corporate equality action plan - borough of...

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Corporate Equality Action Plan If you or anybody you know requires this or any other council information in another language, please contact us and we will do our best to provide this for you. Braille, Audio tape and large print versions of this document are available upon request. Tel: 01322 343434 Fax: 01322 343432 Email: [email protected] Calls are welcome via typetalk

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Introduction

• This Corporate Equality Action Plan sets out how we will realise the visions and aims of our Comprehensive Equality Policy. It is our intention that equality objectives be incorporated into all our policies, strategies and service plans, with the aim of eliminating discrimination and embedding diversity across the Council.

• This Plan provides co–ordination and structure for this process and

outlines the methods which will be used to develop and promote the equality and diversity policy at Dartford, for the benefit of both our service users and our staff.

The Equality Standard for Local Government

• The Equality Standard for Local Government aims to encourage the integration of the equality strands of disability, gender, race, sexuality, age, and religion and faith into local government policy, focusing on service delivery and employment and pay.

• This Plan outlines how the Council intends to move through the five

levels of the Equality Standard for Local Government. We have used the Equality Standard self-assessment process as a means of identifying areas for development and taken this into account when devising the key actions of which this plan comprises.

• In developing this Plan, we have taken into account the four major

aspects of the Equality Standard, which are, Leadership and corporate commitment, Consultation, community development and scrutiny, Service delivery and customer care Employment and training

Priorities for 2006 - 2007

• Our priority for the coming year is to attain Level 2 of the Equality Standard by March 2007. Level 2 is concerned with engagement in assessment and consultation and practically, this translates into a series of actions and processes which we must carry out, which form our priorities for 2006. These include;

Impact assessment Consultation with designated community, staff and stakeholders Developing information and monitoring systems Equality action planning Audit and scrutiny

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The Structure of the Corporate Equality Plan

• This Plan has been devised using the priority themes identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan. This structure has enabled us to identify priority areas for equality development, whilst ensuring our Plan corresponds with the Council’s corporate policy.

• This Plan also incorporates the actions arising from our Race Equality

Scheme, which now forms part of our Comprehensive Equality Policy. Given the statutory duties under the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000, the action plan for the Race Equality Scheme is separate from the body of the Corporate Equality Action Plan and therefore readily identifiable for audit and inspection.

• In this way, we have developed a co-ordinated approach to equality

and diversity, and have been able to address issues such as multiple discrimination in a more coherent way.

• A diagram of how this Plan links to other council strategies and plans

can be found at Appendix A.

Monitoring and Delivery

• Work will be driven by the Equality Steering Group (Management), and Cabinet Portfolio holder for Equalities, both of whom have approved this Corporate Equality Action Plan.

• Progress on the implementation of the plan will be monitored and

reported quarterly to the Steering Group, who will oversee the self-assessment process.

• The Assessment Team, consisting of Council service heads and other

officers, will be responsible for carrying out key actions such as impact assessments and monitoring.

• The Policy Team will also play a significant role in carrying out the

actions set out in the plan, and overseeing the whole process.

• The Council’s achievement of each Level will be assessed internally by the Equality Steering Group and by external auditors as part of the annual review. The complete Action Plan will be reviewed and updated annually.

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Objective Action Completion Date Lead Officer(s)

1. CITIZENSHIP AND COMMUNITY 1.1 Ensure the Comprehensive Equality

Policy and Corporate Equality Action Plan has been endorsed by Council staff and the local community.

Consult on the draft Corporate Equality Action Plan and Comprehensive Equality Policy

• Consult with Council staff, the wider community and stakeholders

• Publish in full range of formats and languages

July 2006 - ongoing Policy Team

1.2 Obtain information on how services are perceived by service users and users’ experiences of equality and diversity at Dartford.

Engage in consultation with Members, staff and the community on;

• The Council’s service delivery (within departments)

• Impact Assessments

July 2006 – ongoing Policy Team

1.3 Promote active engagement with community groups and inclusive participation in policy formulation.

Review the DBC consultation strategy with a view to developing strategies for communicating and consulting with disadvantaged and minority groups

August 2006 Communications Manager

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2. REGENERATION 2.1 Enable diverse sections of the

community to benefit from funding opportunities

Target promotional activity on funding opportunities at diverse sections of the community

• Promote grants in areas of high multiple deprivation

December 2007

Project Delivery Manager

3. LEISURE TIME 3.1 Increase understanding of the

equality profile of audiences at The Orchard Theatre.

