Annual diversity report
2019/20
Audit Scotland
October 2020
Who we are
The Auditor General, the Accounts Commission and Audit Scotland work together to deliver public audit in Scotland:
•	The Auditor General is an independent crown appointment, made on the recommendation of the Scottish Parliament, to audit the Scottish Government, NHS and other bodies and report to Parliament on their financial health and performance.
•	The Accounts Commission is an independent public body appointed by Scottish ministers to hold local government to account. The Controller of Audit is an independent post established by statute, with powers to report directly to the Commission on the audit of local government.
•	Audit Scotland is governed by a board, consisting of the Auditor General, the chair of the Accounts Commission, a non-executive board chair, and two non-executive members appointed by the Scottish Commission for Public Audit, a commission of the Scottish Parliament.
About us 
Our vision is to be a world-class audit organisation that improves the use of public money.
•	Through our work for the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission, we provide independent assurance to the people of Scotland that public money is spent properly and provides value. We aim to achieve this by:
•	carrying out relevant and timely audits of the way the public sector manages and spends money
•	reporting our findings and conclusions in public
•	identifying risks, making clear and relevant recommendations.
Key messages
1	Audit Scotland has a greater level of diversity across the workforce when compared to the Scottish population more generally.  96.7 per cent of colleagues have chosen to declare their ethnicity with 89.9 per cent being white and 6.8 per cent Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME). Statistics reveal that around 96 per cent of the Scottish population report their ethnicity as white and approximately 4.6 per cent as BAME.
2	In our organisation, 57.8 per cent of employees are women and 42.2 per cent are men. Recent Scottish population data shows 51 per cent of the population are women and 49 per cent are men.
3	Nearly one third of Audit Scotland employees work a non-standard working pattern, an increase from 24 per cent in 2018/19. Non-standard patterns include part-time working, annualised hours, compressed hours and term-time working and are important in supporting the diverse needs of colleagues as they balance their personal and working lives. 
4	We have worked hard to attract younger colleagues (16-24 year olds) by encouraging people to apply for our professional trainee programme and offering new opportunities through our school leaver programme. We have also increased the number of modern apprentices in our Business Support Services team and are working to increase the opportunities for younger people to gain experience of the world of work with Audit Scotland as a stepping-stone for their future careers. 
5	Audit Scotland actively works with organisations such as Stonewall, Close the Gap and Carers Scotland to better understand peoples’ needs and experiences. By using the frameworks offered to employers we have assessed our progress and the impact of our work. 
Introduction
1.	Audit Scotland strives to create a culture in which employees are able to be themselves, feel supported and included. We aim to exceed the basic legislative and compliance requirements to ensure we support individuals to thrive. As an employer we appreciate that everyone has different values, beliefs and personal requirements.  We aim to reflect the uniqueness of each person in how we promote fairness and equality. We are committed to the principles of equal opportunity, fairness and transparency to help develop inclusive approaches to employment policies, practices and personal behaviours. 
2.	When colleagues across Audit Scotland feel safe, supported and confident in being themselves at work, we gain the benefit of the diversity across our workforce – diversity of thought, expression and belief that flows through to the scope of our work and the resilience of our organisation in uncertain and changing times.
3.	Audit Scotland and its employees provide services to the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission for Scotland. No data on the Accounts Commission is reported here since it has no employees. The Accounts Commission is a ministerially appointed public body and is therefore subject to commitments by Ministers to increasing the diversity of its members. The Public Appointments Commissioner reports annually on the progress in this regard across public boards.
Information about Audit Scotland employees, specifically in relation to outcome 2 of the Mainstreaming equality and equality outcomes progress is detailed in this report. As per our Mainstreaming equality and equality outcomes progress report published in April 2019, we are committed to achieving our equality outcomes and taking action to advance equality, including: 
•	ensure employees feel valued and are treated with equity and fairness
•	embed employee feedback on how to support diversity and equality in how we do things
•	ensure employees feel that their wellbeing is a priority for Audit Scotland
•	ensure employees recognise that policies are written in plain language, adhere to current legislation and are accessible to all
•	ensure there is a rigorous process for conducting Equality Impact Assessments (EQIA) when new policies are introduced, or existing policies are updated 
•	operate a flexible approach to working practices
•	ensure that the reward system is fair, and the gender pay gap and any pay review results confirm this
•	improve information on workforce by encouraging our employees to disclose personal information
•	increase the number of job applications from people in under-represented groups
•	improve recruitment and selection processes in response to feedback. 
4.	In order to meet these commitments, we collect, publish and monitor information about the diversity of our employees to help us check that we are supporting a culture of diversity and inclusion and identify areas for continuous improvement. This information specifically relates to outcome 2 of the Mainstreaming equality and equality outcomes report. 
5.	This report aims to comply with the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. In particular, it responds to: 
•	the duty to gather and use employee information
•	the duty to publish gender pay gap information.
6.	This annual diversity report examines comprehensive data and trends across the different stages of employees' experience of working at Audit Scotland - from the moment individuals apply to work here through to leavers’ data and exit interviews.
7.	The employee data analysis supports us in making progress in paying due regard to the public sector equality duty, also known as the general equality duty, more specifically the need to:
