Audit Scotland
Single equality scheme 
A progress report for the year to 31 March 2011

Foreword
Welcome to Audit Scotland’s annual review of our Single Equality Scheme.
Our Single Equality Scheme sets out our commitment to equality of opportunity and to a culture that respects difference. We believe that we have a key role in promoting diversity and equality, both as an employer and public body, but also very importantly through the audit work that we do across the Scottish public sector.
I am pleased to publish this annual review which illustrates the progress and many achievements we have made over the past year in making diversity and equality integral to our organisational culture. Looking forward, we will make sure that we address any requirements of us in the new Equality Act and continue to build on the activities and processes already in place.

Robert W Black
Auditor General for Scotland and Accountable Officer for Audit Scotland

Introduction
Our role
1.	Around 200 public bodies in Scotland spend more than £45 billion of public money each year. This includes the Scottish Government, councils, NHS bodies and a wide range of agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). The duty of the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission is to help make sure that public money is spent properly, efficiently and effectively.
2.	Our role in Audit Scotland is to provide the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission with the services they need to carry out their duties. The Auditor General is independent, reports to the Scottish Parliament and is held accountable for Audit Scotland’s work. The Accounts Commission is independent of local authorities and of government and can make reports and recommendations to Scottish ministers. More information about Audit Scotland, the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission can be found on our website (www.audit-scotland.gov.uk).
3.	The Auditor General is Audit Scotland’s Accountable Officer and has overall responsibility for making sure Audit Scotland is fulfilling the duties set out for public bodies in the Equality Act 2010 (paragraph 4) and our Single Equality Scheme (paragraph 9). He works closely with Audit Scotland’s Board and its Management Team to oversee our scheme and its associated actions. Our Diversity & Equality Steering Group has been tasked with supporting the mainstreaming of diversity and equality across the organisation and ensuring a coordinated corporate response on equality issues. Each of our business groups is represented on the steering group (Appendix 1).
The new Equality Act
4.	The Equality Act 2010 brings together a number of pieces of equality legislation that have been produced over the last 40 years. Prior to the new Act, there were three separate public sector equality duties covering race, gender and disability. The new Act replaced these with a new single equality duty covering the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Audit Scotland prepared a Single Equality Scheme covering all characteristics in advance of the implementation of the new Act.
5.	In 2010, Scottish ministers consulted on a draft Order to amend the Equality Act 2010 to increase the range of Scottish public bodies covered by the general duty for all of their functions, and on draft regulations which set out the content of the specific duties. Following consideration by the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee in early 2011, the Committee recommended that the Parliament approve the Order but recommended that the draft regulations should not be approved.
6.	The new general duty in the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 5 April 2011 which means that public bodies must have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations. Since the Scottish Parliament did not approve the specific duties at the beginning of 2011, Scottish public bodies will not be subject to any specific duties from 5 April 2011. It is expected that the Scottish Government will undertake further consultation and propose revised regulations about specific duties later in 2011.
7.	In the absence of approved specific duties, Audit Scotland’s Diversity & Equality Steering Group has agreed that Audit Scotland will continue to build on our systems and embed equality into our work, including continuing to carry out Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) (paragraph 15). We will consider the specific duties, once approved by Parliament, and adapt our policies and practices as required. This may involve revising our Single Equality Scheme.
Our Single Equality Scheme
8.	This report provides progress on our Single Equality Scheme which was published in December 2009 and covers the period 2009–12. The scheme underpins our work on improving diversity and equality, not only in how we run Audit Scotland but also in how we deliver audit work across Scotland’s public sector. We believe that we can play an important role in promoting diversity and equality as an employer and public body, and also through the audit work that we do.
9.	This report summarises the main developments and improvements within Audit Scotland over the last year based on the four themes within our Single Equality Scheme and identifies areas we want to progress further. The four themes in the scheme are:
•	reviewing our policies and activities
•	building equalities into our work
•	developing our information and reporting
•	improving our confidence and skills.
10.	We have continued to make good progress although acknowledge that there are still areas that we need to develop further and focus our attention on over the months ahead. We also recognise that we need to take account of the Equality Act 2010 and its accompanying guidance as we move forward. 
Summary of key achievements during 2010/11
•	We achieved Two Ticks accreditation.
•	Our new electronic HR system now collects information on our staff profile.
•	We achieved Shaw Trust accreditation for our website for the third year in a row.
•	We have improved the accessibility of our buildings.
•	We published four Equality Impact Assessments.
•	We have taken action to improve our recruitment and selection practices following an internal review.
Reviewing our policies and activities
11.	We need to make sure that our policies and activities are not discriminatory and that we fully consider diversity and equality issues when developing new policies and approaches to our audit work. We aim to make sure that our policies and procedures promote diversity and equality, and that our staff embed diversity and equality into their actions and decision-making when applying them.
Our new corporate management approach brings together a number of strands of corporate activity
12.	During 2011, Audit Scotland created a new temporary role for one of its directors to drive forward a number of corporate developments across the organisation. This approach aims to bring various strands of corporate activity under a single stream of work, for example, introducing new technology to streamline and share our information, reviewing our approach to learning and development and looking at different ways to communicate the findings from our audit reports with our stakeholders. More information about how our staff are getting involved in corporate development work is at paragraph 67. During 2011/12, we will carry out EIAs of key corporate developments to understand the affect these may have on our staff and others.
We are continuing to develop ways for our staff to be involved
13.	We are keen to make sure that as many of our staff as possible have the opportunity to be involved in making sure that diversity and equality issues are appropriately considered in our policies and activities. We will continue to develop and refine our approach to this and we have identified a number of actions to take forward. These include setting up networks within each business group to participate in initiatives and providing our staff with access to support networks.
We assess the impact of our policies and activities on different groups
14.	Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) allow us to consider the impact that our various policies, strategies, activities and approaches to our work may have on different groups, both within and outside our organisation. We have put in place procedures to make sure that any issues particular to one equality characteristic are properly addressed in any assessment of their impact on equalities.
15.	Working with each of our five business groups, the Diversity & Equality Steering Group prepared a list of policies and activities where we wanted to assess their impact on diversity and equality. The steering group also arranged training and support for staff carrying out these EIAs. Exhibit 1 highlights the EIAs which we completed during 2010/11.

