The Commission has welcomed the Scottish Government publication of an equality impact assessment on Single Outcome Agreements.
Morag Alexander, Scotland Commissioner stated:
'The Concordat between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) was billed as an historic agreement. The Commission welcomes this analysis and is committed to working with the Scottish Government and COSLA to improve equalities outcomes in the future operation of the Concordat.
However, the Commission is concerned that the work is a retrospective assessment of the implications of an agreement which is already in effect.
Equality Impact Assessment is one of the requirements of the public sector equality duties, which are legally binding, and it should be central to policy design, not policy review. The Commission will be continuing its discussions with the Scottish Government about its implementation of equality impact assessments.'