NatureScot Equality Report 2019

Published: 2019

1. Foreword by Francesca Osowska, Chief Executive of NatureScot

Nature is the cornerstone of a flourishing Scotland – helping more people from all parts of society experience better health and well-being and helping our businesses to prosper sustainably. The future of this national asset matters to us all. We need to work together to make sure that this treasure remains world class. People will flourish in Scotland only if nature flourishes too.  

Equality is key to helping NatureScot to connect people and nature so I’m delighted to see the impact of some of our funding and partnerships on people from harder to reach communities and backgrounds, helping them to care about nature and the quality of the local environments where they live, work and play. Partnerships such as those with Backbone Community Interest Company (CIC) have aimed to engage more people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.  Through our Outdoor Learning in Nature and Green Infrastructure funded projects we are addressing inequalities of outcome experienced by disadvantaged families, individuals and communities. 

As 2018 was the Year of Young People our Youth Panel, ReRoute has gone from strength to strength.  Our partnership with Young Scot has been instrumental in encouraging young people to be involved in decisions that affect them around nature.

We have made measurable progress across the organisation.  A review of our pay structure, increases in women in senior leadership roles and women being promoted have all helped us to successfully reduce our gender pay gap. I have made a pledge to the First Ministers National Advisory Council for Women & Girls to continue to work towards reducing the pay gap. 

The achievement of a number of employee awards over the last two  years has helped us to ensure that we are promoting best practice in our workplace.  I have welcomed the introduction of employee networks, as they have helped increase employee voice and been fundamental in shaping our equalities priorities going forward.

Work continues to improve the diversity of our workforce, in particular by increasing the number of young people, people from BAME communities and people with disabilities.  We will also aim to develop a more age-inclusive culture that fosters positive intergenerational relations within a more diverse and inclusive workforce.  

We are proud of our achievements, but know we need to do much more. We look forward to working in partnership with others and, as you read this report, we would welcome any suggestions about where we can improve and how we can accelerate and strengthen our progress.

Francesca Osowska  Chief Executive 

Ro-ràdh le Francesca Osowska, Àrd-oifigear NatureScot

Tha nàdar aig teis-meadhan Alba shoirbheachail – a’ leigeil leis a h-uile duine às gach ceàrnaidh de na coimhearsnachdan againn sunnd is slàinte fhaighinn às agus a’ leigeil leis na gnìomhachasan againn soirbheachadh gu seasmhach. Tha e cudromach dhuinn uile gun soirbhich leis an stòras nàiseanta seo a tha cudromach dhuinn uile. Feumaidh sinn co-obrachadh airson dèanamh cinnteach gum mair an neamhnaid seo aig ìre eadar-nàiseanta. Cha shoirbhich le muinntir na dùthcha mura soirbhich le nàdar na h-Alba cuideachd.

Tha co-ionnanachd riatanach airson leigeil le NatureScot daoine is nàdar a cheangal, mar sin dheth, tha mi fìor thoilichte a bhith a’ faicinn na buaidh a tha aig cuid den mhaoineachadh is na com-pàirteachasan againn air daoine à coimhearsnachdan is àiteachan a tha nas dorra a ruigsinn, a’ cumail taic riutha airson cùram a thoirt do nàdar agus càileachd nan àrainneachdan ionadail far a bheil iad a’ fuireach, ag obair agus a’ cluich. Tha com-pàirteachasan a leithid Backbone CIC air cur romhpa barrachd dhaoine à coimhearsnachdan dubha is mion-chultarail (BAME) a thoirt an sàs ann an nàdar. Tha sinn a’ freagairt tro na pròiseactan maoinichte againn, Ionnsachadh A-muigh ann an Nàdar agus Bun-structar Uaine, ris an neo-ionnanachd a bhios cuid a theaghlaichean, daoine is coimhearsnachdan a’ fulang.

Chaidh am pannal òigridh againn, ReRoute, bho neart gu neart ann an 2018, Bliadhna na h-Òigridh. Tha an com-pàirteachas againn le Young Scot air a bhith cudromach airson daoine òga a bhrosnachadh airson a thighinn an sàs anns na co-dhùnaidhean a bheir buaidh orra ann an nàdar.

Tha sinn air adhartas mòr a dhèanamh air feadh na buidhne. Tha ath-sgrùdadh den structar tuarastail againn, àrdachadh san àireimh de bhoireannaich ann an dreuchdan àrda agus na boireannaich a tha a’ faighinn àrdachaidh air leigeil leinn am beàrn gnèitheach tuarastail a lìonadh gu soirbheachail. Tha mi air gealladh a chur an cèill do Chomhairle Chochomhairleachaidh Nàiseanta a’

Phrìomh Mhinisteir do Bhoireannaich is Caileagan gun cùm sinn oirnn a’ lùghdachadh a’ bheàrn ann an tuarastalan a rèir gnè.

Tha sinn air grunn duaisean luchdobrach a bhuannachadh anns an dà bhliadhna mu dheireadh, a tha air leigeil leinn dearbhadh gu bheil sinn a’ brosnachadh sàr-chleachdadh san àiteobrach againn. Tha mi air fàilte a chur air stèidheachadh lìonraidhean luchdobrach, leis gu bheil iad air taic a chur ri àrdachadh guth an luchd-obrach agus iad riatanach airson na prìomhachasan co-ionnanachd againn a dhealbhadh san àm ri teachd.

Tha an obair a’ leantainn airson iomadachd san luchd-obrach againn a neartachadh, gu h-àraid tro bhith ag àrdachadh na h-àireimh de dhaoine òga, daoine bho choimhearsnachdan BAME agus daoine ciorramach. Bidh sinn ag amas air cultar nas cothromaiche a thaobh aois a leasachadh airson compàirteachas eadar ginealaichean a neartachadh a chuireas ri luchd-obrach anns a bheil iomadachd agus inghabhalachd. 

Tha sinn moiteil às na tha sinn air cosnadh, ach tha fios againn gum feum sinn barrachd a dhèanamh. Tha sinn a’ dèanamh fiughair ri bhith a’ co-obrachadh le daoine eile agus, an dèidh dhut an aithisg seo a leughadh, chuireamaid fàilte air moladh sam bith air ciamar as urrainn dhuinn a dhol am feabhas agus ar cuid adhartais a dhèanamh nas luaithe agus nas treasa

Francesca Osowska Àrd-oifigear NatureScot

2. Executive Summary 

This is NatureScot’s fourth Equality Report and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to ensuring the equality agenda is at the heart of what we do.

Table 1 summarises the overall progress against our Equality outcomes 2013-  2019. We have achieved over 50% of what we planned in our Equality Report 2017, with particular successes in relation to our work with young people. We have extended NatureScot’s reach to minority groups through our funding and partnerships which facilitate understanding and enjoyment of nature and research.

In relation to our external activities, the evidence we have gathered suggests that we need to further prioritise our work with:

• People from BAME communities
• People with disabilities
• People from excluded and disadvantaged communities 

Internally we have strengthened mechanisms for employee engagement,
developed our approach to building an inclusive culture, and we have achieved
to a degree the external recognition we set out to.

We have reduced our mean gender pay gap from 15.01% in 2017 to 10.95% as at March 2019.  More people who identify as females are being promoted to senior roles, however they are still over-represented in the lowest paid grades and are over-represented in traditional female professions such as Business Support, Human Resources and Finance.   

Changing our workforce demographic continues to be challenging.  Budget constraints continue to limit the scale of recruitment both internally and externally, affecting our ability to change our demographic.  We also recognise the need to continue to work to improve disclosure rates for employee data, which remain modest.  

The evidence gathered suggests that as an employer we need to further prioritise work with:

• Young people
• People from BAME communities
• People with disabilities, and   
• Older employees

With limited opportunities to recruit new employees NatureScot needs to consider more creative solutions to increase representation in our workforce of young people, people from BAME communities and people with disabilities. 

The evidence points to an increase in negative attitudes and behaviours at work.   We also know that those employees who have been at NatureScot longer are feeling undervalued and deskilled and are having more difficulty dealing with change.  It is not definitive; however there is a strong likelihood that this is linked to older employees and how we manage organisational change. As we increase the number of young people in our workforce we need to also ensure we develop a culture which fosters positive intergenerational relations.  

