Fairness for All

Borough of Poole’s Equality Policy

September 2010–2012

Promoting Equality, Celebrating Diversity

Foreword

Promoting Equality, Celebrating Diversity

Borough of Poole’s second Equality Scheme: Sept 2009–2012

Our second Equality Scheme “Fairness for All” sets out our policy commitments and future actions to promote equality and celebrate diversity. We will do this for and with Poole’s residents and visitors, ourpartners and contractors, and our employees and Councillors.

This Scheme is for everyone who uses services, facilities and information provided by, or on behalf of, the Council.

We recognise that people have different needs, find themselves in different circumstances, and may face barriers that could limit what they can do and be. We recognise that by promoting equality and celebrating diversity we will provide better quality services and outcomes for the people of Poole. We see our Scheme’s commitments as important to achieving real improvements in the way that we work.

We have taken steps forward over the life of our first “Promoting Equality, Respecting Diversity” Scheme but we know that we are still on a journey. We would like to thank those who have helped us move forward this far. We know there is much more work to do still.

We have revised the Scheme based on the views of residents and partners but want this to be a ‘living’ programme of work. We will continue to welcome your feedback or suggestions about where we can do better. We will regularly review and report on our progress and let you know how we are doing.

John McBrideElaine Atkinson

Chief ExecutivePortfolio Holder for Equality

and Social Inclusion

September 2009

Please contact Sue Newell, Corporate Equality Officer on 01202 633035 or email

for more information about our Scheme or to tell us what you think.

Contents

Page
Definitions of Equality and Diversity / 4
Our Fairness for All Commitment / 5
Our Vision for Fairer Outcomes / 5
What Informs Our Commitment / 6
Who Delivers Our Commitment / 6
Our Commitment Targets / 8
How We Will Check and Report How Well We Are Doing / 8
Delivering Our Commitment / 10
• Providing Council services and information in a way that
meets individual needs – simply, fairly and efficiently / 10
• Enabling people to influence decisions that affect their lives
and no community is hard to reach / 12
• Building strong, safe and inclusive communities where people
from all backgrounds come together … / 12
• Enabling people to trust and have confidence in us to tackle
discrimination, abuse and report prejudice incidents … / 13
• Services enabling people to fulfil their potential and make
choices about their lives and services they use / 14
• Being an employer of choice, promoting fair pay and equal
access to employment … / 15
How We Pay For This Work / 18
Sharing Our Approach and Welcoming Your Views / 18
Appendices
1. What Informs Our Commitment / 19
2. The Law / 24
3. Supporting Policies, Standards and Guidance / 25

Definitions

Equality

Equality is concerned with breaking down the barriers that block opportunities for certain groups of people, in society, the workplace, education and so on.

Equality schemes aim to identify and minimise the barriers that exclude people. They take action to ensure that everyone has equal access to all aspects of life and work.

Eliminating discrimination is important in achieving equality. It is not just the physical environment or poor policies that create barriers. It is also ways of working, attitudes and stereotypes about different groups of people.

Diversity

Everybody is different, with different needs and potential. Treating everybody in the same way fails to recognise the differences between people and can cause unfairness and inequality.

By recognising diversity and meeting different needs effectively, every individual has a better chance of being able to live and work in the way that is best for them.

Britain and Poole are made up of increasingly diverse communities. The Borough of Poole has a leadership role to play to make sure people from different backgrounds get on well and value each other, as well as in promoting the celebration of diversity in our local community.

Our Fairness for All Commitment

We are committed to taking action to:

•Advance equality of opportunity

•Foster good relations and positive attitudes towards all people

•Encourage participation in public life

•Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

•Take steps to meet the needs of disabled people, even if this requires ‘more favourable’ treatment.

Our ‘Fairness for All’ commitment covers promoting equality and celebrating diversity on the grounds of age1, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership1, pregnancy & maternity2, race, religion and belief, and sexual orientation. These are collectively known as the nine protected characteristics.Refer to Appendix 2 ‘Equality Act - The Law’..

We also recognise that people on very low incomes or that live in relative poverty may also experience inequality and reduced life chances. Other groups also need additional support or specialist services to achieve their aspirations. These include children looked after by the Council and carers. Our commitment extends to all people who live in and visit Poole.

Our commitment is recognised in our work with partners in Poole’s Sustainable Community Strategy. Our Corporate Plan ‘Striving for Excellence’ reflects the Council’s continued promise to promote ‘equality of opportunity’ as one of our values. This shapes everything the Council does.

