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The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The “Hearts of Govanhill” project was funded to enable the organisation to build on relationships with local people and knowledge of the context which has proven effective in addressing longstanding and emergent tensions between different social groups in the Govanhill area through community interventions that build bridging (social) capital.

The 3 main strands of Hearts of Govanhill were:

• Understanding Each Other (UEO) – a schools outreach project, which by building on links already made with local primary schools would be developed in collaboration and delivered with a focus on Hate Crime;
• Feel Good Women’s Group (FGWG) – continuing the group and related development activities, as a space for women to increase physical and mental health and gain peer support, eventually working towards a dedicated women’s centre space;
• Work with the Roma community – continue to build the capacity of the local Roma community, with a move towards issue-based citizen advocacy to deal with shared issues, the popular Tuesday Evening Drop-in, and developing the activity of the Baking Group.

Additionally, they would continue with:

• Streetwork – a community engagement project;
• Community events – providing opportunities for locals of different cultural backgrounds to come together through shared interest;
• One-to-one support to vulnerable individuals.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• Local people from ethnically diverse and deprived areas of Govanhill experience fewer barriers and more opportunities to participate in local life.
• People in Govanhill have increased awareness of Hate Crime and the impact of discrimination and experience less discrimination as a result.
• Local people with protected characteristics have increased opportunities to build relationships of trust with others.

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The Living in Harmony (LiH) project was funded to support Pilton Community Health project to work with local organisations and residents to work towards its vision that ‘residents of north Edinburgh, no matter where they come from or how long they have lived here, feel safe, welcome and valued in our community and are able to access services.’

The project intended to give Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) residents more influence on how local services were delivered and be more represented in civic life by supporting them to have the skills and confidence to share their experiences and expertise with services providers at the LiH forum, and encourage them to work with other community leaders to contribute to local (particularly the small area Local Improvement Plan), city wide and national consultations

Also, organisations would gain a better knowledge and understanding of how to meet the needs of BME residents because they would be provided with opportunities for them to hear from BME residents about their experiences of accessing services and taking part in community life, and provided training and spaces where they could explore how they could improve their practice with respect to including BME residents, other local organisations, residents and expertise from further afield.

Finally, the project intended to give residents more opportunities to share culture and make friendships across cultural boundaries through providing a chat café and other activities where people could meet, eat and share culture and chat, and encourage a broad section of the local community to get involved in organising community events

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• People from BME backgrounds have more influence on how local services are delivered and are more represented in civic life
• Organisations working in north Edinburgh have a better knowledge and understanding of how to meet the needs of BME residents
• Residents have more opportunities to share culture and make friendships across cultural boundaries

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The BSL Information and Engagement project was funded to support the implementation of the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 in Scotland, focusing on engaging with deaf children and young people aged 10 – 18 years and parents/carers of deaf children and young people.

The intention was to reach families and young people who were already British Sign Language (BSL) users, but would also focus on the promotional aspects of the legislation. This would enable National Deaf Children's Society to reach the vast majority of deaf young people and their families who have never been exposed to BSL and may be experiencing poorer language and life outcomes as a result. It would also promote and raise awareness of BSL as a language within this new market, and work closely with Designated Special Provision (DSP) partners to signpost young people and parents appropriately.

It was intended that National Deaf Children's Society would work to empower young people and families so that they could effectively participate in consultation opportunities brought about by the Act. This would enable them to help shape the BSL National Plan, subsequent authority plans and, more widely, decisions that affect their lives.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• Deaf children, young people and their parents/carers develop the knowledge and skills required to help shape the future of BSL in Scotland and influence local change.
• Help implement the promotional aspects of the BSL legislation by ensuring parents and carers of newly identified deaf children receive appropriate and timely information about BSL which helps them make genuinely informed choices about the language and communication options that should be available to their child.
• The Deaf Sector Partnership effectively represents the needs and views of deaf young people and parents of deaf children.

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The Action on Prejudice project was funded to enable Youthlink Scotland to develop and build a new national interactive platform called ‘Action on Prejudice’. This would be based on the ‘Action on Sectarianism’ model, adopting an assets-based approach, drawing together the wealth of content created by young people, adults, community groups and practitioners tackling prejudice and discrimination in their community. The central online presence would challenge hate crime, promote intersectionality and ensure a joined-up approach.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• People and communities are better informed about prejudice, the protected characteristics and hate behaviour and the work taking place to tackle it.
• Practitioners have improved access to a wide range of resources to tackle prejudice and can adapt these to better reduce barriers to participation.
• Young people and communities are engaged in online discussion about prejudice, the protected characteristics and what can be done to prevent prejudice and hate crime.

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

Zero Waste Scotland undertook an options appraisal in 2024/25 to assess the impact of introducing kerbside collections for plastic film and flexibles in terms of recycling tonnage, carbon impacts and costs. This will be published later in 2025.

At a national level, the analysis projected that collecting film and flexibles loose with other plastics as part of existing collections would lead to a saving of £680k per annum due to reduced disposal costs, as recycling films and flexibles is cheaper than current costs for disposal. Alternatively, the options appraisal projected that if plastic film and flexible packaging is collected within a bag (to aid segregation at a material recovery facility), this would result in additional costs of £1.4million per annum nationally due to the cost to local authorities to purchase and provide bags to households. These estimates do not include costs related to modifications that may be required at waste transfer stations to segregate these materials.

The cost to local authorities for introducing household collections for recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging will vary between authorities, based on the approach they take to collecting these materials, existing service set-up, contractual arrangements and the reprocessor gate fee they are able to negotiate.

Scottish Government officials, supported by Zero Waste Scotland, are in regular contact with representatives of public agencies as well as private sector businesses to help ensure readiness for the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste.

This engagement will continue, in order to ensure the effective implementation of the ban as part of our progress towards achieving our net zero ambitions.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care. More than £106 million additional funding has been allocated to Health Boards to help tackle the longest waits for procedures and operations, including more than £5 million targeted funding for General Surgery (the speciality that covers hernia operations).

The Scottish Government has safeguarding guidance on child protection and working with vulnerable adults, etc. Public bodies are expected to ensure any partner organisation aligns with this framework, particularly when working with vulnerable groups.

Public bodies are therefore expected to carry out due diligence, include safeguarding compliance, in funding and partnership agreements and ensure regulatory oversight, risk management and safeguarding policies are in place. This will support public bodies to assess any safeguarding concerns and enable appropriate action to be taken.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator may, where necessary, inform relevant public authorities where there are concerns about a charity.

Funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit for 2025-26 has not been reduced.

The Scottish Government grant to the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit has been increased from £1.17 million in 2024-25 to just over £1.2 million for 2025-26. This represents an increase of £47000 (4%) on the Unit’s grant allocation in 2024-25, and is a £82000 (7%) increase on the Unit’s indicative grant allocation for 2025-26.

The number of eligible Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) applicants each year from 2021 and how many of these were new entrant farmers is detailed in the following table.