•	eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act
•	advance equality of opportunity among all people
•	foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.
8.	Audit Scotland also produces reports on the gender pay gap across our workforce, an equal pay analysis for colleagues undertaking work of this same and similar value and this annual diversity report. We are committed to using data to understand whether our efforts to promote diversity and equality across our workforce is delivering results
9.	While the legislative framework sets an important standard, our commitment and aspiration at Audit Scotland goes further. We use this data to identify approaches to support proactively and positively greater diversity and equality – how we reach out to people who may not normally consider a career with us, the purpose of our work and how colleagues can influence change through our audits across the public sector, opportunities for younger people to kick-start their working lives through an internship, our school-leaver training programme or graduate training scheme. We are committed to doing better and delivering practical programmes over the coming year that will help increase the voice, representation and confidence of people from diverse backgrounds.
10.	Unless otherwise stated, all data is at 31 March 2020.
Our organisation
On 31 March 2020, Audit Scotland employed 306 people. The majority of our employees are based in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with others based in Inverness and Aberdeen.
11.	Audit Scotland colleagues work collaboratively across the business. Audit directors lead portfolios of work that straddle financial audit, performance audit, Best Value reporting, professional support and corporate development. They also have responsibility for professional leadership themes and lead on key development projects. To support audit teams to deliver high-quality audits efficiently, we are organised across three business groups:
Audit Services – primarily qualified accountants who specialise in auditing finance and risk across Scotland's public sector. 
Performance Audit and Best Value – a broad range of professionals with specialist knowledge of research, analytics, economics, public policy as well as qualified accountants.
Corporate Services – specialists in human resources, organisational development, information technology, communications, corporate finance, governance, business support, audit procurement and quality.
12.	Colleagues from across all business groups collaborate in the provision of professional technical support for auditing standards, external leadership and audit improvement. 
13.	A governance structure exists to support the development of our workforce, as shown in the diagram.
Diversity monitoring
14.	We provide mandatory diversity and equality training to all employees who join Audit Scotland. This is an online training course which covers the awareness of all protected characteristics, discrimination and unfair treatment within a professional environment. We also deliver unconscious bias awareness and further unfair treatment training for colleagues involved in recruitment, selection and internal progression through Career Development Gateways (CDG).
15.	When applying to work for Audit Scotland, all applicants have the opportunity to complete a confidential, equal opportunities monitoring questionnaire. This part of the application is confidential, voluntary and forms no part of the selection process. The information includes age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic background, religion or belief, and marital status. The HR and OD team holds information on the age and marital status of all employees for pension calculation purposes. All of this information is held on the electronic HR system and helps Audit Scotland to monitor the equality of opportunity, respond effectively and develop processes and policies that meet the needs of our diverse workforce. 
16.	Employees can view and update their diversity information at any time and are periodically encouraged to do so. 
17.	The legislation also requires us to state how we use this employee equality data to better perform the equality duty. We have a range of processes to ensure that the information is used for this purpose. The HR and OD team work with our Senior Management Team, Board, Remuneration and Human Resources Committee, our People Focus Group and Public and Commercial Services union employee representatives. The data is used to provide assurance, understand how employees are experiencing work and explore opportunities for further improvement. 
18.	Other internal working groups already exist such as the Disability Confident Working Group, Carers’ Group, a working group in partnership with Stonewall and an Equalities and Human Rights Steering Group. We investigate circumstances and take action when the information indicates evidence of disproportionality, or when Audit Scotland employee indicators are inconsistent with external indicators. Analysis of employee data also enables us to work to attract higher levels of diversity, for example by promoting appointments on diverse media. 
Ethnicity
Around 96 per cent of the Scottish population report their ethnicity as ‘White’. Approximately 4.6 per cent of the population are BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic), with the Asian population being the largest BAME group (2.8 per cent).
19.	Employee data shows that Audit Scotland has a greater level of diversity across the workforce when compared to the Scottish population more generally.  96.7 per cent of employees have chosen to declare their ethnic origin.
20.	Over the past three years it is positive to note that there is an increasing number of BAME employees at Audit Scotland. In 2018, 5.4 per cent declared their ethnicity as BAME and in 2019, 6.6 per cent. The largest BAME group at Audit Scotland is Asian. 
21.	13.7 per cent of our trainee auditors at 31 March 2020 have disclosed their ethnicity as BAME. These are our career entry level positions and, upon qualification, these colleagues will progress into more senior roles as part of their career development.
22.	98.3 per cent of the individuals at our senior grades, senior managers and above, who declared their ethnicity, are white.
23.	This year we have analysed ethnicity by seniority to understand the level of BAME representation at each level across our workforce. We have found that BAME representation is lower at the more senior levels – a pattern that needs to change. We will examine this carefully during 2020/21 and explore practical steps we can take to do better as an organisation. 
Gender
Recent national population data shows 51 per cent of the Scottish population are women and 49 per cent are men.