16.	Over the last year, we have found that staff still need quite a lot of support in preparing EIAs and that the tool we use could be more user-friendly. In addition, we have not completed all the EIAs planned for 2010/11. Therefore, over the next 12 months, the Diversity & Equality Steering Group will raise awareness about the EIA process with staff and review our EIA process and documentation. The review will consider any requirements of the new Equality Act about new specific duties for public bodies.
We consider equality in our procurement and tendering procedures
17.	The Auditor General and the Accounts Commission appoint the auditors for public sector bodies in Scotland. Audit Scotland’s Audit Strategy Group undertakes the procurement exercise on their behalf. We have just completed the procurement for the next round of audit appointments. This is an EU tender process and will lead to new audit appointments for 2011/12 to 2015/16. Prior to carrying out the tender, we carried out an EIA of our tendering procedures to make sure that appropriate consideration was being given to diversity and equality.
18.	The letter of appointment already stipulated that auditors should not discriminate on any grounds. For the tender for 2011/12 to 2015/16, we asked for the first time if tenderers had been judged to have discriminated against any employees on the grounds of sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, age or other grounds. Where applicable, full details and the steps taken to prevent any recurrence of such breaches were requested to allow us to determine whether a judgement should affect the tender. In addition, to further promote diversity and equality, we will be requesting that all successful firms submit their diversity and equality statements to us within six months. The EIA on our audit procurement process is published on our website.
19.	As well as commissioning audit services from private firms of accountants, Audit Scotland also commissions services such as property services, legal advice and specialist support for our performance audits and best value audits. Contractors are required to confirm that they do not discriminate unlawfully against their employees on grounds sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief or other grounds, as defined and provided for in all relevant legislation (where the contract is for the provision of services); and that they comply with the general principles of EU law regarding non-discrimination, equal treatment, transparency, proportionality and mutual recognition.
Our properties aim to meet the needs of our staff and visitors
20.	Our offices have been subject to accessibility surveys and have action plans in place to support recommendations for improvement. Where staff have declared a disability which affects their ability to access and evacuate premises, a personal emergency evacuation plan has been prepared for the individual concerned. In addition, a buddy system has been developed to provide assistance to people in need of additional support.
21.	Our Edinburgh office at 110 George Street now complies with the Disability Discrimination Act. In the past 18 months, we have implemented an evacu-chair facility at our Edinburgh premises at 18 George Street and have trained staff to be able to use this facility to assist staff or visitors who are in a wheelchair. There are no plans to enhance our office at Osborne House in Edinburgh as we will close this office early in 2012. We also plan to review our property options in East Kilbride where we have staff located. 
22.	Our property strategy requires us to consider and improve access for all of our staff and visitors, including those with a disability, when we are reviewing property options at times of lease terminations or breaks. Audit Scotland plans to take the opportunity of its leases for its Edinburgh offices in George Street coming to their end in 2015 to look for a new single property to accommodate our Edinburgh staff. We will make sure that our new property complies with the Disability Discrimination Act.
We have improved our recruitment and selection processes
23.	During 2009/10, we reviewed our recruitment and selection processes to examine where we could work more efficiently and to make sure we have fair, objective and consistence recruitment and selection processes (Exhibit 2).
Exhibit 2
Recruitment and selection
We have changed our recruitment and selection procedures following a review.

Attraction	We reviewed the quality and content of potential recruitment adverts to make sure that they are aligned to the job roles and competencies we are recruiting for. We have also committed to further advertising and editorials within disabled publications, such as Able Magazine, to increase awareness of our organisation. 	
Selection	We now have a selection process which is more aligned to key competencies for each vacancy. This has been achieved through the creation of a suite of selection tools which are directly linked to competencies and roles, thus reducing the possibility of inequality within the selection process. In addition, we will combine assessments and interviews into one event where possible. This should result in recruitment decisions being made which are based on all the information that has been received throughout the process, reducing the risk of focusing on, for example, performance at interview alone	
Recruitment community	We have created a ‘recruitment community’ to increase the skill and competence level for a group of individuals across the organisation who are involved in recruitment on a regular basis. This includes an advanced training session which makes particular reference to diversity and equality issues. In addition, all other staff involved in the interview process will attend a general training course on recruitment which covers diversity and equality issues. Both act as a quality assurance tool. The recruitment training sessions have been put on hold until later in 2011 due to the reduced volume of recruitment taking place within the organisation.	
Online recruitment system	We have implemented an online e-recruitment system which is used by all job applicants to submit job applications and diversity information. The system ensures that only members of the Human Resources team can view a candidate’s diversity data. Having an online recruitment system also means that the HR team can view real-time diversity statistics from each recruitment campaign. This will helps us to monitor diversity information and carry out further investigations should the data show any significant inconsistencies

