Archived decisions
Gender Equality Scheme
Foreword
This is our first Gender Equality Scheme. It builds on our existing Race and Disability Equality Schemes as different parts of our wider Corporate Equality Plan, which explains how we intend to stop unlawful discrimination and promote equal opportunities for everyone. This is needed because some people may find it harder to get work and to use Council services on account of their race, ethnicity, disability, age, gender, sexual orientation or religion.
We want the actions we propose in this scheme to make a real difference to the lives of men and women who work and live in Hampshire. By taking this action, we will improve services for everyone.
Councillor Ken Thornber CBE Leader of Hampshire County Council
Peter Robertson Chief Executive
Councillor Jonathan Glen Executive Member for Human Resources
Introduction
Understanding the Gender equality journey
The need for equal treatment between men and women has been debated for many years and gradually the legal framework has responded. In the early 1900s the suffragette movement raised the profile and eventually women achieved the right to vote and take part in the democratic process. Women played a vital role in manufacturing industry during the second world war and in the 1960s the `womens liberation movement' continued to press for legal changes to improve equality for women. In 1970 the Equal Pay Act made it illegal to pay a woman less than a man for a job of equal value and in 1975 the Sex Discrimination said that a person must not be discriminated against on grounds of sex or marital status.
Changes since the 1970s
Then |
Now |
Only one in four of both boys and girls in England & Wales passed five O levels by the time they left school. |
49% of boys and 59% of girls in the UK gain five high grade GCSEs or equivalent by age 16. |
Nine out of ten men and six out of ten women of working age were in employment. |
Employment rates are 79% for men and 70% for women of working age |
Around one in ten professionals were women. |
Women hold two-fifths of professional jobs but just 17% are Directors or Chief Executives of major organisations |
The gap between women's and men's full-time hourly pay was 29%. |
Women earn on average 17% per hour less than men for full-time work. |
Half of mothers with dependent children worked, including over a quarter of mothers of under fives |
Two-thirds of mothers with dependent children work and 55% of those with children under five. |
There were only 27 women MPs or 4.3% of the UK Parliament. |
Women's representation in the UK Parliament has reached one in five. |
(taken from the EOC Facts about Women and Men 2006)
Since then the roles of men and women have changed and expectations are different.
The Gender equality Duty
Public bodies have an impact on the lives of most people and the Government expects them to take a lead. The Equality Act 2006 places a duty to `Promote Gender Equality' on the public sector. This is know as the Gender Equality Duty which has two parts:
The general duty places a legal duty on the County Council:
· to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment
· to promote equality of opportunity between men and women
The specific duty is to produce a Gender Equality Scheme which describes how the Council will meet the general duty by:
· identifying gender equality goals and actions to meet them, in consultation with employers and other stakeholders
· showing how it will monitor and review progress
An overview of Hampshire
The county of Hampshire is large, dynamic and successful, but some areas are relatively deprived and vulnerable.
Hampshire is the third-largest shire county, with 1.25 million residents in over 502,000 households. Covering 3,680 square kilometres, it is a diverse county with a mix of urban and large rural areas. Although less than 10% of the county is urban, 87% of the population live in urban areas such as the large towns of Aldershot, Andover, Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Fareham, Farnborough, Gosport, Havant and Winchester.
The remaining 90% or so of the county is rural, with large areas designated as national or international conservation areas. They include the new national park for the New Forest and the proposed one for the South Downs. We do not cover the port cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, which have their own City Councils. But they work closely with the rest of the county on transport connections, employment, travel-to-work issues, housing and economic needs.
We provide a range of services to people in the county, such as:
· libraries
· museums
· country parks
· education for children and adults
· social care services
· disposal of waste collected by District and Borough Councils
· planning transport
· maintaining public roads
· arts centres
· developing sport (leisure centres being run by District and Borough Councils or private organisations).
We also provide services with District and Borough Councils, the National Health Service (NHS) and other community-based organisations. Other public bodies in the county are preparing their own Gender Equality Schemes. We will do our best to make sure their and our services work together smoothly.
Councillors (elected by the public) have overall responsibility for our services. Their role is to help local people influence the way we make decisions. Over the coming year, the new Hampshire Action Teams will start to support councillors in leading communities and representing local people. In particular, they will ensure that services meet local needs, work with others in the area, and sort out problems that no-one else is dealing with.
How the scheme fits with our corporate priorities
Hampshire Safe and More Secure for All
Our overall priority is to make communities stronger and safer for all by:
· protecting vulnerable people
· making residential areas as safe as possible
· helping young people to live positive lives
· helping diverse communities to feel secure.
Although domestic violence is chronically under reported, national research estimates that it:
· accounts for 16% of all violent crime (Source: Crime in England and Wales 04/05 report)
· has more repeat victims than any other crime (on average there will have been 35 assaults before a victim calls the police)
· costs in excess of £23bn a year
· claims the lives of two women each week and 30 men per year
· is the largest cause of morbidity worldwide in women aged 19-44, greater than war, cancer or motor vehicle accidents
· will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime
As a result of this the Local Area Agreement has a priority action area to tackle domestic abuse and sexual violence. One of the performance measure is the number of partners who develop a policy framework to support staff who may experience this type of violence. We will also work with our partners to better understand how men and women may have different experiences of feeling safe.
