2nd Report, 2008 (Session 3)

Equalities Report for the period 3 April 2007 – 8 May 2008

Remit and membership

Remit:

To consider public petitions addressed to the Parliament in accordance with these Rules and, in particular, to—

(a) decide in a case of dispute whether a petition is admissible;

(b) decide what action should be taken upon an admissible public petition; and

(c) keep under review the operation of the petitions system.

(Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament, Rule 6.10)

Membership:

Bashir Ahmed
Claire Baker
Angela Constance
Nigel Don (from 31 October 2007)
Rhoda Grant
Robin Harper
Tricia Marwick (until 31 October 2007)
Mr Frank McAveety (Convener)
Nanette Milne
John Farquhar Munro (Deputy Convener)

Committee Clerking Team:

Clerk to the Committee
Fergus Cochrane

Assistant Clerks
Franck David
Zoé Tough

Committee Assistant
Eileen Martin

Equalities Report for the period 3 April 2007 – 8 May 2008

The Committee reports to the Parliament as follows—

Introduction

1. At its meeting on 11 May 2005, the then Public Petitions Committee agreed to publish annually an equalities report based on statistics collated from equalities monitoring forms (see Annex A) completed and returned by petitioners. Such reports have been published for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07, and the views of relevant equalities organisations have been sought on them.

2. Over the years, a number of changes have been made to the monitoring form and the Committee’s procedures for equalities monitoring as a result of this process. This has led to improvements in the numbers and accuracy of the responses received and allowed for a more accurate comparison with the census data.

3. The Committee invited the views of the then Commission for Racial Equality in Scotland, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland, the Equality Network, the Scottish Inter Faith Council and the Parliament’s Equalities Manager and Equal Opportunities Committee on its 2006-07 report. While responses had been received to previous reports, no responses were received to the 2006-07 report, perhaps due, at the time, to the impending dissolution of the Parliament.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form: Summary of Responses

4. Between 3 April 2007 and 8 May 2008, 103 petitions were lodged and 43 equalities forms returned, giving a response rate of 39.84%. It should be borne in mind that, due to the dissolution of the Parliament on 2 April 2007, the subsequent election and the time taken to elect new Committee members, this report does not cover the same numbers of petitions and returns of equal opportunities monitoring forms as would be usual in a non-election year.

5. Any discrepancy in total percentages is due to the fact that not all respondents answer every question but the figures provided are based on a percentage of the total responses received and not percentages of total petitioners.

Age

6. Total percentage of petitioners aged 16-44 is 23.24% as opposed to 13.56% in 2006-2007. However, of the 43 responses, 32 petitioners indicated that they were 45 or older which is 74.40% of the total. The 2001 census records that 40.5% of Scotland’s population is over 44.

Gender identit

7. The percentage of female petitioners was 34.88%. The number of female petitioners in 2006-2007 was 29.54%. The 2001 census data shows that 52% of Scotland’s population is female.

Sexual orientation

8. Of the 43 forms returned 33 petitioners responded to this question. Of those, 30 stated that they are heterosexual, one stated that they are a gay man, none stated that they are bisexual or lesbian. Of the remaining two responses, one answered "N/A" and one stated that they found the question ‘Intrusive’. There is no comparable data in the 2001 census. As there are no numbers in the census with which to make comparisons, the value of the data gained from this question would seem to be questionable. The Committee will therefore give consideration to removing this question from the equalities monitoring form.

Disability

9. 25.58% of respondents indicated that they have a disability compared to 13.6% in the previous year. This also compares to the 2001 census report which states that ‘20% of the population indicated that they had a long-term illness, health problem or disability that limited their daily activities or the work they could do’.

Language (What is your preferred first language?)

10. The response rate to this question was 93.02% compared with 93.14% in 2006-07.

Race/ethnic group

11. The figures in the 2006-07 report were White/White Scottish/White British 90.9% and Asian/Asian Scottish/Asian British 2.5%.

12. The 2001 census report states that: "Some 2% of the population in Scotland were from a minority (non-White) ethnic group."

Employment status

13. The comparable response rates for 2006-07 were: employed full-time 20.45%, employed part-time 4.45%, self-employed 22.72%, unemployed 2.27%, retired 38.63%, voluntary workers 2.27% and "other" 6.8%.

Geographical location

14. Compared with the geographical location of respondents in the 2006-07 report, there is a slight increase in the percentage of petitions from Highlands and Islands; significant increases in the percentage from Central Scotland, North East Scotland, West Scotland and Glasgow and significant reductions in the percentage from Mid Scotland and Fife, South of Scotland and Lothians. There is no comparable data in the 2001 census.