We achieved Two Ticks accreditation
24.	In January 2010, we secured the Two Ticks accreditation which Jobcentre Plus awards to employers who have made commitments to employ, keep and develop the abilities of disabled staff. The logo will appear on all our job adverts and on our dedicated recruitment website. Any disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the advertised post will be guaranteed an invitation to an assessment centre and/or interview (where applicable). Two Ticks also means that we have made a commitment to our staff. If someone becomes disabled while employed by Audit Scotland then we will make every reasonable effort to make sure that they can stay in their job. Achieving the Two Ticks accreditation demonstrates that Audit Scotland is going above and beyond the requirements set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Building equalities into our work
25.	When carrying out its audit of public bodies, Audit Scotland considers how they are addressing diversity and equality issues. This section looks at how we have built this into our audit work.
We have embedded equalities into our annual audit planning frameworks
26.	In partnership with other scrutiny bodies, we have introduced a shared approach to reviewing and assessing the corporate activities in Scotland’s local authorities. The Shared Risk Assessment (SRA) approach involves representatives from each of the scrutiny bodies meeting to decide the key risks within each local authority. The aim is to make sure that the regulation, inspection and audit of local authorities are better targeted and more proportionate. Equality is one of the key areas considered as part of this annual process. We will conduct an EIA of the SRA process during 2011/12.
27.	Our audits of Best Value in Scottish public bodies may also consider equalities issues and we published an audit toolkit to support this audit work in 2010 (paragraph 31). Equalities issues are also considered as part of the audit planning process for NHS bodies. In November 2010, we provided oral evidence to the Parliamentary Equal Opportunities Committee to support its scrutiny of the draft budget for 2011/12 and commented on the consideration of equalities issues in the SRA process and Best Value audits.

We consider equalities when developing our programme of performance audits and at key stages in our audits
28.	During 2010/11, we moved from a fixed two-year programme to a rolling programme of national performance audits. Our aim is for our performance audit work to be more flexible and responsive to the changing public sector environment. Interested parties are now invited to suggest topics for our programme at any time. We make sure we engage with equality organisations regularly and have prepared a stakeholder engagement plan which identifies where we need to do additional work with particular groups. During 2010, we discussed potential topics for our programme with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission for Scotland (EHRC Scotland), Disability Agenda Scotland, the Scottish Health Council and a range of public bodies that provide services for equalities groups. We will carry out an EIA of our rolling programme later in the year to make sure we are adequately considering equalities issues during its development.
29.	Our project management framework requires staff to identify the relevant equalities issues when scoping our performance audits and specify any issues in the project brief.  Following an EIA of our project management framework in 2010, we updated the framework to include diversity and equality as a separate issue in our formal project review process which we undertake once the audit is complete. This requires project teams to review how well diversity and equality issues were addressed in the audit and to identify learning points for future audits that can be shared with the wider team. We also updated our guidance on building diversity and equality issues into our performance audit work.
Best Value audits of public bodies consider equalities
30.	The consideration of equalities is integral to the Best Value audit of councils, police and fire authorities. It is a key cross-cutting characteristic of the corporate assessment framework and is embedded in all aspects of the best value framework. In 2010/11, we prepared an Equalities Best Value toolkit to support auditors when carrying out best value audits of public bodies. The toolkit helps auditors establish the extent to which public bodies’ arrangements for diversity and equality are designed to achieve and are actually delivering best value. Organisations may also use the toolkit to inform their own self-assessment processes.
31.	During 2011/12, we will be working with EHRC Scotland when reviewing equalities as part of the Best Value audits in local government. All Best Value audit reports on local authorities include a section on the progress made by organisations on equalities. We will conduct an EIA of our audit approach to best value in local government during 2011/12.
We achieved accreditation for our website for the third year running
32.	Audit Scotland’s website has achieved ‘Accessible Plus’ accreditation from the Shaw Trust for the third year in a row. The Shaw Trust recognises websites that not only comply with web accessibility guidelines, but go further by improving usability for disabled users.
33.	During 2010, we compared our accessibility practices with those in other public sector organisations, including other UK audit agencies. We looked at issues such as use of speech-enabling software, accessibility functions of PDFs, accessibility experts’ consultations, and user testing and feedback. We found that Audit Scotland reviewed favourably in most of the areas measured.
34.	Audit Scotland will be reviewing its communications strategy following the publication of its new corporate plan later in 2011. This review will include carrying out an EIA of the strategy.
Developing our information and reporting
35.	It is important that our staff are equipped with up-to-date information about equalities to allow them to work in a non-discriminatory way and to make sure they consider equalities in their audit work. To help mainstream diversity and equality in everything that we do, we have to understand the profile of our staff and reflect on our progress in implementing our Single Equality Scheme.
Our steering group monitors progress with our Single Equality Scheme
36.	Our Diversity & Equality Steering Group meets around four times a year. This group monitors progress with our Single Equality Scheme and prepares this annual report. A summary of our activity is also included in Audit Scotland’s annual report.
37.	Six members of the steering group lead on specific equality characteristics (Appendix 1). This involves them keeping up-to-date with developments around each characteristic and being a source of advice for staff involved in audit work.
Our eHR system now collects information about our staff profile
38.	As part of our last annual equality review, we made a commitment to expand our information gathering and reporting arrangements to include religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender status. This will allow us to monitor diversity information across all the protected characteristics.
39.	During January 2010, we launched a new online HR system (eHR) for all staff. The system allows staff to manage and update their personal and diversity information via a self-service portal. As part of our annual personal details check, we invited staff to provide additional diversity information relating to religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender. This diversity information will form part of our annual equalities review going forward, covering all protected characteristics within the Equality Act 2010.
Equality monitoring information – 2010/11
40.	In addition to reporting progress against our planned actions in the Single Equality Scheme, we also have a duty to report specific information regarding our employees. This provides a key means of checking whether discrimination is evident in our employment practices and makes sure that the main elements of our equal opportunity policies are being implemented effectively.
41.	A summary of the equality monitoring analysis is provided below and detailed charts and graphs can be seen at Appendix 2. The information covers the period from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. Our Diversity & Equality Steering Group discuss and review any trends identified from this information and agree any areas for further investigation.
Staff profile
42.	Exhibit 3 provides a summary of Audit Scotland’s staff profile. Where the population size is less than five, this information has not been disclosed due to confidentiality although it will be retained within our Human Resources (HR) department to monitor any trends going forward. Transgender information has not been provided due to the small numbers involved.
Exhibit 3
Audit Scotland’s staff profile, 2010/11

