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations.		Reduction in short prison sentences for women, many of who are carers of children.
Supervised Bail Schemes	Female accused are identified as a priority group for the scheme. This has been accompanied by provision of an extra £500k funding, announced in January 2008, additional to the existing £1.2m national funding of this initiative.			Reduction in prison detention of women, many of who are carers of children.
Review of National Objectives and Standards for Criminal Justice Social Work	Ensure that the revised Objectives and Standards adequately reflect the gender equality issues identified in terms of both ensuring services are delivered to a consistent standard regardless of gender, and that gender specific services are provided where relevant.	Community Justice Services Division with ADSW, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations.	Revised Standards due summer 2009.	Offenders experience high quality services regardless of gender. Male/Female offenders receive gender specific services where required.
Effective Practice To provide accredited programmes to support the reduction of reoffending and the reduction in risk of serious harm, that where appropriate specifically meets the needs of male and female offenders.	During 2008-2009 a review of female offender programmes' suitability for use in the community will be undertaken. This will inform future decisions during 2010-2011 on the development and potential implementation of this gender specific programme. The Constructs programme for men will be further implemented in those local authorities not currently providing this programme during 2009-2011.	Community Justice Services Division	Ongoing	Offenders undergo the appropriate programmes best suited to their needs and risks, where gender is taken into account as appropriate
Risk and needs assessment - Level of Service / Case Management Inventory ( LSCMI)	To introduce a consistent approach to risk and needs assessment of offenders in the custodial and community settings. This will include the future validation of the LSCMI risk assessment tool on the Scottish population including the validation of the tool on the female population.	Community Justice Services Division	Ongoing	Offenders receive an assessment of their specific risk and needs to support the appropriate targeting of resources.

GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN

Name of Directorate

Constitution, Law & Courts

Directorate Responsibilities

We work with Ministers and key stakeholders to ensure that the people in Scotland benefit from an efficient and respected civil justice system and access to both civil and criminal justice to make Scotland a safer, stronger and fairer place to live. We will work to improve the Scottish civil justice system to make it responsive to the needs of all its users and as easy to access and understand as possible.

Our objectives are to:

Update and modernise Scotland's civil law and civil justice system
Update and modernise charity law in Scotland
Lead in debate on the structure and regulation of the legal profession
Reforming access to justice
Promoting Scotland's justice interests in Europe and beyond

We will also work with Ministers to benefit the people in Scotland by

delivering the Government's programme for legislation in the Scottish Parliament;
developing a strategy to engage civil society in the Government's National Conversation on constitutional change;
developing relations with the UK Government and Scottish Parliament;
developing and promoting policies to improve participative democracy and engage civil society in policy development;
giving effect to the recommendations of the Gould report on local government elections; and
developing and supporting the Government's policy on Freedom of Information and, in particular, proactive release of information

There is a good level of knowledge of equality issues in the Directorate due to the development within Civil Justice, Law Reform and International Division of the proposals to set up the Scottish Human Rights Commission. That role will continue and will be enhanced, now that the Commission is now in place.

We are committed to ensure Equality Impact Assessments are undertaken for all new and developing policies, specifically with the promotion of gender equality in mind. We will hold EQIA workshops in consultation with the Equality Unit, to raise awareness of staff's responsibilities in this area.

Awareness raising sessions and internal processes are being set up to ensure effective understanding and completion of Equality Impact Assessments are carried out. That includes awareness of issues for gender equality. This is being developed, based on assessments of and monitoring through, the Business Planning Tool.

What is known about the experiences of, and issues for, women and men affected by the Directorate Responsibilities.

Women tend more often to occupy the role of carers (impacting on what sorts of family law cases come before the courts).

