6A. Plan resource allocation strategically - Read more
Development
6. Improving capacity
Allocating resources effectively and building the infrastructure needed to support equality and human rights efforts are crucial for success.
What this driver aims to achieve:
To support the Scottish Government and wider public sector to have the resources and budget necessary to fully integrate equality and human rights considerations into everything they do.
To support this, equality and human rights considerations must directly inform decisions about resource allocation and budgets. This includes the application of equality and human rights budgeting principles, along with the availability of potential funding for third-sector organisations to help create external capacity.
Why this matters:
Improving capacity ensures that equality and human rights work is properly supported and sustainable, enabling organisations to deliver on their commitments.
Improved capacity will be visible through sufficient staffing, budget and time to conduct comprehensive intersectional analysis and impact assessments (including engagement from the outset). Adequate resources will also enable the incorporation of diverse expertise and lived experience through staffing, advisory groups, and ongoing stakeholder engagement.
Understanding capacity vs capability
Capacity refers to the people, time and resources needed to carry out equality and human rights work effectively. It is both the ‘amount’ of something available (such as financial resources) and the ‘bandwidth’ to do something. Capacity can be affected by:
- Organisational capacity — having appropriate staffing and structures in place, including sufficient numbers of specialist staff with in‑depth knowledge.
- Sectoral capacity — enabling collaboration and shared practice across public bodies and the third sector to strengthen delivery.
- Individual capacity — ensuring staff have the time, workloads and support required to prioritise equality and human rights issues.
Why this matters
- More training does not always help staff with no time to apply it.
- Good intentions may fail without adequate resources.
- Equality and human rights work best when woven into the fabric of the organisation.
- Thorough impact assessments require dedicated time and resources.
- Without sufficient capacity, even capable staff cannot deliver change.
Resource requirements
Staffing capacity could mean:
- Enough numbers of staff to conduct thorough intersectional analysis.
- Specialist staff with in-depth knowledge.
- Time allocation for all staff to consider equality and human rights issues.
- Support for including diverse expertise and lived experience.
- Using people, systems and assets to drive positive change.
Financial resources could mean:
- Budget for equality and human rights programmes and training.
- Resources for thorough impact assessments.
- Funding for community engagement from the start.
- Investment in infrastructure and tools.
- Applying equality and human rights budgeting approaches that link financial decision‑making with the advancement of rights.
Supporting civil society could mean:
- Scottish Government providing potential grant funding for third sector organisations.
- Local authorities enabling partnership funding arrangements with community organisations.
- Public bodies leveraging diverse funding sources and collaborative funding models across multiple public sector partners.
- Cross-sector approaches involving public-private partnerships for equality initiatives and joint funding applications with third sector organisations.
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