Equality strand	March 2011
(284 staff)	March 2010
(302 staff)	Scottish Population Data (2009/10)	Comments	
Ethnicity	The representation of ethnic minority staff at Audit Scotland (AS) increased slightly to 2.5% of all staff.	The representation of ethnic minority staff at Audit Scotland (AS) remained the same as in 2009 (1.7%).	People in employment in Scotland are 96.3% white and 3.7% are from an ethnic minority. 	AS has a smaller representation of ethnic minority staff compared to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) data (by 1.2%). It is encouraging to see the number of minority ethnic staff increase, although this has been challenging due to the limited volume of recruitment over this period.	
Gender	The representation of males and females at AS remained the same as the previous year at 49% and 51% respectively.	The representation of males and females at AS remained the same as in 2009, except that there was an increase of females at senior management level to 52%.	Scotland’s working age population (2009/10) shows 51.1% are female and 48.9% are male.  	Audit Scotland’s overall gender profile compares favourably to Scotland’s working age population. 	
Age	Similar to previous years, the largest percentage of staff were in the 35-49 age range (44.5%). The smallest percentage were within the 16-24 bracket (2.8%). 27.2% of staff were 50+ in age.	Similar to 2009 data, the largest percentage of staff were in the 35-49 age range (43%) and the smallest percentage were within the 16-24 bracket (4%).	Scotland’s working age population (2009/10) shows that 18% are 16-24, 19% are 25-34, 33% are 35-49 and 30% are over 50 years old.	The age profile of AS staff has not changed significantly over the past three years. Compared to Scotland’s working age population, AS has less staff in the 16-24 age bracket, and slightly more in the 35-49 age bracket. This could be attributed to the need for professional qualifications across many of the job roles within Audit Scotland.  	
Disability	The percentage of staff with a declared disability increased to 5% over the previous year.	The percentage of staff with a declared disability was 4.6%.	People in employment in Scotland are 10.4% disabled and 89.6% are not disabled.	AS’s overall disability profile is approximately half of the percentage of disabled people in Scotland who are in employment.  It is encouraging that the percentage of disabled staff at AS is getting closer to the ONS average.	
Flexible working	The percentage of staff with flexible working arrangements has increased slightly on previous years to 17.6% of staff.	The percentage of staff with flexible working arrangements remains the same as 2009, at 16.2% of all staff.	No ONS data are recorded regarding flexible working arrangements.	It is encouraging that the number of staff on flexible working arrangements has increased slightly and reinforces that AS is an employer which values and promotes flexible working.	
Sexual orientation	58.8% of staff are heterosexual/straight; 2.1% did not want to disclose this information; 37.7% have not responded to confirm; and the remainder are either a gay man, gay woman or bisexual.	We began collecting this monitoring information late 2010; therefore no previous year comparison is available.	No ONS data is recorded regarding sexual orientation and working age population in Scotland. 	This is the first year of recording diversity information relating to sexual orientation. This is a positive step forward although about two in five staff have not confirmed any information.	
Religion or belief	14.1% of staff are Church of Scotland; 10.2% are Roman Catholic; 3.5% Other Christian; 3.9% prefer not to say; 25.4% said not applicable/no religion; and 41.2% have not responded to confirm.	We began collecting this monitoring information late 2010; therefore no previous year comparison is available.	No ONS data are recorded regarding religion/belief and working age population in Scotland.	This is the first year of recording diversity information relating to religion/belief. This is a positive step forward although about two in five staff have not confirmed any information.  	
Recruitment
43.	Audit Scotland’s recruitment and selection process is designed to be fair, robust and follow best practice principles. Individuals are assessed on the competencies required to carry out the role effectively. We reviewed our processes in 2010/11 (paragraph 23). 
44.	Exhibit 4 outlines our position in terms of ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion/belief and sexual orientation in relation to internally and externally advertised vacancies during the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011. These results should be interpreted carefully given the number of applications where no information has been provided.

