Contact: Jane Goodwin, tel: 01962 813866; e.mail: [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 This report intends to inform Cabinet of the progress with the Equality and Diversity improvement plan which was agreed in May 2005, the annual assessment of the Council's performance against the Equality Standard for Local Government and the outcome of the external review.

1.2 The report also advises Cabinet of actions required to achieve continued improvement to ensure that the Council meets statutory requirements on human rights, race, age, sexual orientation, gender, disability and religion as well as continued progress towards level 3 of the Equality Standard.

2. National developments

2.1. From December 2006 The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 will be amended to place a duty on all public bodies to promote disability equality.

The Disability Equality Duty will require the public sector to actively promote disability equality. This is similar to the duty to promote race equality under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act. It is a positive duty which aims to build disability equality into the beginning of any process, rather than make adjustments at the end. It will bring about a shift from a legal framework which relies on individual disabled people complaining about discrimination to one in which the public sector becomes a proactive agent of change. This duty requires public bodies to publish a Disability Equality Scheme by December 2006.

2.2 In February this year the Equality Act gained royal assent, paving the way for a new 'one-stop shop' for advice on employers' and individuals' rights and duties under discrimination law. Under the Act, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) will bring together the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission from October 2007.

The Commission for Racial Equality will join in 2009, putting expertise on equality, diversity and human rights all in one place.

2.2.1 The Act also introduces a new gender duty, which will require public bodies to take account of the different needs of men and women to ensure equality of opportunity when preparing policies or providing services. This duty requires public bodies to publish a Gender Equality Scheme by April 2007. A major feature will relate to equal pay.

2.2.2 Currently there are employment regulations which prohibit discrimination on grounds of religion or belief this Act extends this requirement to the provision of goods, services, education and the exercise of public functions. The definition of religion or belief has been amended to include `lack of belief'. The Act also allows the Government to put forward regulations which make similar changes on grounds of sexual orientation.

2.3 The revised Comprehensive Performance Assessment has a key element which relates to `User focus and diversity'. Further guidance has been published which explains this requirement in more detail and diversity is now threaded through the self assessment documentation. The authority will need to show that it has actively engaged with people from different user groups to understand and respond to their diverse needs.

3. Progress with the Equality and Diversity Improvement Plan

3.1 The Corporate Equality group has been restructured, renamed as the Equality and Diversity Action Group (EDAG) and merged with the DDA Officer Member working group. This group is now a joint Officer Member group and is chaired by Cllr Roy Perry and John Clarke (Deputy Director Children's services). Meetings now focus on either Performance or Development. There have been four project groups which have focussed on specific action.

3.2 Developing the revised Race Equality Scheme. The revised scheme is a result of the activity in each department in response to the review in 2005 and identified in the CMT report last May. The revised scheme (Appendix 1) will be published on the external web site by the end of May. Please send comments to [email protected] .

3.3 Developing the Disability Equality Scheme. A steering group was set up involving disabled people from external organisations and staff as well as officers with key responsibility for services to disabled people. The draft scheme (Appendix 2) will be published at the end of May. There will then be a County wide consultation programme in partnership with other public bodies in the County between June and October. Feedback from this exercise will enable the Council to publish the final scheme by the end of November. Impact assessment is a key requirement of this duty and each department will be required to screen their functions for relevance to the Disability duties by October. Please send comments to [email protected]

3.4. Communication. A communication strategy has been developed and the first step was to agree an image that could be used to represent diversity in Hampshire. A local artist designed an illustration that will be used in a variety of ways to promote equality and diversity internally and externally. An action plan is being developed for the next year which will begin to raise awareness across the Council and with our partners.

3.5 Training. This project group aims to identify corporate priorities for training each year. The main priority has been impact assessment training and the role out of the e.learning to all Council staff. As many staff do not have access to IT systems and e.learning is not compatible with accessible software a paper version was developed and is now available in a range of formats to ensure fair and equal access. Priority training for the next year is for all staff to undertake e.learning and a course to understand how to apply this learning. Impact assessment training will continue to ensure that the Council meets its statutory requirement.

These project groups will continue to operate for the next year.

4. Performance assessments

4.1 The target for year 2005-06 was to focus on race and equality impact assessment and staff training. Each department presented a progress report at the end of March 2006. This was the first step towards more robust scrutiny of performance.

4.2 These reports show that considerable progress has been made by each department despite major changes in two large departments. There are many initiatives which show how equality and diversity is considered in the work of each department, see Appendix 3 for further details. Action on Race and Equality Impact assessment has begun with some departments reporting significant progress.

4.3 The external review consultant has scrutinised all the reports and given detailed feedback. The report suggests that performance continues to improve and recommends that the efforts being made by the Council are sustained.