Table 1: Overall Progress Against our Equality Outcomes 2013 – 2019

No.	Outcomes 2013 - 2019	Rating
1	Through the delivery of our services, people who are underrepresented as a result of a protected characteristic are more able to visit and experience the outdoor	Some progressmade, however further work required
2	Our workforce broadly reflects the diversity of the population of Scotland	Some progress made, however further work required
3	Our workforce welcomes, values and promotes diversity	Some progress made, however further work required
4	We have reduced the gender pay gap	Achieved

3. About NatureScot   

We promote and care for the natural heritage, enable people to enjoy the outdoors and work positively with individuals and organisations that share our vision and objectives.  Our new Corporate Plan Connecting People and Nature (2018 onwards) sets out our vision for Scotland’s nature and landscapes and is built around four interdependent outcomes:

1. More people across Scotland are enjoying and benefiting from nature.
2. The health and resilience of  Scotland’s nature is improved.
3. There is more investment in Scotland’s natural capital and its management to improve prosperity and wellbeing.
4. We have transformed how we work. 

Working in collaboration, and viewing nature as part of wider social and economic challenges and opportunities is central to our approach - for example, in tackling climate change and loss of nature together.

NatureScot strongly advocates fairer and more equal access to nature for all.  We recognise that the ability to access nature can be more limited for some older people and children, disabled people, people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds and by disadvantaged families, individuals and communities.  Priorities within our corporate plan seek to address such inequalities, but also to engage the interest of these groups in the environment so as to encourage volunteering and help them to play a role in the maintenance and improvement of their local environment.

Scottish Government’s priorities are for sustainable economic growth, improving people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing, and reducing inequalities. A large proportion of Scotland’s people live in urban areas with limited access to natural greenspace, and experience poorer health outcomes.  The evidence suggests that the picture is complicated by the experience of socio-economic disadvantage on amongst some people sharing protected characteristics; for example, women and poverty, disability and poverty, mental health and poverty, etc. This makes access to nature for reasons of time, transport, money or physical access even more difficult.  Our equality outcomes are therefore designed to fully incorporate and respond to both the Fairer Scotland duty and the Equality Act.  

Our corporate plan outcomes depend on one another.  The more we are able to demonstrate the ways that people benefit from nature, the more they are likely to call for investment in it across the public and private sectors; the more investment the healthier and more resilient nature will be, and healthier and more resilient nature provides more benefits for more people – and so on.

NatureScot has adopted a new approach to consolidating the work around transforming how we work which encompasses a wider organisational development perspective. This will be done though the development of our Organisation Development Framework (ODF), which will have a positive impact on how the people of the organisation are able to deliver Connecting People & Nature, and position the organisation for the challenges ahead. 

4. About this Report

This report responds to our statutory duties to report on our mainstreaming activity and progress on delivering our Equality Outcomes, and to publish new

Equality Outcomes for the period 2019-2023. These are statutory requirements for listed Scottish public authorities set by amendments to the Equality Act 2010. Further information is available on the website of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.  The specific duties also require us to take steps to gather employee information annually and, if not reported elsewhere, to report it within our mainstreaming report along with the progress made in using the employee information to better perform the general equality duty.  We also publish our gender         pay      gap,    our      equal pay statement and occupational segregation information (covering ethnicity, disability and gender). 

The report begins with a description of how we have mainstreamed equality and diversity in the delivery of our functions and provides a summary of progress against our Equality Outcomes.  It then introduces our refreshed Outcomes and priorities for the period 2019-2023.   

5. Mainstreaming Equality & Progress towards our Outcomes 

Mainstreaming equality requires us to integrate equality into our day-to-day work, and take account of equality in the exercise of our functions.  We achieve this through integrating equality into our business, using tools such as equality impact assessments to inform the effect of our policies and activities on people.  We ensure that equality features appropriately in our business planning approach, decision-making processes and other policy development mechanisms and governance.

In this section we also highlight the progress we have made with our outcomes and outline further work to mainstream equalities. 

Mainstreaming Equality

Leadership and Governance 

Any organisation which wants to ensure that equality is at the heart of its work as an employer and service provider requires commitment from its senior management.  For the first time NatureScot has a Board Champion for Equalities, Cath Denholm, who brings a wealth of experience from her roles within NHS management and strategic roles within primary care, GP appraisal, public health and the right to health.  NatureScot report quarterly to the Board through our People Report on our workforce profile and progress on equalities work.  

Our Board, Chief Executive and Senior Leadership Team attend and are key speakers at our Women’s Network events and are committed to the achievement of equality both internally and also in terms of the wider government agenda.  In 2017 we joined the First Minister's National Advisory Council for Women & Girls (NACWG) Circle which aims to "make gender inequality a historical curiosity in Scotland".  NatureScot has signed the public pledge in support of the work of NACWG; as such, NatureScot can have a real impact on progressing gender equality in Scotland. 

Consideration of equality and diversity is built into our planning and decision making processes.  Actions to support our equalities outcomes are captured in our business plan either as tasks delivered by individual teams or as part of the work of the Equality and Diversity team.  Employees are prompted to consider equality and diversity needs when bidding for project resources, when developing or reviewing policy, and when seeking decisions from our senior management team.  Our programme office also carries out a sense-check of bids, as they are submitted. Outputs and outcomes are captured through our business planning reporting process. 

Our Chief Executive has overall strategic responsibility for equality and diversity.  In addition to employee information, we also collate evidence relating to people’s enjoyment of the outdoors, and greenspace through our research and monitoring work.

Board Diversity

We are committed to taking steps to achieve diversity on our Board.  NatureScot signed-up to the Partnership for Change, promoted in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2015

(achieving 50:50 gender balance by 2020).  NatureScot was one of the first to meet this target, with gender balance of our board reaching parity in 2017.  We considered it a balanced board when male or female numbers reach 4. Exact parity cannot be achieved when there are 9 Board members. 

We will continue to monitor the composition of our Board and will work closely with Scottish Government when vacancies arise to ensure we have the right Board balance.  This will include ongoing support for the Government’s emerging guidance on succession planning to ensure it reflects best practice.

Building an Evidence Base

Ensuring that everyone in Scotland has the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and understand how they can play a part in sustaining the future of Scotland’s nature, through participation in outdoor recreation, volunteering or outdoor learning, - is a key target for the Scottish Government and an important part of our work. 

The evidence supports our corporate plan measures in this area, two of which represent national performance indicators (NPI) under the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework (‘We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment’ and ‘We are healthy and active’). The measures are: 

• More people agree with the statement “More people across Scotland are enjoying and benefiting from nature
• More people are getting outdoors, feeling healthier as a result of their experience of nature,  volunteering and championing nature 
• More people agree with the statement “Scotland’s nature is healthy and resilient.” Scotland’s nature is healthier and more resilient 
• More people agree with the statement “There is more investment in Scotland’s natural capital and its management to improve prosperity and wellbeing.” 
• Measures of improved prosperity and wellbeing are associated with an increase in investment in natural capital.  

For the above, we draw the evidence from a range of sources.  These include the Scottish Government’s Scottish Household Survey and two national surveys we commission: Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS) and the Scottish Nature Omnibus Survey:

• The Scottish Household Survey provides data for the NPI ‘To increase people’s use of Scotland’s outdoors’. 
• The Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS) helps us understand how people in Scotland use, enjoy and value the natural environment and covers age, gender, disability and ethnicity, as well as aspects of health. 
• A specific SPANS report provides baseline data on participation in outdoor recreation amongst underrepresented groups including people with long-term illness, health problems or disability. 
• The Scottish Nature Omnibus survey, undertaken every two years, provides a range of data on people’s engagement with nature.  It includes estimates of the numbers of people visiting NNRs, and covers a range of protected characteristics.   

This data informs decisions on widening participation.  The Scottish Household Survey is included on the Scottish Government’s Equality Evidence website.  The Scotland’s People and Nature Survey and Scottish Nature Omnibus survey data are on our website.  

We have a suite of measures for targeting outcomes from our grants, however there is a need to consider further the impact of our funding, including whether the measures are still relevant, and how best to apply consistent measures across all similar areas of our work.  