24.	In Audit Scotland:
•	57.8 per cent of employees are women (this is a 0.2 per cent decrease from 2019) and 42.2 per cent are men.
•	The board has 2 women (40 per cent) and 3 men (60 per cent).
•	The leadership group has 8 women (47 per cent) and 9 men (53 per cent).
•	The management team has 3 women (75 per cent) and 1 man (25 per cent).

Flexible working
25.	Almost 29 per cent of Audit Scotland employees work a non-standard pattern. This has increased from 24 per cent in 2018/19. Non-standard patterns include part-time working, annualised hours, compressed hours and term-time working. 
26.	Audit Scotland is an accredited ‘Carer Positive Employer’. We have an ongoing commitment to supporting and encouraging flexible working, both working patterns and work location. We also provide support to carers through a dedicated support group which meets regularly throughout the year and by investing in management development.
27.	During 2020, we will be further developing our approach and updating our current flexitime policies to better reflect our modern ways of working, our response to Covid-19 suppression measures, and ensure our employees enjoy a consistent and positive experience, wherever they work and in whichever team.

Age
28.	The below table shows the comparison between Audit Scotland employees in different age groups and the Scottish working population (those aged 16 to 74). 
29.	The percentage of employees in the 16-24 age group is lower than the Scottish working population, where a significant proportion of this age group will be in education or training. This percentage in Audit Scotland has increased since 2019 (3.8 per cent), which can be attributed to the development of our modern apprentice, school leaver and graduate programmes. There has been little movement within the other age groups.
30.	Audit Scotland are continuing to attract younger people. Our professional trainee programme continues to attract strong candidates and our school leaver programme has been successful, for those who have joined us and our business. This allows those leaving school to work while gaining a professional accountancy qualification through the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland. We have also increased the number of modern apprentices in our Business Support Services team in the last year. We will now examine how we can increase the opportunities for younger people to gain experience of work with Audit Scotland as a stepping-stone for future careers with us or other employers. 
Disability 
31.	The percentage of employees who have reported a disability has increased to almost 4 per cent from around 3 per cent in 2019.
32.	New employees are asked to confirm whether they consider themselves to have a disability. This allows us to put in place any required reasonable adjustments. Disclosing this information is voluntary, and 91.8 per cent of employees have chosen to disclose information on this protected characteristic. 
33.	Once on board, employees can easily update information about disabilities. Audit Scotland will continue to encourage employees to disclose information about disability through initiatives related to its Equality Outcomes and through promotion of our Disability Confident status.
34.	 Audit Scotland works with health professional partners to ensure risk assessments and/or reasonable adjustments are considered and put in place prior to a new employee joining us, or at any point during their career. 
35.	Audit Scotland has Disability Confident Employer Status (Level 2). Our Disability Confident working group uses that framework to review any actions and ensure we are promoting best practice in this area. The group encourages employees to share their experiences of living and working with a disability and explores ways to further support them and their line managers. During 2019 the group developed and published a new guide on Invisible Conditions (aligned with World Menopause Day). 
Sexual orientation
According to Scottish Government data, 3 per cent of the Scottish population identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other (LGBO) and 95 per cent identified as straight or heterosexual. The Scottish Government note that is it likely that this data undercounts the number of adults self-identifying as LGBO. 