Incorporate ethnic monitoring into the annual user survey.

September 2006

Theatre Manager

3.2 Work towards wide-ranging arts and cultural provision in the Borough

Broaden the cultural scope of The Dartford Festival

• Involve cultural groups

Ongoing Sports and Facilities Manager

4. ENVIRONMENT 4.1 Encourage use of the Council’s

parks, open spaces and recreation facilities amongst disadvantaged groups in the Borough.

Review policies relating to parks, open spaces and recreation facilities, and seek to increase usage through wider communication.

March 2008 Public Realm Manager

4.2 Ascertain data through the appropriate Community Safety survey.

Seek various groups’ feelings of safety around different areas in Dartford.

March 2008 Enforcement and Regulatory Services Manager

4.3 Ensure market pitches are awarded without discrimination and that market customers are treated without discrimination.

Review the procedure for market pitch allocation and traders’ code of conduct.

March 2007 Public Realm Manager

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5. HOUSING 5.1 Ensure that the Choice Based

Lettings policy is being implemented in a non- discriminatory manner.

Monitor the effect of Choice Based Lettings on disadvantaged groups within the Borough.

March 2007

Housing Options and Advice Manager

5.2 Ensure the Housing Services Equal Opportunity Policy is in line with current equality legislation and best practice.

Re-write the Housing Services Equal Opportunity Policy, taking into account the recommendations from the Audit Commission inspection.

August 2006

Head of Housing

6. QUALITY SERVICES 6.1

Establish the Council’s current achievement in equality and diversity and identify areas in need of further development.

Services engage in equality self assessment, scrutiny and audit through;

• Impact Assessment and assessing achievement through the Assessment Team

• Monitoring progress through Member and Management scrutiny, covalent and Best Value audit

ongoing

Service Heads / Assessment Team

6.2 Ascertain whether Council services are experienced differently by minority or disadvantaged groups and take appropriate action if they are.

Develop a corporate information and monitoring systems planning group to monitor service delivery across all equality strands.

July 2006

Policy Team, Assessment Team

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6.3 Embed principles of equality and

diversity into council services in a co-ordinated manner.

Develop service level equality objectives and targets and integrate them into service plans.

August 2006

Assessment Team

7. CORPORATE HEALTH 7.1 Monitor and scrutinise equality

objectives and ensure that the Steering Group have input into the process.

Create a corporate toolkit for the assessment of service level equality objectives

July 2006 – ongoing

Policy Team / Equality Steering Group

7.2 Ensure the Comprehensive Equality Policy is integrated into the Council’s partnership arrangements.

Incorporate equality objectives into partnership arrangements and circulate draft policy documents to partners.

July 2006 - ongoing Policy Team

7.3 Establish a publicly accessible equality plan which has been amended in the light of consultation. Establish a long term strategy for the publication of information.

Publish; • Final Corporate Equality Action

Plan on DBC website • Results of impact assessments,

consultations and monitoring • Annual review of Corporate

Equality Action Plan

August 2006 Policy Team

7.4 Ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 2005

Draft a Disability Equality Scheme for publication in December 2006 Begin compiling an up to date database of stakeholders for consultation

Ongoing

Policy Team

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7.5 Ensure staff are confident of all the

service areas where equality issues can arise.

Review Staff Handbook and update the equality section to include information and guidance on race and disability.

July 2006

HR Manager

7.6 Ensure the workforce broadly reflects the local population and that the Council meets its duties under the Equal Pay Act.

Engage in workforce profiling and equal pay review and annually publish the results of employment monitoring.

September 2006

HR Manager

7.7 A workforce that understands the duty to promote good relations between all groups and eliminates discrimination.

Implement equality training, both generic and dedicated

• To support the objectives of this plan and service plans

August 2006 HR Manager

7.8 Ensure that all staff are free to carry out religious practices.

Review flexible working policy to ensure consideration of requests for different working arrangements on religious grounds (i.e. for prayer)

March 2008

HR Manager

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Race Equality Scheme Action Plan 2005 – 2008 Introduction

• Our Race Equality Scheme Action Plan outlines how we intend to meet the general duty and specific duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and secondary legislation, as illustrated in the scheme itself.

