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ITEM EX17

EXECUTIVE – 15 MARCH 2005

EQUALITIES: RACE EQUALITY SCHEME AND CORPORATE EQUALITY PLAN

Report of the Deputy Leader of the Council

 

Background and Purpose of this Report

  1. The Race Relations Act 1976, as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, places a statutory General Duty on the Council to actively promote race equality by having due regard to the need to:
    • Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination;
    • Promote equality of opportunity; and
    • Promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

  1. The Act also imposes a number of statutory Specific Duties on the Council as a scheduled public authority. One of these Specific Duties is the requirement to publish a Race Equality Scheme and to then publish a revised scheme at least every 3 years. The other Specific Duties relate to employment.

  2. On 28 October 2003, the Executive agreed to adopt the Equality Standard for Local Government, developed by the Employers’ Organisation for Local Government together with the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Disability Rights Commission and the Local Government Association. In support of this, on 16 March 2004, the Executive also agreed a Comprehensive Equality Policy, noting that this included a commitment to the development of a Corporate Equality Plan and the implementation of an Equality Impact Assessment process, covering race, sex and disability equality issues initially, that could also be expanded to include other equality areas.

  3. Implementation and achievement against both the Race Equality Scheme and the Equality Standard for Local Government form the basis of two separate corporate health best value performance indicators, against which the Council is audited annually.

  4. This report proposes adoption of a revised statutory Race Equality Scheme for 2005-08 (Annex 1 - to follow) and adoption of a consistent Corporate Equality Plan for 2005-08 (Annex 2 - to follow), including a combined Equality Impact Assessment process, in line with previous decisions of the Executive and legislative requirements.

    5. Statutory Race Equality Scheme 2005-08

  5. The Council’s first Race Equality Scheme forms the basis for the proposed revised scheme. Implementing the scheme consistently and in a timetabled manner has presented a steep learning curve for the Council. Particular regard has been paid to difficulties experienced and deficiencies that have become apparent during the past 3 years in devising the revised scheme.

  6. The Race Equality Scheme sets out the Council’s arrangements for meeting the requirements of the General and Specific Duties, in particular:

    • Assessing our functions and policies for relevance to the General Duty.
    • Monitoring, reviewing and assessing our functions and policies for their impact on race equality.
    • Consulting on and assessing new functions and policies for relevance and impact.
    • Meeting the employment Specific Duties.
    • Ensuring public access to information, services and to the Race Equality Scheme, and publishing the results of the employment Specific Duties, consultations, monitoring and impact assessments.
    • Informing and training staff in connection with the General and Specific Duties.

  1. The employment Specific Duties require the Council to monitor by reference to racial groups:

    • Staff in post.
    • Applicants for employment, training and promotion.
    • Staff who receive training.
    • Staff who benefit or suffer detriment as a result of performance assessment procedures.
    • Staff that are involved in the grievance procedure.
    • Staff that are subject of disciplinary procedures.
    • People that cease employment with the County Council.

  1. A detailed and robust audit was carried out with directorates in order to identify all of the Council’s functions and policies. In line with the processes recommended in the Commission for Racial Equality’s guidance for public authorities, each function and policy was then screened for relevance to the General Duty and prioritised by relevance. Factors relating to sex or disability equality that were relevant were also considered.

  2. This has enabled an updating of the list of functions and policies included in the first scheme to ensure that it is properly and fully reflective of the Council and its business, allowing for changes over the course of the last three years and the introduction and identification of new functions. Where necessary, the prioritisation of functions and policies has been revised where experience from the first scheme has shown that the original prioritisations are no longer appropriate. The initial assessments and results of screening were considered and endorsed by the Council’s consultative Race Equality Scheme Reference Group, which I Chair.

    3. Corporate Equality Plan 2005-08

  3. In working toward the achievement of Level 2 of the Equality Standard for Local Government, a Corporate Equality Plan, covering race, sex and disability equality, has also been developed in conjunction with the development of the revised Race Equality Scheme and following the same processes.

  4. This addresses the Executive’s wish, in adopting the Council’s Comprehensive Equality Policy, that the Corporate Equality Plan should be developed through the expansion of the Race Equality Scheme process.

    5. Equality Impact Assessments

  5. Consequently, a combined Equality Impact Assessment process will be enacted with effect from 1 April 2005, ensuring that sex and disability equality issues are effectively addressed at the same time as race equality issues during reviews of functions and policies, whilst also keeping the race equality aspects distinct and clearly identifiable, as required by statute.

  6. The schedule of Equality Impact Assessment reviews to be undertaken over the three years of the proposed Race Equality Scheme and Corporate Equality Plan is as set out in both documents. (Annex 1 and Annex 2). The Corporate Equality Plan schedule provides additional information regarding the services and individual teams within each directorate.

    7. Comprehensive Performance Assessment

  7. In a report on 28 October 2003, the Executive was advised that equality issues would form a major element in future Comprehensive Performance Assessments undertaken by the Audit Commission and that they intended to ensure that equality and diversity was addressed in their core functions of audit and inspection. This has been borne out in our own recent corporate assessment.

  8. The proposed new Comprehensive Performance Assessment framework develops these priorities further, including an explicit judgement of the quality and impact of Council’s efforts to promote user focus and diversity.

  9. The Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment consultation document states:

    10. "User focus, diversity and human rights will be integral elements of the new corporate assessment. These judgements will influence each theme score and therefore make a significant contribution to the overall assessment score. This reflects the importance we attach to ensuring that the diverse needs of communities are reflected in the way that services are designed and delivered with and for local people. The corporate assessment will include consideration of whether councils are meeting statutory requirements on human rights, race, age, sexual orientation, gender, disability and religion. We will also invest more time in understanding the context in which councils deliver services, for example, to rural communities or those living in pockets of extreme poverty or deprivation."

  10. The Council’s human rights focused Comprehensive Equality Policy, revised statutory Race Equality Scheme, Corporate Equality Plan, Social Inclusion Strategy and Social Inclusion Action Plan Framework provide a robust foundation for assisting the Council in rising to and addressing this challenge.

    11. RECOMMENDATIONS

  11. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. agree the revised statutory Race Equality Scheme for 2005-08 at Annex 1 to the report;

          2. agree the Corporate Equality Plan for 2005-08 at Annex 2 to the report.

DERMOT ROAF
Deputy Leader of the Council

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Adrian Harper-Smith, Corporate Strategies Manager, Chief Executive’s Office. Tel: (01865) 810179.

March 2005.

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