Exhibit 4
Recruitment 2010/11

Equality strand	2010/11	2009/10	Comments	
Ethnicity	Of the applications received (129), 26.4% were from an ethnic minority. 5.1% of these applicants were taken forward at shortlisting stage. No ethnic minority candidates were appointed. As a % of applications received, 38% white applicants were shortlisted, and 5.9% of minority ethnics were shortlisted.	Of the applications received (465), 14.4% were from an ethnic minority. 14% were taken forward at shortlisting stage. No ethnic minority candidates were appointed. 	More applications were received in 2010/11 from ethnic minorities compared to 2009/10 (12%increase), which is a positive indicator. However, similar to the previous year, more white applicants are being shortlisted as a percentage of applications received and no ethnic minorities were appointed. 
It is considered that further analysis should take place to identify the reasons why minority ethnic candidates are not successfully shortlisted or appointed.  
2.3% of candidates did not provide any information relating to ethnicity.	
Gender	Similar to the previous year, we received more applications from males (62%) versus females (36%). 38.3% of applications received from females were shortlisted and 14.9% were appointed. This compares to 23.8% and 11.3% of applications from males.	This year we received more applications from males (65.2%) than females (29.9%). 42.4% of applications received from females were shortlisted and 5% were appointed. This compares to 32% and 7.9% of applications from males.	During 2010/11, there was slightly less applications from males and slightly more applications from females than in the previous year. From the percentage of those that applied, slightly fewer females were shortlisted this year to last year although more were appointed. A smaller percentage of male applicants were shortlisted during 2010/11 compared with 2009/10. However, a higher percentage of males than the previous year.
1.6% of candidates did not provide any information relating to gender.	
Age	The majority of applications received were from candidates aged 16-24 and 25-34. Fewest were 50+ years old. As a percentage of applications received, more candidates aged under 25 were appointed than those aged 50+.	The majority of applications received were from candidates aged 25-34. Fewest were 50+ years old. As a percentage of applications received, more candidates aged under 25 were appointed than those aged 50+.	There has been limited volume of recruitment over 2010/11. Our biggest campaign was for graduate trainees, of whom the majority were between the ages of 16-24. However, this age category saw the fewest being successful at shortlisting and appointment stage, as a % of applicants received. This is likely to be due to the high volume of interest in such a campaign. The most successful age category across shortlisting and appointments were 35-49 year olds.
1.6% of candidates did not provide any information relating to age.	
Disability	3.1% of applications were received from people who declared themselves as having a disability. 50% of applications from those with a disability were shortlisted, compared to 28.5% without a disability. No appointments were made to candidates with a disability.	Five applications were received from people who declared themselves as having a disability (1.1% of all applications). 40% of applications from those with a disability were shortlisted, compared to 35.5% without a disability. No appointments were made to candidates with a disability.	Slightly fewer applications were received in 2010/11 from people who declared themselves as having a disability, compared to 2009/10. During 2010/11, we utilised a publication called Able magazine, a UK-wide disability magazine to promote AS and the career opportunities available. A higher percentage (50%) of disabled applicants were shortlisted in 2010/11, compared to the previous year.
In both years, no disabled candidates were appointed.	
Religion	Most applications were from those who stated ‘n/a’ or ‘no religion’, followed by Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic. Fewest applications were received from those who were Jewish or Buddhist. As a percentage of applications received, the highest percentage of those shortlisted were from Church of Scotland (44.4%). No candidates who applied and were Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or Muslim were offered appointments.	Most applications were from those who stated either ‘n/a’ or ‘no religion’, followed by Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic. Fewest applications were from those who stated ‘Other religion’, Jewish and Buddhist. No appointments were made to candidates in these categories. As a percentage of applications received, the highest percentage of those shortlisted were for Sikh (75%) and ‘No religion’ (62.3%).	The distribution of applicants to religious categories was similar across both 2009/10 and 2010/11. From the data recorded so far, it gives a clearer indication between candidates who have a religion to those that do not.
Although we are receiving applications from Jewish, Buddhism, Muslim and Hindu religions, a small number are making it to the shortlisting stage, and none have been successfully appointed over both reporting periods. Comparing against the Audit Scotland staff profile, there is some correlation to this data as there are very few employees who are Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh or Buddhist.	
Sexual orientation	Too few applications have been received from each category to be able to record this information.	Too few applications have been received from each category to be able to record this information.	Due to the limited number of recruitment campaigns over 2010/11, it is not possible to record or analyse in relation to this protected characteristic.	