NatureScot is the Lead Partner for delivering two strands of the Scottish Government’s European Regional

Development Fund Programme – the Green Infrastructure Fund and new Natural & Cultural Heritage Fund.  Projects supported by these funds must deliver equalities as it is one of the ERDF Programme’s ‘horizontal themes’ and must report on this quarterly and in their final report.  NatureScot is using this information to monitor, evaluate and report how well this is delivered by each project.  We expect this to generate good practice case studies.

Finally, through joint work with Paths for All and the Forestry Commission Scotland, we have developed a path grading system which gives information on path conditions helping more people to feel confident about going outdoors.  This continues to be promoted by Paths for All who offer advice and training to path managers from across Scotland, with a view to the system being adopted widely.

Procurement 

In relation to  procurement, NatureScot considers equality throughout its tender processes and complies with all the legislation.  We use the Scottish Government spend hub called Spikes Cavell to submit spend information.  We are currently investigating if Supported Business can be included in Spikes Cavell reporting for future years from our available spend information.  In the coming period the procurement team will also continue to work closely with our equality team to enhance the guidance on embedding management information required for Equality monitoring in the design of contracts and throughout the contract management process.  We are taking the opportunity to engage with our Project Managers at upcoming internal buyer      training, emphasising the opportunities to engage with Minority Businesses.  We also aim to seek more insight into any barriers encountered by our Project Managers in identifying contracts that could be reserved for Supported Businesses.

Communication & Events 

Our Communications Strategy for 2019-22 is tied to our strategic priorities and helps us deliver on, or demonstrate the delivery of, our ambitions as set out in our corporate plan Connecting People and Nature.  Our Communications strategy aims to provide information at the right time to inform decisions about nature and to use digital technology and social media to reach and inspire more people to value nature.  We continue to raise awareness of our work in equality and diversity with colleagues across the organisation. Our 2017 mainstreaming report was promoted through our intranet, news articles and team briefs.  

Our website is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines level 2 (AA) standard in compliance with the World wide web consortium (W3C).  We are currently reviewing web accessibility solutions and testing our website’s accessibility with consideration being given to dyslexia, hearing and visual disabilities.

We are developing a framework to measure communications work that makes sure that outputs (for example - reach) and outcomes (impact of the organisation) are considered separately in evaluation and will allow us measure the impact on specific demographic groups and take action accordingly.

During 2018 we worked with Young Scot and a design agency to enlist the help of sixteen volunteers, aged between 12-19 who identified as female, from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.  They participated in workshops to explore issues around the fact that during the teenage years physical activity in females falls further than it does for males. More information about the processes behind the campaign can be seen in the full report. The product was our #GirlsGetOot campaign which created animations to inspire and encourage young women to get outside and enjoy all of the benefits that Scotland's green spaces offer for health and wellbeing.   

We have been working with the Scottish Council on Deafness (SCoD) to consider specific actions around the Scottish Government’s British Sign Language Plan.  Our Service Delivery teams liaise regularly with employees to ensure that the provisions in our meetings rooms are supporting their needs.  Following NatureScot participation in a BSL Interpretation Services Workshop, we have included BSL in our recent skills audit and, once completed, we plan to establish whether individuals wish to help us with further development of actions in this area.

NatureScot manage conference facilities, which have facilitated a number of events for minority organisations, including the SCoD, Shared Care Scotland, Perth & Kinross Council workshop for autistic children and a number of outdoor education sessions with children with behavioural issues.  The feedback from all these events has led to improvements to our facilities, for example, we have installed spotlights above the presenters in the auditorium, to support lip-reading. 

Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI)

Over the course of 2018 NatureScot has been working closely with ENEI to review our equality gaps and actions.  We recently conducted a Talent Inclusion and Diversity Evaluation (TIDE) with ENEI, which suggested that we need to take more targeted action across a number of areas.  The review highlighted where we are on the Equality to inclusion roadmap (Figure 1).

TIDE highlighted areas of success around strategy & planning, leadership and accountability, workforce monitoring, training and development and other employment practices.  The areas NatureScot need to concentrate efforts on are recruitment & attraction, communication & engagement and procurement. 

 

Transforming how we Work 

Since 2017 NatureScot has undergone a significant amount of organisational change.  This has included a review of our communications, spans of control, a restructure, and moves towards an agile working approach.  

We have been taking a fresh look at our approach to technology and office space.  Investment in mobile technology and agile working is helping us remove some of the restrictions on location of posts and inflexibility around how we do our work, which aims to better support the different needs of our employees.  A central plank of this programme is to provide greater opportunities for staff to work in spaces and locations that are more appropriate to their work and personal requirements.  Our People Survey indicated that employees value the range of flexible/agile working options, with carers particularly citing the value of agile working in supporting them at work. We recognise that there is still work to be done to embed this approach consistently across NatureScot and to maximise its benefits.  

The Office Productivity Software project is considering various options with inbuilt tools for collaboration, ease of use, presentation and display, which should benefit those members of staff who work with the solutions, and particularly enhance collaborative editing between staff working remotely.  This removes some of the locational barriers for remote staff in considering new roles and opportunities, encourages greater collaboration with colleagues in other offices and again greater flexibility in ways of working for carers or employees with specific needs. 

Promoting good mental health and wellbeing for employees has been a key theme of our work around “transforming our workplaces”.  We continue to explore innovative ways to merge our workplaces with our connections to nature, such as biophilic (meaning love of nature) design where we can improve the spaces we work in and benefit the mental health and wellbeing of our employees. 

6. Progress towards our Outcomes

Progress towards Outcome 1:

Through the delivery of our services people who are underrepresented as a result of a protected characteristic are more able to visit and experience the outdoors

NatureScot has a statutory remit to facilitate understanding and enjoyment of nature and landscapes.  We do this primarily by managing National Nature Reserves, supporting relevant projects and providing information on how to access and enjoy Scotland’s outdoors.  We undertake research and monitoring, and we fund others to promote outdoor recreation, environmental volunteering and outdoor learning to wider audiences.  

Table 2 summarises the progress against individual actions under Outcome 1 since our 2017 report.

Table 2: Progress against Equality Outcome 1 Actions (2013-2019)

Outcome 1 Actions	Rating
Publish and promote the survey data	Achieved
Develop specific survey on selected protected characteristic groups	Some progress made, however further work required
Use available funding to improve visitor infrastructure /information	Some progress made, however further work required
Roll out path grading project on way-marked paths at NNRs	Some progress made, however further work required
Further prioritise funding towards priority groups	Achieved
Scope and test new approach to evaluation and learning	Some progress made, however further work required
Continue to ensure that projects and campaigns support greater use of the outdoors by key target groups	Achieved
Continue to support ReRoute and embed work of the youth panel	Achieved
Continue to ensure the Sharing Good Practice programme includes relevant topics	Some progress made, however further work required
Establish a specific sub-group of the NDPB Equalities forum to consider interagency activity on Outcome 1	Some progress made, however further work required

 

National Survey and Monitoring

NatureScot published findings from  the 2017/18 Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS) survey on participation in outdoor recreation.  A special interest report ‘Participation in outdoor recreation; Under-represented groups’ is available on the NatureScot website.  This confirmed that some population groups are under-represented in terms of their participation in outdoor recreation.  Older people; less affluent people; people living in urban areas; those with a long-term limiting illness, health problem or disability; and people with self-reported bad health are all less likely to visit the outdoors.  In addition, members of the BAME population are less likely than those of white ethnicity to visit the outdoors on a regular, weekly basis.

The 2017 Scottish Household Survey, which monitors progress towards achievement of the Scottish Government’s National Indicator ‘To increase the proportion of people making one or more visits to the outdoors per week’, shows that since 2012, participation in outdoor recreation has increased among both people who identify as male and female; across all age groups; and by people living in the 10% most deprived areas.  However, there has been no significant change in annual participation among members of the BME population or by people with a long-term illness or disability.  

Since 2012, weekly participation in outdoor recreation has increased among both people who identify as male and female; across most age-groups; and by people with a long-term disability or illness. However, there has been no significant change in weekly participation among people aged between 55 and 64, those living in the 10% most deprived areas, and by members of the BAME community.

