EQUALITY DUTIES AT WORK
A QUICK START GUIDE
Foreword by the Co-chairs
The publication of this guidance signals the end of the work of the Diversity and Equality Task Group. We would like to thank all of those who participated in and supported the work of that forum. Focusing on what employers, trade unions and delivery partners could practically do to promote and progress the equality agenda has been a challenging remit, particularly at a time when public services are seeking to do more in the face of increasing demand with less by way of available resource.
We thank Schneider-Ross for the work they have done in creating this guide. We intend it to act as a toolkit that public services can consult time and again, ensuring their current and developing working practices show awareness of the needs of all their employees as well as those to whom they deliver.
Equality is a basic right that should at all times be protected in the operation of public services. Public policy and delivery is best made with full knowledge of the diverse and individual needs of many different people. It is only with an understanding of those needs, an understanding that can be found by reassessment against the equality duties, that services can be delivered most efficiently and effectively. This is the message of the guide and the experience we hope is had by all those who use it.
Section 1: Introduction
This guide has been researched and written for the Public Services Forum by Schneider~Ross (consultants and trainers in equality, diversity and inclusion).
Purpose Of This Guide
This guide is to help public sector organisations take action to deliver on their responsibilities to improve equality.
These responsibilitiesare enshrined in the Equality Duties[1] that were introduced in the period 2001 – 2007 covering race, disability and gender.These are legal requirements and not something public sector organisations can opt out of, or ignore. The guide will, through examples of good practice and case studies, show how organisations, regardless of size or delivery agenda, can take steps to implement the Equality Duties
If you have been tasked with helping your organisation meet the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duties and are looking for guidance on how to begin – this document is for you. You may be a line manager who has been asked to do this in addition to your day job or you may be someone who has just been appointed to an equality and diversity role.
This isn’t a detailed guide to the legislation (although it will signpost you to those requirements where appropriate[2]). At its core is the knowledge that organisations that are clear about the positive reasons for change are better able to build the sort of sustained commitment that will lead to improved outcomes(as well as compliance with their social, moral and legal responsibilities).
There is a plethora of documents in the public domain offering advice, what we are aiming to do here is simplify and provide some hints and tips that will enable you to use the Equality Duties to help your organisation be even better at whatever it does. The Duties should not be an added bureaucratic burden, but a means of making equality and diversity “business as usual” and potentially help you work more efficiently and effectively - always a priority, particularly in tough economic environments.
We are seeking to allay concerns, to help you learnfrom the positive experience of others and through the “How To” section to give you principles that lead to success.(We will also signpost you to more sector-specific support.)
It is a guide based on the practical experience of organisations since 2001 and thus focuses mainly on work done to tackleequality issues of race, disability and gender. However, the principles apply across eachequalitystrand1 and are consistent with the direction of future government legislation, giving you a good basis from which to implement future requirements as they are introduced.
For detailed up to date information on the proposals for the Equality Bill log on to
In order to ensure that this guide remains useful, it will be kept up-to-date with the current legislation and case study organisations will be asked to share progress they are making and how they are overcoming any challenges they have faced along the way.We will be inviting organisations to contribute their success stories.
Methodology
This guide has been developed using information drawn from a range of sources and research, full details of which can be found in Section 9.
The Guide was commissioned by the Diversity and Equality Task Group (DETG), itself a sub-group of the Public Services Forum. The Task Group was set up in July 2008 with the intention of making a unique contribution to the Diversity and Equality agenda, focusing on the value of working in partnershipbetween employers, trade unions and public service delivery partners.
The task of creating this guide has primarily been about identifying and bringing together pre-existing case studies from across public services that illustratethe progress that organisations can make and the things they are doing that are working. Interwoven with all this, researchers have been able to draw on their practical experience – making this guide grounded in the realities of the implementation of the Equality Duties.
It is important to emphasise that many of these organisations would not wish to present themselves as being “best practice” – just that they are on the journey and are starting to show some results from their efforts. Where existing case studies offered limited information, interviews were held to try to help build data and bring the stories to life.
In addition, there is one particular recent research report[3] that we have used to supplement the case studies and provide more of an overview of what is happening and currently working.
