Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This report informs Cabinet of the results of the Council's performance against the Equality Standard for Local Government and asks for cabinet agreement to seek external validation of the self assessment

1.2. This report also asks Cabinet to agree the revised Equality Scheme and Improvement Plan .

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. Actions taken by each department to gather evidence against the Equality Standard.

2.2. Key points from the Equality Scheme and Improvement Plan

2.3. .

3) Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

3.1. Cabinet agree that the Council should proceed and seek external validation of the Equality Standard level 3 self assessment

3.2. Cabinet agree the revised Equality Scheme and Improvement Plan .

3.3. Cabinet ensures that all decisions take account of impact on diverse communities.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. The purpose of this report is to inform Cabinet of the results of the Council's performance against the Equality Standard for Local Government and to present a revised Equality Scheme with Improvement Plan which has resulted from the assessment

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. The Council has been working towards level 3 of the Equality Standard for the past two years . when the annual equality report was presented to Cabinet in May 2007 it was agreed that the Council would undertake a comprehensive self assessment across all departments in order to achieve level 3 by the end of 2008. A trial assessment at the end of 2007 identified areas for improvement which were acted upon and revised assessments were presented to the Equality and Diveristy Action Group (EDAG) in September 2008. This showed that the Council had sufficient evidence across all departments to show level 3 activity. The equality group (EDAG), chaired by Councillor Roy Perry, has recommended that the Council should now proceed with an external validation by the IDEA as soon as possible.

2.2. The Equality Standard is being revised in line with the approach of the Comprehensive Area Assessment and renamed the Equality Framework. This will have 3 levels of achievement i.e. Emerging, Achieving and Excellent. Authorities who have secured external validation at level 3 will automatically move across to the new framework at the Achieving level. The validation approach consists of a written submission and an onsite 2 day visit by peer assessors.

2.3. A key feature of the level 3 requirements is the production of an equality plan resulting from the outcomes of equality impact assessments. The Council has had a very comprehensive policy and planning approach with annual reviews for a number of years. However, there have been many national and local developments and the assessment has provided an opportunity to revise and update our Equality strategy and policy framework.

2.4. Currently, the Council has three equality schemes in place which relate to our statutory duties to promote race, disability and gender equality. The law is due to change with the introduction of a Single Equality Act early in 2009. This law will draw together existing equality related legislation and introduce a duty on public bodies to promote equality on grounds of age, disability, gender (including transgender), race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. Although our existing Equality Strategy does cover all these areas the separate equality schemes can sometimes confuse rather than clarify our approach. Therefore, a single equality scheme has been developed. This was published for consultation in July 2008 and the amended version is presented to cabinet for approval along with an improvement plan which sets out our strategic aims and actions for the next 3 years. See Appendix 1 and 2

2.5. The areas for improvement have been identified through the following activities:

a) Outcomes of Equality Impact Assessment across departments

b) Community and Staff focus groups

c) Analysis of staff monitoring data

d) Consultation with:- other public bodies in Hampshire; Voluntary and Community groups and County Council Departments

e) Involvement of Elected Members i.e the HATs diversity champions

3) Key points from The Equality Scheme and Improvement plan

3.1 The Scheme sets out a new vision for the Council

"Hampshire County Council values diversity, respects individual rights and expects others to take personal responsibility to do the same"

3.2 To achieve this we have agreed the following aims:

· We will do our best to tackle inequality and the causes of inequality.

· We will take steps to counter the effects of barriers which may have led to under-representation of certain groups within our workforce and those people who use our service.

· Where certain people may feel they have been prevented from making their needs known to us we will work with partners to build capacity in different communities to enable them to understand the role of the County Council and encourage them to make their views known.

3.2 It provides a number of examples of achievements e.g.

· The development of the Interfaith Network

· Capacity building in Black & Minority Ethnic Communities

· The work through the Diveristy Networks Project based in Community Action Hampshire to establish links with different equality groups across the County

· The work to improve access to our buildings

· Accessible bus stops through the ZIP priority bus corridor

· The work in libraries to reach out to different communities such as the Visually impaired reading group

· How we use our contracts to promote equality and diversity such as the recent highways tender

· Support for schools to respond to the equality duties by producing guidance and a template

