Archived decisions

Contact: Jane Goodwin - 01962 847789; 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 2006 and the annual assessment of the Council's performance against the Equality Standard for Local Government.

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. Recommendations

That Cabinet

a) Agree the proposal to merge the equality schemes into one by October 2007.

b) Agree the approach proposed to ensure that all Members understand the Hampshire Business Case for Diversity.

c) Agree the proposal to engage with diverse communities at a local level and contribute to the consultation for the Gender Equality Scheme.

3 National developments

3.1.1 The Equality Act 2006 is now being implemented in stages. From 6^th April 2007 the Council is covered by the duty to promote Gender Equality. The Council agreed and published a draft Gender Equality Scheme at the end of April.

3.1.2 The new Commission of Equality and Human Rights will be established in October 2007 and the Chair has been confirmed as Trevor Phillips. This appointment means that the Commission for Race Equality will join the new commission from the onset instead of waiting until 2009.

3.1.3 Regulations have now been agreed by Parliament which require service providers not to refuse to provide a service to a person on grounds of their sexual orientation, religion or belief.

3.2 The Equalities Review which was led by Trevor Phillips has published it's final report. The aims of this review were to:

· provide an understanding of the long term and underlying causes of disadvantage that need to be addressed by public policy

· make practical recommendations on key policy priorities for Government, the public sector, trade unions, civic society and voluntary sector

· to inform the modernisation of equality legislation

3.2.1 In the final report "Fairness and Freedom" it is clear that public bodies will be expected to play a major part in achieving greater equality:

"...public institutions and public leaders carry a profound responsibility to create the conditions that will liberate the aspirations of those trapped by persistent disadvantage."

It takes a critical look at the impact which legislation has had over the past 30 years and recommends a 10 step approach which will focus on ends and not means. This approach includes

· A simplified legal framework - single Equality Act

· More accountability through a single equality duty

· Use public procurement positively

3.3 Strong & Prosperous Communities - the Government White Paper has a number of elements which link to the equality and diversity agenda. It clearly expects Councils to demonstrate that they can deliver better and more efficient services. They must also show that they are ready to make a fundamental change in attitudes and cultures, engaging citizens and working with their partners in new ways. There is a strong emphasis on empowering communities and community cohesion is also a key feature. Cohesion issues are to be locally determined. In response to this it is essential for the County Council to create a local vision of cohesion and to link this with the sustainable community strategy.

4. Progress with the Equality and Diversity Improvement Plan 2006-07

4.1 This plan was developed in response to the external review and clear outcomes agreed. These outcomes now form the basis for a three year plan (2006-2009) with detailed actions identified each year. Focus during 2006-2007 has been to develop and publish the statutory disability, gender and revised race equality schemes and further embed equality impact assessment within each department.

4.2 The Corporate Management Team identified that the Equality and Diversity work within the Council had become stuck in a process driven approach mainly as a result of the bureaucratic demands of the legislation . As a result they have agreed a clear business case for diversity which clearly expects the focus to move beyond process and towards effective outcomes for diverse communities, see Appendix 1 for details. This approach has enabled each department to be clear about how addressing equality and diversity in the mainstream of their functions contributes to overall service improvement.

4.3 Other key actions related to staff and community engagement. Work has started to develop external and internal reference groups and this will continue in partnership with Community Action Hampshire and other voluntary bodies. We are planning to run staff focus groups later this year with a view to consulting on our plans to develop a single equality scheme. Links are being made with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered groups by linking with Hampshire Constabulary who coordinate a consultative forum.

4.4 Community Cohesion is being addressed initially through the work of the Interfaith Network which started in January 2006 and during the past year has begun to establish regular meetings. This network is chaired jointly by Councillor Roy Perry and Peer Jada Qureshi. The Youth service is working with the Youth Council to develop a youth interfaith forum and there are close links between both groups.

5. Performance assessments

5.1 Each department produced an action plan in response to the improvement plan and reported on progress at the annual performance meeting on 27^th March 2007. The performance reports received showed good progress with every department actively engaged with the impact assessment process. As a result further actions have been identified in particular a review of the Impact Assessment process to make it more user friendly and outcome focussed.

5.2 Major organisational change in a number of departments has hindered progress as staff transferred roles. However these departments have taken the opportunity to further embed equality and diversity into the business processes e.g. Children and Young People's Plan identifies specific groups for disadvantaged groups.

5.3 A summary of achievements was presented to the Equality and Diversity Seminar on 25^th April, please see appendix 1 for details. In addition the full reports can be found on the Equality and Diversity website http://intranet.hants.gov.uk/equality/group/perf_reports.htm and departments are in the process of publishing summary impact assessment reports on a dedicated external web page http://www3.hants.gov.uk/impactassessments .

5.4 Overall we have seen improvement in using impact assessment as a way of identifying actions which will lead to improved outcomes for diverse communities. There is a definite improvement in the reporting and evidencing of progress.

