Attitudes to Equalities in Scotland
In order to help inform its future research and policy agenda, the Commission is developing a set of questions which can be used over time to measure public attitudes to equality in Scotland. The questions are intended to enhance the Commission's understanding of what people mean by equality - equality of what? equality for whom? - and the measures people are willing to support to achieve it.
As part of this project, the Commission is keen to build on the work and expertise of the research community and other key stakeholders in Scotland and to engage them fully in the debate about what is meant by equality and why it matters. We are therefore organizing a seminar on Thurs 1 May at which we will present an initial set of draft questions and invite feedback. The seminar will also be an opportunity for participants to begin to explore with the Commission the current debate around the definition of equality.
For further information on this seminar please contact Scotland@equalityhumanrights.com
Equal Opportunities and the Scottish Parliament: A Progress Review
In order to help inform its future research and policy agenda, both for 2008-09 and beyond, the EHRC has commissioned research to understand in what ways the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government have used their powers in the area of equal opportunities and what impact this has had. The aims of the research are to:
- examine the powers of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to act on equal opportunities and explain how these powers relate to equality more widely
- provide a comprehensive and detailed account of the ways in which the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government have used these powers
- examine selected examples in which the powers have been used and
- draw early conclusions about what impact the powers have had and what we can learn from the Scottish experience
Final reports for both of the above are due in May 2008.
Both of these projects are short preliminary studies and they will become much larger and in depth projects in 2008/2009.