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ITEM CA14
CABINET
– 15 NOVEMBER 2005
RACE EQUALITY
SCHEME AND CORPORATE EQUALITY PLAN
Report by
Assistant Chief Executive
Purpose
and Background to this Report
- The purpose of
this report is to consider the Council’s progress in implementing its
statutory Race Equality Scheme and Corporate Equality Plan. This includes
a review of overall progress and service improvements achieved during
the Council’s first Race Equality Scheme (covering the period 2002-05)
and identifying progress to date on the Council’s current scheme and
Corporate Equality Plan.
- The Council's
Race Equality Scheme for 2005-08 and Corporate Equality Plan for 2005-08
were agreed by the Executive in March 2005. Implementation of a combined
Equality Impact Assessment process, as required by the Corporate Equality
Plan, ensures that gender, disability and race equality issues are effectively
addressed at the same time during reviews of functions and policies,
whilst also keeping each element distinct and clearly identifiable.
This also ensures that complex statutory requirements can be implemented
by services in as non-burdensome a manner as possible.
- Continued implementation
of the Corporate Equality Plan will assist the Council in meeting:
- the requirements
of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 to develop a Disability
Equality Scheme (probably by December 2006), as agreed by the Cabinet
in June 2005; and
- the duty to
develop a Gender Equality Scheme as proposed in Part 3 of the Equality
Bill (probably to come into force in April 2007) as also noted by
the Cabinet in June 2005.
- Demonstrating
that the Council consistently meets its statutory requirements in equality
and diversity has been a key requirement in the Council’s Corporate
Assessment for CPA, Direction of Travel Assessment, Fire & Rescue
Service CPA, Youth Service OFSTED Inspection, LEA OFSTED Inspection,
Adult & Community Learning Inspection, Commission for Social Care
Inspection, Children’s Services Annual Performance Assessment and Value
for Money Assessment. These requirements will feature equally strongly,
and in some cases more prominently, in future inspections, audits and
assessments. Implementation of the Corporate Equality Plan should also
enable the Council to mount a strong defence should any claim be made
against it under any of the relevant equality legislation.
Statutory
Race Equality Scheme and Corporate Equality Plan 2005-08
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- These requirements
are implemented through the Scheme’s Action Plan. A progress report
was reviewed by CCMT’s Equality and Social Inclusion Steering Group
on 27 September 2005 (Annex 1), together with an end of scheme
review of the Race Equality Scheme 2002-2005 (Annex 2). Membership
and terms of reference of the steering group are attached for reference
(Annex 5).
(Annex 1 - download as .doc file)
(Annex 1 - download as .pdf file)
(Annex 2 - download as .doc file)
(Annex 2 - download as .pdf file)
(Annex 3 - download as .doc file)
(Annex 3 - download as .pdf file)
(Annex 4 - download as .doc file)
(Annex 4 - download as .pdf file)
(Annex 5 - download as .doc file)
(Annex 5 - download as .pdf file)
- 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.
- An annual report
on the employment Specific Duties as at 31 March 2005 was reported by
the Cabinet Member for Policy Co-ordination to the Council’s Race Equality
Scheme Reference Group on 28 June 2005 and reviewed by CCMT’s Equality
and Social Inclusion Steering Group on 27 September 2005 (Annex 3).
- The Corporate
Equality Plan enacts the Council’s adoption of the Equality Standard
for Local Government, developed by the Employers’ Organisation for Local
Government, and ensures that statutory requirements to promote equality
with respect to race, disability and gender are implemented consistently
and in as non-burdensome a manner as possible.
- The progress report
on achieving the Corporate Equality Plan implementation milestones (Annex
4) demonstrates that progress is on track. In addition, briefing sessions
on the Equality Impact Assessment Process have now been organised for
officers in all directorates undertaking reviews of functions and policies
this year.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED to:
- note
the progress report on the Race Equality Scheme 2005-08 Action
Plan (Annex 1 to this report);
- agree
the end of scheme review of the Race Equality Scheme 2002-05
(Annex 2 to this report);
- note
the annual report on employment Specific Duties as at 31 March
2005 (Annex 3 to this report);
- note
progress in achieving the Corporate Equality Plan 2005-08 implementation
milestones (Annex 4 to this report);
- confirm
that CCMT should continue to ensure implementation of the Council’s
Race Equality Scheme and Corporate Equality Plan through its
Equality and Social Inclusion Steering Group (Annex 5 to this
report).
STEPHEN
CAPALDI
Assistant Chief
Executive
Background
papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Adrian Harper-Smith, Corporate Strategies Manager,
Chief Executive’s Office. Tel: (01865) 810179.
November
2005
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