Contact: Jane Goodwin 8 252 8823, [email protected]; Ron Kane 8 335 3917, [email protected]

1. Summary (Executive or Introductory)

1.1 The purpose of this report is to present the draft Gender Equality Scheme for Cabinet to approve so that the scheme may be published for public consultation by the required date of 30^th April 2007.

1.2 This supports the following corporate priorities, Maximising Wellbeing and Enhancing Quality of Place, by actively seeking to promote equality between men and women and compliance with the statutory Gender Equality duty .

2. Recommendations

That Cabinet:

a) Agree that the actions identified in the Gender Equality Scheme reflect the intention of the County Council to promote Gender Equality and therefore the scheme may be published for public consultation.


b) That all elected Members are aware of their role in ensuring that the views of their constituents are sought on the proposals described in the scheme so that the final scheme is effective and serves to improve the lives of men and women in Hampshire.

3. Background:

3.1 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 with effect from 6^th April 2007. This is know as the Gender Equality Duty which has two parts:

The general duty:

· 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 by 30^th April 2007 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

4. The approach taken in response

4.1 The development of this scheme is being led by the Human Resources Department supported by the Equality and Diversity Manager and a project group which includes the Executive Member for Human Resources Councillor Jonathan Glen. A workshop was held in February which included over 50 other members of staff from across the Council and the outcomes of that work have been included in the draft scheme.

4.2 Through the work so far it has become clear that the gender implications for staff are easier to identify than those relating to services which are delivered by the Council. Therefore a key area for activity is to find out more about the gender breakdown of our services.

4.3 Due to the very short time since the Code of Practice was published the project group agreed to publish a draft scheme by the end of April. This would then allow for public consultation over a period of fourteen weeks. Information gathered from consultation would inform a final scheme which will be published in November 2007.

4.4 This scheme is now presented to Cabinet for their perusal

and comments.

5. Legal implications

5.1 Under the Equality Act 2006 public bodies must show how they will promote equality of opportunity for men and women The County Council's Gender Equality Scheme is a response to that duty and will ensure that we meet our legal requirements

6. Financial implications

6.1 None as a direct result of this presentation although there are likely to be financial implications linked to some of the agreed actions.

7. Personnel implications

7.1 None

8. Impact assessment

8.1 This scheme has a high impact on all areas of equality and diversity. A partial

assessment identifies the need to find out more about gender difference in different racial, disability and faith groups. Further work is required and will be undertaken during the consultation period.

9. Crime prevention issues

9.1 The impact that domestic abuse may have on our staff is an area for consideration. It is also known that women are likely to be more concerned about going out after dark than men and this is another area for consideration. The duty to eliminate harassment is likely to impact on the reporting of hate crimes to the Police.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, it based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None