Chamber and committees

We recognise that more work is to be done across the board on equality and mainstreaming, and I have been pretty open about that throughout the whole session. However, if, for example, the equality and human rights budget advisory group tells us that it cannot see our workings out or how we have reached a decision, we take that on board.

I am trying to target that approach. Throughout the coming year, in the run-up to the next budget process, I will be working hard to ensure that we are reacting to such feedback. I want to ensure that ministers are, by the next budget process, able to explain fully—as many are able to now in regard to decisions that have been taken in this budget—and more widely how they came to decisions and how they engaged equality impact assessments, equality and human rights budgeting and all the other considerations that can help them to make a better, well-rounded decision that completely takes into consideration the impact on those with protected characteristics in particular.

Much of it is designed in partnership. The convener will be aware that many of the recipients of funding in the equalities and inclusion and human rights budget line are long-term partners with whom we have developed good relationships and who can evidence that they are able to support us in delivering on our equality and community opportunities. Much of that budget is reactive to changing inequalities. The committee will be able to see in the budget line the over-time reactions to groups that have been under threat or that have particularly been able to highlight that they are the victims of systemic inequality.

Within the human rights and equalities lines, the committee will be able to see the strong partnerships that have been developed over time.

Those matters would be for education and finance colleagues to take decisions on.

A very clear expectation has been set that ministers—regardless of portfolio—should have a focus on tackling inequality. I doubt that there is a single minister who is unaware that the First Minister expects us to think about inequalities when we take all decisions, and to ensure, throughout our work, that our efforts to reduce inequality are evident. That instruction has been very clear, and the target of ending poverty and reducing inequality is absolutely clear to everyone.

As for my having a role, that is absolutely the case, and I hope that you can take reassurance from the fact that we are now in the week of stage 3 of this year’s budget, and I am already meeting the equality and human rights budget advisory group to talk about next year’s process and how we can improve things.

Of course, I appreciate that this year’s budget process has been the first one that I have been directly involved in, so I am not able to make a comparison with previous years; all I know is what we could have done differently this time. I have made it clear that I am willing to listen to the budget advisory group and to evidence that is given to this and other committees to ensure that we are continually progressing and improving.

I am not familiar enough with that decision to know whether an EQIA would have been helpful. I certainly doubt that it could have made a difference to the outcome, given the financial situation that we are in. Everybody wants to support people who face housing issues. It is a question of ensuring that cuts are reasonable, proportionate, time limited and necessary things that we have to do, and are not harmful to human rights.

That is a big question. I feel that we are at a very good point in relation to mainstreaming in general, because we have reached a stage at which there is general acceptance across Government that mainstreaming is the right thing to do and is beneficial to good decision making in every single portfolio, but it is not a given. There is a real opportunity in our being at a point at which everyone agrees that progress is a good thing and that mainstreaming is the right way to go about it. It has much potential, so I am happy with where we are.

I am excited about the improvements that are being made to the public sector equality duty and about the consultation that we will do on our mainstreaming strategy, because they will have an impact on absolutely everything: they will have an impact on how we engage with members of the public and how we offer opportunities to them and to stakeholders to feed into the process, and they will change the way that all ministers make decisions, by default. I think that the broader culture change will be as impactful as individual policy changes will be.

I do not recollect any current work in the portfolio that would involve those conversations, but if there is a particular need for input regarding mainstreaming or equalities and human rights budgeting, I am more than happy to have conversations with ministers.

Yes, I think that we are. There are opportunities for improving that in the review of the public sector equality duty and, importantly, in the conversations around and the introduction of the human rights bill, which will bring into Scots law not only economic but social and cultural rights and the right to a healthy environment. Having those conversations even before the bill’s introduction will undoubtedly have an impact on the culture of considering human rights and equality throughout Government and—I certainly hope—throughout the whole public sector. There will be work to be done to ensure that all duty bearers are aware of the duties that we are putting on them.

Once, as I hope, the bill passes, subject to the Parliament’s approval, we will see change on the ground for people in terms of their being aware of their economic, social and cultural human rights and their being able to challenge when those rights are not being realised.

