Highland Council agrees outcomes for mainstreaming equality

23rd May 2025

Members of Highland Council's Communities and Place Committee have today welcomed progress against the Council’s Equality Mainstreaming and Outcomes Report. They also agreed a revised set of equality outcomes for 2025- 2029.

Chair of the Communities and Place Committee, Councillor Graham MacKenzie, said: "The Council’s Equality Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes Progress Report outlines the steps taken to mainstream equality into the work of the Council and proposes key outcomes for the next four years. Our outcomes must ensure that people are supported to access Council services and that equality is embedded in all our activities and decision making."

Priorities have included tackling discrimination, reducing barriers to services, developing inclusive approaches, re-establishing Access Panels in all areas of Highland and delivering an engagement and involvement strategy.

The report outlines a number of case studies which illustrate ways in which Highland Council has supported better outcomes for groups more likely to suffer inequality and ensured these groups can influence decisions directly affecting them.

Examples include the formation of a new British Sign Language panel which has been established to give BSL users greater involvement and a Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy, which was agreed in 2024 and co-produced by young people. This strategy sets out a commitment to the meaningful participation of children and young people in decisions which affect them and a route map for achieving this.

Vice-Chair of the Communities and Place Committee, Councillor Hugh Morrison, said: “We acknowledge that continuous improvement is needed in our equality outcomes to prevent disadvantage and promote equality. By welcoming diversity, promoting fairness and engaging with the most vulnerable in our communities, we will ensure that people can be involved in the decisions that affect them, making Highland a more inclusive, sustainable and successful region.”