Annual Report on HEFCE’s Equality Scheme
/B16/11
Agenda item 15
28 January 2011
Issue
1. The annual statutory report on HEFCE’s Equality Scheme, comprising reports on our Race, Disability and Gender Equality Schemes, the Equality Action Plan 2010 and cross-cutting equality work.
Recommendations
2. The Board is invited to:
a. Agree the following two issues to discuss further throughout 2011:
i. Faith on campus
ii. Ethnicity and degree attainment
b. Note the major issues, challenges and achievements contained overleaf.
c. Note the changes to equality legislation and HEFCE's plans for a new equality scheme 2011-2014 contained in paragraphs 18 to 23.
Timing for decisions
3. This is the fourth annual report on HEFCE’s Equality Scheme and contains information and the results of monitoring that we are required, by law, to publish annually. It is important therefore that this paper and its contents are approved at this meeting to ensure we meet our statutory duties.
Further information
4. Further information is available from Fariba Dashtgard on 0117 931 7316 or , or Steve Egan on 0117 931 7408 or .
Summary
5. Each year the Board is invited to identify key issues they would like further opportunity to explore throughout the year. In 2009, the Board identified the following five areas of priority for further discussion:
a. Under representation of male students in HE
b. Achievement and appropriateness of HEFCE KPT 18
c. Disclosure of Disability
d. Diversity in Governance: Sector and HEFCE
e. Ethnicity and Degree Attainment
In 2010, the following issues were added:
a. Equality in research careers
b. New protected characteristics i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff and students
6. The Board discussed the under representation of male students in HE (HEFCE Board paper B94e) at the September meeting in 2009. At its meeting in January 2010 the Board chose two key issues to explore in depth. These were: equality in research careers (HEFCE Board paper B82) (summarised in paragraphs 57-61) and the achievement and appropriateness of KPT 18[1] (presentation and discussion held on 15 July). Although HEFCE is on target to achieve KPT 18, CEG have considered that when KPTs are reviewed it might be appropriate to move away from a single KPT towards measurable outcomes mainstreamed within our equality scheme. This is dependent upon whether the Secretary of State decides whether to require KPTs at all.
7. The issues that have not yet been explored in detail include: disclosure of disability, diversity in governance (sector and HEFCE), ethnicity and degree attainment and the new protected characteristics. We recommend consideration of the issue, disability disclosure, in 2012 when we have further data to analyse.
8. From this analysis and following discussion at the Board meeting in July, two key issues emerged. Faith on campus is a newly protected area included in the legislation. HEIs will be expected to engage confidently and to promote cohesion between different groups on campus. This will be a challenge particularly where there are perceived conflicts with other issues such as national security, academic freedom, freedom of speech, religion and sexual orientation and religion and human rights. Further analysis in 2010 highlighted the remaining gap between the attainment, progression and graduate destination of black or minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison with white students. In the proportion of young final-year students awarded a first or upper second class degree, White finalists had a rate 25percentage points higher than the rate for Black finalists, and 20percentage points higher than Pakistani and Bangladeshi finalists.
Recommendation
The Board is invited to agree the following two issues to discuss further throughout 2011:
a. Faith on campus
b. Ethnicity and degree attainment
9. Paragraphs 10-11 below summarise HEFCE’s key achievements in equality throughout 2010 and key challenges in the future.
10. Key achievements
a. Progress towards our key performance target 18 (by 2009-10, to increase the proportions of female staff, disabled staff and ethnic minority staff in senior level positions, taken from a baseline of 2003-04) has been positive. Whilst there were concerns over the numbers of disabled staff, 2008-09 showed mild improvements.
b. We participated in the corporate responsibility index (which includes equality and human rights) for the second time in 2010, and achieved Gold Standard with a score of 90.8%; an improvement on our 2009 score of 84.7 per cent and silver standard. In terms of ownership and integration of equality and diversity we scored 94% in the index which is higher than the sector average of 89 per cent and business average of 83 per cent.
c. 2010 was the third year of our involving disabled people strategy. We consulted with the group on five occasions. As a result of their feedback on our graduate employability policy, we built support for disability into our criteria for undergraduate internships and various other strands of employability work. We also used feedback from the group to inform the usability of our website. As a result, the new site will have a simpler structure, and more ways of searching will be provided.
d. In 2010, we asked Aimhigher partnerships and HE providers to address the fact that in previous phases of the HEFCE/European Social Fund (ESF) joint-funded summer schools (2003-2008), the participation of girls was persistently twice that of boys. The December 2010 report on summer schools participants shows that this gender participation gap closed slightly in 2008-09.
e. The LGM Fund came to a planned end in July 2010. The evaluation of the Fund concluded that the Fund has been successful in achieving momentum across the sector in relation to issues where HEFCE and higher education institutions have legal responsibilities, such as equality and diversity. The Fund supported 14 projects on equality and diversity at a total cost of £1.3 million with outputs including toolkits, training, and mentoring networks.