Our Vision for Fairer Outcomes

We are committed to promoting equality and celebrating diversity in our town, services and workplace. The outcomes we want to see are:

  1. Council services and information provided in a way that meets individual needs – simply, fairly and efficiently
  1. People can influence decisions that affect their lives and no community is ‘hard to reach’
  1. Poole being a strong, safe and inclusive community where people from all backgrounds come together, get on well and diversity is celebrated
  1. People trust and have confidence in us to tackle discrimination, abuse and report prejudice incidents, and are happy with how we deal with it
  1. Services enable people to fulfil their potential and make choices about their lives and services3 they use
  1. We are an employer of choice for all our community; promote fair pay and equal access to employment, training and career development opportunities

Our vision has been shaped by consultation, local research, progress reviews, the Equality Framework for Local Government, best practice, legislation, inspections and performance measures.

1 This currently only applies to employment but if it becomes law in April 2012 for services and public functions itwill specifically apply to people over 18

2 Applies to employment

3 These may be directly provided by us or on our behalf by other organisations

What Informs Our Commitment

What you have / Inspections
Performance
told us
Indicators
Demographics
Fairness
for All
Scheme
Equality
Framework for
Progress reviews / Local Government
of equality work / Best Practice, Law

Our ‘Fairness for All’ commitment sets out how we will meet our duties under equality legislation. We aim, however, to carry out our work in the spirit of the law and go beyond the minimum legislative requirements.

Our ‘Fairness for All’ vision is shaped by our wider learning and experience over the last few years. Each of the above sources helps us identify issues that we need to address locally and is used in shaping and designing our service and action planning. Appendix 1 gives more detail.

In the life of this Scheme we recognise the need to involve people on an ongoing basis and to fill gaps in our knowledge. Our action plan sets out areas where we need to do this. We will regularly review new information and update it as a result.

Who Delivers Our Commitment

Everyone – our Councillors, employees, suppliers and contractors – is responsible for working together to meet all our Scheme’s commitments. All Councillors represent and need to reflect the needs of all parts of our community. However some people have specific responsibilities:

•Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Equality is the Member lead that makes sure that Cabinet embeds equality and diversity into our policies and culture

•The Equality Councillor Champion and Councillor Champions and leads for some protectedcharacteristics support the Portfolio Holder in their Cabinet role. They engage with specific communitygroups to better understand local needs, highlight issues and address concerns

•Chief Executive has overall leadership responsibility for the commitments in the ‘Fairness for All’ Scheme

•Strategic Directors are responsible for providing leadership and delivering consistent practice on the equality and diversity agenda across services

•Service Unit Heads are responsible for making sure that equality and diversity is considered in their service delivery and employment practice

•Line managers are responsible for making sure their teams are aware of the Council’s ‘Fairness for All’ commitments. They should provide support to achieving these and deliver good practice in their services and employment practice. They are also responsible for recruiting and employing people fairly.

We require all employees and Councillors to deliver our commitments by:

•Providing access to services, facilities and information

•Treating staff and customers fairly, with dignity and respect

•Reporting and responding to prejudice incidents and complaints in a positive, proactive way

•Meeting specific needs of service users, the public and those they work with.

We have an Equality Leadership Group. This is made up of:

•Chief Executive

•Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Equality

•Equality Councillor Champion

•Lead representative from the opposition parties

•Strategic Director with an Equality lead

•Head of Legal & Democratic Services

•Corporate Equality Officer.

This Group meets quarterly steer and monitor delivery of the equality objectives and performance targets. They recommend key decisions to Cabinet. The Corporate Equality Officer supports the Group by developing, co-ordinating and reporting on the corporate programme of work.

Each unit has an Equality Representative to champion issues in their service; the People Strategy Group meets quarterly and addresses HR related equality issues; and a Policy and Performance Officer Group will meet and further mainstream equality at the core of organisational strategy and policy. Corporate guidance and practice is shared via the intranet and e-learning portal.

Our Commitment Targets

The Equality Framework for Local Government is a national standard that helps us put in place processes to meet the needs of different people and our legal duties. It has three levels – ‘Developing’, ‘Achieving’1 and ‘Excellent’. We were externally assessed as ‘Achieving’ in September 2009.

By September 2012 we want to meet the ‘Excellent’ level of the Framework

We will also use a number of other national and local performance indicators to monitor progress, measure success and set improvement targets (see below). We will develop further equality-related targets as a result of Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs), which will be included in updates of our action plan.

Other examples of key success measures include:

•Achieve web accessibility standards accredited by disabled people from the Shaw Trust

•Responding to all prejudice incidents reported to the Council

•Increase number of domestic violence offenders brought to justice

•Increase the proportion of our employees from a Black and minority ethnic background

How We Will Check and Report How Well We Are Doing

We have six Overview and Scrutiny Committees that look at the effectiveness of our policies and practice in our service delivery. An additional committee exists for decisions that are ‘called-in’ or challenged. Each committee looks at equality issues in relation to their area of work.