3.3 This is what we need to do next and this forms the basis for the improvement plan

_ Build Capacity and confidence

· With diverse communities & people

· With staff to improve their understanding

_ Gather and use information more effectively

· Make sure there is data on needs of different groups

· Involve diverse communities

_ Implementating our plans

· Actions in current schemes

· Improve diversity of workforce at all levels

· Equality impact assessments

_ Promote Equality with partners

· LAA and Third sector

· Make sure that contracts include equality clause

_ Promote culture change

· Improve internal equality group

· Raise awareness with staff - communications

· Make sure staff have the right skills - training

4) Key Issues

4.1. The success of the improvement plan is dependent on commitment from all parts of the Council. Increasingly our performance is dependent on partners and so we have a role to ensure that others with whom we work are expected to embrace the Council's commitment to equality. This is the intention of the duty to promote equality.

4.2. Whilst we need to focus on ensuring that services are `equality proofed' we must not lose sight of the experiences of staff . The improvement plan includes actions which are intended to give staff more opportunities to make their views known. It is also expected that staff will take part in learning opportunities to make sure that they understand how they can ensure that services are responsive to the different needs of all those who use our services.

4.3. The community development aspect of the scheme is dependent on sustainable funding. In particular, the community based Diversity Networks Project has helped the Council to reach out to different communities and a partnership approach is required to support this.

4.4. Equality impact assessment is increasingly becoming seen as a useful improvement tool. To date much of the focus has been on race and disability. Ultimately we are aiming to provide fair and more responsive services for all people and so we need to make sure that these assessment look at all the equality groups.

4.5. Working with our partners is not always easy and we will need to reach agreement on areas of common interest in order to build trust. This will be especially important in our attempts to engage with different communities.

4.6. Members are increasingly involved with this work, there is strong support from the Cabinet champion and each HAT now has a nominated diversity champion. The purpose of this work is to make links with local diverse groups and build better relationships.

5) Timeline and next steps

5.1. If agreed, an external validation will take 2 days and is likely to take place in February 2009. A overall self assessment report will be required 12 weeks prior to the on site visit.

5.2. The agreed Equality Scheme will be published in January 2009 and launched officially at the Equality Conference on the 12^th February 2009

6) Outline of Options:

6.1. Option 1:

a) Agree the recommendations to seek external validation of the Equality Standard for Local Government and the attached Equality Scheme and Improvement Plan

6.2. Option 2:

a) Not agree the recommendations

7) Option Analysis / Comparison:

7.1. External scrutiny of our self assessment will validate the Council's approach to equality & diversity and put us in a good position to show improvement for the CAA. The Equality Scheme and Improvement Plan are an essential part of level 3 achievement

7.2. If the recommendations are not agreed then the Council's performance on equality and diversity would not meet the expected standard.

8) Conclusions:

9.1 The departments are to be congratulated for the time and efforts taken to undertake the self assessment. Whilst initially seen as onerous it has ultimately been regarded as worthwhile and departments are keen to present their findings to external assessment.

9.2 Equality impact assessment are beginning to be seen as a positive service improvement tool with some good examples of being integrated into other systems.

9.3 The Equality Scheme will put the Council in a good position to respond to future legal changes.

9.4 External validation of Level 3 self assessment will place the Council well for the future CAA.

9.5 It is important to recognise that the equality agenda is a culture change agenda, that it will take time to change behaviour and that we need to maintain the momentum of change. Achieving our Equality and Diversity aims is not a short term project.

9.6 Success will be achieved when matters of equality and diversity move away from the `Political Correctness' arena towards an understanding that this relates to fairness for all..

9) Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

9.1 Cabinet agree that the Council should proceed and seek external validation of the Equality Standard level 3 self assessment

9.2 Cabinet agree the revised Equality Scheme and Improvement Plan

9.3 Cabinet ensures that all decisions take account of impact on diverse communities

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Links with Sustainability:

9.4 of the Aalborg commitments refers to Equality and Social Cohesion. The corporate measure of activity in this area is through the Equality Standard for Local Government. Therefore this report has a high impact on our sustainability aims.

Corporate Risk:

Performance on equality and diversity will impact on our overall performance rating and the CPA of 2008 highlighted the need for the Council to take action to achieve level 3 of the equality standard. This report responds to that recommendation and the proposals will assist the Council to be in good position for the new CAA approach.

Equality Impact Assessment:

The outcome of the equality impact assessment of the current approach shows that the Council needs to take the actions identified in the Improvement Plan.