4.4 The appointment of the Equality and Diversity Learning Consultant has had a major impact on this progress by providing specialist impact assessment training and also follow up consultancy. All staff are required to complete the basic electronic training and departments have commissioned a range of courses to assist staff put the policies into practice.

5. An external perspective

5.1 The report to CMT in May 2005 stated that an external assessment to achieve level 3 was to be undertaken. At the interim performance meeting it was clear that the Council would not achieve level 3 by April 2006. Therefore the review that was commissioned focused on a `health check' to see how an external person would view Council performance.

5.2 Dr Di Parkin reviewed a range of documents, held a focus group with 15 front line staff and conducted interviews with 20 other staff. Overall the report shows some examples of excellent practice and continued improvement. The report also makes some recommendations for improvement ( see 7.1).

5.4 The report was discussed by the Corporate Management Team and the Director of Adult Services will be leading a small task group to interpret the recommendations of the report into practical actions for the Council

5.5 Another external perspective was provided by the research undertaken by Birmingham University on our approach to the DDA. Hampshire was on of six case study authorities and the final report will be published by the ODPM in June. A confidential report has also been written for the Council highlighting key issues for Hampshire. The main areas for action relate to improving the effectiveness of consultation with disabled people and the employment opportunities for disabled staff.

5.5.1 There will be the opportunity for Council staff and community groups to hear from the researchers at briefings to be arranged in September.

6. Employment

6.1 Human Resources has continued to make progress with recording and reporting staff diversity data. Further action has been taken to update the data and the current report shows slight increases in the number of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds. All areas required by the Race Relations Amendment Act can now be reported on. In order to ensure that this work is integrated into the overall workforce planning process a report analysing the data will be presented to HR management team in May.

6.3 Detailed research has been undertaken to understand the diversity monitoring data and to propose actions for improvement. To support this the Resourcing centre has developed an Equality and Diversity Recruitment Strategy. Amongst the action proposed is for Human Resources to work with local community groups to raise the profile of the authority as an employer who values diversity and to ensure that managers involved with recruitment understand what they need to do to make a real difference in the workplace.

7. The Equality Standard for Local Government

7.1 The end of year performance reports provide clear evidence that performance meets level 2 of the Standard. The Dialog consultant report includes advice on action required to reach level 3. To achieve level 3 significant progress on impact assessment must be shown and at least 70% of the high priority functions must be completed. Therefore, continued focus on impact assessment is required and outcomes of the assessments need to include measurable targets. Attention is also required to ensure a more coordinated approach to consultation with excluded groups.

7.2 The requirement for BVPI 2a is `has the authority adopted the Equality Standard'. Progress through the levels is an indication that action is being taken but there is no target date by which authorities should achieve level 5. The Council has taken an approach to work incrementally through the levels and each year it is shown to be much harder than originally seen. There is also a requirement that claims of level 3 should be verified by external assessors which is likely to cost £10,000.

7.3 The Comprehensive Performance Assessment is very clear that authorities must meet statutory requirements on human rights, race, gender, disability, age, religion and sexual orientation. Time is needed to ensure that the measures required in the Equality Standard match those required in the CPA and therefore, it is recommended that the BVPI target for 2006-07 is to consolidate action at level 2 of the Standard. This has been agreed by CMT and the focus for the next year must be on completion of impact assessments, staff training and community engagement with excluded groups.

8. Financial matters

8.1 The budget which was agreed last year has enabled the project groups to take action. It has also supported the work of the Equality and Diversity Action group. A small budget has been agreed for 2006-07 and this will be used to publish the Race and Disability Schemes, support the County wide consultation, continue the communication work and support specific departmental equality projects.

9. Potential risk of non compliance

9.1 It has been shown clearly this past year through the experiences of another County Council that the Council needs to maintain action on equality and diversity otherwise there would be a number of risks:-

Financial: the potential costs of Employment Tribunal or Civil Court claims even where the Council is successful in settlement before a hearing.

Reputation: Adverse publicity that will follow any complaint or claim

Performance

Assessment: It has been made very clear by the Audit Commission that retention of `Excellent' status is likely to be challenging and activity on diversity is a key element of Corporate Performance Assessment

10. Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1. Agree the Race Equality Scheme and draft Disability Equality Scheme for publication and consultation.

2. Discuss the HR staff monitoring report, Equality and Diversity Recruitment Strategy, and outcomes of external review report in more detail.

3. Agree the commitment to Equal Pay

4. Agree that the Council focus action on consolidating level 2 of the Equality Standard during the forthcoming year paying particular attention on continued action to complete race and equality impact assessments and engagement with excluded groups.

5. Continue to ensure that all Council decisions show proper consideration of impact of the diverse communities in Hampshire.