Equality and Diversity
Equality means treating everyone with fairness and respect and recognising the needs of individuals. It is about addressing existing disadvantage affecting how people participate in society.
Diversity means recognising, valuing and taking account of people's different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, needs and experiences. It is also about encouraging and using those differences to create a cohesive community and effective workforce.
Our Single Equality Scheme adopts the definition used by the Equality Framework for Local Government which is a comprehensive explanation of what equality and diversity means:
"An equal society protects and promotes equal, real freedom and opportunity to live in the way people value and would choose, so that everyone can flourish.
An equal society recognises the people's different needs, situations and goals, and removes the barriers that limit what people can do and be."
Thinking about diversity in addition to equality helps to take a broader view of disadvantage to include groups and sub-groups not specifically named in the law, and helps us to understand when disadvantage may be related to something other than the factors identified in law.
Single Equality Scheme 2010 - 2013
Our Single Equality Scheme 'Fair to All' describes the specific actions Havering Council will take to promote equality and fairness over the next three years.
Fair to All is one of the values we try to live by as a Council and this document describes the specific actions Havering Council will take to promote equality and fairness as a service provider, employer and purchaser of goods and services.
Producing this document not only fulfils an important legal requirement, enshrined in the Equality Act 2010, but also demonstrates our commitment to be a borough where people are proud to live. Last but not least, we believe that our approach to equality, diversity and fairness will help us to build a strong and cohesive community in which everyone can flourish.
The Single Equality Scheme sets out Havering Council's equality policy priorities for the period 2010 – 2013. This document serves three purposes:
1. Sets out the Council's equality objectives for the period 2010 – 2013 and outlines how we will monitor our success in meeting them
2. Communicates the Council’s commitment and key priorities for equality and diversity within our workforce, to our partners and across the Borough
3. Meets the Council's legal duty to produce plans showing how we will eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different groups in Havering.
We recognise that people’s needs and circumstances, as well as legal, social and economic context may change. Therefore we will keep our scheme as a living document that will enable us to reflect and respond to future changes throughout its life cycle.
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) is the law which bans unfair treatment and helps achieve equal opportunities in the workplace and in wider society.
Why do we need a new Equality Act?
The Act:
replaces previous anti-discrimination laws with a single piece of legislation to make the law simpler and to remove inconsistencies
prohibits unfair treatment in the workplace, when providing goods, facilities and services, when exercising public functions, in the disposal and management of premises, in education and by associations (such as private clubs)
covers nine protected characteristics which can't be used as a reason to treat people unfairly and strengthens protection in some situations (e.g. for disabled people and carers).
Who is protected?
Every person has one or more of the protected characteristics, so the act protects everyone against unfair treatment in one or another way.
There are nine protected characteristics (previously called 'equality strands'):
What does the Act prohibit?
Everyone has the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The Equality Act prohibits not only direct discrimination, but also indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Public Sector Equality Duty and Equality Information
One of the key changes introduced by the Act is the new Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) which replaces the previous three equality duties on race, disability and gender.
PSED consists of a general duty, set out in the Act itself, and specific duties imposed through regulations. Both are applicable to local authorities.
The general duty says public bodies must have due regard to the need to:
eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
advance equality of opportunity between different groups and
foster good relations between different groups.
The Council has the duty to act and is committed to all the above in the provision and procurement of its services, and the employment of its workforce.
The specific duties are legal requirements designed to help public bodies meet the general duty. According to the new regulations public authorities are required to:
publish equality information relating both to their workforce and service users (by 31st January 2012, then annually)
publish equality objectives informed by the evidence and data they publish (by 6th April 2012, then at least every 4 years).
The Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG)
The Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG) is a voluntary standard for councils to demonstrate their commitment to equality and diversity and builds on the former Equality Standard for Local Government (ESLG).
EFLG has three levels: developing, achieving and excellent. At each level of the framework councils are assessed against five key areas:
1. Knowing our communities and equality mapping: improving the quality of information and 'intelligence' about the range of needs across the community, including areas of disadvantage
2. Place shaping, leadership, partnership and organisational commitment: exercising our community leadership role to promote a strong and cohesive community, and working with partner public agencies around common interests
3. Community engagement and satisfaction: promoting participation, involvement and good citizenship, and supporting local voluntary organisations
4. Responsive services and customer care: improving the overall quality of the experience of residents when they do business with the Council, and ensuring that barriers to accessing services are minimised
5. A modern and diverse workforce: attracting the best talent that reflects Havering's diversity, and using our role as a major employer in the borough to raise standards in employment across all sectors
In November 2010 the Council was awarded the 'Achieving' level of EFLG and is committed to achieving 'Excellent' level.
Equality Impact Assessment (Equality Analysis)
Fairness is one of the Council's six core values, and promoting equality is one of the most important ways in which we can make fairness happen in practice.
Equality analysis (EA) is one of the ways that will help us to 'do things right' as well as 'do the right things'. It is a process which allows us to work out how we can ensure that we are providing the best possible service to all our customers.
EA provides us with a solid basis to identify potential or actual barriers to access and to improve the quality of service we deliver.
You can find all our EAs below.