The task force includes members from many Government portfolios, in recognition of the crucial relationship between population, public services and communities. We continue to work closely with local authorities and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

I recognise the importance of engaging with and supporting areas, such as Edinburgh and Lothians, that are experiencing population growth. COSLA is a member of the population programme board and, along with the Scottish Government, jointly chairs a local government population round table. COSLA is also taking forward a discrete piece of work with local authorities to better understand the specific challenges of population growth. The population programme will consider the outputs of that work in due course.

The task force met on 25 September and discussed delivery of the addressing depopulation action plan’s new place-based interventions, with six local authorities receiving total funding of over £420,000 to support sustainable communities. Members of the task force agreed that the next national islands plan should include an overarching strategic focus on supporting our island populations. The task force also agreed an evaluation approach for Scotland’s migration service. That will support employers and inward investors to use the immigration system effectively to meet their needs and assist individuals to relocate to and settle in Scotland. The minutes for the meetings will be published in due course.

Ten out of the 53 projects that are funded by the social isolation and loneliness fund are based in rural locations. Befriending Networks Scotland receives £40,000 a year for three years from the Scottish Government, and approximately one in four of its 118 Scottish members are independent community organisations that operate in rural areas.

“A Fairer Scotland for Older People: A Framework for Action” was published in 2019 and has successfully delivered a range of policy measures, including the reduction of social isolation. The Scottish Government is undertaking a refresh of the framework, which includes a round-table meeting in Dumfries to hear from older people.

The Scottish Government published “Recovering our Connections 2023-2026”, the delivery plan for our social isolation and loneliness strategy, in March 2023. The plan aims to better understand social isolation and loneliness, to reduce the harm that is caused by it and to tackle that public health issue. There are a number of actions in it, including funding to support 53 organisations across Scotland delivering community-led activity that responds to local needs. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the social isolation and loneliness advisory group to help us to deliver the plan and to collaborate on ways to tackle loneliness for those who are most impacted.

Absolutely. I have been watching the evidence and I am always open to it. I will bring in Matt Elsby on the equality and fairer Scotland budget statement.

A growing wealth of information is published alongside the Scottish budget—for instance, the Scottish Government published 23 supporting documents to give further information on the 2024-25 Scottish budget. I recognise that more needs to be done, including reviewing the information that is published alongside the Scottish budget.

We are considering carefully how we can improve public participation in the Scottish budget in the longer term, while bearing it in mind that I meet stakeholders regularly. I am actively exploring the suggestion that the previous chair of EHRBAG, Professor Angela O’Hagan, made, and the alternative proposal of moving to a two-stage process, with one publication in the summer and a further publication alongside the budget. That would require a fundamental overhaul of the current system and would therefore require careful assessment of how effective and feasible it would be. That is the longer-term picture.

Since I came into the process, and having come into my role when I did, I have been trying to change cultures, attitudes and ways of working. We will need to take time to measure the impact of that. Work and actions have started now. I expect there to be more positive evidence for next year’s round of budgeting and, in the following year of the three-year cycle, I think that we will see the biggest impact of the change in how we do things.

Thank you for that mention of visible leadership that I am taking. You referred to the NPF. The review does not fall within my remit, but I look forward to the outcome of the inquiry and to working with colleagues and stakeholders in implementing the next iteration of the NPF, from 2025. I would be happy to follow up with the committee in writing on specific points relating to my role in the framework as Minister for Equalities.

I note that similar questions have been raised in the chamber. With regard to our funding decisions, we continue to fund LGBTQI organisations that provide a service to a community that faces increased threats in the current climate. The quality assurance and monitoring process is done by either “Inspire” or “Aspire”—forgive me, but I always get confused; I think that it is “Inspire”. That organisation scrutinises the governance and ensures that the money that the Scottish Government allocates is used for its intended purposes. There is clear guidance. I have answered questions on the matter in the chamber, but, if Tess White wishes further information, I can certainly provide it.

Policy areas are expected to conduct an equality impact assessment during the policy cycle to inform their decisions. That is a clear expectation. Those assessments should draw on available evidence, as you say, to show the impact on groups with protected characteristics and the effectiveness of any mitigation measures.

It is important that we track that bit, too. We expect portfolios to develop evidence so that they can take account of the impact of the budget on groups with protected characteristics and make that connection with the scale of the impact of the proposed spend. As you say, there is a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence. That is where participation and lived experience come into it. That is especially important with marginalised groups such as the BAME community.

That can be translated into policy in a variety of ways. For example, officials are happy to receive briefings from external organisations. I meet with Engender, the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights and many others—I will not list them all because I always miss folk out. Organisations and individuals may participate in formal consultation exercises, and published work may feature evidence reviews and support policy development. For example, the equality analysis team is currently finalising an evidence review on the experiences of non-binary people in Scotland. That action was set out in the non-binary action plan, which is to be published shortly. Similar exercises are undertaken across the protected characteristics, including the BAME community. I hope that that gives you some reassurance.

I will split that one between myself and Nick Bland as well. I will give you my view on it and what I am trying to achieve, and Nick will do the technical side of the data. We will do a double-hander.

As I alluded to in my opening remarks, the value that I can add is through working very closely with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, and through making sure that I have access to the cabinet secretaries who are making those decisions. I have arranged one-to-one bilaterals with each of the cabinet secretaries. I am starting with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport this week, in fact, so that work is now well under way.

In terms of improvements, the difference between now and what happened before is that, last year, the equalities minister simply attended those meetings. This year, my role has been enhanced; I have been given a specific role at the table and I am taking an active part. I will have one-to-one bilaterals with each cabinet secretary who makes those decisions, based on connecting the data. As the cabinet secretary put it, my role is to step back and see the wood for the trees—to make those connections and put them front and centre.

For instance, when I have my one-to-one with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, there is no doubt that I will be able to draw on the equality impacts of budget decisions in relation to transport. They may have a knock-on effect on town planning, for instance, or schools or the availability of healthcare. In my role, I can provide those connections and therefore urge the cabinet secretaries to consider those outcomes when they are making a decision in their portfolio.

One element of my role is about seeing the knock-on effects, but I can also convene and pass information between the cabinet secretaries. With the best will in the world, Government is a big machine; everyone is in their bit trying to do the best job that they can, and they do not always have that.

That leads me to the cultural change that is required of all of us to see things not only from our own point of view, but to make those connections. I am leading on that, and I am pursuing it vigorously. I am reporting back to the cabinet secretary on how the bilaterals go, and I will make recommendations on that.

Another key bit that I am providing is support to the officials who support the cabinet secretaries. We are working within Government so that our papers and evidence gathering all align and are bringing everything together to give a clearer picture.

Nick Bland can speak about the specific data.