Transcript Open - The Scottish Government

Equality:Changing Landscape
Best Value and Equalities
Conference
November 2007
Context
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Best Value
Public Sector Reform
Streamlining government
Scrutiny Review
Localisation
All about improved services; effective
delivery; continuous improvement and
contributing to a smarter, greener,
healthier, wealthier, fairer, safer and
stronger Scotland
So what about equality?
Without addressing it we cannot be a
best value organisation; deliver
improved services; or successfully
realise our outcomes for a better
Scotland
Who are we?
5.2million of whom 52% are women and
20% are disabled people
 Ageing population – 58% rise in number of
65+ by 2031
 Growing ethnic minority population –
much younger
 Variety of faiths and religions
 Significant numbers of LGBT people
We’re not all the same and our needs will
differ
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What’s the experience?
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Disabled people twice as likely to leave
school without qualifications
Up to 58 times more likely to die before
the age of 50
Gender pay gap 14%
45,796 incidents of domestic abuse
recorded by police in 2005/06
4,294 reported racist incidents in 2005/06
Minority ethnic employment gap – 19%
What’s the experience?
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Discrimination and harassment
Lower levels of economic participation
and educational attainment
Stereotyping, discriminatory attitudes
Barriers to access to public services
Under-represented in public life
Poverty and disadvantage
Equality context
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Scotland’s focus on equality - devolution
Anti-discrimination legislation – recent
extensions
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Three public equality duties on race,
gender and disability
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Equality and Human Rights Commission
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Discrimination Law Review
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Equalities Review
Public Duties
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Limitations of complaints based approach
Macpherson Report – institutional racism
Mainstreaming approach
Proactive duties – institutional behaviour
and action – improving outcomes for
individuals and groups.
Role of public bodies - public policy and
service delivery
Race Equality Duty
General Duty
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Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
Promote equality of opportunity and good
relations between people of different racial
groups
Applies only to listed bodies
Race Equality Duty
Specific Duties
Produce race equality scheme, review and publish every 3
years. Includes
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Assess and consult on policies
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Monitor for adverse impact
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Publish assessments, consultation and monitoring
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Public access to information and services provided
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Training of staff in issues relevant to the duty
Employment Monitoring ( 150 or more staff)
Disability Equality Duty
General Duty:
To promote disability equality;
 To eliminate disability discrimination
and harassment;
 To promote positive attitudes to
disabled people and
 To encourage participation of disabled
people in public life
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Applies to all public authorities
Disability Equality Duty
Specific Duties
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Publish a disability equality scheme
Review and publish every 3 years
Report annually
Involve disabled people in development of scheme
Monitor employment
Impact assess policies and practices
Scottish Ministers to report on progress towards disability
equality every 3 years
Applies to listed bodies
Gender Duty
General Duty
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To eliminate unlawful sex discrimination
and harassment and
To promote equality between women &
men
Applies to all public authorities
Gender Equality Duty
Specific Duties
Publish Gender Equality Scheme and review every 3 years includes:
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Set priorities and gender equality objectives and outline action plan
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Information/evidence on impact on men and women
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Consultation with employees, trade unions, stakeholders
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Report annually
For Scotland only:
Publish equal pay statement and review and report on statement every 3 years
(150 staff or more)
Scottish Ministers to identify priority areas to advance gender equality and
publish report every 3 years
Applies to listed bodies
Who does this apply to:
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Public authorities
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Private sector/voluntary bodies
fulfilling public contracts
Benefits
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Lever for change
Impact across the whole organisation – mainstreaming
of equality
Equality issues embedded and considered from the
outset
Increased awareness and understanding of staff
Improved data and information available
Improved monitoring and measurement
Improved engagement and dialogue
Improved policy, practice and service delivery
Improved life experience/reduction in disadvantage
So
One size does not fit all
 Knowing about the people we serve
 Adapting and changing the way we
do business
 Good policy making, effective
service delivery
 Being a good employer
 Being a best value organisation
To do:
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Equality impact assess policies and
programmes
Involving and engaging equality groups
Considering the opportunities to promote
and advance equality of opportunity
Looking at systems, procedures, training
Conclusion
Time of great change and opportunity
 Changing legislation - DLR
 Changing machinery – EHRC
 Changing context – Scottish
Government
 Changing Scotland – demographics
 Common purpose across
approaches – best value, equality