36.	87.6 per cent of colleagues across Audit Scotland choose to disclose their sexual orientation on our HR system. While this is a high percentage of the workforce we note that it is slightly lower (down 3 per cent) from our last annual report. Our work with Stonewall and the increased emphasis upon this theme during 2020/21 may help to reverse this decrease.
37.	82.7 per cent of employees identify at Audit Scotland as heterosexual and 3.6 per cent identify as LGBO, which is slightly higher than the national indicators. The remaining employees have chosen not to record their sexual orientation with us.
38.	Audit Scotland have a Stonewall working group who are working together to ensure we are a truly inclusive employer. We want to help ensure that we remain a workplace where all LGBO employees are accepted without exception and our policies and processes remain inclusive and considerate.
Religion or belief
39.	The majority of employees (84 per cent) have declared their religion or belief. 46.1 per cent do not associate with any religion. 14.4 per cent associate with the Church of Scotland, 10.4 per cent with the Roman Catholic Church, 3.3 per cent as Muslim and 4.9 per cent declared another religion or belief. 4.9 per cent preferred not to share their religion or belief.
We provide mandatory diversity and equality training to all employees who join Audit Scotland which also covers discrimination on the basis of religion or belief. We are very flexible in the way that individuals can book their annual leave, enabling colleagues who observe key dates in their religious calendar to engage in such events and occasions.   

Marital status
40.	All employees have provided marital status information. Just over half of all employees (52 per cent) are married and 35 per cent are single. Just over 13 per cent are cohabiting, with an unmarried partner, widowed, divorced or separated. 

Pregnancy and Maternity
41.	Between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, 12 women took maternity leave throughout the year.
42.	The average leave taken by employees was 10.8 months. This increases to 12.2 months when annual leave before or after maternity leave is taken into account. 
43.	Audit Scotland has an enhanced maternity provision with women on maternity leave receiving the first 27 weeks of leave on the equivalent of full pay, followed by 12 weeks of statutory maternity pay. 
44.	All 12 of the women who have taken maternity leave have taken in excess of the ordinary maternity leave provision and returned to their original roles. 
Recruitment
Audit Scotland works hard to make sure the recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all applicants. Candidate assessment is based purely on the ability to complete the job. 
Vacancies are advertised throughout Scotland on numerous recruitment websites such as S1 jobs, LinkedIn, MyJobScotland, Stonewall, Public Finance Scotland and our own careers website. Twice a year we advertise our Disability Confident status in Enable magazine. We also appear in the Living with Disability publication each spring.
Where the number of employees with a protected characteristic is fewer than five, and the information is sensitive or personal, we have not specified the number in order to avoid individuals being identified.
Full detail about recruitment and each protected characteristic is provided as an Appendix. A summary analysis is detailed below. 

