EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT FORM
Not all projects require a full impact assessment. Please ensure you have completed the pre-appraisal
checklist (Link) which defines this requirement.
Name of Business Unit
Name/designation of person(s) responsible for
managing/ conducting this process
Sector Delivery
Rachel Stewart, Project Manager
Russell Stevenson, SRO
Name of Policy / Function / Service / Strategy /
Action Plan / Programme / Project etc.
Is it (*delete as applicable)
Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms
2012 - 2015
*Existing with changes
Is the policy contracted out? (*delete as
applicable)
*Yes, for some
elements of the
programme
Various – DMO, other public sector
partners, event contractors, tenders
won by consultants working on
behalf of SE
*Yes
If yes, who delivers this policy for your
organisation?
Is responsibility for delivery shared with
others? (*delete as applicable)
As above
If yes, who are your partners?
Which of the following equality areas are relevant to this policy/project?
Age
Yes
Disability
Yes
Gender ReAssignment
Race
No
Sex
No
Human Rights
No
Pregnancy No
& Maternity
Religion or No
Belief
Sexual
Yes
Orientation
No
Timescale for
Assessment
2 weeks
Timescale for
Involvement/Consultation
2 weeks
Start Date
7th February
2013
Completion Date
15th February
2013
EO Champion
review by
Scott Reid
Skinner &
J.Cosgrove
Russell
Stevenson
Date
11 February
2013
Date
15th February
2013
SRO Approval
1
1.
Identify ALL the Aims of the Policy/Project (consider these questions to prompt
answers)
1.
What is the purpose of the policy/project? (consider explicit and implicit aims)
2.
Who does the policy/project affect?
3.
Who does the policy/project benefit directly? (e.g. employees/service users;
equality groups, other stakeholders)
4.
What results/outcomes are intended?
Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms is a distinct tourism destination, largely located in the eastern half of
the Cairngorms National Park but also extending as far as Banchory in the east. It is physically separated
from the tourism cluster in the Aviemore area by the Cairngorm Mountains and offers a complementary
experience to the more discerning visitor. The Victorian built heritage, a strong resonance with the Royal
Family, access to areas of unspoilt wilderness and numerous outdoor activities present visitors with a
distinctive product that epitomises the Scottish Highlands. However there remains a gap between the
quality of the core asset and the supporting service and accommodation provision.
Effective destination development requires an integrated approach covering all elements of the visitor
experience. As a rural destination, Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms had previously experienced
piecemeal development.
The focus of SE’s activities for the next three years will be:
1. Destination management.
2. Events and product development.
3. Accommodation development.
1. Destination management


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A Destination Management Organisation (DMO) will develop the destination through business
engagement and support, collaboration and businesses connectivity with key markets, as well as
strengthening the brand of Royal Deeside.
The DMO will identify, develop and deliver a range of business support workshops. Some of
these will tap into existing SE products such as Listening to Our Visitor (LTOV), social media etc
and some will be developed as a direct response to industry needs.
A service initiative that addresses the lack of local product knowledge will be delivered to industry
and a visitor survey will be carried out. These will be funded jointly with other public sector
partners and provide greater insights around visitor perceptions, needs and wants.
2. Events and Product development

The programme will support a select number of events that fit well with the current and future
Royal Deeside offer. These will take advantage of the soon to be completed Deeside Way, the
continued expansion of the Venison Festival and support events, such as Enchanted Castle and
the Winter Festival, that attract visitors in the shoulder months.
3. Accommodation development

2
Like similar destinations, choice of accommodation plays an important part when visitors choose
Royal Deeside.
There remains a requirement to develop and enhance the existing
accommodation stock in the destination. The recent SE Accommodation Audit on Royal Deeside
highlighted the pressing need to improve on quality. “The natural beauty and scenic value of the
area is not supported by a consistent high standard of tourism accommodation and demand
suffers as a result of inconsistent and poor quality accommodation.” Some success has been
achieved with the recent announcement of planning approval for Inchmarlo, a 75 bed 5 * resort at
Banchory. However momentum is required to drive forward development, particularly to increase
the quality across the entire destination.
 An accommodation review project will be developed in the first year of the plan that will focus on
Serviced Accommodation in the Hotel, Small Hotel and Country House Hotel categories of which
there are currently 25 properties. Disappointingly there are no 3* Gold, 4* or 5* serviced hotels in
the destination. The project will target all 25 hotels and will:
o Identify the gaps in current offer to achieve 3* Gold / 4 *.
o Identify the barriers to investment.
Carry out a business appraisal of the potential benefits to hotels of gaining 3* Gold / 4*.
 In tandem with the above project, research will be undertaken to establish the actual market
demand for 4* / 5* properties and identify the impact on the destination by the lack of such hotels.
3
2.
Consider the Evidence (data and information) - (consider these questions to prompt
answers)
1.
What information or data would it be useful to have? What data (quantitative and
qualitative) is available? (in-house/external) How reliable/valid/up-to-date is it?
2.
What does the data/information tell you about