Maximising Wellbeing
This priority is about maintaining and improving quality of life. We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to:
· support themselves financially
· be active in their community
· get the services they need
· have our support if things go wrong.
In Hampshire we have an ageing population and research shows that women live longer but are more likely to live on lower incomes due to historic pension differentials. One of the priorities in the Local Area Agreement is to improve the wellbeing of residents and a priority projects is looking at the needs of older people. Another priority in the Local Area Agreement relates to children & young people. We want them all to be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing. Attention will be paid to the different needs of boys and girls.
Enhancing our Quality of Place
This priority is about making the county a good place to be by:
· protecting the differences between local areas
· making sure we have excellent facilities
· respecting Hampshire's heritage
· planning for the future.
We play a big role in conserving our heritage. This scheme aims to make it easier for everyone to use our country parks, museums and other services. To do this we need to understand more about whether there are different expectations or experiences from men an women who use these services. We do know that women are more likely to use public transport and also that they tend to make multiple journeys including to child care and shops.
Equality standard for local government
Driving equality forward between 2007 and 2010
In order to deliver our overall commitments on equality and diversity, the County Council has adopted the Equality Standard for Local Government. The Equality Standard includes the six equality areas covered by law; race, disability, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age.
The Equality Standard is not a legal requirement but has been produced to provide a framework through which local authorities can meet their legal obligations under anti-discrimination legislation. It has five levels of achievement:
Level 1 Commitment to a comprehensive Equality Policy
Level 2 Assessment and consultation
Level 3 Setting equality objectives and targets
Level 4 Using information systems and monitoring against equality targets
Level 5 Achieving and reviewing outcomes
The aim of Standard is to make equality and diversity part of our day to day activities. We have currently achieved level 2 of the Standard and is actively working towards the higher levels of the standard.
This gender scheme is one of three equality schemes which is key to meeting our equality duties. The Council also recognises that gender for some people may just be one area which affects their lives and that people may also be affected by other factors such as race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and/or age.
Developing the scheme - gathering information
A small project group led by Councillor Jonathan Glen, executive member for Human Resources, was set up to guide the project. The first step was to consider existing information and then identify gaps. It became clear that there was data available about employment issues but very little relating to service provision. A workshop with over 50 other member of staff was held to further develop ideas and an area for development is a common understanding of `what gender equality means in the 21st century'. The outcomes from the workshop assisted us to identify barriers which may limit achievement of equal treatment between men and women.
Trade union involvement
This Scheme has been developed in consultation with the Council's Trades Unions in that it has been the subject of consultation with the Joint Consultative Group and trades union representatives have been members of the corporate Project Group, the Equality & Diversity Action Group and participants in the above-mentioned workshop activity.
Gender Equality in Employment
What we already know
We monitor and publish gender data in the following areas:
· existing staff
· applicants for jobs, promotion and training
· grievances
· receiving disciplinary action
· receiving benefits or penalties when we appraise their performance
· being trained
· leaving the Council.
To see the full report http://www3.hants.gov.uk/equality/policy-guide/policy-plan/monitoring-report.htm
Staff by Gender |
Sept 2006 |
Male |
23.49% |
Female |
76.51% |
Percentage of full time and part time staff, year on year.
2004-5 |
2005-6 |
Half Year 2006/7 Sept 2006 | |
Full Time Staff |
47.5% |
49.1% |
48.25% |
Part Time Staff |
52.5% |
51.9% |
51.75% |
BV 11a - The percentage of top 5% of earners that are women
Corporate Figures
2004-2005 performance |
2005 - 2006 Estimated |
2005 -2006 Target |
37.4 |
38.5 |
37.5 |
Research undertaken in 2004 which looked at barriers to progression faced by women in social care indicated that the areas for concern were people-management practices. It also highlighted that to achieve a successful career it was important to have a positive experience of being managed. Further areas for concern were flexible working and the inconsistency of practice that existed in the then Social Services department. There was only a little evidence that differential treatment was related to gender.
An external equality review undertaken in 2006 found that:
"There is also a belief that, because there are women represented at senior levels and there has been a Springboard gender equality initiative that gender issues are all solved and women have equality with men."
Mori Staff survey shows that women are less likely to speak positively about the Council.
The outcomes from the workshop held in February referred to above, together with National guidance from the Equal Opportunities Commission, indicates that barriers to equality in employment within Hampshire are likely to include:
Recruitment and selection -
decisions made based on stereotypical perceptions
occupational segregation
advertising and image
Training and Development needs -
to understand and promote gender equality
personal skills and confidence development
Promotion and career development -
part time and full time roles not equally valued
equal access to development opportunities
Pay and pay structures -
historic lack of transparency of pay system
perceived need for a more modern pay and reward system
Working time arrangements -
inconsistent application of flexible working arrangements
perceived culture of "presenteeism"
Working conditions and the working environment -
does the Council adequately address bullying and sexual harassment?
are polices relating to return to work following maternity leave and the "right to ask" applied consistently?
