Equal Opportunities Committee, 25 Apr 2000

Meeting date: Tuesday, April 25, 2000

Official Report 160KB pdf

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Budget Process

All members should have received a short paper. We do not yet know on which date the Deputy Minister for Communities and the Minister for Finance will appear before the committee. Members will be aware that the convener of the Finance Committee has written to all subject committees to ask them to consider what impact expenditure proposals in their areas will have on men and women.

I have also sent all subject committees a letter in which I asked them both to follow the guidance of the Finance Committee and to take account of the different effects of the Executive's spending plans on disabled people, ethnic minorities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The letter asks conveners to respond to the Equal Opportunities Committee by outlining the steps that their committees intend to take or have taken to address those issues.

One response to my letter has been received but, because it went out just before recess, I assume that most of the committees will not yet have considered it. I will copy all responses to committee members so we can discuss them at our next meeting.

On the suggestion, point 9 in the paper, of a consultation exercise, perhaps we should contact relevant groups, asking them to send comments to the appropriate service committees but to copy those comments to us.

Tricia Marwick's question on the equality unit was pertinent. I am happy to write to it to ask what involvement in the budget process it has had or will have. There appears to be only one mention of equality in "Investing in You", on page 34, with a one-sentence objective on the following page:

"To develop the mechanisms for promoting equality of opportunity and for mainstreaming equality into policy making".

We might want to ask the Deputy Minister for Communities and the Minister for Finance to expand on that.

Are there any other comments? Are members happy with my suggestions so far?

Point 8 suggests that we might appoint a reporter on the budget issue. Unless anyone else is keen to take on that role, I am happy to deal with the budget issue on behalf of the committee. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Listening to the discussion today has made me quite uncomfortable about the range of subjects that will be discussed by other committees. How will this committee get a handle on what other committees will be discussing? Short of reading all their discussions, it is likely to be very difficult to make the kind of input we would like to make. I would like us to discuss as a committee, perhaps in private, how we hope to influence the processes so that we do not find ourselves in a situation where the decisions have been taken before we have even made an input.

That would be a good idea. The budget process shows how difficult it is for this committee to keep a handle on things. If we are committed to mainstreaming equality, as is the Executive and all the other committees, each committee should take responsibility for equality and we should oversee that, until things reach the stage when it becomes automatic for the other committees to think about equality. We should discuss how to do that.

We suggested that other committees should be given the kind of presentation we had today outlining the politics behind equality provisions and the processes people might be expected to follow. The Local Government Committee intends to have a briefing on equality and services to women in relation to local government finance. It is to be hoped that each committee understands that need.

As has been said, if mainstreaming works, the other committees are going to be taking that on and this committee can generate interest or point people in the right direction. It will be interesting to see to what extent the committees respond to our letter and to the Finance Committee. Our job, perhaps, is to monitor to what extent the committees pursue equality in the budget process, as opposed to pursuing it on their behalf. I am encouraged by the Local Government Committee's response—it was quite keen.

That committee has responded to my letter. We should encourage equality organisations to contact service committees directly. We have been taking all the evidence on equality issues and collating it for the service committees. It would be useful if they were to hear evidence as well as us.

To pick up on a point made by Fiona Forsyth, it would be useful to consider our relationship with the Social Inclusion, Housing and the Voluntary Sector Committee. We should let that committee know that there are many issues on which we would want to work together.

I would be happy to discuss that with that committee's convener.