Introduction 

The Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) contract is delivered by Local Energy Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. Our equalities charter sets out guiding principles that we follow in our delivery of CARES. You can find our full charter on our website.  

Successful CARES applicants are required to demonstrate practices that uphold the principles of this charter and examples of how this can be achieved are provided towards the end of this page. This includes some elements which you must be able demonstrate to be eligible for CARES funding.  

As part of your eligibility check you will be required to download this equality charter applicant declaration and upload it to the CARES project portal.

Guidance for applicants: 

Here are a few of the ways in which you can demonstrate that you meet the principles of the CARES equalities charter.  

You must be able to demonstrate that you meet at least the first point under each heading that is relevant to your project. You may also include any additional examples or evidence where applicable. If you cannot meet the first point under each relevant heading, you will be ineligible for CARES funding.  

General (all projects) 

  • Your organisation does not discriminate against any protected characteristics; age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. 
  • Your organisation is transparent, inclusive, and fair in its practices and you can provide up-to-date policies and procedures to demonstrate this. Examples would include:
    • Demonstrating an equalities policy that clearly sets out your commitment to equality and is regularly reviewed. 
    • You may consider offering a guaranteed interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum job criteria. 
    • Staff with protected characteristics are encouraged to take part in self-organised groups. 
    • Examples of what would not be acceptable include clauses in a governing document or other policies, website and printed materials that exclude protected characteristics.  
  • You involve a wide cross section of your community in your activities and the running of your organisation. 
  • You challenge discrimination where you find it. 
    • You should have a policy (code of conduct) in place which is clear about what is unacceptable and explains that allegations of discrimination will be taken seriously. 
    • You take action against those whose behaviour may be understood as being discriminatory, harassing or belittling to those from diverse communities. 
    • You keep records on the number and type of complaints received and the actions taken to resolve these. 
  • Your board/committee takes proactive steps to reflect the diversity of the community you work in. For example, recruitment of new committee members is advertised widely and people without committee experience are encouraged and supported to join. In addition, you ensure that job descriptions do not contain discriminatory statements or requirements. 
    • For example, you have a named equalities lead and they are allocated time and resources to achieve their goals.  
  • If you feel you are not reaching a diverse audience there is help available to help you to reach a more diverse board. For example, you can have a look at the resources available through Third Sector Human Rights and Equalities (THRI) such as their governance resource and the case studies within the ‘Beyond Protected Characteristics’ collection, the Scottish Youth Parliament case study is particularly relevant. 
  • You share good practice that you are already undertaking in this area, or plan to undertake, with Local Energy Scotland. 
  • You develop action plans to outline specific steps to address imbalance. 
  • You consider equality issues during decision making and record the same. 
    • The views of equalities groups and potential impact on diverse communities should be considered before decisions that could affect them are made. 
    • There is a clear feedback process. 
    • Feedback received is used to shape future services. 

Community buildings 

  • The community building that you run is open to all and no-one is excluded. You welcome people of all backgrounds, including those with protected characteristics. You might have an equality statement or information on your website that supports this in line with your charitable principles. 
    • Information should be written in a clear simple language and should be available in different formats on request. 
  • Where possible, your building is physically accessible to all. 

Shared ownership/ community benefits/ revenue generation projects 

  • At the point of having funds to distribute you will have: 
    • a community action plan that represents, and encourages participation from all members of your community 
    • a fund strategy that enables the funds generated to be used in a fair and inclusive way.