improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI

improving
government
service
delivery
to minority
ethnic groups
Chapter 3: Scotland Research Findings 90_91
171_Communities Scotland:
www.communitiesscotland.
gov.uk
172_Communities
Scotland (2004), Improving
Understanding of the
Housing Circumstances
of Minority Ethnic
Communities in Aberdeen
City.
Government initiatives in relation to service provision
The Scottish Executive
In 1999 the Scottish Executive established a short-life Race Equality Advisory Forum which advised on the
development of a race equality strategy and action plans to tackle institutional racism and promote race equality
and advised on consultation with and for ethnic minorities. As required under the Race Relations (Amendment)
Act 2000, a Race Equality Scheme was published in 2002, with a commitment to produce an annual review.
The Scottish Executive has produced a mainstreaming equality website which collates equality related webbased
resources and is designed to help policy makers and researchers understand the broad range of equality
issues that have relevance across policy areas. The site covers all equality areas, not just race equality.
Communities Scotland
Communities Scotland is an agency of the Scottish Executive with a role to help deliver the policy objectives
and Partnership Agreement commitments of Scottish Ministers. Their objectives mirror the Scottish Executive’s
fundamental aim, which is to make Scotland a country where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a decent
quality of life through affordable housing in strong and confident communities, having access to learning and
employment opportunities, and living free from poverty, inequality and discrimination. 171
It has taken a number of initiatives to progress race equality, including commissioning a number of reviews
in different local authority areas to assess the housing needs, preferences and circumstances of the BME
communities in those areas.
In Aberdeen they identified that the BME community was made up of four different groups, namely the visible
minorities, those who belong to a white minority, Gypsies/Travellers and the International Student Community. 172
The report highlighted that there was a need for closer collaboration between housing, social work and
other services to address housing needs which are related to social care issues and safety from racial
harassment in neighbourhoods and schools. It also reported the need for joint working between Communities
Scotland, Aberdeen City Council and Registered Social Landlords to increase the availability of larger-sized
accommodation in areas which are perceived to be free of racial harassment; and recommended working
with the main providers of international student accommodation to address the shortage of affordable
accommodation.
The action plan for the Council proposed:
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the development of a communications strategy to increase understanding of Council policies and
procedures by minority ethnic communities and the full range of housing options;
ethnic monitoring of applications, waiting times and allocations and other areas of service provision to
ensure equality of access and outcome;
the mainstreaming of the housing needs of minority ethnic communities through existing initiatives and
strategies, including the homelessness strategies, increasing the availability of family accommodation,
housing stock improvements and measures to reduce domestic energy consumption;
increasing the participation and representation of minority ethnic communities in the Council workforce and
Committees and tenants’ organisations; and
increasing the knowledge base relating to the housing needs of minority ethnic communities.