Archived decisions

AGREEMENT OF THE GENDER EQUALITY SCHEME FOR PUBLICATION

1. The Equality Act 2006 places a duty to promote gender equality on the public sector (effective 6 April 2007) and this is known 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 of producing a Gender Equality Scheme by 30 April 2007 which describes how an organisation 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

2. In complying with the specific duty detailed above, the County Council convened a project group which includes the Executive Member for Human Resources. In pursuance of the Code of Practice, the project group agreed to publish a draft scheme by the end of April. In preparing the draft scheme, outcomes from a staff workshop held in February have been included.

3. The Cabinet considered the draft scheme for publication at its meeting on 23 April 2007 and highlighted the importance of all Members of the County Council being aware of their role and how they engage with local communities on issues relating to the County Council's duties to promote gender, race and disability equality through the Hampshire Action Teams (HATs).

4. The Cabinet approved the draft scheme for publication for a 14-week period of public consultation and it has been circulated for comment to the Compact network, other public service networks such as the Hampshire Strategic Partnership, and the Equality and Diversity Action Group as a means of cascading to staff. A number of staff focus groups will be convened in the autumn. Information gathered from the consultation exercise will inform a final scheme which will be published in November 2007.

5. The draft scheme can be viewed on the County Council's website at: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/equality/gender_equality_scheme.htm or a hard copy can be obtained by contacting Jane Goodwin, the Equality and Diversity Manager in the Chief Executive's Department.