This research reached out to over 3,500 organisations and involved detailed survey responses from 173 organisations across the public sector – 43 Local Authorities, 24 Health Bodies, 52 schools and 55 other respondents. It provides the best current picture of how organisations have reacted to the Equality Duties and the cost effectiveness of the actions they have taken.
In addition to the desk research and interviews, two workshops were held – one with volunteer attendees (from health bodies, local government, education, criminal justice, central government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission) and one with Equality Representatives from the Trades Unions, to road test the proposed content for the guide. We are grateful to them for their support to-date – and even more for their continued commitment in helping to keep this guide up-to-date.
How To Use This Guide
This is not a guide that is designed to be read cover to cover. It is divided into sections, and then different themes within each section. At the start of each section there is a brief description of its content, and consulting these is an easy way of deciding whether there are issues there that are of interest to you.
Because we expect readers to dip in and out of this guide, simply targeting the sections that are of most relevance to their own immediate needs, some illustrations from the case studies feature in more than section.
This guide is in two parts. Part One (Sections 2-4) outlines the key concepts, addresses some of the common myths and indicates the benefits that organisations can realise by taking action on equality and diversity.
Part Two deals with the “How To’s”. Each section explores a major theme and offers a series of principles, and associated case study examples, that aid effective implementation. This is not supposed to be detailed or prescriptive; you will want and need to adapt these principles to your own situation and you will also no doubt want to examine in more detail what others in your sector are doing. (Signposting to this sort of guidance is included in Section 8.)
PART ONE
Section 2: De-coding The Jargon. This tries to put into plain language the core concepts and terminology.
Section 3: Addressing Obstacles & Myths. This covers the concerns that many people have about the potential for overly bureaucratic implementation that delivers little value.
Section 4: What Equality & Diversity Can Do For You. This sets out the sorts of benefits that public sector organisations are realising as a result of their work on the Equality Duties.
PART TWO
Section 5: Getting Started – Developing An Approach That Works For You. This sets out the principles that set organizations off on the right track and helps guide them to effective implementation.
Section 6: Making Equality & Diversity ‘Business As Usual’. This is about how to build equality and diversity into everything your organisation does – and the powerful lever that impact assessment can be in stimulating this change.
Section 7: Listening To People – Getting Value From Involvement. This is about how to partner with a variety of stakeholders to develop and refine your plans.
Section 8:Further Support - Still not enough? Additional help can be found in this section with useful links, publications and resources.
PART ONE
Section 2: De-coding The Jargon
“[The Duties] are not explained in plain clear English…”[4]
(NHS PCT)
We recognise that there are many terms that equality practitioners use – as a short-hand way of referring to what can sometimes be quite complex processes – that make little or no sense to the un-initiated. Not surprisingly, they can turn off a lot of people and contribute to some of the unease about what is actually required of organisations.
Writing this guide therefore we wanted right at the start to explain some of the key terms:
- Public Sector Equality Duties
- Single Equality Approach
- Equality Schemes
- Equality “Strands”
- Monitoring
- Cross cutting
- Mainstreaming
- Impact Assessment
- Trade Union Equality Representatives
- Staff Networks
- Consultation and Involvement
Public Sector Equality Duties.
Since 2001, there has been a major shift in equality legislation. The previous Acts had all been anti-discrimination laws – they set out the sorts of discrimination considered to be illegal and therefore the things that individuals and organisations needed to avoid doing.
The ‘public sector equality duties’ (initially covering race,then disability and gender) set out instead specific responsibilities that organisations have to take to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to promote equal opportunities and to foster good relations between different groups of people. Further details and background to the duties can be found on the website for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The duties apply to the public sector and also extend where services are carried outby the private sector on behalf of a public organisation such as the Prison Service (see the example in Section 4).
It is no longer enough for organisations to avoid discrimination, they need to take a good hard look at everything they do and decide whether they need to do anything more to promote equal opportunities.
Equality “Strands”
Stereotypical thinking and prejudice are common in all societies. Therefore there are some groups of people who are less likely to get a fair chance to make the most of their talents. Quite often these same groups of people are less likely to be able to access public services and are less likely toget good customer service. For that reason, societies legislate to counter this discrimination.
