The Role of the Scottish Executive

While immigration is not a devolved matter, the Scottish Executive has responsibility for a wide range of issues that affect asylum seekers and refugees, including integration and community development, children’s services, health and social care, access to justice, enterprise, lifelong learning, employment and training.

Scottish Refugee Integration Forum. The Scottish Executive is committed to the integration of refugees and has pursued this agenda through the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum (SRIF), which was established in January 2002. The fundamental aim of SRIF was to encourage Scotland’s statutory and voluntary agencies to work in partnership to support refugees and asylum seekers more effectively.

During its first year of existence, SRIF took evidence from a number of stakeholders and identified a wide range of issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers. This led to a SRIF Action Plan, which was published in 2003. This document identified a series of key actions which would be likely to make a real difference to the lives of asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland, including measures to:

Recognise and address racism;
Identify best practice in relation to the integration of refugees and asylum seekers;
Ensure that specialist support services are widely available to refugees and asylum seekers;
Facilitate multi-agency working.

The Scottish Refugee Integration Forum was reconvened in December 2005 to reflect on progress towards these goals. The Forum was also responsible for establishing a new set of actions which would address new and emerging issues affecting the integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland. These actions would then become part of the Executive’s National Strategy on Race Equality.

The updated SRIF actions focus on issues in Health, Justice, Employment and Training, Children’s Issues, Housing, and Positive Images. The following themes in particular are considered within that broader context:

A strategic approach to providing information and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, particularly for those at the point of transition;
The capacity of mainstream monitoring frameworks to meet the needs of refugees and asylum seekers;
Issues affecting unaccompanied asylum seeker children;
Translation and interpretation issues.

National Race Equality Strategy

Between June 2004 and February 2005, the Scottish Executive conducted a comprehensive review of race equality work in Scotland. The primary purpose of the review was to determine the best approach required to deliver tangible improvements in the lives of Scotland’s diverse communities while ensuring resources are maximised and directed to best effect. The review built on a number of pieces of work already undertaken by the Executive, including:

the study into the Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (1999);
the Scottish Executive’s Equality Strategy, (2000);
the report of the Race Equality Advisory Forum (REAF) (2001);
the Audit of Research on Minority Ethnic Issues in Scotland (2001);
the Executive’s Race Equality Scheme (RES) (2003);
the Annual Report on the RES (2004);

The Executive’s review of its race equality work highlighted a number of issues that required to be addressed, including:

The Executive should provide more strategic leadership and direction on race equality;
A national partnership for race equality in Scotland should be developed;
A national strategy and action plan should be developed;
Public bodies should accelerate the delivery of race equality;
Racial disadvantage must be tackled in key public policy areas;
Development and capacity building were necessary for the ME voluntary sector;
Mechanisms for communication, engagement and consultation with minority ethnic communities should be reviewed;
Data and research gaps needed to be identified and addressed;
Processes for information sharing and dissemination should be developed;
Standards and tools for evaluation of race equality work should be developed.

In addition, the following policy areas were identified as requiring more dedicated work and action:

Gypsies/Travellers;
Asylum Seekers and Refugees;
Race equality in rural areas;
Participation in the labour market, including issues around in-migration and migrant labour;

More generally, the Scottish Executive acknowledges the complex and challenging social and political context associated with race equality issues and is committed to establishing a robust strategy that will promote the race equality agenda.

Scottish Executive Funding

The SRIF action plan is supported by grants provided on a yearly basis to organisations which encourage integration on a practical level. These projects range from schemes that help refugees and asylum seekers access mainstream services and employment/volunteering opportunities, to sporting activities aimed at helping young refugee and asylum seekers integrate with their host communities.

Since 2001 over £12 million has been provided to assist refugees and asylum seekers and the communities they live in. This is in addition to £3 million Communities Scotland have allocated to Glasgow Alliance and Glasgow City Council to support deprived areas supporting asylum seekers and refugees. The Executive has also provided £2.65m to Glasgow City Council in recognition of their work in hosting dispersed asylum seekers. Furthermore, the Scottish Executive has, over the period 2001-04, committed an additional £5.4 million to meet the demand for more ESOL in Scottish FE colleges. This funding is now embedded in Further Education baseline funding.