Foreword

Welcome to Revenue Scotland’s Equality Mainstreaming Progress Report 2022.

In March 2020, Revenue Scotland published a four year Equalities Mainstreaming Report (our 2020 Report) summarising our commitment to equalities and our approach to achieving our equalities outcomes over the period 2020-24.

At the time of that Report, we couldn’t have known the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic would have on individuals and organisations across the globe. Our service users, services and staff have been affected too.

As public health restrictions are eased, we in Revenue Scotland have reconsidered the equality, diversity and inclusion aspirations and outcomes which we set ourselves in our 2020 Report and have decided that they hold good.

It is against that context that this Report outlines the progress we have made thus far and repeats our firm commitment to developing and embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in our organisation’s culture and behaviours.

In our 2020 Report, we recognised that this work does not belong to a single group or network, but rather it needs to be embedded by everyone and in everything we do. That continues to be our ethos.

For my part, the role which senior leaders play in developing an inclusive culture and in striving to have equalities considerations at the heart of our operations, is one I and my senior team take seriously. That is why I am particularly pleased to make, on behalf of Revenue Scotland, the commitment asked of public bodies in relation to race equality in employment. I also welcome the introduction in our Corporate Plan for 2021 – 2024 a new Key Performance Indicator (KPI 8) expressly in relation to equalities. We are ready to be held to account.

The major elements of our 2020 Report related to our website and people strategy. Considerable progress has been made on these and other areas. This Report sets out how we have taken our equalities obligations forward across those activities, including progress with regards to our specific commitments.

We are committed to making a positive difference.

Elaine Lorimer, Chief Executive