We considered the scope for a bespoke survey with a number of other public bodies but concluded that this was hard to justify given the high costs and intrusive nature of monitoring visitors often in remote locations over sufficient intervals to generate useful data.  We have shared data from bespoke visitor surveys conducted at properties we manage with a view to developing greater consistency and comparability in the data we seek on equalities issues.  However we are yet to decide whether to develop a set of core questions to be included in site-based surveys undertaken by NatureScot and our partners.  

National Nature Reserves (NNRs)

Our 32 NNRs are areas of land set aside for nature.  As in other countries, the accolade is given to Scotland’s best wildlife sites, to promote their conservation and enjoyment.   Most NNRs contain nationally or internationally important habitats and species, so the wildlife is managed very carefully.  Visitor facilities are designed and managed to ensure that people can enjoy NNRs without harming or disturbing the wildlife found there.  National Nature Reserves include mountain tops; ancient woodlands; remote islands with huge colonies of breeding seabirds; and lowland lochs that are vitally important staging posts for migrating birds.  We are committed to connecting people and nature.  Because NNRs offer fantastic opportunities to connect people and nature they are an important focus for our equality work.

In 2017/2018 we welcomed an estimated 600,000 visitors to our NNRs.  Over 93% of responses to our visitor satisfaction surveys indicated that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their visit to our reserves.  In 2017/18 and 2018/19 NatureScot invested approximately £470k on visitor related work on NNRs including events, volunteering, infrastructure, promotion and outdoor learning.  Expenditure of £300k, focused on path maintenance, is ongoing and physical infrastructure (including path) improvements at 11 of our NNRs will improve access for visitors.  This work is ongoing, with path grading information on signs and leaflets being included when these items are updated.  On the ground work to improve the accessibility of paths is carried out as resources allow

We have continued to be involved with projects such as Pony Axe S (promoting disabled access to wild places) and the Backbone CIC Community Leadership / Nature Exploration Projects (encouraging people from BAME communities to visit, learn and benefit from nature sites including NNRs).

Case Study 1: Pony AxeS – Accessing National Nature Reserves

During 2018 we worked with Pony AxeS, an organisation which enables wheelchair users to visit parts of the countryside that are otherwise completely inaccessible to them due to rough terrain. An all-terrain trailer with fittings for a wheelchair is pulled behind a small pony. The pony and trailer are able to cross very uneven/rocky/muddy terrain; terrain that would be completely inaccessible in just a wheelchair.

Case Study 2: Backbone CIC – Community Leadership and Nature Exploration Projects

We have supported two projects delivered by Backbone CIC - a social enterprise that works to develop a new generation of role models and environmental ambassadors from marginalised communities experiencing barriers to accessing mainstream opportunities for a range of reasons ranging from individual confidence to cultural, racial, social, or economic constraints.

The Community Leadership project developed a new generation of role models and leaders from Scotland’s BAME communities to develop their skills and competence in engaging people with nature.  Between 2015 and 2018 the trainees, people from marginalised communities, undertook a 3 year training programme in leadership development and outdoor skills.  They facilitated engagement with the natural environment by at least 500 people from isolated and marginalised communities.  Part of this work involved the 2017 and 2018 Backbone CIC Outdoor Festivals for All.

The Nature Exploration project involved taking marginalised people outdoors, connecting them with nature. One of our graduate placements wrote about her visits to wild places with some of the participants.

Case Study 3: Syrian Refugees visit Loch Leven National Nature Reserve

By Courtney Riley (NatureScot Equality Graduate Placement)

Right before I got out of my car to introduce myself to Backbone CIC’s operations director, Pammy Johal, I became nervous.  What if I said something wrong?  I walked over to the minivans and Pammy welcomed me warmly.  The young people had been split into two groups, girls and boys, so I chose to spend the day with the girls and entered the mini bus to the sound of loud Arabic pop music and a round of ‘hellos’.  Twelve hands came rushing towards me offering me food and water and as the conversations carried on all the nerves disappeared. We drove to Loch Leven NNR where we each were given a set of binoculars.  I played the part of the responsible adult by helping the girls focus the binoculars – but I admit I did join them in looking through them backwards a couple of times!  We followed the NatureScot reserve manager, Neil Mitchell, and an RSPB warden along a trail to the beach where we tried spotting different types of birds on the loch.  

There were many dogs running on the beach and it became apparent just how terrified the girls were of them as they screamed and ran away.  I asked the group’s chaperone (a former Syrian TV presenter) why this was and she explained that in Syria dogs are not domesticated and children are taught to run from them.  After the beach, we walked to the ponds where we dropped nets into the water and tipped out the contents into trays so that Neil could explain the types of fish and plants we found.

As we headed back to the minivan, the girls told me that they wanted to become lawyers, doctors, firefighters and Olympians.  They told me of their experiences at school and how hard their parents work.  It amazed me how aware they were of such ‘grown up’ topics – compared to my 10-year-old self-playing Super Mario Bros on my Nintendo!

At lunch, the RSPB warden brought her dog to meet the children as she had described him as calm and good-natured.  When Thomas the Spaniel arrived, some of the children became curious enough to come near him. By the end of lunch, they were queuing to hold the dog’s lead and to take photos while hugging him.  I felt a mix of overwhelmingly happy and sad as the minivans were being packed up.  We said goodbye and I wished every one of them all the luck and happiness in the world – hoping they would all become lawyers, doctors, firefighters and Olympians.

The visit allowed me to see the direct impact of the work NatureScot supports and experience how being in nature can completely change how people think and feel.  It was an experience that will stay with me and I hope it has left an impact on the young people – even if it is as small as being more likely to cuddle a dog.

External Funding, Projects and Campaigns

Our Corporate Plan and Outcome plans set our overarching priorities.  Within this we have set our priorities as young people (up to 26 years), people on low incomes, people with poor physical or mental health, people experiencing exclusion (such as a disability or due to their ethnicity), and those in the 20% most deprived areas (according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).  

We have provided funding for a number of projects that facilitated people with one or more protected characteristic to visit and experience the natural heritage and connect with nature.  For example, in 2017/18 over 40,000 young people, 6,000 people with a disability and 1,500 people from a BAME community benefitted from - projects funded by NatureScot.  Many people from areas of socioeconomic disadvantage also benefitted.

The Outdoor Learning in Nature Fund (OLIN) (£600k) supports Outdoor Learning for young people (3-26 years) from the most deprived areas and/or disadvantaged backgrounds (schools must have 40% or more of their pupils attending from the 20% most disadvantaged areas, as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).  OLIN contributes to several Scottish Government targets including attainment, skills and confidence, physical and mental health as well as connection with nature.  The Fund runs until 2020 and an evaluation report will then be completed.

The GISI project continues to review its approaches to implementing and sharing best practice, such as by requiring all capital projects to complete an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) before the project commences.  Work is ongoing to make this process easier to carry out  and report on.

In 2018 Scotland celebrated giving young people the opportunity, showcase their talents and contributions and create new ways to stand out as part of the Year of Young People (#YoYP2018).

This provided a particular focus on our work with young people, which has reaped many benefits.  The ReRoute project was established in 2015 as a partnership between Young Scot and NatureScot.  It is made up of a group of volunteers aged 13-24 from across Scotland who work collaboratively with NatureScot staff to explore ways to engage young people in biodiversity and nature. The Insight ReRoute Recommendations Report highlights some of the project outputs. ReRoute members have attended NatureScot Leader’s Forum and Board meetings, enabling them to input to the development of our 2018-22 Corporate Plan.   Other key projects such as Learning in Local Greenspace, Path Skillz and Junior Rangers have also focused on  young people. 

Funding, Projects & Campaigns  

Case Study 4: Halfway Community Park, Southside Housing Association

Glasgow’s Southside Housing Association is transforming an underused, steep and inaccessible greenspace into a community park.

As a result of the post-war high-density design of Moss Heights and the surrounding area, the community is poorly connected to good quality greenspace.  Although there is a green area to the front of the Moss Heights towers, it lacks functionality and is currently under-used.

A relatively high proportion of residents are young  people and people from          BAME communities, and the immediate area is one of the 5% most multiply deprived areas in the SIMD. 

Following community engagement via door-to-door drop-ins, the Moss Heights community bid successfully to the NatureScot-managed Green Infrastructure Community Engagement Fund to create the new Halfway Community Park which will include a new accessible pathway, pedestrianising a busy road directly in front of the flats, planting trees, creating a wildflower meadow, community growing areas, and more.  This transformation of the greenspace outside Moss Heights will provide the local community with a new multi-functional space for playing, food growing, community activities, relaxing, exercising, skills development and volunteering.