Constitution Law and Courts Directorate Gender Equality Action Plan

Key actions which are designed to address gender equality issues identified from evidence and actions which contribute to progressing the Government's gender equality policy objectives ( GEPO).
Policy	Action	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome	Contribute to GEPO (Yes/No)
Development of family specialised courts	As part of the implementation of the Civil Courts Review, we will consider the case for specialist family courts to reflect the less adversarial nature of court-based determinations of family law disputes	Constitution, Law and Courts, Legal System	Implementation of Civil Courts Review; Bill planned for May 2010	Appropriate balance of rights of persons regardless of gender	No

Key actions to take into account gender equality across main responsibilities, if not already covered above.
Policy	Actions to take forward gender equality	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome
Equal treatment of men and women as parties to family law disputes	Full implementation of Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 and associated non-legislative measures	Constitution, Law and Courts, Civil Law	Act came into force on 4 May 2006; subject to ongoing monitoring	System driven by welfare of children, but both male and female ex-partners should be treated fairly
Reform of Civil Court system	Undertaking an EQIA Developing/improving monitoring to provide information by gender Building equalities requirements into guidance for policy delivery	Constitution, Law and Courts, Legal System	Implementation of Civil Courts Review; Bill planned for May 2010	Civil Court System which takes account of needs of men and women
Reform of system of tribunals and administrative justice	Undertaking an EQIA Developing/improving monitoring to provide information by gender Building equalities requirements into guidance for policy delivery	Constitution, Law and Courts, Legal System	Implementation of Tribunals Reform programme; Bill planned for May 2010	Tribunal reform programme that considers perspectives of men and women
Legal aid review of financial eligibility	Undertake EQIA Identify any differential impact on men/ women Consider options to address these as part of review	Constitution, Law and Courts, Legal System	April 2009	Better targeted publicly funded legal assistance
Tackling poverty/publicly funded legal assistance	Undertake EQIA Identify unmet needs for advice and assistance impacting on men and women and options to address Specifically consider provision of publicly funded legal assistance in Mental Health Review Tribunals and Additional Support Needs Tribunals	Constitution, Law and Courts, Legal System	April 2010	Legal advice and assistance which addresses the unmet needs of both men and women.

GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN

Name of Directorate

Scottish Government Legal Directorate

Directorate Responsibilities

The central purpose of the Legal Directorate is to support Ministers and the Law Officers across the range of their legal and parliamentary responsibilities.

Most of the Directorate's work relates to the provision of legal services including the preparation of primary and subordinate legislation and giving legal advice to Ministers and policy officials.

We are committed to addressing gender inequalities and discrimination in Scotland by working with other Scottish Government Directorates to ensure that they meet their legal gender equality obligations.

What is known about the experiences of, and issues for, women and men affected by the Directorate Responsibilities.

As the Directorate's work relates to the provision of legal services, the main gender issues would be around our own staff. We have reasonable gender balance across the Directorate at all levels. We have a number of part time workers and most staff use our flexible working hours system.

Scottish Government Legal Directorate Gender Equality Action Plan

Key actions to take into account gender equality across main responsibilities, if not already covered above.

Policy

Actions to take forward gender equality

By whom

By when

Expected Outcome

It is the responsibility generally of policy Directorates to ensure that policies which impact either directly or indirectly on gender equality issues contain appropriate provisions.

Legal Directorate will:-

Work to support Directorates to meet their legal and voluntary obligations in terms of equality
Keep abreast of gender and equality legislation to enable us to provide up to date advice

SGLD/ All staff

Ongoing

Development and delivery of policy in line with gender equality duty requirements.

GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN

Name of Directorate

Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel ( OSPC)

Directorate Responsibilities

To work with Ministers and policy and legal colleagues in the planning and management of the Scottish Government's legislative programme; to deliver the legislative programme through the drafting of effective, clearly-drafted, accessible Bills; and to seek to maintain the logical and coherent development of the Scottish statute book. OSPC does not have policy responsibilities.

We are committed to addressing gender inequalities and discrimination in Scotland, by working with policy makers to ensure that new legislation takes proper account of the issues and perspectives of men and women.

What is known about the experiences of, and issues for, women and men affected by the Directorate Responsibilities.

As noted above, OSPC does not have responsibility for policy development. Drafting teams in OSPC gain knowledge of the different impact of policies on men and women from the policy and drafting instructions for a Bill, the wider documentation ( e.g. consultation documents) and contacts with the lead policy Directorate

Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel ( OSPC) Gender Equality Action Plan

Key actions to take into account gender equality across main responsibilities, if not already covered above.

Policy

Actions to take forward gender equality

By whom

By when

Expected Outcome

It is generally the responsibility of policy Directorates to ensure that policies that impact directly or indirectly on equality issues make appropriate provision for gender equality.