Promotions
45.	During the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011, there were 24 promotions and acting up or additional responsibility opportunities. All of these opportunities were for white employees. Exhibit I at Appendix 2 shows promotions, acting up and additional responsibility opportunities by gender over the last four reporting periods. During 2010/11, there were slightly more females who were successful in receiving either a promotion, acting up or additional responsibility. Similar to the previous year, the majority of these opportunities were within the age bracket 35-49, and on a standard working pattern.
Performance appraisal and development
46.	An individual’s performance is assessed annually against the core competencies for their role at a formal Performance Appraisal and Development (PAD) meeting. Performance is scored using a 1-3 scale with 1 being highly effective performance and 3 indicating that improvement is required. Members of the fixed point salary group are not included in the figures in Appendix 2. Recent new starters are also not included.
47.	All required staff members received a completed PAD review by 31 March 2011. A breakdown of PAD scores by ethnicity, disability or age has not been provided for this report due to the small numbers involved in each category. Detailed charts and tables showing the distribution of PAD scores across the organisation and distribution by gender can be seen in Exhibits J and K at Appendix 2. The distribution of PAD scores of level 1 or 2 is relatively even for males and females, however more males received a level 3 PAD score than females during 2010/11.
Training
48.	Our HR team keeps a record of staff training. A review of the training records for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 shows:
•	Training was recorded as having been undertaken across 42 different training areas (62 in 2009/10). This does not include online computer-based training.
•	180 employees (63% of all employees as at 31 March 2011) are recorded as having received formal training during 2010/11. This includes 71 per cent of Audit Scotland’s minority ethnic employees and 63 per cent of all white employees.
•	107 females (59% of all employees who received training) and 73 males (41% of all employees who received training) received training. This represents 52 per cent of all females and 37 per cent of all males at 31 March 2010.
•	Just over a third of the employees who received training in the year were either in the 35-34 or 35-49 age ranges. Twenty 16-24 year olds (11% of all employees who received training) and 40 people aged 50+ (22% of all employees who received training) received training in the year.  
•	159 employees with standard working patterns received some form of training compared with 21 employees working on a flexible basis. This represents 70 per cent of all those working standard hours and 50 per cent of all those working on a flexible basis. 
Leavers
49.	During 2010/11, 18 people resigned from the organisation (26 leavers in total including the expiry of fixed term contracts and retirement). Exhibit L at Appendix 2 shows leavers (resignations only) by gender. Slightly more females resigned than males during 2010/11. The majority of leavers during the period were on standard working patterns. Due to the small numbers involved, we are unable to report on ethnicity. Resignations were received from staff across all four age bands. The majority of leavers fell within the age category 25-34.
50.	The turnover figure for the year ending 31 March 2011 is 8.8 per cent (26 leavers / average 294 staff x 100).   This is slightly higher than the previous year, which was 6.25 per cent. The turnover figure excluding the end of fixed term contracts over the same period is 8.2 per cent (24 leavers / average 294 staff x 100). 
51.	Every leaver has the opportunity to complete a Leaver Survey Form where they can detail the positive and negative aspects of working at Audit Scotland. A member of the HR team reviews every form. If there are areas of concern, they will be followed through appropriately, whether relating to diversity and equality concerns or on any other basis.
We compare what we are doing with other organisations
52.	We are keen to learn about good practice in relation to equality and diversity and develop networks with other public bodies. This is important as we do not have any dedicated staff to support our activity in this area. Members of our Diversity & Equality Steering Group attend meetings of the NDPB Equality Forum to hear about experiences and approaches in other public bodies. We also meet regularly with EHRC Scotland to discuss what we are doing internally to mainstream equalities and also how we are addressing equalities in our audit work.
We will develop our knowledge management processes to improve how we share information across the organisation
53.	We are preparing to move all our corporate information onto SharePoint 2010 during 2011. This will consolidate our information storage arrangements, and facilitate search facilities. Age and disability can be related to a number of medical conditions that can impact on the needs of computer equipment. SharePoint 2010 provides a single point of access to all corporate information via a web browser, which can be customised for each individual user’s needs through size of font and high contrast or via a simplified layout suitable for screen readers. An EIA of the implementation of SharePoint 2010 will be conducted during 2011/12.
We have supported other public bodies in their scrutiny of diversity and equality
54.	As well as giving evidence to the Parliamentary Equal Opportunities Committee as part of its scrutiny of the draft budget for 2011/12 (paragraph 27), we also provided written and oral evidence to EHRC Scotland’s inquiry into disability-related harassment.