When Halfway Community Park is complete it will offer something to all members of the community.  The design of the new pathway and removal of the road will encourage those with limited mobility to visit the park and spend more time outdoors.  It will also make accessing the greenspace safer for children, families and the elderly.  Southside Housing Association works closely with the Govan Community Project, which supports refugees and asylum seekers to integrate with the local community, and its members will be encouraged to join the Friends of Halfway Community Park group.  One of the key aims of this initiative is to tackle social exclusion through environmental education and providing conservation opportunities such as gardening, and wildflower planting led by organisations including Urban Roots, Glasgow Tree Lovers Society, and Commonwealth Orchards.

Case Study 5: The Hidden Gardens, Glasgow

Glasgow’s The Hidden Gardens are close to two areas falling within the 15% most multiply deprived in Scotland (East Pollokshields and Govanhill).  This part of Glasgow is also Scotland’s most diverse community with 53% BAME population compared to the Scottish average of 4%. 

As one of Scotland’s few ‘Sanctuary Gardens’, the Hidden Gardens provide a safe space for local communities to improve their well-being, develop skills, improve employability, and engage in shared activities – all through direct engagement with the living environment in the Gardens.  NatureScot is helping to deliver a project supported by the Green Infrastructure Community Engagement Fund to develop and run community activities in the Gardens focused on nature, art, creativity and community.

Local communities have enjoyed participating in a series of free “Into the Wild” events that were open to all ages, and accompanied by free food.  Themes for these events have included gardening workshops, bee activities; Tai Chi; garden tours, bat and butterfly surveys, torch-lit walks, campfires and storytelling, celebrating Black History Month.

Case Study 6: Scotland’s National Youth Biodiversity Panel By Katie Grimmond, Re-Route

For the past 3 years I have had the pleasure of being part of Scotland’s Youth Biodiversity Panel, ReRoute.  We have spent this time investigating how young people engage with nature, and current barriers that prevent all young people in Scotland from doing so.  We then came up with solutions and recommendations and tested some of these out to try to improve engagement with young people across all sectors of society.  We want to see a Scotland where young people engage with nature daily, can express their interest in nature in a variety of ways, make an impact on decisions about the environment, and spearhead the environmental sector.

We surveyed over 1,000 young people – the results are enlightening and may come as a pleasant surprise as they show that young people have a strong interest in nature and want to do more to protect it.

Chairing the Future Routes fund – a new NatureScot funded fund that ReRoute members designed and delivered - was inspiring.  I saw the range of ideas from young people to get others involved with nature through existing interests.  I am very excited to see what comes out of the fund and how organisations can adapt these ideas to benefit more young people.  Engaging young people with nature is essential to ensure Scotland’s nature is protected in years to come.

We have worked with Young Scot to gather and understand young people’s views on long distance routes within the National Walking and Cycling Network (NWCN).  Through adopting a co-design approach, up to 50 young people, aged 16 - 26, have explored specific barriers to using the network of long-distance paths and routes known as “Scotland’s

Great Trails” and developed recommendations that will address these barriers.

NatureScot has worked with statutory partners and NGOs to support the “Scotland Counts” project to engage with BAME communities in urban Scotland by supporting them to carry out simple environmental monitoring activities (known as “citizen science”) in their local greenspaces.  Events attended involving groups from BAME communities have included:

• Glasgow’s “Big Green Weekend” with Migrant Help, Refuweegee and West of Scotland Regional Equality Council |(WSREC) 
• Wildlife Explorers Day at Pollock Country Park with Refuweegee
• Summer School Day in Kelvingrove Park with the Chinese Community

Development Partnership

• WSREC Women’s Gardening Groups.

Developing and Sharing Good Practice

A Sharing Good Practice (SGP) event on

Taking Citizen Science Outdoors to Support Your Teaching and Learning aimed at teachers, teacher trainers, trainee teachers and anyone working with young people in the outdoors took place in March 2017.  This event shared practical approaches to involving young people in recording and monitoring their local natural environment through activities collectively referred to as “citizen science”.  An event called Leading Edge – The Youth of Today was aimed at countryside rangers and all those working with young people in the natural environment.  It aimed to help leaders engage with, support and learn from, young people in the outdoors.

Progress towards Outcome 2:

Our workforce broadly reflects the diversity of the population of Scotland 

 We have achieved a number of actions under this outcome and continue to work towards achievement of the overall outcome.  Progress continues to be difficult to monitor due to the current transition to a new IT system and the resultant delays to our planned disclosure campaign.  Table 3 summarises the overall progress against each action. 

Table 3: Progress against Equality Outcome 2 Actions (2013-2019

Outcome 2 Actions	Rating
Streamline and improve reporting functionality	Some progress made, however further work required
Resolve technical issues with recruitment system	Some progress made, however further work required
Tackle non-disclosure through staff engagement event	Some progress made, however further work required
Commitment to achievement of the Disability Confident Scheme	Achieved
Incorporate E&D metrics into quarterly performance reporting on a bi-annual basis to ensure actions are driven by senior management	Achieved
Review of our recruitment processes to engage better with B\sME and disability groups on opportunities	Some progress made, however further work required

 

Our Workforce Profile

Our Ageing Workforce

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB)

The proportion of recruitment applicants who identify as LGB is higher than in previous years, at 5.3% in 2018/19 (Table 4). This has increased from previous years, when LGB disclosure lay at 2-3%. 

Table 4: Sexual Orientation of recruitment applications

% of Total	Heteros exual	LGB	Prefer not to Say	Not Declared
2012/13	90.62	2.48	0.00	6.90
2013/14	88.81	3.94	3.24	4.01
2014/15	90.34	2.23	2.97	4.46
2015/16	No data	No data	No data	No data
2016/17	No data	No data	No data	No data
2017/18	77.70	4.49	7.01	10.80
2018/19	85.99	5.34	7.96	0.71

Improving Equality & Diversity Disclosure (E&D) and Reporting

The communications build up to our People Survey in 2018 encouraged staff to provide demographic data, explaining how it would be used and this was reinforced by Trade Union communications.  Unfortunately disclosure rates remained low for both the People Survey and on the current HR system, so it appears that our workforce does not represent the diversity of the Scottish population.  Concerns around under-representation of people from BAME communities and people with disabilities persist.  

In 2017 we were unable to monitor recruitment applications from underrepresented groups due to reporting issues with our IT system.    An interim solution is in place to support our current recruitment equality reporting. Our IT system functionality is limited in terms of E&D reporting capacity and disclosure rates of protected characteristics from employees remains low. All these factors together make employee monitoring challenging; perhaps not providing a true picture of our workforce diversity. NatureScot is currently implementing a new IT system which will improve E&D reporting.

Recruitment & Attraction 

As with many other publicly-funded organisations NatureScot has had to review its approach to recruitment in order to manage pressures on our paybill. This has resulted in fewer opportunities to recruit new staff and therefore to taker positive action to attract underrepresented groups.  As opportunities have arisen we have been working with equality groups to extend the reach of our adverts to people from BAME communities.  We have also now achieved Level 2 ‘Positive About Disability’ Scheme accreditation.  However there have been no significant increases in applications from people from BAME communities or people with disabilities since we commenced monitoring recruitment applications in 2017 (Appendix 1) .  

Progress towards Outcome 3:

Our workforce welcomes, values and promotes diversity 

We have made progress on most of the actions across Outcome 3.  We have improved mechanisms for employee engagement, we have strengthened our approach to developing an inclusive culture and achieved the external recognition that we set out in our last Equality Report in terms of Positive about Disability, Healthy Working Lives and the Carer Positive Awards.  However, as highlighted above in reporting against Outcome 2, we have not seen an increase in employees disclosing protected characteristics.

There is more work to be done to ensure that our workforce welcomes, values and promotes diversity. Table 5 summarises overall progress against each action. 

