Equality and Diversity in Service
Planning and Performance Management
Contents
•
Using this guidance
p.
1
•
The purpose of planning for equality and diversity
p. 2
•
The process of service planning
p.
3
•
The service plan template
p.
4
•
Step-by-step guide to service planning for
equality and diversity
p.
5
•
What happens next
p.
12
•
Annex: Service Equality and Diversity
Action Plan Template
p.
17
Using This Guidance
The following appendix to the Equality and Diversity Strategy is designed to support the process service planning and performance management. The early sections give a context to the purpose and process of planning and measuring progress on equality and diversity.
This is then followed by a step-by-step guide which will take services through the process. The guide includes graphics of service action plans to show how the process works in practice.
The Purpose of Planning for Equality and Diversity
There are statutory and performance requirements of the Council. In the first instance, there are the statutory schemes (gender, disability and race). Overlaying these, and complementing them, is the Equality Standard for Local Government.
The appendix on self-assessment for the Equality Standard for Local Government, gives detail on how to monitor progress. However, it is necessary to plan ahead to put in place those activities needed to show progress.
The Council has chosen to develop a Corporate Equality Scheme which covers all six strands of the equality legislation. In so doing, an audit of functions and policies has been undertaken which identifies the relevance of different service activities and procedures i.e. whether there is a
relevance across all six strands of the equality legislation, or solely to disability (as an example only). Relevance in this context being an assessment of whether a function or policy could have an impact on certain groups, adverse or positive.
The requirement of the statutory schemes is to identify which functions and policies are relevant, and to undertake to assess these by way of Equality Impact Assessment and make any necessary changes to service provision. Such activity is also measured by the Equality Standard.
Therefore, the Equality Standard assesses progress against all six of the areas of equality: disability, gender, race, age, religion/faith, and sexual orientation. Those actions and activities which are identifiable as being relevant to disability, gender and race also support the development of the annual report(s).
The Equality Standard for Local Government requires that Councils assess their progress against the criteria in each level of the Standard, as a means to measuring implementation of the Standard. Thus, each level of the Equality Standard has a series of questions and criteria which
determine whether a Council has achieved that Level. Therefore, the process of service planning needs to assess these criteria and include them in future years’ plans.
It should be noted that the Council’s progress on the Equality Standard is measured as an annual Best Value Performance Indicator and therefore is
subject to the same reporting procedures as for all indicators in the Best Value Performance Plan i.e. year-end outturn is reported in March.
Service planning using the process described herein puts in place the actions needed to both deliver on the Council’s statutory obligations, and also on performance measures such as the Equality Standard.
As is covered in the separate appendix on self-assessment, the
information needed to evidence progress is measured from the gauging progress on services’ equality and diversity action plans. So, in order to reach the various levels of the Equality Standard, services need to plan activities which meet the criteria.
The process has been simplified. The statutory requirement is for action plans on gender, disability and race. The Equality Standard seeks
evidence of action plans to attain progress. Finally, there are three further areas of legislation on age, religion/faith and sexual orientation. Services develop a single action plan which delivers the requirements of all processes and crucially is explicit as to which strands of the equality agenda it is addressing.
To iterate, if services plan effectively to deliver on the statutory and performance frameworks in place, they will identify at an early stage those actions necessary to evidence progress, and; can use progress reports on their action plan as the predominant means of showing that progress.
The Process of Service Planning
Each Head of Service has an action plan for equality and diversity. This plan being an integral element of the full service plan for each service. Equality and Diversity action plans are across a three-year period. This is because the statutory schemes require three-year plans for gender, disability and race with a triennial review and new plans produced (Schemes). By having a three-year plan, and reviewing it annually (in addition to annual reporting), the Council mitigates the need for a
triennial review as it has a rolling-programme. Furthermore, services are able to plan ahead to meet the corporate targets for the Equality
Standard1.
1 It is the combination of all services action plans which comprises the Council’s
Corporate Equality Scheme; thus including the Gender, Disability and Race Equality Schemes.
Each year therefore, service assess progress and update their plans accordingly. Adding to this any new requirements arising from actions undertaken, new/revised services, new legislation, and different levels of the Equality Standard. The timing of this review is similar to that for self-assessment, so that the information for reviewing plans is collated
beforehand.
The Service Plan Template
The template for equality and diversity action planning at a service level contains all information necessary for compliance with statutory and performance requirements.
The ‘relevance’ column demonstrates whether an action comprises part of the Council’s gender, disability and/or race equality scheme; or, whether it is relevant to age, religion/faith and/or sexual orientation.
The plan is divided into four themes, these being the themes of each level of the Equality Standard for Local Government. This enables services to more easily align actions to the areas they will need to evidence for self-assessment. The actions services need to carry out to reach Level 2 of the Equality Standard, and provide a sound basis for attaining Level 3, are within action plans. However, these will need review as progress on the Equality Standard is made.