11. Key issues and challenges
a. There are lower proportions of Black or minority ethnic (BME) (5.8 per cent), disabled (2.4 per cent) and female staff (22.6 per cent) who reach professor level and above. The progress is particularly slow for BME and disabled staff where the proportions of BME senior staff have increased by 0.5 per cent since 2005-06 and proportions of disabled senior staff has increased by 0.8 per cent since 2005-06. Positively, we can show that the levels of females in senior management increased year-on-year for the past four years, (from 31.3 per cent in 2006-07 to 33.5 per cent in 2008-09) at a rate faster than our projections given current turnover rates.
b. The numbers of declared disabled staff at senior levels are small and have shown little change in the last four years (from 95 in 2005-06 to 140 in 2008-09). We undertook some work in 2009 to increase disclosure across the sector. In 2011, we will begin to see whether our efforts are having a more substantial effect.
c. With the implementation of the new Equality Act 2010, HEIs will be required to advance equal opportunities for five new protected groups. This is against the post-Browne/ spending review backdrop and the risk of spending cuts affecting vulnerable groups.
d. A gap remains between the attainment, progression and graduate destination of black or minority ethnic (BME) students in comparison with white students. In the proportion of young final-year students awarded a first or upper second class degree, White finalists had a rate 25percentage points higher than the rate for Black finalists, and 20percentage points higher than Pakistani and Bangladeshi finalists.
e. Faith on campus is a newly protected area included in the legislation. HEIs will be expected to engage confidently and to promote cohesion between different groups on campus. This will be a challenge particularly where there are perceived conflicts with other issues such as national security, academic freedom, freedom of speech, religion and sexual orientation and religion and human rights.
f. Under representation of male students in HE remains an issue although the proportion of male students has been increasing since 2006/07.
Background
12. In 2006, in responding to our new and existing legal duties to promote race, disability and gender equality, we developed a single equality scheme and equality action plan. This incorporated our three schemes and brought together our current and planned activity into one document. We published a consultative version of this Scheme in June 2006 (HEFCE 2006/28) and brought our final Scheme and the results of the consultation to the Board in December 2006 (Board paper B108/06).
13. Until 1 April 2011, we are required by each of the equality laws (the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the Equality Act 2006) to publish an annual report on various aspects of race, disability and gender equality, including the results of monitoring. This paper to the Board constitutes the statutory annual report on our Equality Scheme (which includes our race, gender and disability equality schemes and action plans). The report is split into the following sections:
a. Race equality report.
b. Disability equality report.
c. Gender equality report.
d. Report on activity which cross-cuts the equality protected groups.
e. Report on HEFCE’s internal work on equality and diversity.
f. Report on our 2010 (calendar year) Equality Action Plan (available to members on request).
Equality Act 2010
14. The Equality Act 2010 received royal assent in April this year and came into effect on 1 October. The Act brings together existing legislation, harmonising the differences and strengthening certain aspects. In April, 2011, we will also be subject to additional responsibilities for public sector bodies, which will need to be reflected in our overall Equality policy.
15. The Act places a new general duty on public bodies to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations towards eight protected groups. The current duty to promote equality in relation to gender, race and disability has been extended to include: age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, gender reassignment and pregnancy and maternity. The new duty will mean that public authorities, including HEFCE and HEIs, must, in carrying out their functions, have due regard to:
a. Eliminating discrimination
b. Advancing equality of opportunity
c. Removing/minimising disadvantages
d. Meeting the needs of different groups (i.e. treating people differently and sometimes more favourably to accommodate for their diverse needs)
- Encouraging protected groups to participate in public life or in any other activity in which participation by such groups is disproportionately low
f. Fostering good relations
g. Tackling prejudice
h. Promoting understanding
16. In August 2010 the Government Equalities Office (GEO) published a consultation[2] setting out the Government’s proposals for the specific requirements of the public sector duty and the statutory codes of practice, which will be laid before Parliament in December 2010. The specific duties are not objectives in themselves, but are intended to set out a clear framework that, if followed properly, will assist the public body to meet the requirements of the general duty. Further detail on the agreed proposals is expected in January 2011.
17. The proposed specific duties described above (which will apply generically across the public sector) include a number of changes to the previous requirements contained within the gender, race and disability legislation. The most significant shift with the aim of increasing transparency and public accountability is from process towards outcomes with evidence of performance.
The HEFCE plans for a new equality scheme
18. From June this year, HEFCE has been developing a new equality scheme in line with our duties within the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 2005, and the Equality Act 2006, which committed us to fundamentally review and re-issue our equality scheme every three years. Our existing scheme runs from 2007-2010. It is also timely as HEFCE considers its new strategic plan from 2011 onwards and the fundamental changes facing the sector resulting from the Browne Review and CSR.
19. Under the new Act, we will be required to publish equality objectives and to publish data annually to track progress on specific issues.Although the new Equality Act does not explicitly require public bodies to produce an equality scheme, in November 2010, CEG agreed that to avoid a hiatus HEFCE should continue to develop a separate equality scheme linked to the strategic plan. Embedding our equality strategy within the new strategic plan will be revisited in two years.
20. Our equality and diversity strategy will be defined by our objectives and a detailed action plan against which we will measure progress. Our scheme will also outline how and what relevant data we will publish and how we intend to assess the impact of our policies against the general duty. Although there is no longer a formal requirement to consult, we will of course continue to engage with protected groups although there is no longer a formal requirement to do so.
21. In light of the new Equality Act's emphasis on outcomes, in 2010 we undertook a short internal project to review the Council's approach to setting effective equality outcomes to inform our strategy in 2011 onwards. The purpose of this work was to inform HEFCE on how to set appropriate outcomes that are compatible with our role as a funding body (and not as a service provider). As part of this project, we analysed the various benchmark organisational indicators, trends and outcomes as well as published research and reports related to equality outcomes and used the information and data to make realistic recommendations to inform HEFCE’s short term and longitudinal equality strategy for 2011-2014. We will be building on this work in April 2011 when we are setting our objectives in the new Scheme.
22. Underpinning all of these is our commitment to strive to be an exemplar of effective equality and diversity practice in the sector; embodying the spirit of the legislation throughout our work and to work in partnership with our related bodies to promote and support equality and diversity practice throughout the sector.
23. The Board may like to note that we are currently building our scheme, and formulating our objectives around HEFCE’s three key roles:
· As a funder – our ability to steer equality outcomes in the sector through funding initiatives.