In drafting Bills, OSPC will-

be ready to question policy and drafting instructions with a view to ensuring that the resulting legislation takes appropriate account of those to whom it will apply, including men and women

OSPC/ All staff

ongoing

New legislation will take proper account of gender issues and perspectives

GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN

Name of Agency

Accountant in Bankruptcy

Agency Responsibilities

AiB supervise the process of bankruptcy in Scotland and act as trustee when appointed by the Court. In doing so, the Agency:

develops policy for personal and corporate insolvency and diligence in Scotland;
maintains a public register of insolvencies, Protected Trust Deeds ( PTDs) and company insolvencies;
ensures that those involved in the bankruptcy process, principally trustees and commissioners, properly carry out their responsibilities and take appropriate action when they fail to do so;
undertakes the functions of commissioners in bankruptcies where none are elected by creditors;
acts as trustee in bankruptcy where no insolvency practitioner is appointed to do so; and
maintains the DAS Register, approves Debt Payment Programmes ( DPP) and approves money advisors and payment distributors.

The Accountant also employs private insolvency practitioners to act as her agents.

Statement of Agency Commitment to the Promotion of Gender Equality and how this helps to deliver Government's national purpose and outcomes and contributes to progressing the Government's gender equality scheme objectives.

Our aim is to ensure that women and men from all groups of the community feel effectively engaged in decision and policy making around issues that have a direct effect on them.

Our overarching gender equality objective will be to effectively and appropriately ensure that our policies and practices are subject to gender impact assessment. We recognise that we have more to do if we are to effectively understand the potentially differing experiences of women and men in terms of debt and bankruptcy.

What is known about the experiences of, and issues for, women and men affected by the Agency Responsibilities.

More evidence is required to determine any gender inequality issues in terms of those who apply for bankruptcy. Our action plan reflects the need to gather and analyse relevant data.

Accountant in Bankruptcy Gender Equality Action Plan

Key actions which are designed to address gender equality issues identified from evidence and actions which contribute to progressing the Government's gender equality policy objectives ( GEPO).
Policy	Action	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome	Contribute to GEPO (Yes/No)
Data collection and analysis.	We will ensure that our data collection and analysis takes full account of the need to disaggregate data.	Corporate Strategy	Dec 2009.	Policies and practices that have taken full account of any potential gender equality issues.	Yes (3)
	We will liaise with SG analytical services to determine what data is required and to seek advice on the most appropriate method of collection.	Analytical Services	Time is required to set up a system for collection and a full year of data would be required to ensure worthwhile analysis.
	We will analyse the data to identify any trends and seek to address when developing new policies and practices.	Policy Development
Working to eliminate harassment by raising awareness of gender issues.	We will develop and deliver diversity, harassment and bullying training sessions for all staff.	Corporate Strategy.	Ongoing.	Promote an environment where everyone is valued equally.	No
		HR/Training	Appropriate training to be given to staff on induction.	Promote an environment where everyone is valued equally.	No
Ensure that all staff equally take advantage of training opportunities.	We will undertake an audit of those applying for training and identify trends.	HR/Training	Dec 2008	Any barriers to people taking up training will be identified with a view to addressing.	No
Ensure that Agents working on behalf of AiB take account of public sector equality duties.	We will liaise with SGLD and SG Procurement to ensure that the renegotiation of the Agency contract takes account of the public sector equality duties.	Corporate Strategy. COB. SGLD SG Procurement	Jan 2009	Agents complying with equality legislation when dealing with our customers.	No

Key actions to take into account gender equality across main responsibilities, if not already covered above.
Policy	Actions to take forward gender equality	By whom	By when	Expected Outcome
Business planning and reporting.	We will ensure that the Agency business plan and individual work objectives reflect the need to consider equality issues.	Corporate Strategy HR	April 2009	We will be able to monitor and report on progress on an annual basis.
Equality impact assessments.	We will ensure that we involve relevant equality groups when developing new policies.	Policy Development	Ongoing	Our policies meet the needs of all people irrespective of gender.
Development of work procedures.	We will develop a system to ensure that equality issues are considered in the development of procedures and practices within the office.	Corporate Strategy	Dec 2008	Assurances that new procedures and practices will not have any negative impact based in gender.

Page updated: Thursday, June 12, 2008

Scottish Government