6. The Equality Standard for Local Government

6.1 Last year it was agreed that the Council would consolidate work at level 2 and focus on embedding impact assessment. The Value for Money audit in November 2006 commented that "The Council embraces equality and diversity and has a robust and improving framework to assure it.... The Council has an effective cross-council equalities group which has been restructured to include councillors."

The report acknowledges that the Council is making steady progress in the Equalities Scheme and comments on the progress we have made to consolidate level 2 and that the Council is very keen to `do it properly' rather than `win a badge'. However the report goes on to say that

"This is commendable but the benefits of achieving level 3, in terms of community leadership, should not be underestimated and the Council needs to maintain pressure internally to assure achievement by April 2007"

6.2 The evidence presented in the end of year reports indicates that we are clearly achieving at level 2 and expect to achieve level 3 by October 2007.

7. Future plans

7.1 The impact assessment process is being refined in response to the experiences of departments and this will improve the way that services reflect equality and diversity in their business plans. It will also focus on identifying outcomes and monitoring progress.

7.2 Through the work of the Local Area Agreement Priority H there will be further work with partners to improve communication and engagement with diverse groups of people. This will be achieved by supporting the Diversity Networks project through Community Acton Hampshire and Winchester Area Community action.

7.3 In line with the National developments it is proposed that the Council use the opportunity created by the current consultation on the Gender Equality Scheme to merge the different equality schemes into one scheme by October 2007. This would also provide an opportunity to make clear statements of how Community Cohesion, Social Cohesion and Equality and Diversity are all brought together under the Corporate value of:

`Removing barriers to opportunity and improving choice for all'

An important element will be understanding the views of staff on how the Council fulfils it's commitment to ensuring equality in employment engagement. This will be achieved through a series of focus groups with a range of staff across the County which will be held in the autumn.

7.4 An important area of development for the Council is to improving community engagement. There are a number of existing methods for understanding the needs of diverse communities through voluntary and district based groups. Steps will be taken this year to ensure that as the County Council develops approaches aimed at improving community engagement links are made with these groups.

7.5 Some work has begun to understand issues relating to Community Cohesion (see 3.4). This work will continue during this year. An area to be considered is the changing demographics of the County. In a County with very high employment rates it is not surprising to see an increase in workers from the Eastern European countries mainly working in agriculture, building, caring and hospitality industries. Information is based on anecdotes and there is no clear data about the nature and needs of these communities. In response to many requests for information the Council is organising a seminar in May where a number of partner organisation will share information and agree a way forward to improve the understanding of the nature and needs of these communities.

7.6 Services which are delivered through contractors and other partners must ensure that they are operating in a way that reflects the Councils standards and expectations on equality and diversity. The procurement process does require evidence that this happens and this approach will now be strengthened to ensure that services delivered by others organisations will be monitored regularly.

8. The Role of Members

8.1 Members are already involved in ensuring that equality and diversity matters are considered through their portfolio briefs and scrutiny committees. Councillor Roy Perry has the lead responsibility for equality and diversity on behalf of Cabinet. At the April Cabinet meeting is was agreed that Members should take an active role in ensuring that their local activities support the consultation for the Gender Equality Scheme and develop ways to engage with the development of the single equality scheme.

8.2 The development of the Hampshire Action Teams (HATs) aims to ensure that the County is listening to and taking account of local needs and issues in its local services and working with their partners to make improvements wherever they are needed and possible. Understanding the diverse needs of communities is critical to achieving this and the Hampshire Business Case for Diversity can assist. Some HATs have already held discussions with local communities and the responses are being collated. Every effort has been made to be as inclusive as possible. It is important to build on this good practice and it is therefore suggested that:

· The Gender Equality Scheme be considered by each HAT and any responses be sent to Jane Goodwin.

· The Cabinet Diversity champion facilitate a Member equality and diversity group.

· There is an agenda item on a Member briefing to explain the Hampshire Business case for Diversity by September 2007.

· Each HAT consider nominating a lead member to take responsibility for supporting the HAT Chairman in driving equality, diversity and inclusion issues

o this Member could then be part of the Member equality group

9. Financial implications

There is a budget of £20,000 which supports the work of the Equality and Diversity Action. This has supported a number of projects in the past year and also enabled external reference groups to be set up.

10. Legal Implications

10.1 This work enables the Council to meet it's statutory duties on Human Rights requirements on human rights, race, age, sexual orientation, gender, disability and religion.

11. Personnel implications

None

12. Impact Assessment

This report has a high impact on all areas of equality and includes actions required to continue to improve the way that the Council meets the needs of different people.

13. Crime Prevention implications.

It is essential to address Community Cohesion and each of the duties expect the Council to take steps to eliminate harassment on grounds of race, gender and disability. The Council will want to be aware of the Hate Crime initiative that Hampshire Constabulary are leading.

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