Absolutely. That is why I talked a little bit in my opening statement about the work that the committee is doing to bring people with lived experience into the process of scrutiny. It is important that ministers speak with people with lived experience throughout the year, get feedback on policies that we introduce and listen to individuals and communities through consultation processes and by speaking face to face.

My portfolio is very people heavy. I speak to people every day because, with equality issues, we must, by default, think about people when making decisions. My challenge, and that of everybody who works on mainstreaming, is to ensure that other ministers feel that need as well, and that, throughout the year, their diaries and engagement processes on their bills and on the strategies that they are producing force them to speak to individuals who are directly impacted by the things that they are doing.

The committee’s use of citizens panels—specifically, when you are using them as a way of finding questions to put to ministers—is very helpful, because that does the same thing. That is not part of the process of Government—it is not what I am working on and trying to work into every minister’s routine—but it has the same outcome: people are more engaged with the process, and you can see the impact that people’s lived experience and the things that they are saying in evidence is having on what the Government is doing.

I am glad to attend the committee for the first time in my role as Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees. I am aware that the committee has taken a key interest in the Scottish Government’s response to the war in Ukraine and that you undertook several evidence sessions this spring. There has been much progress since then and I am glad to have the opportunity to update you on some key developments since you last considered that work.

Scotland stands for democracy, human rights and the rule of law at home and abroad and offers unqualified support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

I am proud of how Scotland has responded to a humanitarian crisis and grateful to all who have opened their homes to displaced Ukrainians fleeing the war, providing sanctuary to more displaced Ukrainians per head of population than any other United Kingdom nation. We are glad to have been able to support so many people fleeing war by working with local government, the third sector and local volunteer communities. We have been clear from the outset: Scotland is their home for as long as they need one.

We are aware that many Ukrainians are already in the second year of their three-year visa period, and they are anxious about the future. I am engaging with my Home Office counterpart to seek clarity on the position, and I will work with the Home Office to ensure that we communicate that as early as possible to Ukrainians living in Scotland.

We published “A Warm Scots Future: Policy Position Paper” on 27 September. It outlines our new strategic priorities for supporting the longer-term integration of displaced people from Ukraine living in Scotland.

Scotland has the strongest rights in the UK for people experiencing homelessness, but we are committed to ensuring that no one needs to become homeless in the first place, including displaced people from Ukraine. More than 26,000 people from Ukraine have now arrived in the UK with a Scottish sponsor, more than 20,500 of them through our supersponsor scheme. As part of the warm Scots welcome, safe and suitable welcome accommodation is provided to those arrivals who need it. Our supersponsor scheme has ensured that all arrivals in Scotland have had access to suitable welcome accommodation and are now being supported into longer-term accommodation.

We are investing more than £100 million in the Ukrainian resettlement programme in 2023-24 to ensure that people continue to receive a warm Scots welcome and are supported to rebuild their lives in our communities for as long as they need to call Scotland their home. That builds on the significant funding of around £200 million that we have provided to support resettlement in 2022-23. “A Warm Scots Future”, which was developed in partnership by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, recommits partners to working to reduce the numbers of people in welcome accommodation and provides a framework for integration within communities. We have set out our plan to reduce the numbers of people in welcome accommodation and the length of time that people are spending there. We published our response detailing the actions that we are taking to reduce the use of temporary accommodation on 19 July.

We will invest at least £60 million this year through the affordable housing supply programme to support a national acquisition plan. We will maintain momentum in delivering the affordable housing supply programme, and we will work with social landlords to deliver a new programme of stock management. We will implement targeted partnership plans with the local authorities that are facing the greatest pressure, backed by an additional £2 million. Work to set the conditions for effective delivery has been progressing in parallel to preparing our response, and we are ready to hit the ground running in implementing the actions that are being taken.

To help continue to drive down the numbers of people in welcome accommodation, and to encourage guests to move on from welcome accommodation, we are introducing a new national moving on policy, which requires guests to accept reasonable offers of accommodation, with a re-entry policy to prevent future presentations. We have introduced two new policies to tackle our reliance on welcome accommodation. Local authorities will seek to make two reasonable offers of accommodation to all displaced people. Where possible, those offers will be within the original local authority area or in a neighbouring local authority area. Where necessary, offers can be anywhere in Scotland.

I hope that that has given a helpful overview of the work that has been going on. I will now take questions from members.