45.	During the 2019/20 year, there were 15 recruitment campaigns, with 37 appointments made. We received a total of 834 applications for the vacancies advertised in 2019/20.
46.	The majority of applications were made by women (54 per cent). Of the shortlisted candidates, 55 per cent were women and 45 per cent were men. 
47.	The number of applicants from an ethnic minority group has increased from 2018/19 (10.6 per cent), to 13.8 per cent. 
48.	The number of applicants who have declared a disability has decreased from 2018/19 (5.7 per cent), to 3.4 per cent. 2.7 per cent of disabled applicants were shortlisted. Audit Scotland is a Disability Confident employer and this is promoted throughout our careers website. 
49.	Examining applicants by age, the highest number of applicants were from the age bracket 16-24 (36 per cent), this age group also had the most appointed candidates at 43 per cent. This can be attributed to our professional trainee, school leaver and modern apprentice recruitment campaigns. The 25-34 age bracket attracted 26 per cent of applications and the 35-49 group was slightly higher at 27 per cent of applications. The over 50 age group made up 11 per cent of all applications. 
50.	In terms of religion and belief, 50 per cent of candidates declared that they have no religion or belief. This was followed by Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland (both around 14 per cent), then Muslim (5 per cent). Other religious groups made up 9 per cent of applications with 8 per cent of applicants choosing not to disclose this information. 
51.	The majority of applicants were heterosexual (86.9 per cent), 5.4 per cent identified as LGBO and 7.7 per cent of applicants preferred not to say or declared other. 5.1 per cent of those shortlisted identified as LGBO.
52.	We have actively promoted appointments on different media sources, including Stonewall and Enable, to attract applicants from all protected characteristics. 
53.	No applicants declared that they were pregnant or on maternity leave.
54.	No applicants declared that they had undergone a gender reassignment.
Promotions
55.	In the year 2019/20, there were 19 permanent promotions made, 8 employees transitioned through a career development gateway and 14 employees received an acting up or additional responsibility allowance. 
56.	The total percentage of women promoted or transitioning through a career development gateway was 66.7 per cent. Of the 14 employees receiving an acting up or additional responsibility allowance, 71 per cent were women. 
57.	Data about other protected characteristics and promotions has not been included given the low numbers.
Training
58.	Over the course of 2019/20, Audit Scotland scheduled 109 formal learning events, with 1230 places taken by colleagues. When combined with additional Continuous Professional Development, conference attendance and coaching, a total of 2200 training days were recorded. This works out as an average of 7.7 training days per person, and of the training recorded, 59 per cent were women and 41 per cent were men.
59.	We have continued to schedule training on the most popular working days to support attendance for those on flexible working contracts, and the data suggests that this is successful with those working flexibly still able to attend training. Approximately 29 per cent of colleagues at Audit Scotland work part-time or non-standard hours, and 26 per cent of the training records can be attributed to those who work formal flexible patterns. Training places taken up by those with a declared disability is five per cent, sitting slightly higher than the percentage of those at Audit Scotland with a declared disability, which is almost at four per cent.
Leavers
60.	Over the course of 2019/20, 13 employees resigned from Audit Scotland, there were 19 leavers in total including the end of fixed term contracts and retirements. Of the resignations, 61.5 per cent were from women. Data about other protected characteristics and retention has not been included given the relatively low numbers.
61.	Audit Scotland invites employees who are leaving the organisation to join us for an exit interview. We have reviewed this data and examined the reasons for leaving, however they do not appear to be related to anything that is gender specific.
Summary and conclusion
62.	Audit Scotland has been fully committed to the principles and practice of diversity and equality from its inception in 2000.  Each year we analyse relevant workforce data so that we can identify trends, disproportionality and opportunities for further improvement.  We are responsive to societal trends over time and our approach to diversity and equality continues to evolve.
63.	Collecting good quality data about our workforce, individuals who choose to apply to join Audit Scotland and those who leave us is important. We do this effectively with good levels of accurate data.
64.	Through the work undertaken in connection with this report and connected with several working groups across Audit Scotland, we analyse the data so that it can be used to provide assurance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
65.	Examples of such groups include our Disability Confident Working Group, Carer Positive Group and the work we are undertaken in partnership with Stonewall.  Frameworks are used to guide our plans and we seek validation of our work through accreditation, where appropriate.
66.	Our analysis of the data within this year’s diversity report indicates that our policies and practice appear to be supportive of the equality protected characteristics.
67.	We have identified some areas where the data analysis suggests further examination is useful and where applicable, have detailed this throughout the report and below.
68.	At the time of writing this report recent events in the United States of America and then, across the world, have once again highlighted social injustices experienced by people from BAME backgrounds. Audit Scotland are committed both as an employer and through our audit work to help improve the opportunities and life choices available to people from every part of Scotland’s population. We are continually reviewing how issues of inequality are addressed in our audit work. We know, for example, that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on some communities, and our work will look to address this in future. We will also explore options for positive action to increase the number of applicants from groups who are underrepresented at Audit Scotland in our workforce. 
69.	Of note are the small number of BAME individuals at our senior grades. We recognise the value in having a diverse senior team to bring a diverse perspective and different thinking across the organisation and in all of our work. Our HR and OD team are working closely with the other UK audit agencies and other external specialist partners to explore options to improve our levels of diversity. 
70.	Over the year ahead we will also examine any additional options to provide young people with access to working experience with Audit Scotland to support their future life choices and career plans.  
71.	Our number of disabled applicants has reduced since our last report. We promote our vacancies through relevant publications and ensure that all disabled applicants who meet the shortlisting criteria for vacancies are guaranteed an interview. However, we would like to see our applicant numbers increase from those with disabilities. We recognise the value in having a diverse workforce and the additional skills that some individuals with disabilities can bring. We have an internal working group identifying improvements in these areas and support those across the business who live and work with a wide range of disabilities.
72.	At Audit Scotland we genuinely care about all of our employees and are working hard to ensure our work and behaviours have a positive effect on all individuals and value diverse backgrounds and characteristics. We will continue to encourage employees to have a voice in how we can become a more diverse and inclusive organisation.
73.	The data within this report will be shared and discussed with the various groups and committees, including our PCS union employee representatives, senior management team and Remuneration and Human Resources Committee.
74.	We will provide our next report in 2021 and this will include a commentary on the steps we continue to take to build on our strengths across diversity and equality in our workforce.
Appendix 
Diversity and equality monitoring 
For certain characteristics, some employees have not provided a response or prefer not to provide the information. Generally, the level of disclosure is increasing. Completion of this information is voluntary. 