Improving our skills and confidence
55.	To help embed diversity and equality in Audit Scotland, it is important that our staff have the confidence and skills to consider and address equalities issues. This can be achieved through formal training but also through considering our actions and behaviours.
Equality and diversity is embedded in our Performance Appraisal and Development framework
56.	In June 2008, a new competency dictionary was rolled out across Audit Scotland for use by all staff as part of annual performance development appraisals. A project group, the Performance and Development Improvement Group (PDIG), was set up to carry out a more comprehensive review and implement a revised Performance Appraisal and Development (PAD) framework, producing guidance and providing support to staff to implement it. The project has now been completed and a new PAD scheme was implemented in 2010. The main priorities for the improved framework are:
•	Feedback – making Audit Scotland a place where giving and receiving feedback about our performance occurs readily, frequently and constructively.
•	Results – maintaining and developing our existing strength in the delivery of results to time, quality and cost standards.
•	Behaviours – intensifying our focus upon how we can deliver the results so that we can maintain sustainably high performance by means of the new competency framework.
57.	The PDIG had members from all business groups, HR and a staff representative. The PDIG considered diversity and equality issues and avoidance of all types of discrimination in all aspects of the project. The review of the PAD framework was designed to promote consistency for all staff in how performance management is conducted and experienced across Audit Scotland. An EIA of the new PAD framework was conducted during 2010/11 and is published on our website.
58.	In June 2010, PDIG reviewed the results of the 2010 PAD cycle. This included a summary of PAD scores across Audit Scotland, by business group, by grade of staff and by competency. There is no evidence of any group of staff experiencing inequalities in their treatment in application of the PAD process, through these data. A newsletter summarising the findings of this review was sent to all staff in June 2010.
59.	In October 2010, the Management Team considered the achievements of PDIG in implementing the revised PAD process for 2010 and preparing the business groups for the 2011 PAD cycle. The decision was taken that PDIG would be disbanded and that monitoring of the 2011 PAD cycle would be handed over to the business groups. All PAD meetings were completed and PAD forms passed to our HR department by the end of March 2011.
60.	In May each year, the HR team reviews a sample of PAD forms to identify trends and any areas for improvement. This review covers setting objectives, quality of feedback, highlighting any diversity and equality issues, consistency of scores and common training needs. The results are discussed with the PAD business group leads and reported to the management team in each business group for consideration and appropriate action. The 2011 review did not highlight any issues of concern in relation to equality and diversity.
Raising awareness of diversity and equality within our organisation
61.	Raising awareness of the importance of diversity and equality forms part of our induction process for new members of staff joining the organisation. One of the key elements of this includes an online diversity and equality training module. The training module has been recently updated to make sure that all new members of staff are aware of the changes to equalities legislation as part of the Equality Act 2010.
62.	In addition to this, we are rolling out local training sessions for middle and senior managers so that they are aware of the changes to equalities legislation and understand their responsibilities as a manager. This includes the need to eliminate bullying and harassment in the workplace and promotes equality of opportunity across our business groups. The Diversity & Equality Steering Group will also carry out briefing sessions for all Audit Scotland staff on the recent changes to equalities legislation.
Our steering group helps staff understand equality and diversity issues
63.	Each of our five business groups has a representative on the Diversity & Equality Steering Group and they are an important link between corporate and business group developments and activity. They make sure that the steering group is kept up-to-date with progress in mainstreaming diversity and equality across the whole organisation and can act as a source of advice for our staff on diversity and equality issues. The business group representatives make sure that they give feedback to their teams on what is happening at a corporate level.
64.	The steering group has a diversity and equality page on Audit Scotland’s intranet, Libro. This provides details of the group’s membership and links to related information that may be of interest to staff. Members of the group are assigned responsibility as equality strand leads or business group leads and this is included within the page to allow staff to contact the relevant member of the group with any queries or requests for information. Audit Scotland is moving to SharePoint 2010 during 2011 and the group plans to take this opportunity to further develop the information available for staff on our intranet.
65.	The steering group has arranged for EHRC Scotland to provide two briefings for Audit Scotland staff on the new Equality Act. The first briefing will be aimed at members of our steering group and Corporate Management Forum; and the second will be held later in 2011 and will involve staff working on our Best Value audits as well as staff from other scrutiny bodies. Over the course of 2011/12, the steering group will look for other opportunities to help raise staff awareness about diversity and equality issues, building on our links with other organisations.
There are wider opportunities for staff to be involved in corporate and other working groups
66.	To support Audit Scotland’s drive to become more efficient and effective through improving its business support systems, a Corporate Programmes Group has been formed to make sure that significant corporate development activities and projects across the organisation are coordinated and resourced. This working group is led by the director of Corporate Programmes and includes staff from the Corporate Services Group. It works with staff from across Audit Scotland to deliver corporate programmes such as implementing SharePoint 2010 and reviewing our strategy for learning and development.
67.	The Audit Services Group has established a Business Improvement Unit (BIU) to make sure that its development activities and projects are coordinated, resourced and mainstreamed in achieving corporate priorities. The BIU works closely with the Corporate Programmes Group to make sure the direction and work of each group are aligned. ASG staff working within its BIU are rotated periodically to provide opportunities for more staff to become involved in corporate work. The BIU maintains a database to capture staff interest and involvement in corporate work. On occasions where additional resources are required for corporate or BIU work, the BIU will contact staff depending on skills and experience recorded on the database. As part of this process, the BIU considers current involvement of staff prior to allocation to encourage corporate work to be distributed across the group. Involvement opportunities are also advertised through Audit Services Group’s update bulletins which invite staff to volunteer for areas where there is a shortage of resources.

Appendix 1. Diversity & Equality Steering Group
David Blattman	Corporate Services Group		
Elaine Boyd	Audit Services Group	Lead on disability	
Angus Brown	Staff representative		
Angela Canning	Performance Audit Group	Chair of steering group	
John Gilchrist	Audit Strategy Group	AStG lead on equality and diversity, and lead on race	
James Gillies	Corporate Services Group	CSG lead on equality and diversity	
Lesley McGiffen	Best Value and Scrutiny Improvement Group	BVSIG lead on equality and diversity, and lead on age	
Fiona Mitchell-Knight	Audit Services Group	ASG lead on equality and diversity	
Jennifer Summers	Corporate Services Group	Lead on religion	
Kirsty Whyte	Performance Audit Group	PAG lead on equality and diversity, and lead on LGBT	
Louisa Yule	Audit Services Group	Secretary to group, and lead on gender	
Diane McGiffen, Chief Operating Officer, is the Management Team sponsor for this corporate group.