Table 5: Progress against Equality Outcome 3 Actions (2013-2019)

Outcome 3 Actions	Rating
Scoping of synergies between key NatureScot projects & opportunities for you people	Achieved
Develop a more conversation focused modern apprenticeship scheme for front-facing services	Some progress made, however further work required
Revise targets for volunteers (150 for NNR’s, 2000 young people through grant funding	Some progress made, however further work required
Review specific areas for engagement with staff on E&D issues	Achieved
Expand parameters around bullying, harassment and discrimination in the employee survey	Achieved
Continuing work to promote our values	Achieved
Review unconscious bias training for senior managers	Achieved
Review our training needs in relation to managing stress and mental health issues	Achieved
Achievement of the Healthy Working Lives and Carer Positive Awards	Achieved
Development of women in leadership within the organisation	Achieved
Alignment between workforce planning outcomes and policies to encourage development of young people	Achieved
Build equalities into our Talent Management Programmes and engagement with Equality Groups	Achieved

 

Work with Young People 

We actively use our employee data to inform our practices to address our aging profile. These include:

• Regular intake of graduate placements, placements have included Corporate Plan Review, Green Infrastructure, Learning in Greenspace and Natural Capital Investment
• We have maintained targets for modern apprenticeships and graduate placements for 2018/19 & 2019/20
• Ongoing work with our Youth Panel and introduction of our Young employee Network
• STEM ambassadors from a wide range of subjects including geographical information systems, computer programming and  species advisers 
• In 2016/17 we involved over 200 young volunteers at our National Nature Reserves and in 17/18 the number was just over 80  
• Our grant aid supported projects involving over 70,000 young people in 16/17 and over 40,000 in 17/18
• Introduction  of  Age Scotland  Planning for Retirement workshops

Employee Engagement 

Over the course of 2017/18 we set up a number of networks to improve engagement with employees around equality and diversity.  Our CEO launched our Women’s Network in June 2018. The Network has provided valuable evidence in relation to progression and career development.  The Network has provided a mechanism for all staff to feel empowered to raise issues. This has led the provision of free sanitary products in our properties in support of period poverty, a menopause awareness policy and a campaign to raise awareness around men’s wellbeing. 

Women’s Network

“I really enjoy networking with folk and hearing of their situations. There’s really something about knowing that you’re not alone in how you feel, and it’s so reassuring hearing from folk that you might never have come across. I have become more comfortable with how I feel as my thoughts and feelings have become validated in a way” 

Our Young Employee Network focuses on mentoring and career paths  and our Carers Network was launched early 2019 to explore further opportunities to promote good practice in this area and support our aging workforce.

Following our People Survey 2018 we set up a Change Partner Network. Our Mental Health online Forum, “Thrive”, has provided a platform for employees to share mental health stories and support one another.  Our Mental Health

Champions provide an additional layer of support to employees. The outputs from all our networks will feed through to our Senior Leadership Team and will inform our Organisational Development Framework activities. 

Development of a Supportive and Inclusive Culture 

Our 2017 Wellbeing survey highlighted further concerns around bullying behaviour and a lack of support for health conditions.  There were no direct concerns around any of the protected characteristics; however concerns were raised relating to perceived unfair treatment around grade, working location and hours, which could indirectly link to gender. More flexibility around working location and hours will be partly addressed through our actions to transform how we work.

In response we have been focusing on strengthening our general approach to wellbeing and development of a more inclusive culture.  Our Senior Leadership Team has attended our mental health programme of training. We continue to embed wellbeing and our values into our performance management culture and through our people management skills workshops.  The People Survey 2018 evaluated the application of our values across NatureScot with very positive results on this across all levels in the organisation. 

Our People Survey 2018 did not highlight any significant correlations to protected characteristics, however it did demonstrate:

• Employees feel that NatureScot has an inclusive culture;
• A slight increase in staff experiencing bullying in the workplace; and  
• Longer serving employees are feeling undervalued, de-skilled and are having more difficulty dealing with change in the organisation 

In 2017/18 our Anti-bullying campaign promoted the support available to staff experiencing negative behaviours at work, which is perhaps a contributory factor to the increased score around bullying in the People Survey 2018.  It is not definitive however there is a strong likelihood that the slight increase in bullying is also linked to increased workloads and management of change.  We have created a Dignity at work group in partnership with our trade unions and employees to explore further action around our approach to bullying and harassment. 

 

The Work Foundation recently published research highlighting that men are more likely to go to work when they should be off sick, which can have long term consequences.  It is suggested that women tend to be the main carer so tend to take days off to deal with emergencies.  Women have more contact with the health system, so they may be are more attuned to the importance of health.  Whilst NatureScot operates flexible working hours and allows paid time off to deal with emergencies there are likely to be wider societal contributory factors to this trend.  It is therefore important that going forward we consider a gendered approach to our work around wellbeing and mental health at work. 

We have now achieved Carer Positive and Healthy Working Lives (HWL) Bronze level accreditation.  Achieving this accreditation and adoption of agile working will support some of our older employees with workplace wellbeing and caring responsibilities.  However the survey results reinforce the need to be able to better support longer serving employees to respond positively to change and ensure they continue to be upskilled. We also need to ensure that when employees do retire we are retaining their skills, experience and knowledge.  

A review of recent change projects has highlighted that there are a number of change projects that have not completed an EqIA.  We will ensure that all our change management programmes undergo thorough equality impact assessments to ensure sensitive management. 

Women in Leadership

We continue to work closely with our Senior Leadership Team to explore opportunities around role models and leadership and we will further explore mentoring, women-only training and flexible working practices.  

Further exploration of women-only leadership training has been undertaken, but not taken forward at this time, as we are currently reviewing our leadership development across the organisation.  In 2018 two female employees commenced ILM Level 3 leadership training in collaboration with Scottish Parliament.  We have also opened up the opportunity for employees of all grades to attend the Women into Leadership Scotland Conference in May 2019.  

Case Study 7: NatureScot support for Carers

By Fiona Findlay, Operations Officer, Strathclyde & Ayrshire

There has been a change in attitude from NatureScot over the past year with managers being encouraged to be more flexible in their approach.  There is more awareness and understanding about the stress that being a carer entails and I feel my rights as a carer are now being acknowledged.

Through changes in our line management approach to carers and through working closely with some of our HR colleagues to draw attention to the needs of carers in NatureScot, I feel supported by my line manager.  It's important that managers have a more humanistic approach to life and a caring and empathetic nature, embracing the concept of flexible working and working with staff to alleviate as much stress as possible by giving a much needed ear.  I find myself in the fortunate position to have such a line manager.

NatureScot has now instigated a Carer's Network that I administer and I hope this will be a private network which I hope will enable carers within NatureScot to offer support and advice to each other in confidence.

Case Study 8: NatureScot support for seabird scientist selected for ground-breaking leadership development programme

By Helen Wade, Policy & Advice Officer, Marine Ornithology

Homeward Bound is a ground-breaking “women in science    leadership     development programme” equipping women with the skills to positively influence policy and decision-making as it shapes

our world.  The programme is built on donations of time and expertise from pioneers in leadership development who deeply believe in the value of female leadership.  This ten-year initiative is building a diverse, supportive, global network of 1000 women leaders.

I was selected to be one of 80 women from all over the world to participate in the third, year-long programme of Homeward Bound.  The programme develops skills in leadership, strategy, collaboration, networking, visibility and communication. This is facilitated via monthly video-conferences, one-to-one professional coaching, behaviour diagnostic tools and self-directed work.  The programme culminates in a 3-week expedition to Antarctica where we intensively expand on the pre-voyage programme and skills development via workshops and group sessions.

Homeward Bound has been transformational for me and one of the most important experiences I’ve had in my life.  The skills I learned now underpin my professional and personal life, and are making me more effective in my role at NatureScot.  Being surrounded by so many amazing women, watching them grow throughout the programme and seeing what they’re accomplishing already, made me wonder, what endless possibilities could we achieve in our world if we invested in the potential of all women in this way?