In addition the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee has the overall responsibility for reviewing our work on equality. A report will be taken to them at least annually to enable them to assess progress and raise any issues.

We report to Cabinet on the performance indicators used to measure progress against our objectives every six months. We produce a full annual review to highlight achievements, assess progress and set future priorities.

We will be looking into how we can work with the Research Equality Network to help shape and scrutinise our equality work. The Network is made up of community and voluntary sector organisations with an interest, knowledge and understanding of equality issues.

We will also undertake external assessments against the Equality Framework.

Any performance issues will be referred to the Equality Leadership Group to investigate and take action on.

1 Level 3 of the former Equality Standard

Framework For Our Approach

Driven by:

Poole Partnership’s Sustainable Community Strategy

Striving For Excellence - our Corporate Plan

Legislation

Led by:

Equality Leadership Group

Implemented via:

Consistent Equality Impact Assessments and monitoring in all services and partnerships

Embedded through:

Service Unit Equality Champions

Planning and Performance Framework

Programme and Project Management

Customer Service Standards

Communications Guidance

Procurement Strategy

Asset Management Plan

Community Engagement Strategy

Research Governance

Workforce Plan

Appraisals

Training

Outlined in:

Equality specific guidance

Corporate guidance on the above areas

Support to employees:

Trade Union Representatives

Employee Groups

Chaplaincy

Scrutiny and Performance Management through:

Cabinet

Overview and Scrutiny Committees

Customer and community feedback

Progress reviews

Inspections and performance measures

Delivering Our Commitment

This section of the Scheme sets out our policy for delivering our commitment and identifies some of the areas for improvement and review following on from our first Promoting Equality, Respecting Diversity Scheme. Our action plan sets out in more detail what we intend to do over the next three years to further meet our commitments.

  1. Providing Council services and information in a way that meets individual needs – simply, fairly and efficiently

Our vision for customer service is to provide people with the highest quality services we can afford, in a way that meets their individual needs – simply, fairly and efficiently – at times and in places that are convenient and accessible.

Treating people fairly

We are committed to treating people fairly and according to their needs. We already have standards for our Customer Service Unit and all services are encouraged to work to them. The standards say that when you make contact with us we will:

•Be easy to deal with and provide quality responses to your queries

•Treat you fairly, equally and with respect

•Ensure your privacy in all your dealings with us

•Try to give you all the advice and information you need the first time you contact us

•Where appropriate, give you a case number or reference number and contact details relating to your enquiry

•Advise you of relevant timescales for responding to your enquiry

•Where it is not possible for us to meet the standards we have set, keep you updated on the progress with your enquiry and let you know when a full response can be provided

•Keep information on our website and in our reception areas up to date.

We aim to deliver the highest standard of service to all our customers. In return we ask you to:

•Help our employees to help you effectively by being patient when asked for information and by providing answers where you can

•Not use any foul or abusive language

•Let us know if you have any specific access needs

•Ask us to explain anything you are not sure of

•Arrive on time for appointments and tell us in advance if you are going to be late.

Access to information

We aim to provide our information in an accessible way. This means we will:

• Use plain English

10

•Follow our guidance on making printed information accessible and make it clear that we will help people understand the information and / or provide other formats, such as large print, Easy Read, audio tapes

•Provide access to services through BigWord written and telephone translation services and RNID’s Text Relay service for contacting deaf and speech-impaired customers by telephone

•Make arrangements for a sign language interpreter and other face to face language interpreters when necessary

•Use positive images that reflect all sectors of our local community

•Meet web-accessibility standards on boroughofpoole.com

We will review use of our intranet to improve employees’ access to information and improve access to translations and interpreting services.

Access to buildings

We audit buildings and facilities run by the Council for their disability access. We will work to ensure that people with physical disabilities are able to access and use our buildings and the surrounding environment using the same route as other people. Signage will be simple, clear and use symbols. Entry systems, reception points and meeting rooms will be adjusted for ease of access and communication.

All new and refurbished Council buildings will be fully accessible.

Access to meetings

We will make sure events and meetings are easy to access. We expect meeting organisers to ask people in advance if they have any special requirements such as diet, access or communication support. We ask people what their most suitable form of support is and then seek to arrange this. Where people need communications support, this will be provided. When food and drink is made available, special diets must be identified and catered for, different food separated and clearly labelled.

When people attend meetings we plan for emergency evacuations. Organisers must consider how best to evacuate disabled attendees.

Events, meetings, facilities and services must take account of people’s ability to get to them. This includes public transport links, disabled parking bays, slopes or steps around the building. When setting a date or time commitments such as caring responsibilities and religious holidays or Sabbaths, including the implications of fasting, should be considered.