Further, each action plan contains three periods for reporting progress. Two of these, which are six months apart2, are for reports to the
Corporate Equality and Diversity Steering Group. The third is for the annual end-of-year report.
The purpose of the two six-monthly reports is to enable some scrutiny at a Corporate level of services’ progress, but also it enables services to identify early in the process what progress they have made and where attention needs to be focused or resources are required. It also means, that evidence will be gathered regularly during the year, making the end-of-year reporting process much easier and simplified.
The template is attached as an annex to this guide. However, it ought to be noted that the template is subject to change and revision – the latest version will be available from the Intranet.
2 The six-monthly reports will be extracted from PerformancePlus© and will show which
A Step-by-Step Guide to Service Planning for Equality and
Diversity
Step 1 – Assess your progress
Each service has an equality and diversity action plan within its service plan. Every quarter, the Council’s performance management framework requires that progress be reported. Using the end-of-year information that has been used for services’ self-assessment, it is possible to identify which actions have not been completed.
Action
Using your latest performance report, identify all incomplete actions
Step 2 – Update your audit of functions and policies
Each service has an audit of functions and policies. This should be reviewed to add/delete service changes, and assess their relevance. All new/revised/deleted policies should have had an Equality Impact
Assessment already undertaken prior to implementation.
Action
Identify any new and relevant functions/policies (requiring Equality Impact Assessment)
Step 3 – Input incomplete actions from the previous year
Having identified those actions which have not been completed, it is possible to carry these forward into the next year of the plan. This may include Equality Impact Assessments which need to progress to a full assessment or were dependent on additional information being gathered.
Action
Input incomplete actions into the Year 1 of the plan
Step 4 – Input existing commitments in the plan
Some services will already have service-specific actions planned for ‘Year 2’ and/or ‘Year 3’ of the plan. These need to be inputted into the
template. Therefore, those actions in ‘Year 2’ are put into ‘Year 1’ of the new plan.
Action
Input existing actions from Years 2 and 3 of the plan into Year 1 and 2 of the plan
Step 5 – Input any new requirements from your audit
Having identified any actions required from your service audit of functions and policies, input these into the relevant year of the plan. If these
actions are Equality Impact Assessments, they should be inputted into the first year of the plan.
Action
Step 6 – Input any additional actions arising from those completed
Certain actions undertaken will lead to the need for more activity. Equality Impact Assessments may have indicated specific changes to services. There may be the need to develop and/or review monitoring systems put in place. There may be the need for consultation. Any actions arising from activity already undertaken should be in the new plan.
Action
Input actions arising from current activity into the plan
Step 7 – Input any additional national requirements
As the Council progresses through the levels of the Equality Standard, you will need to assess those criteria assessed at service level (the self-assessment template for Level 3 and beyond will show these) and include any actions necessary to achieve these3.
Further, the national legislative framework is subject to change.
Any changes to the Equality Standard, national legislative requirements, and corporate actions in need of cascade will be communicated through the Corporate Equality and Diversity Steering Group.
Action
Input actions identified from new requirements into the relevant year of the plan
3 Some services will need to reference both the corporate and service self-assessment
templates. Particularly: Human Resources; Consultation and Community Engagement, and; Procurement.
Step 8 – Complete the ‘relevance’ column
Those actions already in the plan, incomplete from Year 1, or from your audit will already have the ‘relevance’ identified. New actions may not have been assessed. You now need to do this in the same format, listing which of the six strands of equality the action is relevant to. In the case of the action being relevant to all six, this is entered as ‘All’ into the plan. To assess relevance, the following questions apply – does/could the function:
• Promote equality of opportunity
• Eliminate unlawful discrimination
• Eliminate harassment
• Promote positive attitudes
• Encourage active participation by those covered by equalities
legislation (race, gender, disability, age, religion/belief, and
sexuality)
• Take steps toward meeting the unmet needs of those covered by equalities legislation
Action
Step 9 – Assign responsibilities to officers
Having put all actions into your plan, you will need to identify the officer who will be responsible for delivering the action.
Action
Input the name of the responsible officer for each action
Step 10 – Assess start and end dates for actions
In order to input your actions into the Council’s performance
management system, you will need to identify quarterly ‘end’ dates for your actions. This only needs to be undertaken for Year 1 of the plan. You may also find it useful to include quarterly ‘start’ dates.
Action
Step 11 – Prepare plan for ‘sign-off’
A few changes need to be made to your plan to make it ready for publication. When revising the referencing for actions, use the same lettering as was used to identify your service. Actions then begin from ‘1’ again, with Equality Impact Assessments being identified with additional referencing i.e. ‘IA 1’.