A.	Audit Scotland employee profile 

The data presented in this table is as at 31 March 2020.
Equality strand 	March 
2020
(306 employees)	March 
2019 
(290 
employees) 	March 
2018 
(280 employees) 	Scottish Population
(2018)	Comments 	
Ethnicity 	The percentage of minority ethnic group is 6.8%
No response rate 3.3% 	A slight increase in the percentage of minority ethnic group employees to 6.6%2 
No response rate 3.5% 	A slight decrease in the percentage of minority ethnic group employees to 5.4%2 
No response rate 4.6% 	91% of the population are White British 
5.5% are White non-British 
3.4% are Asian and other minority ethnic groups 	Audit Scotland has a higher representation of ethnic minority employees compared to the Scottish population	
Gender 	42.2% of employees are men and 57.8% of employees are women	42% of employees are men and 58% of employees are women	47% of employees are men and 53% of employees are women 	49% of the population are men and 51% are women 	Audit Scotland has a higher percentage of women than men employees and it has been consistent for the last 3 years	
Age 	16-24 
(4.2%) 
25-34 
(28.8%) 
35-49 
(37.6%) 
50-64 
(28.4%) 
65+ 
(1%) 	16-24 
(3.8%) 
25-34 
(26.1%) 
35-49 
(38.5%) 
50-64 
(30.2%) 
65+ 
(1.4%) 	16-24 
(6%) 
25-34 
(25%) 
35-49 
(40.36%) 
50-64 
(28.21%) 
65+ 
(0.36%) 	16-24 
(15%) 
25-34 
(18%) 
35-49 
(26%) 
50-64 
(27%)
65-74 
(14%)
	Compared to the Scottish population aged over 16+, we have less in the 16-24 age group and more in the 25-49 age groups. 
	
