The past few years has seen the equality agenda emerging as a key policy area, underpinning the public sector approach to modernisation and the improvement of public services. Local government is based upon the principles of local representation and accountability and is committed to providing high quality services to local communities. It has been successful in many areas of equality, responding to legislative changes and developing policies setting out its commitments. Since the early 1960’s, a raft of legislation has been introduced within the UK to make discrimination on identified grounds, such as race and gender, unlawful. The anticipated expansion of legal requirements (for example, the proposed changes to disability legislation, imposing a positive duty to promote disability equality and making discrimination on the basis of age in the area of employment unlawful) will also require authorities to review and amend current working practices. The proposal to establish a Commission for Equality and Human Rights (replacing the existing equality commissions), will also bring an increased focus on the promotion of human rights.
The Welsh Assembly Government considers equality to be an essential element of the modernisation agenda for local government and other public sector organisations in Wales. This reflects the growing realisation of the benefits of a more diverse and integrated workforce and the importance of more responsive and flexible service delivery, meeting the identified needs of diverse communities. There are some clear opportunities and drivers to improve practice in the area of equality and diversity and some of these are highlighted below:
- Shifting demographics – local authorities face new challenges in adapting themselves and services to meet the needs and demands of an increasingly diverse population as the demographical profile of areas change: the black and minority ethnic population in Wales rose between 1991 and 2001; the number of people with long-term illness or a disability is high, particularly in certain parts of Wales; and in relation to gender, authorities need to consider life circumstances and preferred working practices in order to retain their employees.
- Growing awareness of the ‘public service’ business case and benefits of equality practices – there are clear benefits for employers in responding to equality issues. These include improving productivity by raising motivation and commitment; a workforce that mirrors the make-up of local communities will better understand a range of customers; and working with communities will build and improve the reputation of the authority and strengthen its image, possibly resulting in improved levels of community engagement, participation and satisfaction.
- An evolving legislative and policy framework – new, strengthened legal requirements and further developments in the area of policy mean that stretching and far-reaching expectations are placed on local government. The equality agenda has been broadened beyond the most visible aspects and now includes a host of other issues, including age, care responsibilities, religion/belief and sexuality. The introduction of the Equality Standard for Local Government in Wales also recognises the need to adopt a broader approach (the Standard incorporates the Welsh language as an equality strand and covers both employment responsibilities and the delivery of services).
- Inspection regimes and focus on continual improvement - the focus of the Wales Programme for Improvement on self-assessment and the likely increased mainstreaming of equality through service inspection regimes reinforces the need for a more systematic and proactive approach in order to achieve change on the equality agenda.
- Working in partnership – there is a growing emphasis on partnership working at a local level and this creates an opportunity for partner agencies to share experiences and benefit from each others learning on equality issues. This also offers the opportunity to pool resources, achieve economies of scale and promote equality through the commissioning of services and procurement processes.
Having the correct equality policies and procedures in place is important in setting clear standards and setting out expectations of employees in undertaking their roles. However, this is not sufficient in obtaining cultural support for the level of changes required to ensure that equality principles underpin the work of the council – ‘putting policy into practice’. To achieve such cultural change, a number of critical success factors appear to help progress in this area. These include:
Using leadership and commitment to foster cultural change – leadership is key to achieving cultural change, including the identification of member ‘champions’ to drive forward this work.
Develop a strategic approach and build best practice – this will help with mainstreaming equality issues across the work of the council. Members have a key role in ensuring that the council is taking a holistic, strategic approach to embedding equality as a core principle in the conduct of its business.
Involving users and improving community engagement - different approaches to involving a diverse range of people is required. Ensuring there is access for all to participate when consulting and involving members of the local community is an important element of this work. As elected representatives, this provides the opportunity for close links to develop with local people, promoting an inclusive approach to the work of the council.
Monitoring performance data – this will allow councils to identify any weaknesses in their application of equality and diversity and to identify ways to improve. The role of members in scrutinising performance is crucial in ensuring that the performance of the council is accountable to local constituents.
Supporting progress and sustaining focus – sustaining equality and diversity initiatives over time is vital in bringing about the required cultural change. These efforts should continue, even when an authority seems to be, or thinks, it is performing well, in order to drive continuous improvements.
In January 2006 the Beecham Review into Local Public Services took evidence from the Welsh Local Government Association, the Statutory Equality Bodies and the NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights. A copy of the WLGA Briefing Paper outlining some of the key issues for local government and opportunities to drive progress on equalities in the future is available (link on the right).
For more information contact: Naomi Alleyne