The CRE in Scotland welcomes the importance that political parties are putting on education in the run up to the Scottish parliamentary elections. Up until now however, there appears to have been little focus on ensuring that our educational institutions deliver for everybody in Scotland, regardless of their ethnicity, or on how these institutions can be better equipped to address racial discrimination and promote equality in order to create a future Scotland which is safe, harmonious and prosperous.

The CRE in Scotland welcomes the commitment to develop and support Scotland's languages through a strategy for Scotland's languages. However, we are concerned that the draft strategy does not recognise the link between promoting and learning languages and fostering integration - the building of safe, prosperous and harmonious communities.

08 March 2007

The CRE is Scotland recommends that, in order to ensure that public authorities make more effective and sustained progress towards the achievement of race equality in Scotland, both the Scottish Executive and the proposed Statistics Board must revise their existing data collection systems to ensure that accurate and detailed measures of Scotland's ethnic diversity and of trends in racial inequalities in the main areas of Scottish Executive activity are provided.

CRE Scotland is asking MSPs to demonstrate their support for a more strategic approach to promoting race equality in Scotland by signing this parliamentary motion. In this briefing, we set out what we feel needs to be done if the strategy, and its accompanying action plan, is to be effective.

The CRE applauds the aspiration to strengthen the involvement of local communities within the planning system which underlies the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill. However, we remain concerned that given the entrenched nature of the inequalities and the high levels of prejudice that Gypsies/Travellers face, the introduction of a new community development planning system as set out in the bill (as amended at stage 2) may not be sufficient to meet their needs.

Whilst we welcome the creation of a Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights, we are concerned that there has been little clarity in the debate in parliament to-date about what the fundamental purpose and powers of the Commissioner should be.