Race equality and leisure policy discourses in Scottish local authorities

This article presents and discusses the findings of a survey designed to assess two issues. First, it considers the extent to which Scottish local authorities have sought to discover and provide for the specific needs of their black and minority ethnic (BME) populations. Second, it provides preliminary reflections on the impact of political, organisational and legislative change upon the policy and practice of Scottish local authorities in their delivery of services to their BME populations. It raises questions about the potential for improvement in local authority leisure services following the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2002. The study was carried out in the context of previous research by Home (1995) and thus sought to assess the extent to which there had been change during the intervening period in the approaches of Scottish local authorities. Results suggest that the environment in which local authority leisure providers operate has changed significantly since 1995. All local authorities now have formalised equal opportunity policies and race equality schemes. Whilst there exist examples of good practice, the degree to which local authorities seek to discover and meet the needs of their BME populations varies considerably. Analysis of the discourses of local authorities suggests that the extent to which the ethos of equality has permeated organisations remains uneven.