Disability 	Disability increased slightly at 4%	Disability consistent at 3% 	Disability consistent at 3% 	23% of the population report having a long-term limiting health condition or disability	The percentage of employees reporting a disability has increased to 4% but is still considerably less than the Scottish population	
Flexible working 	28.4% of employees are employed on a formal flexible working contract	24.6% of employees are employed on a flexible working contract 	20.4% of employees are employed on a flexible working contract 	n/a 	There has been an increase in the amount of employees working less than full time hours or on a flexible working pattern 
 	
Sexual orientation 	82.7% heterosexual/ straight
3.6% LGBO
13.7% preferred not to say / no response	88% heterosexual/ straight 
2.4% gay or bisexual 
9.3% preferred not to say / no response 
 	86.4% heterosexual/ straight 
3.2% gay or bisexual 
10.4% preferred not to say / no response 
 	95.9% heterosexual/ straight 
1.6% gay or bisexual 
2.4% preferred not to say/ no response 	Predominantly employees are heterosexual/straight, there is a slightly lower response rate with just over a 4% increase in people choosing prefer not to say or declining to answer 	
Religion or belief	46.1% no religion or n/a
14.4% Church of Scotland
10.4% Roman Catholic
3.3% Muslim
4.9% another religion
4.9% prefer not to say
16% no response	40.9% no religion or n/a 
17.4% Church of Scotland 
10.8% Roman Catholic 
8.3% another religion 
5.9% prefer not to say 
16.7% no response 	40.3% no religion or n/a 
18.2% Church of Scotland 
10.7% Roman Catholic 
7.5% another religion 
7.4% prefer not to say 
16% no response	44.5% no religion or n/a 
29.2% Church of Scotland 
15% Roman Catholic 
10.7% Other religions 
0.7% prefer not to say 	Of the 76% of employees that responded, the percentage of employees of no religion is lower than the Scottish population 	
Marital status 	52% married/civil partnership
34.6% single
3.4% 
co-habiting
3.7% divorced or separated
5.3% unmarried partner
1% widowed	51.7% married/civil partnership 
34.4% single 
3.8% 
co-habiting 
3.5% divorced or separated 
5.6% unmarried partner 
0.7% widowed 	53% married/civil partnership 
34% single 
4.3% 
co-habiting 
3% divorced or separated 
5.4% unmarried partner 
0.36% widowed 	n/a 	Marital status percentages have remained similar over the last 3 years. 	