Outcomes of Action Plan 2002-2005 We have made good progress in terms of achieving the aims of our 2002-2005 action plan and the following outline demonstrates the steps we have taken to both improve and champion race equality in Dartford;

• Policies and Functions: We have updated our 2002 prioritised list by re-assessing our policies and functions for relevance to the General Duty (Appendix B), therefore identifying prioritised areas for impact assessment.

• Consultation: An external forum was held at the Milan Day Centre on

26 September 2002, attended by Members, Directors and Officers as a means of direct consultation with ethnic minority communities. Focus groups drawn from ethnic minority groups were also used during the comprehensive consultation exercise on our Cultural Strategy, whilst our updated (June 2005) Consultation Strategy outlines how steps will be taken to ensure inclusion in consultations of ‘hard to reach’ groups (including ethnic minority groups).

• Training: Training on race equality has been provided for Members,

the Management Team and line managers.

• Employment / Human Resources: Monitoring systems are in place to monitor the ethnicity of employees by grade, permanency and part time working. Job applicants, those short listed and appointed are also monitored for ethnicity, as are instances of disciplinary action and grievances, as well as probation periods and salary awards.

• Monitoring: We have a system for monitoring racial incidents in

conjunction with North West Kent Racial Equality Council. We also monitored the responses to our 2004 General User Satisfaction Survey by ethnicity.

• Procurement: We have a Procurement Equality Standard which

provides a procedure for the monitoring of contractors’ compliance with the Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended).

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• Review: Our Race Equality Scheme was reviewed in the light of the 2001 census by the Strategic Director and Director of Community Services. We also reviewed and updated our Race Equality Scheme action plan as it progressed and have held meetings with the Equality Steering Group on developing the current plan.

Priorities for 2005 - 2008

• Whilst our commitment to race equality is demonstrated by our achievements so far, we recognise that we are still to achieve some of our aims. This is reflected in our revised Action Plan for 2005 – 2008 which sets out the actions we intend to take to continue to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote equal opportunities and good race relations.

• The 2005 – 2008 Action Plan reflects our revised, prioritised list of

functions and policies and proposed policies (Appendix B). We recognise that those functions and policies prioritised as high for race equality might differ from those prioritised as high for other equality strands.

• The updated plan also reflects all the specific duties;

functions and policies monitoring policies assessing and consulting on proposed policies publishing results access to information and services training staff and employment procurement and partnership

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8. ASSESSING OUR POLICIES AND FUNCTIONS 8.1 Identify service areas where race

equality issues can be further developed.

Review service plans and strategies and assess the extent to which race equality is currently integrated.

May 2007 Policy Team

8.2 Establish a methodical, rigorous approach to race equality impact assessment, ensuring all new policies have addressed the issue of race equality.

Review the procedure for assessing and consulting on proposed policies

• Include different methods such as research findings, survey results, and population data.

August 2006 Policy Team

9. MONITORING OUR POLICIES 9.1 Determine whether Council policies

are perceived to have a different or unequal impact on different racial groups.

Monitor ethnic minority views and experiences of Council services, functions and policies

• Consider methods such as an anonymous survey

July 2006 Policy Team

9.2 Establish a comprehensive monitoring system which can be applied to all new and existing Council policies.

Monitor all policies relevant to the general duty for adverse impact on race equality, using the newly established monitoring group.

March 2007 Assessment Team

9.3 Identify any patterns of inequality in dealing with complaints and increase confidence in reporting any racial incidents for both residents and staff.

Monitor and record the number of complaints made by people of ethnic minority origin, including racial incidents.

ongoing Corporate Complaints Officer

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Objective Action / Completion Date Lead Officer(s)

10. CONSULTING WITH OUR COMMUNITY 10.1 Ensure active engagement with the

ethnic minority community in consultation on the revised Race Equality Scheme and Impact Assessments.

Establish and implement a procedure for regular consultation with the ethnic minority community

• Include group leaders and REC

• Provide consultations in alternative languages

July 2006

Policy Team

11. PUBLISHING THE RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT, CONSULTATION AND MONITORING 11.1 Inform ethnic minority groups, the

wider community and staff of the Council’s progress on equalities. Create a long term strategy for the on-going publication of information relating to race equality.

Publish on the DBC internet website and intranet;

• The progress of the Race Equality Scheme (annual review)

• The results of impact assessments, consultations and monitoring (every six months)

August 2006 - ongoing

Policy Team

12. ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND SERVICES 12.1 Ensure equal access to Council

information and services for all residents.

