220125-Minutes-V1

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY UGH­DAR­RAS PAIRC NAISEANTA Α’ MHON­AIDH RUAIDH

Cairngorms Equal­ity Advis­ory Pan­el 25^th Janu­ary 2022 5:00pm — 6:30pm — Held virtually

Minutes

Present
Anita Howard	Becca Mayo
Bo Hickey	Don­ald Ross
Heath­er Earnshaw	Kev­in Hutchens
Lil­liana Corrieri	Lina Payne
Linda Bam­ford	Peter Kennedy
Stu­art Hall

Attend­ing
Fiona McLean	Kate Christie
Kath­er­ine Willing	Laura Baird
Oliv­er Davies	Vicky Walk­er

1. Intro­duc­tion 1.1. Every­one was wel­comed to the meet­ing. Three new mem­bers were wel­comed to the group and intro­duced them­selves. 1.2. The minutes for the pre­vi­ous meet­ing were accep­ted on the con­di­tion of some minor changes before they were uploaded to the website:

    *   Add in capitals on point 3.5
    *   On point 3.5, the University of the Highlands and Islands was to be followed by
        the abbreviation UHI in brackets and from then on to be referred to as UHI.
   

   1.3. An update was giv­en on the action log.

2. Demo­graph­ics of the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan (NPPP) 2.1. Oliv­er gave an over­view of the demo­graph­ics of those who respon­ded to the NPPP con­sulta­tion and how this has com­pared to pre­vi­ous years. 2.2. The group raised that it was import­ant that all responses were listened to even if they came from a small demo­graph­ic. The group were reas­sured that all responses

will be read and looked at in detail regard­less of wheth­er the points raised are said by one or by many. 2.3. The group asked wheth­er there will be any fol­low up, par­tic­u­larly where there has been responses from minor­ity demo­graph­ics. Oliv­er explained that there is an under­stand­ing that these groups are under a lot of pres­sure to be involved with con­sulta­tion so it is now CNPA’s respons­ib­il­ity to use the data that has been provided.

1. CNPA Intern­al Equal­it­ies Group 3.1. An over­view of the pro­gress of the intern­al equal­it­ies group was giv­en. The group was informed of the decision to involve seni­or man­age­ment team mem­bers with the intern­al group on a rota­tion­al basis in a listen­ing and observing role. The EAP were informed that one mem­ber of the intern­al equal­it­ies group would join the extern­al EAP and vice versa. 3.2. The pan­el dis­cussed the exer­cise that was used at the intern­al equal­it­ies group and was now being rolled out to staff. The pan­el focused on how the res­ults were being used and how it could be used to meas­ure improve­ment. 3.3. There was a brief dis­cus­sion on the policies cur­rently in place and what work would be needed to review these to ensure they were fit for pur­pose. 3.4. The idea of equal­ity cham­pi­ons were dis­cussed. Over­all, the group felt this was a good idea, how­ever, they were wor­ried that this may struggle to reach mem­bers of the organ­isa­tion who did not under­stand equal­ity, diversity and inclu­sion work. It was agreed that the idea of equal­ity cham­pi­ons would be brought to the atten­tion of the seni­or man­age­ment team. 3.5. The idea of set­ting up a safe-space for the equal­ity groups to dis­cuss ideas in between meet­ings was raised.

2. Pub­lic Sec­tor Equal­ity Duty 4.1. An over­view of the sug­ges­ted changes to the pub­lic sec­tor equal­ity duty were given.

    *   The panel were asked the following;
    *   Are there any key points the CNPA should include in their response to the
        consultation?
    *   Are there any comments on the CNPA approach?
    *   How might the panel help with the proposed duties?
   

   4.2. The pan­el high­lighted top­ics which they felt should be included in the response. The

    *   main points were;
    *   Moving some of the EQIA work to a more strategic level was welcomed.
    *   Overall, the changes suggested are welcomed, however, the panel felt concern
        that some of the changes will create an intense need for lived experience which
        would not be sustainable.
    *   The panel felt the consultation lacked mention of easy read documents.
   

   4.3. When dis­cuss­ing the CNPA approach the pan­el felt that CNPA have a good con­sulta­tion pro­cess when it comes to equal­it­ies, with both the intern­al and extern­al equal­it­ies groups. The pan­el were con­cerned that the approach set out by Scot­tish gov­ern­ment may be focused on the exper­i­ences in the cent­ral belt and that

CNPA should util­ise its own con­sulta­tion pro­cess as well, to ensure it reflects the exper­i­ences of those in the park and organisation.

No AOBS

END OF MEETING

Next Meet­ing 22^nd February