Different needs?
Different experiences?
Different access to services, information or opportunities?
Different impacts/different outcomes?
3.
Are there any gaps that you should fill now/later by further evidence
gathering/commissioning or by secondary analysis of existing data?
4.
Are there any experts or stakeholders you should involve/consult now? Have you
involved/consulted any experts already? What were their views?
Scottish Enterprise is aware there are potential accessibility issues for those that have
disabilities with projects of this type. People of an older age often tend to have more
disabilities than the general population.
The accessible market is a growing and lucrative one. From January - June 2009, domestic trips
to Scotland by visitors with access needs brought £121 million into the Scottish economy in just
six months. This rose to £325m for the 11 month period 2009/10. For this reason, we want to
accommodate these groups of people.
Consultation has been made internally within SE with Scott Reid-Skinner and Jacqui Cosgrove of
the SE Equality Champions’ Group
4
3.
Assess the likely impact on different groups - (consider these questions to prompt
answers)
1. Does your analysis of the evidence indicate any possible adverse impact on a
particular group (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy & maternity, race,
religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.) or does it breach human rights legislation.
2.If it is adverse,
- Does this amount to unlawful discrimination? See guidance
3.
In what areas does it have an impact? E.g. access to information, experience of
services.
4.
Even if there is no evidence of adverse impact, is there an opportunity to
actively promote equality or foster good relations between different groups?
As far as we are aware, this project does not have a particular adverse impact on any
particular group. However, there is an opportunity to promote equality particularly with
the disabled and older people through the VisitScotland (VS) Accessible Tourism
initiative. See link below:
http://www.visitscotland.org/business_support/advicelink/accessible_tourism.aspx
Scottish Enterprise is also aware of issues within the tourism industry on discrimination
on the grounds of sexual orientation; however we do not except this to occur within the
larger tourism businesses. Action outlined in section 6 will address this.
5
4.
Consider alternatives (what to do if you find adverse impact) - (consider these
questions to prompt answers)
1.
How can you change your proposal in a way that is proportionate, and will




Remove unlawful discrimination or comply with human rights?
Reduce any adverse impact?
Advance/promote equality?
Foster good relations between different groups?
2.
If there are none, can the policy/project still be justified?
3.
Can the aims be met in some other way? What can you do now/later?
4.
What are you recommending?
Scottish Enterprise has not identified any adverse impact on any particular group for this
project; however an opportunity to promote equality to disabled and older people has
been identified.
6
5.
Involve/Consult relevant stakeholders if appropriate - (consider these questions to
prompt answers)
1.
What are the views of the people who are likely to be affected or who have an
interest about

Whether you have identified the right issues?

Whether you have proposed suitable modifications?

Whether your proposals will meet their needs?
2.
Should you involve people in the re-design of the policy?
3.
How will you consult once changes have been made?
4.
Whom do you need to get views from?(internally/externally)
5.
What methods will you use? (consider “hard to reach” groups)
6.
What formats will you use for communicating with different groups?
In a project of this size, we don’t think it is proportionate to go out to external consultation.
However, the project manager has consulted with Scott Reid-Skinner and Jacqui
Cosgrove as Equal Opportunity Champions within Scottish Enterprise.
All EIAs are reviewed by our external equality advisory group which represents under
represented groups and we will take their advice on any alterations to the project.
A number of partners subject to the Scottish Specific Public Sector Equality Duties are
involved with this project. This EIA will be highlighted to them and any further input
considered.
7
6.
Decide whether to adopt this policy/project - (consider these questions to prompt
answers)
1.
What were your findings from the consultation/involvement?
2.
Taking into account all of the data, information, potential impact issues and
consultation feedback, what will you recommend?

Reject the policy – there is evidence of actual/potential unlawful discrimination
or breach of human rights.

Accept the policy – The EIA demonstrates the policy is robust with no adverse
impacts and all opportunities to promote equality/foster good relations have
been taken.

Modify the policy – Adjust the policy to remove barriers or better promote
equality

Continue with the policy – Issues with the policy have been identified but you
wish to continue with the policy. Clearly set out justification for doing this.
Compelling reasons will be needed.
3.
If the EIA is on a high level policy/strategy state here if further EIAs need to be
carried out on projects emanating from the policy/strategy and inform project
managers.
The recommendation is to modify the policy with the following actions:

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8
Engage with VS on their accessibility tourism initiative with other destinations throughout
Scotland
Refer any event contractors to the Greener and Accessible Events Guidance to ensure
there is no potential discrimination. See link below:
http://www.visitscotland.org/business_support/advicelink/accessible_tourism.aspx
Within any accommodation development work that SE deliver, encourage appointed
consultants to raise awareness of equality issues that are relevant to the tourism industry.
Highlight this EIA to public sector partners.
7.
Make Monitoring (and review) Arrangements - (consider these questions to prompt
answers)
1.
How will you know what the actual effect of the policy/project is?
2.
In what ways will you monitor? e.g. continuously or irregularly, quantitative methods
such as surveys, qualitative methods such as interviews
3.
How often will monitoring information be analysed?
4.
When will you review the policy/project taking into account any monitoring
information?
Actions will be reviewed on a 6 monthly period. Any adverse trends will be noted and
acted upon.
9
8.
Equality Impact Assessment review
Please forward the completed document to your equality champion for review. This
should then be approved by the SRO and returned to your champion for publication on
the Scottish Enterprise external website.
9.
Summary of Actions
List any actions agreed and indicate dates for review.
The recommendation is to modify the policy with the following actions:




10
Engage with VS on their accessibility tourism initiative with other destinations throughout
Scotland
Refer any event contractors to the Greener and Accessible Events Guidance to ensure
there is no potential discrimination. See link below:
http://www.visitscotland.org/business_support/advicelink/accessible_tourism.aspx
Within any accommodation development work that SE deliver, encourage appointed
consultants to raise awareness of equality issues that are relevant to the tourism industry
Highlight this EIA to public sector partners.