15. In summary, the data collected for this report shows that—

(a) 74.40% of respondents are over 45 years of age;

(b) 37.20% of respondents are over 60 years of age;

(c) 34.88% are female compared to the national census data which gives the female percentage of the population as 52%; the current percentage is, however, an increase on 2006-2007 of 29.54%;

(d) 67.44% of respondents are heterosexual and 2.32% are a gay man. No other sexual orientation responses have been received;

(e) 25.58% of respondents are disabled - this compares with 13.6% in 2006-07 and the 20% of the population in the 2001 census report;

(f) one of the respondents indicated that their first language was anything other than English or Scottish;

(g) while 90% of respondents were White Scottish/British, 4.64% were mixed race or Asian/Asian Scottish/British. This compares with the 2001 census which gives a figure of 2% of the Scottish population as ethnic minority;

(h) the most significant changes in employment status of respondents were an increase in employed full time and decreases in the numbers self-employed or retired. There were, however, respondents from all categories;

(i) while there were changes in the geographical source of respondents compared with 2006-07, there were respondents from all categories, including 1 from Pakistan.

General Comments

16. The monitoring form also includes an opportunity for respondents to provide general comments about the use of the public petitions system and suggestions for improving its accessibility. Comments received during the period of this report include—

"Hold the meeting in the area referred to within a petition"

"The template was a little difficult to write to and cannot easily be modified, e.g. deleting spaces not required"

"The Petition system works really good, and is easy to understand and fill in"

"Easy to use!"

"I have found the Clerk most helpful in both process and document preparation"

"I have much appreciated instant telephone access to helpful petitions committee advisers – Thank you! Re monitoring form – I find "sexual orientation" and "racial/ethnic group" questions intrusive and, I feel, unnecessary, especially for Equal Opportunity monitoring"

"Excellent systems"

"Have had no problem with the public petitions system and help has always been on hand with good communication and guidance"

"Makes more people aware of the need to keep our campaign highlighted and help towards a total ban on airguns (as the SNP have stated in their manifesto"

"I have found it a wonderful way of communicating with others"

"The Petitions Clerk or Assistant was always able to help me with the form of words of the petition heading"

"Your system seems to be first class"

"Closing the petition for comment a month before the hearing seems unfortunate just when interest should be increasing. Perhaps it is unavoidable for ‘admin’ reasons."

"Everyone who wishes to appeal personally before the Public petitions Committee should be allowed to appear and present an oral presentation on his or her petition."

"Generally good but sometimes hard to access the site"

"More publicity to inform the general public about the petitions system"

"More policing of rogue, spam comments"

Equalities related work undertaken in the course of this report.

17. Feedback to previous reports from the then Equal Opportunities Commission included suggestions about communicating with groups frequently under-represented in political and public life. In particular, it mentioned women, young Asian men and people from rural communities. In July 2007 the Committee distributed a mailshot letter and copies of its guidance leaflet "How to submit a Public Petition" to 183 groups in Scotland including groups representing ethnic minorities, ethnic students and graduates, women and elders groups. A copy of the letter and the list of organisations is attached at Annex B. The leaflet was issued in English, Urdu, Gaelic, Bengali, Arabic, Punjabi and Cantonese.

18. In the period covered by this report the guidance leaflet has also been produced in Polish and this is available via the Committee’s webpage.

Outreach work

19. The Clerk to the Committee attended a presentation on inclusive democracy to the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations Scotland when an explanation of the petitions system was given along with hard copies of guidance material in varying languages.

Continuing equalities work

20. The Committee continues to receive a significant percentage (25.58%) of petitions from people with some form of disability. It provided support at three Committee meetings through the provision of British Sign Language interpreters.

Future equalities work

21. Following consideration of a petition from Young Scot in October 2007, the Committee has agreed to take forward an inquiry in 2008 to consider, amongst other things, how to increase access and participation in the petitions process from younger people, ethnic minorities, people from disadvantaged communities etc. The Committee will seek to gather views specifically from these groups to broaden its understanding of their views and impression of the petitions system.

22. The Committee will continue, not only through the inquiry, to identify ways to make the petitions system more widely known and to improve the availability of information on it. Examples are, seeking to improve the layout, usefulness, readability and accessibility of guidance material. It will take forward consideration of undertaking external meetings in other areas of Scotland, either as part of its inquiry or its normal meeting cycle and will pay due consideration to equalities issues in determining where and when such meetings take place to maximise public participation.

Annex A: EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES MONITORING FORM (88KB pdf)

Annex B: letter issued to equalities and ethnic minority organisations 13 july 2007

The Public Petitions Committee exists to allow members of the public to raise issues of concern directly with their elected representatives at the Scottish Parliament and have a real influence in the political process. Petitioning can raise awareness of an issue, can inform the scrutiny of legislation and can stimulate parliamentary debate.

There are no restrictions on who can submit a petition, there is no requirement to collect numerous signatures in support of a petition and petitions can be lodged in any language.

Petitions should raise issues which fall within the remit of the Scottish Parliament (such as health, education or the environment). Many petitions are driven by local experiences, for example a campaign to stop a local school closure or to prevent development on a local playing field.

The enclosed leaflet "How to submit a public petition" provides further information and is available in a range of languages and formats.

Clerks to the Committee are available to offer further advice and assistance and are also available to participate in community outreach events.

I hope you find the enclosed information of interest. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you think the Public Petitions Committee can be of any assistance to you or your community.

This letter was issued to the following—