Action
Copy the biannual reporting/self-assessment actions into Year 3 of the Plan
Complete the ‘reference’ column of the plan (see above) Check that the page header includes the department and service title i.e. ‘Development, Support Services’
Step 12 – Submit action plan for ‘sign-off’
Completed action plans should be approved by the Head of Service and submitted to the Corporate Equality and Diversity Team for approval also. Ensure that the Team receive the final copy, particularly if revisions have been made following referral, as the plans they have will be compiled and published.
Action
Submit your action plan for Head of Service approval Following approval, submit your action plan to the Corporate Equality and Diversity Team for ‘sign-off’
Step 11 – Input information into the performance management
system
Once your plan has been approved, it should be included in the Service Plan and the actions inputted into the electronic performance
management system.
Action
Include action plan with the Service Plan
What happens next?
Corporate Equality and Diversity Scheme
Once all services have completed their three-year action plans, the
Council will publish these as they make up the Council’s Equality Scheme (includes the Gender, Disability and Race Equality Schemes).
Performance Management
Having been entered into the Council’s performance management system,
quarterly reports will be produced measuring services’ progress on their
actions.
The outturn of this process will be used for self-assessment each year
also.
Self-assessment and Annual Reports
The action plans may be required as evidence for self-assessment and for the annual progress plans on Gender, Disability and Race. The actions within the plans, will in turn comprise the evidence for the following year’s assessment and reports.
Annex - Service Equality and Diversity Action Plan Template
YEAR 1
LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE COMMITMENT
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Complete equality and diversity elements of the service plan in line with corporate guidance All
CONSULTATION, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND SCRUTINY
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Ensure that all service consultation activities follow the guidelines within the Corporate Consultation Strategy
All Submit all Equality Impact Assessments to Directorate Steering Group for validation and
reporting to the Corporate Steering Group n/a
Submit consultation proposals with community equality groups to the Diversity Team (including any relevant Equality Impact Assessments) for inclusion on the forward programme for consultation
n/a
SERVICE DELIVERY AND CUSTOMER CARE
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Ensure that all service contracts are within the guidelines of the Corporate Procurement Strategy and Contract Procedure Rules
All Encourage all formal partnerships, in which the service is involved, to endorse and adopt the
Council’s Equality and Diversity Policy n/a
Provide monitoring reports on the service equality action plan, Equality Impact Assessments
and monitoring outturn to the Directorate and Corporate Steering Groups in July and January n/a
Complete the service Equality Standard Self-Assessment Template by 26th March n/a
Annex - Service Equality and Diversity Action Plan Template
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Ensure that all service employment procedures follow the Human Resources Strategy and Policies
All Develop service level employment equality targets and monitoring systems on all six strands
of the equality agenda All
Ensure that all relevant service colleagues attend Equality Impact Assessment and/or
Annex - Service Equality and Diversity Action Plan Template
YEAR 2
LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE COMMITMENT
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Complete equality and diversity elements of the service plan in line with corporate guidance All
CONSULTATION, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND SCRUTINY
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Submit all Equality Impact Assessments to Directorate Steering Group for validation and
reporting to the Corporate Steering Group n/a
Submit consultation proposals with community equality groups to the Diversity Team (including any relevant Equality Impact Assessments) for inclusion on the forward programme for consultation
n/a
SERVICE DELIVERY AND CUSTOMER CARE
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Provide monitoring reports on the service equality action plan, Equality Impact Assessments
and monitoring outturn to the Directorate and Corporate Steering Groups in July and January n/a
Complete the service Equality Standard Self-Assessment Template by 26th March n/a
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Ensure that all service employment procedures follow the Human Resources Strategy and
Policies All
Annex - Service Equality and Diversity Action Plan Template
Review service level employment equality targets and monitoring systems on all six strands
of the equality agenda All
Ensure that all relevant service colleagues attend Equality Impact Assessment and/or
Annex - Service Equality and Diversity Action Plan Template
YEAR 3
LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE COMMITMENT
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Complete equality and diversity elements of the service plan in line with corporate guidance All
CONSULTATION, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND SCRUTINY
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Submit all Equality Impact Assessments to Directorate Steering Group for validation and
reporting to the Corporate Steering Group n/a
Submit consultation proposals with community equality groups to the Diversity Team (including any relevant Equality Impact Assessments) for inclusion on the forward programme for
consultation
n/a
SERVICE DELIVERY AND CUSTOMER CARE
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Provide monitoring reports on the service equality action plan, Equality Impact Assessments
and monitoring outturn to the Directorate and Corporate Steering Groups in July and January n/a
Complete the service Equality Standard Self-Assessment Template by 26th March n/a
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
REF ACTION RELEVANCE LEAD
Ensure that all service employment procedures follow the Human Resources Strategy and
Policies All
Annex - Service Equality and Diversity Action Plan Template
Review service level employment equality targets and monitoring systems on all six strands of
the equality agenda All
Ensure that all relevant service colleagues attend Equality Impact Assessment and/or Diversity