 B. Recruitment and selection 

The following table is our position in terms of protected characteristics and internally and externally advertised vacancies between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020. During this period and as at the date of this report, there were a total of 15 campaigns, with 37 appointments made at time of production.  
These results should be interpreted carefully as there are a percentage of applications where no information has been provided (around one per cent for ethnicity, gender, age and disability; up to seven per cent for sexual orientation; up to eight per cent for religion). 
Equality strand 	2019/20	2018/19 	2017/18 	2016/17 	
Ethnicity 	Of the applications received (834), 13.8% were from ethnic minorities. 12.6% of all shortlisted applicants and 8.1% of all appointments made were ethnic minorities. 
As a % of applications received 4.4% minority ethnic group applicants were shortlisted and 0.4% appointed	Of the applications received (1,359), 14.57% were from ethnic minorities. 8.61% of all shortlisted applicants and 3.33% of all appointments made were ethnic minorities
As a % of applications received, 10.6% minority ethnic group applicants were shortlisted and 0.51% appointed	Of the applications received (1,071), 12.5% were from ethnic minorities. 8.2% of all shortlisted applicants and 10.8% of all appointments made were ethnic minorities
As a % of applications received, 11.9% minority ethnic group applicants were shortlisted and 2.9% appointed	Of the applications received (894), 15.7% were from ethnic minorities. 5.7% of all shortlisted applicants and 13.3% of all appointments made were ethnic minorities
As a % of applications received, 6.4% minority ethnic group applicants were shortlisted and 2.9% appointed	
Gender	Applications received: men (45.3%) and women (54%). The balance chose not to disclose this information. 36% of the applications received from women were shortlisted and 5.1% appointed	Applications received: men (49.67%) and women (49.01%). The balance chose not to disclose this information. 19% of the applications received from women were shortlisted and 2.4% appointed	Applications received: men (45.2%) and women (53.3%). The balance chose not to disclose this information. 19% of the applications received from women were shortlisted and 4.2% appointed. This compares to 16.7% and 2.7% for men	Applications received: men (44.3%) and women (54.4%). The balance chose not to disclose this information. 17.5% of the applications received from women were shortlisted and 3.3% appointed. This compares to 18.4% and 3.5% for men	
Age 	Applications received:
16-24 (36%)
25-34 (26%)
35-49 (27%)
50+ (11%)
The highest % of applications shortlisted from those received were 16-24, followed by 35-49.
The highest % appointed from those received were from those in the age range 16-24, followed by 25-34 	Applications received: 
16-24 (36%) 
25-34 (29%) 
35-49 (26%) 
50+ (8.6%)
The highest % of applications shortlisted from those received were 16-24, followed by 25-34.
The highest % appointed from those received were also for those in the age range 16-24, followed by 25-34	Applications received: 
16-24 (21%) 
25-34 (32%) 
35-49 (33%) 
50+ (13%)
The highest % of applications shortlisted from those received were 39-49, followed by 24-34.
The highest % appointed from those received were also for those in the age range 35-49, followed by 25-34	Applications received: 
16-24 (29%) 
25-34 (34%) 
35-49 (28%) 
50+ (8%)
The highest % of applications shortlisted from those received were 25-34, followed by 16-24.
The highest % appointed from those received were also for those in the age range 25-34, followed by 35-49 	
Disability 	3.4% of applicants declared themselves as having a disability. 
As a % of applications received, 2.7% of those with a disability were shortlisted and 2.7% appointed. 	5.67% of applicants declared themselves as having a disability.
As a % of applications received, 9.43% of those with a disability were shortlisted and 10% appointed.	3.8% of applicants declared themselves as having a disability.
As a % of applications received, 8% of those with a disability were shortlisted and 0% appointed.	2.8% of applicants declared themselves as having a disability.
As a % of applications received, 8% of those with a disability were shortlisted and 0% appointed.	
Religion or belief 	n/a or no religion (50%), Roman Catholic (14%), Church of Scotland (14%).
As a % of applications received, the highest % of those shortlisted were those with no religion, followed by Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland.
As a % of those appointed the highest % were those with no religion followed by Roman Catholic	n/a or no religion (52%), Roman Catholic (14%), Church of Scotland (12%).
As a % of applications received, the highest % of those shortlisted were those with no religion followed by Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland.
As a % of those appointed, the highest % were those with no religion, followed by Roman Catholic, Church of Scotland and Muslim	n/a or no religion (51%), Church of Scotland (13.5%), Roman Catholic (14%).
As a % of applications received, the highest % of those shortlisted were those with no religion followed by Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic.
As a % of those appointed, the highest % were those with no religion, followed by Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Muslim	n/a or no religion (47%), Church of Scotland (14%), Roman Catholic (15%).
As a % of applications received, the highest % of those shortlisted were those with no religion followed by Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland.
As a % of those appointed, the highest % were those with no religion, followed by Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Muslim	
Sexual orientation	Applications: 86.9% heterosexual /straight, 5.4% LGBO and 7.7% 
no information/prefer not to say 	Applications: 86.4% heterosexual /straight, 7.6% gay or bisexual and 6% no information/ prefer not to say	Applications: 88.8% heterosexual /straight, 6.1% 
no information/prefer not to say, and 5.1% gay or bisexual	Applications: 89% heterosexual /straight, 5.8% 
no information/prefer not to say, and 5.2% gay or bisexual	

C. Promotions

The following table shows the total of all promotions, career development gateway transitions, acting up and additional responsibility opportunities by gender over the last four reporting periods. 
 
 	2019/20	2018/19 	2017/18 	2016/17 	
 	No    %	No    % 	   No    %  	No     % 	
Men	13   32 	 14   39 	     16    42  	 12     41 	
Women	28   68 	    22   61 	   22    58  	17     59 	

D. Training 

We have continued to schedule training on the most popular working days to support attendance for those on flexible working contracts, and the data suggests that this is successful with those working flexibly still able to attend training.  

E. Leavers 

The table below shows resignations by gender.  

 	2019/20	2018/19 	2017/18 	2016/17 	
 	No    % 	No    % 	No    % 	No    % 	
Men	 5    38 	 11    61 	8    44 	8    62 	
Women	8    62 	7    39 	10    56 	5    38 	

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