Review access to service information in alternative formats and languages and investigate access through the new customer contact centre

September 2006 Policy Team

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13. TRAINING OUR STAFF 13.1 Ensure the workforce understands

the general and specific duties under the RRA Act 2000 and how to implement the Race Equality Scheme in everyday work.

Instigate a training programme for all staff to be trained on the race equality duty

• Integrate into other equality training programmes

November 2006 Policy Team

14. EMPLOYMENT 14.1 Ensure there is no disparity in the

way in which employees are treated with regard to ethnicity and that the Council promotes a non-discriminatory stance.

Continue to monitor by reference to racial group

• Staff in post • Staff who receive training • Outcomes of performance

assessment • Involvement in disciplinary/

grievance procedures • Perception of equal

opportunities • Applicants for employment /

those who cease employment

November 2006 HR Manager

15. WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP 15.1 Provide better services for the whole

community through co-ordinated policies on race equality

Work and build relationships with local organisations and other statutory bodies to achieve the aims of the Race Equality Scheme.

March 2008 Policy Team

Appendix A: Performance Management Framework

Community Strategy

Corporate Plan

Service Plans

Various statutory & non-statutory plans &

Strategies (incl. BVPP)

3 year resource strategy

Staff Appraisals

Budget

Best Value

Service

Improvement

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Appendix B: Race Equality Scheme: Revised list of Functions and Policies In line with the statutory requirement to review, for relevance to the race equality duty, the list of functions and policies and proposed policies carried out by Dartford Borough Council, we have updated the list and re-assessed our functions and policies for relevance to the duty. The approach we have taken is to;

• Assess whether a function or policy is relevant to the general duty, by asking the following questions;

Which of the three strands of the duty does it relate to?

1. Eliminating discrimination 2. Promoting equality of opportunity 3. Promoting good race relations

Is there evidence or reason to believe that some racial groups may be affected differently than others? If so, to what extent?

• Prioritise the degree of relevance, using the categories of high, medium

and low. Categorisation was determined by asking the following questions;

Is there any evidence of discrimination / different outcomes for

different racial groups?

Is there public concern about potentially discriminatory practices Those functions and policies categorised as of high relevance will also be prioritised in monitoring arrangements.

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Function Relevant Policy / Strategy

(Including those recently adopted or proposed)

HIGH PRIORITY – Year 1 Communications and Consultation

Consultation Strategy Internal Communications Communications and Consultation Strategy

Community Safety Dartford Community Safety Strategy Contact Centre Customer Services Work Instructions Corporate Policy Comprehensive Equality Policy

Race Equality Scheme Corporate Complaints Procedure Corporate Plan Procurement Equality Standard Whistleblowing Policy

Development Control Enforcement Policy Development Control Charter

Housing (Landlord Function)

Housing Service Improvement Plan Responsive Repairs Policy and Standard

Housing Policy Housing Strategy Homelessness Strategy

Human Resources All Policies Legal Services Service Plan Regulation and Enforcement

All Policies

Revenues and Benefits Customer Service Discretionary Housing Payments Backdating Policy Write – Offs

MEDIUM PRIORITY – Year 2 Community, Culture and Sport

Grants Funding Process Sports and Arts Delivery Plan

Cabinet Services Service Plan Elections Service Plan Emergency Planning Environmental Health Procedure for the Recording, Updating,

Investigation and Completion of Requests for Service Environmental Health Enforcement Policy Health and Safety at Work Enforcement Personal Safety Policy Guidance and Procedure for the Service of Statutory Notice

Orchard Theatre Access Policy Communications Publicity and Complaints

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Function Policy / Strategy (Including those recently adopted or proposed)

Parks and Open Spaces Service Plan Performance Management

Planning Policy Local Development Scheme

Local Development Framework Statement of Community Involvement Service Plan

Regeneration Regeneration Strategy External Funding Strategy

Town Centre Town Centre Warden Scheme Service Implementation Plan The Dartford Town Against Crime protocols

LOW PRIORITY – Year 3 Audit Building Control Kent Building Control Policy Notes

Operational Procedures Buildings Administration Cemeteries Service Plan Dartford Park, Stone Lodge and Princes Golf and Leisure

Drainage E Government Health and Safety Information and Communication Technology

Markets Service Plan Member Support Services Service Plan Museum Private Sector Housing Property Information Recycling and Refuse Collection

Joint Household Waste Strategy

Environmental Cleansing Service Plan Valuations

corporate equality action plan - borough of...

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