Developments In Gender Equality Policies In Scotland Since Devolution

Abstract

Since the advent of devolution in 1999, the principle of equal opportunities has become institutionalised in government in Scotland through a number of mechanisms. Equal opportunities is one of the four fundamental principles to which the Scottish Parliament is committed, along with power-sharing, access and participation, and accountability. The Scotland Act empowers the Parliament to encourage equal opportunities and to impose duties on public authorities to ensure that functions are carried out with due regard to equal opportunity requirements. The parliament has a standing Equal Opportunities Committee, and the Scottish Executive has an Equality Unit Furthermore, within the Parliament women's representation is at the comparatively high level of 39.5% of all MSPs, though as yet there are no ethnic minority MSPs, and only two explicitly gay MSPs. Also, since 1999 the profile of equality issues has been heightened in a number of ways through the efforts of the Scottish Executive and Parliament to adhere to its founding principles, and through the measures adopted by the Scottish Executive to further equality goals. However, it remains the case that the policy framework for the promotion of equal opportunities is a complex one, in which both UK and