Progress towards Outcome 4:

The gender pay gap is reduced

Table 6: Progress against Equality Outcome 4 Actions (2013-2019)

Outcome 4 Actions	Rating
Agree quotas for 2020 for women in senior management positions	Achieved
Review forums for enabling discussions around barriers to development opportunities	Achieved
Investigate and address any imbalances in occupational segregation	Some progress made, however further work required
Explore further opportunities through Transforming the Workplace project for development of agile working	Achieved
Review L&D data to understand whether part-time working presents a barrier to women participating in formal training courses	Some progress made, however further work required
Review how we equality monitor our wider development opportunities	Some progress made, however further work required
Closer partnership between our Learning & Development and Resourcing functions	Some progress made, however further work required

 

We have made good progress in relation to many of the actions across this outcome, however through our work with the Women’s Network and the National Advisory Council for Women & Girls (NACWG) we know that we can do more internally and externally to reduce the gender pay gap.  Table 6 summarises the progress against each action in this outcome.

Employee Data 

• In the past two years; the proportion of females promoted has increased; with 68% of promotions awarded to female employees in 2018/19
• There has been a very slight increase in the proportion of part-time, flexible male workers (up 2% since 2017) 
• No women returners left NatureScot in 2018/19
• The proportion of women and part-time workers undergoing training has increased in the past 2 years 
• Higher grades still have a low level of flexible working
• Levels of promotion for part-time workers remains low at 10-14% of all promotions 
• There is a larger proportion of senior management promotions awarded to males (70% in 2018/19). 

Occupational Segregation by Gender

Occupational Segregation is one of the main causes of the gender pay gap, research shows this to be a historical issue within society and how employers and societal norms have defined the world of women in work.  Vertical Segregation clusters women and men in different levels of jobs or grades and Horizontal segregation occurs when men and women are clustered in certain types of jobs. 

Our occupational segregation analysis looks at both horizontal and vertical segregation by examining our gender profile by grade and departments. Table 7 highlights: 

• Significantly more women than men in administrative families 
• Significantly more men in estate, manual and domestic 
• Slightly more women in operational, managerial and professional roles
• Slightly more women in  Senior management 

Table 7: Breakdown of Gender by Job Family and Grade

Job Family - Administration & Support

Grade	Headcount Male	Headcount Female	% of grade Male	% of grade Female
A	9	35	20%	80%
B	12	45	21%	79%
C	3	16	16%	84%

 

Job Family - Estate, Manual & Domestic

Grade	Headcount Male	Headcount Female	% of grade Male	% of grade Female
A	2	-	100%	0%
B	21	8	72%	28%
C	5	3	63%	38%

Job Family - Operational, Professional & Managerial

Grade	Headcount Male	Headcount Female	% of grade Male	% of grade Female
B	-	1	0%	100%
C	36	61	37%	63%
D	107	161	40%	60%
E	60	41	59%	41%
F	20	12	63%	38%

Job Family - Senior Management

Grade	Headcount Male	Headcount Female	% of grade Male	% of grade Female
G	2	2	50%	50%
H	1	2	33%	67%
2	-	1	0%	100%
3	1	-	100%	0%

Total

Headcount Male	Headcount Female
279	390

Management 

 

• There has been very little change in the gender composition  of         our directorates and teams since 2017
• Most Directorates have a higher proportion of females to males 
• The Corporate Services Directorate has the largest proportion of female employees; with some teams containing over 80% females
• Only 2 teams have a significantly higher % of males to females - Information Systems (nearly 70%) and National Operations (63%)
• Gender balance has been achieved for the Ecosystems and Biodiversity team 
• There are significantly more male F grade team managers than females 
• NatureScot has a number of F grade Principal Advisers and Outcome Managers, all but two are male 

Table 8: Gender Profile by Grade and Department at 2018/19 Year End

Directorate and Management Unit	M (A)	F (A)	M (B)	F (B)	M (C)	F (C)	M (D)	F (D)	M (E)	F (E)	M (F)	F (F)	M (G)	F (G)	M (H)	F (H)	M UnitTotal	F UnitTotal	M % Unit	F % Unit
Executive Office - Executive Office	-	-	-	2	1	2	-	2	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	2	7	22.2	77.8
Corporate Services -Business Support Services	2	5	1	3	2	2	4	5	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	10	16	38.5	61.5
Corporate Services - Finance, Planning & Performance	2	-	1	5	1	8	4	11	3	2	2	2	1	-	-	-	14	28	33.3	66.7
Corporate Services - HR Services	-	4	3	7	1	4	1	8	1	3	-	1	-	-	-	-	6	27	18.2	81.8
Corporate Services - Information Management	-	1	-	4	1	3	-	2	1	3	1	-	-	-	-	1	3	14	17.6	82.4
Corporate Services - Information Systems	1	-	-	1	7	4	11	7	4	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	24	12	66.7	33.3
Operations - Argyll & Outer Hebrides	1	2	10	15	3	6	7	3	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	24	28	46.2	53.8
Operations  -Forth	-	5	-	1	5	5	8	7	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	15	19	44.1	55.9
Operations - National Operations	-	1	4	1	4	5	7	7	6	2	4	-	1	-	1	-	27	16	62.8	37.2
Operations -Northern Isles & North Highland	1	3	1	3	2	6	6	5	2		1	-	-	-	-	-	13	17	43.3	56.7
Operations -South Highland	4	3	6	2	5	6	9	8	3	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	28	20	58.3	41.7
Operations -Southern Scotland	-	2	4	3	5	3	3	11	2	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	15	22	40.5	59.5
Operations -Strathclyde & Ayrshire	-	3		3	1	8	11	5	3	6	1	1	-	-	-	-	16	26	38.1	61.9
Operations -Tayside & Grampian	-	2	2	3	3	9	4	7	3	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	12	23	34.3	65.7
Policy & Advice -Coastal & Marine Ecosystems	-	1	-	-	-	-	7	20	4	3		2	-	-	-	-	11	26	29.7	70.3
Policy & Advice -Communications	-	4	1	2	2	8	2	9	1	5	1	1	-	2	-	1	7	32	17.9	82.1
Policy & Advice - Ecosystems & Biodiversity	-	1	-	-	1	1	9	13	8	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	19	18	51.4	48.6
Policy & Advice -People, Places & Nature	1	-	-	-	-	4	5	14	4	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	11	21	34.4	65.6
Policy & Advice -Planning & Renewables	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	11	6	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	12	12	50.0	50.0
Policy & Advice - Rural Resources	-	1	-	1	1	2	5	12	5	3	-	1	-	-	-	-	11	20	35.5	64.5
Total    (%) Grade	12	38	33	56	45	86	107	167	60	41	20	12	2	2	1	2	280	404	40.9	59.1
24.0	76.0	37.1	62.9	34.4	65.6	39.1	60.9	59.4	40.6	62.5	37.5	50.0	50.0	33.3	66.7	-	-	-	-

 

Gender Pay Gap

In calculating our gender pay gap we have used both the mean and the median. Presenting both provides more scope for comparison with other bodies and national statistics, e.g. ONS and Scottish Government.  The Mean Gender Pay Gap for NatureScot is 10.95% and our median is 10%. 

 

It is predominantly still women that continue to work in our lowest paid grades therefore we will take action as set out in out Equal Pay Statement.  Our 2019 pay remit will focus on how we can further reduce the gap between the lowest and the highest paid staff.  Our Women’s Network has been instrumental in highlighting barriers to progression and career development within NatureScot.  The main barriers are around confidence, recruitment processes, undervaluing of lower grade roles, inflexibility of how we work and where we work, bias and lack of visible role models. Actions to reduce some of these barriers form the basis of our refreshed outcomes (Appendix 2).

7. Equal Pay Statement 

We are committed to promoting and embedding equality of opportunity and diversity within NatureScot.  This extends to fair and equitable pay and reward for all of our employees.

We aim to ensure transparency and eliminate any bias in our pay and reward systems, which includes equality on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic origin, disability, religion or belief, age, marital / civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity or any other relevant difference, e.g. trade union activity, or social background. 

We operate a civil service recognised job evaluation scheme (JEGS). The JEGS process evaluates roles within the organisation, and not the person employed in that role.  NatureScot employees working at the same level within our pay grading structure, undertaking like work, work rated as equivalent and work of equal value, are paid the same, irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, disability or any other difference. 

We have reduced our mean gender pay gap from 15.01% in 2017 to 10.95% as at March 2019.  We restructured our pay points to allow more transparency in our pay structure and a progression towards being paid the ‘rate for the job’, i.e. fully competent in all aspects.  More females are being promoted to senior roles and we have increased the number of women in our Senior Leadership Team, 5 of our 8 Senior Leadership Team employees are female.  In 2017 we met the ambition set out in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government for a 50:50  gender balance on public Boards. 

