Helping the Scottish Legal Aid Board embed equality into its work

The agreement, using powers under Section 23 of the Equality Act 2006, was made after we raised concerns with SLAB that they were not always sufficiently assessing the impact of their policies on different groups.

Not only is it is a legal requirement that public bodies build equality into the decisions they make, it is fundamentally important. Developing equality impact assessments as you design policies and processes leads to decisions which are better quality, more robust and which work for everyone.

We worked with the Scottish Legal Aid Board to ensure they make improvements in this area, and that their policies and processes are designed with equality at the core of what they are seeking to achieve.

During the agreement, which was put in place for 26 months, SLAB will implement a jointly agreed action plan and report on its progress. There will be no further enforcement action.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board in signing this agreement, took an important step in embedding equality into their work and meeting their duty to assess the effect of their policies on equality groups. The Agreement sends a clear message to other public bodies that considering the impact of their work on people with protected characteristics is critical in meeting the needs of all and in fulfilling their legal duties.