The Equality strands refer to the different groups of people who are protected by this legislation. Most frequently, organisations refer to six strands – gender (and gender identity), race, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation and age.In addition, some organisations include factors relating to deprivation and socio-economic status within their equality target groups.
Single Equality Approach.
The emergence of the multiplestrandsof equality can create a great deal of confusion and complexity, and has the potential for duplication of effort. Accordingly, many organisations are looking at the common issues and the fundamental steps they need to take to create working environments where everyone is fairly treated and their services are accessible and relevant to all.
Organisations that are doing this will often refer to taking a single equality approach. It does not preclude specific action that addresses a particular issue faced by one group of people. It does, however, involve taking a systemic view of a policy or process and ensuring all aspects of equality are covered.
Equality Schemes
The legislation requires organisations to draw up an equality scheme or schemes. Any scheme should reflect a timetabled and realistic plan that sets out an authority’s arrangements for meeting both the general and specific equality duties. Schemes should be reported on annually and are usually reviewed every three years.
As with other elements of the legislation, there are slight differences depending on the duty with regard to the content required.
Further guidance on this can be found on the website forthe Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Monitoring
Monitoring is a way of seeing how a policy or procedure is working out in practice. Ideally, monitoring processes are built into policies at the outset, so that the relevant information is gathered at each stage – and does not have to be subsequently added in. Of course, collectingdata is of no use unless it is analysedand results in action being taken, where required.
For instance, you may monitor your recruitment processes and find that people from some groups are less likely to be invited to interview. Accordingly, you would then look at your short-listing criteria and processes to ensure that they are robustly meritocratic.
Cross cutting
Individuals cannot be defined be just one aspect of their identity – nor do many wish to be. Previous approaches to equality have focused on the separate “strands” (see above). A ‘single equality approach’recognises rather people’s multiple identities.
“Cross-cutting”refers to the more sophisticated analysis of the datawhen a single equality approach is taken.
For instance, looking simply at ethnicity may be something of a blunt tool and might be misleading, whilst supplementing this with the analysis of data by gender within ethnic groups can provide more meaningful insights.
Thus, it is African Caribbean boys and white boys often under-perform educationally and boys from an Indian background often perform very well.So looking at just one “strand” – gender (all boys) or ethnicity (all African Caribbean or white pupils) on their own - would be less effective.
There are also issues that are ‘cross-cutting’ – for instance stereotyping is a topic that features heavily in each of the ‘strands’. Tackling ‘cross-cutting’ issues is a way, for instance, of tackling underlying causes that relate to a number of different equality ‘strands’.
Mainstreaming
Mainstreaming is about incorporatingequality and diversity considerations into everything that an organisation does – for instance, the way it develops its products and services as well as the way it attracts, retains and develops its staff.
Equality considerations are integrated into standard and pre-existing reporting systems – for instance, approval processes for new products or services, or staff performance management processes, or annual reports.
One National Health Trust puts it well: “Awareness of equality issues has been raised in areas across the Trust. An observed change from pulling together our duties has been a focus on equality for service issues and the involvement of clinical services. There has been a change from equality and diversity being seen more as a HR led activity relating mostly to employment to a dimension of service delivery”[5].
Mainstreaming is about ensuring that equality and diversity are not some separate, stand-alone set of priorities, but are ways in which the organisation goes about its every day business.
In other words, “mainstreaming” is about ensuring work on equalities adds value and is translated into improved organisational outcomes. The Equality Duties are, in effect, driving organisations to take a “mainstreaming” approach.
Impact Assessment
Organisations need to be able to identify priorities for change. They also need to build equality in at the “front end” when planning their services and programmes rather than try and rectify inequalities later.In addition they need to identify opportunities for positive impact that may have been overlooked or that could be more effectively exploited.
An impact assessment is a tool to address allthese needs. Essentially, it is about gathering the evidence to see whether a particular policy or process can disadvantage particular groups, whether any other potential actions have been missedand if so to determine what should be done about it. The priorities are the policies and processes that have the greatest likely impact. By building in this sort of review in at the outset of policy development, steps can be taken to address potential equality issues before they arise.Further advice on this can be found in Section 6.