However women are still overrepresented in the lowest paid grades and women are over-represented in traditional female professions such as Business Support, Human Resources and Finance.  Our Women’s Network has been instrumental in highlighting barriers to progression and career development within NatureScot and actions to reduce some of these barriers is included in our refreshed equality outcomes.  We are committed to reducing our gender pay gap, which is why we have retained this equality outcome for 2019-2023. NatureScot will:

• Work in partnership with Trade Unions and the Scottish

Government to consider ways to reduce the gender pay gap within our pay remit 

• Review our recruitment processes to ensure opportunities are open for all and that bias is removed from decision making 
• Improve workplace flexibility for men and women
• Become a Living Wage Employer and gain Working Families accreditation 

More widely NatureScot will work with the First Minister’s National Advisory Council for Women and Girls (NACWG) to support their aim to "make gender inequality a historical curiosity in Scotland".  NatureScot has signed the public pledge in support of the work of NACWG.

This statement is owned by the NatureScot Chief Executive, Francesca Osowska, and reviewed by the People & Organisational Development Team. It will be reviewed by April 2021.

8. Occupational Segregation by Race and Disability

People of a minority ethnic group may also experience pay inequality and employers should consider the potential causes of this.  Table 9 shows information on occupational segregation by  race  for  those declared. Disclosure rates remain modest limiting  any meaningful analysis. With the  limited  data available, there are no apparent trends within the grade analysis  or concentration of a particular ethnicity in the roles within the Units. The data is also more heavily anonymised, compared to the gender data, and shown by Directorate and using percentages, to avoid the risk on identifying individuals. We will work to improve our profile as well as the quality of our data.

People with disabilities may experience occupational segregation as a result of stereotypical ideas, such as assumption that they will be unable to work to the same standard as an able person or that they may require more time off. Table 10 shows information   on occupational segregation by Disability. Similarly, disclosure rates remain modest. Based on the data declared there are no apparent trends  by  grade or directorates.

Table 9: Occupational Segregation by Race, Grade and Directorate

Directorate	A BME	A White	B BME	B White	C BME	C White	D BME	D White	E BME	E White	F and Above BME	F and Above White	Directorate Total BME	Directorate Total White
Executive Office	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	*	0.0%	*	0.0%	*	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	*	0.0%	2.0%
Corporate Services	0.0%	*	0.0%	5.5%	0.0%	4.9%	*	9.9%	0.0%	3.8%	0.0%	1.4%	40.0%	26.4%
Operations	0.0%	3.2%	0.0%	4.3%	0.0%	9.6%	*	17.7%	*	5.8%	0.0%	3.8%	40.0%	44.3%
Policy & Advice	0.0%	*	0.0%	*	0.0%	2.9%	0.0%	11.0%	0.0%	5.5%	0.0%	1.7%	0.0%	22.0%
Grade Total	0.0%	4.3%	0.0%	10.7%	0.0%	18.0%	*	39.1%	*	15.1%	0.0%	7.5%	80.0%	94.8%

 

Prefer not to Say: 1.71% No Data: 52.17%

Table 10: Occupational Segregation by Disability, Grade and Directorate

Directorate	A Yes	A No	B Yes	B No	C Yes	C No	D Yes	D No	E Yes	E No	F and Above Yes	F and Above No	Directorate Total Yes	Directorate Total No
Executive Office	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	*	*	*	0.0%	*	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	*	5.6%	1.5%
Corporate Services	*	*	0.0%	5.4%	*	4.8%	*	9.9%	0.0%	3.6%	0.0%	1.5%	16.7%	25.5%
Operations	*	3.0%	0.0%	4.2%	*	9.6%	*	18.9%	*	7.2%	*	2.7%	38.9%	45.6%
Policy & Advice	0.0%	*	0.0%	*	*	2.7%	*	10.5%	*	5.1%	0.0%	2.7%	38.9%	22.2%
Grade Total	*	3.9%	0.0%	10.5%	*	17.4%	44.4%	39.6%	*	15.9%	*	7.5%	100.0%	94.9%

 Prefer not to Say: 4.48% No Data: 49.28%

9. Refreshed Equality Outcomes 2019-2023 

NatureScot is refreshing its Equality Outcomes to propose draft Equality Outcomes that build on our corporate priorities and focus on the most significant inequalities emerging from our evidence and involvement activities.

The NatureScot Equality Outcomes for 2013 – 2019

• Through the delivery of our services, people who are underrepresented as a result of a protected characteristic are more able to visit and experience the outdoor
• Our workforce broadly reflects the diversity of the population of Scotland
• Our workforce welcomes, values and promotes diversity
• We have reduced the gender pay gap

The refreshed NatureScot Equality Outcomes for 2019 – 2023

As part of the review of our outcomes, we have consulted with a range of equality representative groups.   Our aim is to develop these relationships further and work with a range of groups towards the achievement of our outcomes and to help inform our work further. 

Our refreshed outcomes respond to the new Fairer Scotland Duty which was introduced in April 2018 through the Equality Act.  This requires listed public bodies to “reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socioeconomic disadvantage, when making strategic decisions”.  Although NatureScot are not covered by the duty, we will nevertheless target effort towards addressing inequalities of outcome experienced by disadvantaged families, individuals and communities.  We will address the Fairer Scotland Duty principally through Outcome 1.

Outcome 1

Across the range of our activities, more people from BAME communities, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged families, individuals and communities enjoy and benefit from nature 

For Outcome 1 the evidence comes mainly from the Scottish Household Survey, from two surveys commissioned by NatureScot (Scotland’s People and Nature Survey (SPANS) and the Scottish Nature Omnibus Survey), and from monitoring and evaluating our grants and projects. 

There has been an overall increase in participation in outdoor recreation since 2012 and this is evident among both people who identify as male and female, across all age-groups and among people living in the most deprived areas.  The proportion of adults visiting the outdoors on a regular, weekly basis has also increased among both people who identify as male and female, among most age-groups and among people with a long-term illness or disability.  However participation in outdoor recreation among BAME and disadvantaged communities remains lower than average.  It is therefore proposed that this outcome is targeted at people from BAME communities, people with disabilities and disadvantaged families, individuals and communities.

Outcomes 2, 3 and 4

Through changes to our recruitment and attraction procedures more people from BAME communities and people with disabilities apply for opportunities with NatureScot

We have an age-inclusive culture that supports and values everyone

We have reduced the gender pay gap to 9%

Outcomes 2, 3 and 4 all focus on transforming how we work.  For these outcomes the evidence comes from our workforce data (although rates of disclosure remain low), employee monitoring processes including casework, our People Survey and our employee networks.  It is proposed that these outcomes target groups that are under-represented in the workforce, specifically: young people; people from BAME communities; people with disabilities; and older employees.  

The evidence is telling us that we need to radically improve our approach to recruitment and attraction.  We need to remove barriers to career progression for females and older employees; to get better at managing change, specifically for our older workforce; and to improve how we recognise and value the skills and abilities of our employees.

Outcome 2 focuses on building a more diverse workforce through our recruitment and attraction methods, focusing on the most underrepresented groups in our workforce.  

Outcome 3 will aim to develop a more age-inclusive culture that fosters positive intergenerational relations within a more diverse and inclusive workforce and a workplace that is free from bullying, harassment or victimisation.

Outcome 4 is on our mean gender pay gap, which dropped by 4.6% between 2017 and 2019.  Despite the good progress our Women’s Networks and a review of the pay gap, Recommendations by the Scottish Government Equality Office have highlighted that we could do more internally and externally to further reduce our gender pay gap.  We have therefore decided to retain this outcome with the aim of reducing the gender pay gap from 10.95% to 9%.

Our refreshed Equality Outcome action plans are contained within Appendix 2.  We will work over the next year to establish effective processes and procedures to progress our revised outcomes and to collect robust data to monitor progress. We will ensure these actions are part of our Organisational Development Framework to help embed our approach across NatureScot. 

Our Organisational Development and Equality Steering Group will monitor the action plans set out in the report to ensure we continue to meet our duties and support the aspirations for a fairer society set out by the Scottish Government.

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