IN June 2015, Nicola Sturgeon appointed her first equality csar. The intention, we were told, was that Naomi Eisenstadt would be an independent figure tasked with taking a close look at policy and judging ministers on their efforts to alleviate poverty. She would ask difficult questions and the Scottish Government would be forced to answer them.

Ten months on, it now looks like what began as a courageous policy is descending into fudge and delay and the government is trying to avoid doing what it promised it would. In January, Ms Eisenstadt delivered her report and it concluded that there was much more ministers could do to promote a fairer tax and welfare system and ensure every policy was doing as much as it could to make Scotland a more equal place. Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the report and said there would be an official response by the end of March.

The fact that we have now reached that deadline and there has been no response is deeply disappointing and reflects badly on the First Minister. When the report was published, Ms Sturgeon welcomed it and said she would study it to decide what the government was doing well and where it could improve.

Instead, it now looks like Ms Eisenstadt’s report has been kicked well along the road until after the election. Perhaps this is just what happens to reports of this kind, but the First Minister and her government said this would be different and appointed Ms Eisenstadt with the specific brief of providing a hard challenge to ministers. And yet it looks like the first challenge of responding honestly and openly to the recommendations has been ducked.

What makes matters worse is that some of Ms Eisenstadt’s recommendations could be pursued relatively easily. For example, she suggested that Holyrood adopt a measure in Harriet Harman’s Equalities Act that would oblige ministers to assess policies in terms of their impact on the poor and what contribution, if any, they make to tackling inequality. The measure was dropped by the Coalition Government but there is nothing to stop the Scottish Government enacting it. Ms Eisenstadt says they should and the First Minister should tell us if she will or will not – and if not, why not.

The government also needs to stop ignoring the other recommendations on tax and benefits. Ms Eisenstadt said council tax needed reform to make it more progressive – instead, the government tweaked it and left in place a system which Holyrood’s research department has described as regressive. The same applies to universal benefits such as winter fuel payments. Ms Eisenstadt has rightly questioned whether such benefits are sustainable and yet the government appears more committed to them than ever.

These questions cannot be avoided forever – and avoiding them for much longer will make it harder for the government, and the First Minister, to assert that tackling poverty in Scotland is one of their top priorities. Ducking the deadline on Ms Eisenstadt’s report could also make it look like the government can talk a good game on equality but is not willing to act in any meaningful way to bring it about.