Appendix 2. Staff profile
The graphs and tables in this appendix provide detailed diversity statistics relating to Audit Scotland’s staff profile, recruitment, promotions, discipline and grievance, training, performance appraisal scores and leavers. Where numbers represent less than five employees, there is no specific reporting for confidentiality reasons.

Ethnicity
Exhibit A Ethnicity profile
Ethnicity	Audit Scotland staff			Working age population in Scotland (%- 09/10)	People in employment in Scotland (% - 09/10)	
	Mar-08	Mar-09	Mar-10	Mar-11			
White	98.6	98.3	98.3	97.5	96.3	96.3	
Minority ethnic	1.4	1.7	1.7	2.5	3.7	3.7	

Source: Audit Scotland & Annual Population Survey October 2009 – September 2010, ONS

Gender

Exhibit C: Gender profile 2006-2011
Gender	Audit Scotland staff	Working age population in Scotland (%-09/10)	
	December 2006 (%)	March 2008 (%)	March 2009 (%)	March 2010 (%)	March 2011 (%)		
Male	52.2	50.5	49	49	49	48.9	
Female	47.8	49.5	51	51	51	51.1	
Source: Audit Scotland
Exhibit E: Age profile 2009 – 2011
Age	March 2009 (%)	March            2010 (%)	March 2011 (%)	People in employment in Scotland (09/10)	
16-24	4.3	3.6	2.8	18	
25-34	27.5	26.8	25.5	19	
35-49	42.4	43.4	44.5	33	
50+	25.8	26.2	27.2	30	
Source: Audit Scotland and Annual Population Survey October 2009 to September 2010, ONS

Exhibit F: Alternative working arrangements by gender, ethnicity and age (2008 to 2011)
Audit Scotland operates a flexi time scheme and homeworking policy to enable staff to strike a better balance between their home and work responsibilities.

 	March 2008 (%)	March 2009 (%)	March 2010 (%)	March 2011 (%)	
Male	11.4	10.8	9.5	17.6	
Female	88.6	89.2	90.5	82.4	
 					
White	97.1	97.3	97.6	98.0	
Minority Ethnic	2.9	2.7	2.4	2.0	

age ranges	 	March 2009 (%)	March 2010 (%)	March 2011 (%)	
16-24	 	0.0	0.0	0.0	
25-34	 	19.0	28.60	22.0	
35-49	 	47.6	40.80	48.0	
50+	 	33.3	30.60	30.0	
Source: Audit Scotland

Recruitment
Exhibit G: Recruitment during the period April 2010 and March 2011
 	Stage 1:
Applications received	Stage 2:
Applications short-listed	Stage 3:
Applications appointed	
Ethnicity	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	
White	92	71.3	35	89.8	16	100.0	
Minority ethnic	34	26.4	2	5.1	0	0.0	
No information provided	3	2.3	2	5.1	0	0.0	
Gender	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	
Female	47	36.4	18	46.2	7	43.8	
Male	80	62.0	19	48.7	9	56.2	
No information provided	2	1.6	2	5.1	0	0.0	
Disability	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	
Yes	4	3.1	2	5.1	0	0.0	
No	123	95.3	35	89.8	16	100.0	
No information provided	2	1.6	2	5.1	0	0.0	
Age	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	
16-24	50	38.8	8	20.5	4	25.0	
25-34	50	38.8	13	33.3	5.0	31.2	
35-49	24	18.6	14	35.9	7	43.8	
50+	3	2.3	2	5.1	0	0.0	
No information provided	2	1.6	2	5.1	0	0.0	
Religion	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	
Church of Scotland	18	14.0	8	20.5	3	18.8	
Roman Catholic	16	12.4	5	12.8	2	12.5	
Other Christian	12	9.3	2	5.1	0	0.0	
Buddhist	1	0.8	0	0.0	0	0.0	
Hindu	8	6.2	1	2.6	0	0.0	
Muslim	7	5.4	0	0.0	0	0.0	
Jewish	1	0.8	0	0.0	0	0.0	
Sikh	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	
N/a / No religion	50	38.8	16	41.0	10	62.5	
Another religion	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	
Prefer not to say	14	10.9	5	12.8	1	6.3	
No information provided	2	1.6	2	5.1	0	0.0	
Source: Audit Scotland

Promotions
Exhibit I: Promotions and acting up opportunities by gender
 	Acting up/Additional Responsibility/Promotions	
	Mar 2008	Mar 2009	Mar 2010	Mar 2011	
	No	%	No	%	No	%	No	%	
Male	7	28.0	6	28.6	15	50.0	11	45.8	
Female	18	72.0	15	71.4	15	50.0	13	54.2	
Source: Audit Scotland
Disciplinary action and grievances
There were less than five disciplinary and grievance cases during the period April 2010 to March 2011. Internal monitoring carried out by our Human Resources team does not show any disproportionate bias terms of gender, ethnicity, working pattern or age.

Leavers
Exhibit L: Leavers by gender
 	2008	2009	2010	2011	
Gender	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	
Male	10	50	10	71.4	6	43	13	38.9	
Female	10	50	4	28.6	8	57	13	61	
Source: Audit Scotland