Plan to tackle racial inequality unveiled

A new action plan is setting out more than 120 steps the Scottish Government is committed to taking in a bid to tackle racial inequality.

Equalities Secretary Angela Constance said the launch of the blueprint showed “leadership” by the Scottish Government – but stressed society must also play its part.

The new plan is based on the work of the government’s independent race equality adviser Kaliani Lyle, who described it as “a start” in tackling the problems faced by ethnic minority communities, including gypsy travellers.

Ms Lyle praised the Scottish Government for accepting the recommendations in her report on how to tackle racial inequality. She said: “In accepting my report in its entirety, and instructing officials to prepare an action plan to implement the 72 recommendations in the report, the cabinet secretary for communities, social security and equalities has shown leadership and determination to drive forward this work to create a fairer Scotland for people of all ethnicities.

“However, this is a start. Keeping race equality on the agenda, checking progress against the reality of lived experience will be the true determinant of whether we are actually making a difference.”

The new race equality action plan was produced by the government after figures showed white people were more likely to be in work than those from ethnic minority groups, with employment rates of 74.2% and 58.5% respectively.

Women from ethnic minority groups were particularly disadvantaged, with employment rates that are around 24% lower than those for males from their community – a gap that is around three times higher than the 7% difference in employment rates for and males and females in Scotland.

Looking at housing, figures showed people from the Polish, Bangladeshi and African communities had the highest rates of overcrowding.

Equalities Secretary Angela Constance launched the plan.