What will we do to improve
The action plan will identify actions which aim to address these areas. Our approach to equality in employment is described the equalities in employment policy http://www3.hants.gov.uk/equality/policy-guide/employ.htm . This policy became part of out terms and conditions of employment in 2003 and will be reviewed toward the end of the time of this scheme i.e. 2010 so that it reflects the results of the current equality schemes.
Many of the policies to support flexible working and dignity at work are also in place. However, the initial feedback indicates that there is not a consistent approach to implementation across the Council. A key action, therefore, is to promote these policies and encourage a flexible and respectful working culture. Although we do collect data on gender we do not routinely break down all staff data reports in terms of gender so this is an area for improvement.
Equal Pay Review
The Single Status Agreement, which came into force in 1997, affected the way in which former manual workers were paid, removing certain bonus schemes, and simplifying their pay structure. As a result of this, they were brought into the Job Evaluation Scheme, and re-graded. This work has been undertaken through the Pay and Benefits project which has worked closely with Trades Unions. In reality this project has been an equal pay review and the results are in the process of being implemented.
One of the final stages of the project is to develop an equal pay policy and to establish systems which will undertake equal pay review on a regular basis.
Training Employees on Equality and Diversity
An Equality and Diversity Training strategy was approved in October 2004. The purpose of the plan is to provide managers and employees with the skills and knowledge they need to ensure that equality becomes part of our day to day activities. The plan will also help to create a culture where diversity is truly valued and is seen as an asset to help deliver all the Council's objectives.
Management and Leadership competencies have recently been agreed and understanding of equality and diversity are integral. Training is essential to ensure that these become embedded into the culture of the Council. The current approach to equality and diversity training is being revised to reflect the latest legal changes and also to support the implementation of the competencies.
Gender Equality in Services
Equality and diversity are seen as central to the provision of all County Council services. Our approach is described in the equality in service delivery policy http://www3.hants.gov.uk/equality/policy-guide/svc-del.htm. Initial evidence shows that we do not know as much about the gender breakdown of our service users as we do about our staff. In order to get a better understanding of how our services are accessible to women and men we will seek further data on the satisfaction and take up levels of services by gender. This will assist us to:
· Assess whether there is an adverse impact by gender in the provision of a service or planned service
· identify actions to address any inequality, disadvantage or discrimination
· Encourage women and/or men to use our services where evidence shows that either gender have a low level of take up of particular services.
Consultation
Consultation with the Council's Trades Unions has been ongoing since publication of the Equality Act 2006, as set out above. In addition, internal consultation has taken place in the form of seminars to the Council's Senior Managers, the HR Service and the Legal Practice.
Further consultation has been limited so far and needs to be a key action in scheme. Publish draft scheme for 14 weeks consultation period; Staff focus groups work with CAH & voluntary sector. Need to see how residents survey can provide gender data. What data does each dept hold?
Putting the scheme into action
The Corporate Equality and Diversity Action Group is led by a Cabinet member, Councillor Roy Perry, and the Deputy Director for Children's Services, John Clarke. This group has been working for the last 6 years to improve equality in every department. The people involved will make sure that every department identifies specific actions for their services, based on this scheme.
We will continue to measure performance against these plans, and report the results annually to the Corporate Management Team and Cabinet.
We will review progress with this scheme from May 2008, and agree a revised scheme by December 2010.
Assessing the impact of services on different groups
For three years, public bodies have been working to fulfil their general duty to promote equality. An important part of that duty is assessing how services affect different groups. Policies, services and strategies do not usually discriminate unlawfully on purpose; they just do not cover a wide enough range of needs. `Equality impact assessment' is a way to:
· find out whether a policy, service or strategy will disadvantage any particular group
· try to remove the long-term problem of 'institutional discrimination' from the public sector
· ensure that policies, services and strategies do not discriminate unlawfully against different people.
We have already done some assessments through the work on the Race and disability schemes and so we already have systems in place. Many of these assessments have considered gender issues but the work undertaken in preparation for this scheme has highlighted further areas for consideration. As a result we will revisit the areas of highest impact on gender equality and review the equality impact assessments.
Publishing the scheme
The scheme will be one section of the Corporate Equality Plan. It will be on our web site (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/equality/latest-news.htm) and available in various other formats. We will send copies to community groups, libraries and information centres and find other ways to make sure disabled people know about the scheme.
Monitoring the scheme
The appendix shows our action plan for the scheme. This is based on research and a diverse range of views, as described above.
We will report progress annually to the Corporate Management Team and Cabinet, as described above. In the first year we will set up an external monitoring group to help to monitor the scheme. We will review the scheme in 2009.
To find out more about this scheme, please contact:
Jane Goodwin
Equality and Diversity Manager
Hampshire County Council
Elizabeth II Court
Winchester SO23 8UJ
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01962 847789
Mobile or text: 07793758823
Textphone: 0808 100 24 84