COUNCILS and health boards in Scotland will have to put tackling inequality at the heart of every decision they make, after the Scottish Government vowed to resurrect a policy which Theresa May put the kibosh on back in 2010.
The socio-economic duty was legal requirement in the Equality Act forcing all public bodies to assess whether they were addressing inequalities and poverty in their major decisions.
May, who was then Home Secretary, described the obligation, introduced by Labour, as “ridiculous”.
Yesterday, the Scottish Government said it was time to look at the duty again.
SNP Equalities Secretary Angela Constance said the move was “not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do”.
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She was speaking as she launched a consultation on how to apply the new duty on public bodies in Scotland.
Constance said: “Tackling inequalities will never be an optional extra for this Government – it is core to everything we do. Implementing this duty and requiring public bodies to put reducing inequalities at the heart of their decision-making is an important step. It further contributes to our actions on inclusive growth, ensuring increased economic prosperity goes hand in hand with a fairer, more equal country.
“Public bodies already do a huge amount to reduce inequalities, but with more than one in four children in poverty, we must all work together to do more and make a difference.
“The duty will further embed this into the DNA of public sector decision-making – including that of Scottish ministers. It is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.”
She also hit out at UK ministers, saying: “Our action on inequalities is in stark contrast to the UK Government, who have refused to implement this requirement to reduce inequalities through decision-making – all while scrapping child poverty targets.”
The introduction of a socio-economic duty was one of the first measures set out in the Scottish Government’s fairer Scotland action plan.
The Scottish Government’s independent poverty tsar Naomi Eisenstadt has also backed the move.
The consultation will consider which organisations should be subject to the duty and what they need to do to demonstrate they are carrying it out.
John Wilkes, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Scotland, said: “For the first time public bodies will be required to set out how their plans will help in reducing poverty.
“In recent years the number of people living in poverty has shrunk, but poverty has become more concentrated in some communities.
“The new socio-economic duty will help by focusing on how major decisions like the type of housing we build, our transport strategies and investment plans can narrow the gaps in experience between the most and the least advantaged in Scottish society.
“As regulator, we stand ready to ensure the Scottish Government makes the most of this opportunity and will be pushing for similar moves by the Government in Westminster.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Alex Rowley MSP said: “It is of course welcome that the SNP has finally recognised Scottish Labour’s long-standing concerns that it needs to do more to tackle poverty.
“But it is not just enough for the SNP to simply borrow Labour’s ideas – it needs to end its chronic underfunding of local authorities and health boards.”
Green MSP Andy Wightman welcomed the move but said more needed to be done.
“Adding £5 a week to Child Benefit would lift 30,000 children out of poverty,” he said.
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