LB Sutton RES

Page No.

Introduction by Chief Executive

3

1.

Introduction to Scheme

4

2.

Sutton – the Community and the Council

4

3.

Our Vision, Aims and Goals

5

4.

How Sutton developed the Race Equality Scheme

7

The Race Equality Scheme

5.

Our Equality Statement and Objectives

10

6.

Assessment of Functions and Policies

12

7.

Arrangements for Consultation

12

8.

Arrangements for Monitoring

16

9.

Arrangements for publishing the results

17

10.

Arrangements for ensuring public access to information

and services

18

11.

Training staff in connection with the duties

19

12.

Our arrangements for mainstreaming equalities in

Corporate Initiatives, Best Value, Investors in People,

Business Planning and Corporate Purchasing and

contracting out services.

19

13.

Our arrangements for Reducing Racial Harassment and

Racial Crime

20

14.

Our arrangements for employment including monitoring

employment in schools

20

15.

Staffing responsibilities for co-ordinating equalities in

employment, service delivery and community relations

22

16.

Our arrangements for dealing with complaints

22

APPENDICES

Appendix I

Political Structure

24

Appendix II

Management Structure

25

Appendix III

Form for Initial Impact Assessment

26

Appendix IV

Form for prioritising functions/policies showing

arrangement for consultation, monitoring,

publishing results, making services accessible

and training in the Race Relations Amendment

Act.

27

Appendix V

Appendix Vl

List of Functions and policies

Corporate Race Equalities Action Plan including

Human Resources

28

52

Appendix VII Race Equality Action Plans for groupings

62

Race Equality Action Plans for groupings are

included in their Business Plans

We welcome and support the new Race Relations

(Amendment) Act 2000.

We are pleased to publish our first Race Equality Scheme

from the London Borough of Sutton, where we have set out

our arrangements for meeting the general and specific duties

of the Race Relations Amendment Act.

Many of our staff have been involved in developing this

scheme, finding practical solutions to making its

implementation meaningful.

We have worked very closely with the members of the Race

and Community Relations Forum, Sutton Racial Equality

Council, Sutton Ethnic Minority Workers Group and others

who have given us valuable feedback.

We will use this document as a working document linking it

onto our other performance management systems and update

it yearly.

We are convinced that our scheme will empower and

encourage the Council and its staff in Sutton to make a real

difference and to promote race equality in the spirit the Act

intended.

1.1

Sutton Council welcome the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and

are committed to implementing its provisions. We have drafted our Race

Equality Scheme in which we show how we will meet the general and

specific duties of the RRAA to:

•

eliminate unlawful discrimination

•

promote equality of opportunity, and

•

promote good relations between people of different racial groups

1.2

Our Race Equality Scheme builds on previous work undertaken in

response to the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence, our Best

Value crosscutting performance review of equalities and the equalities

improvement plan that was developed as a result of this review.

1.3

Many of our staff across the organisation have been involved in the

development of the scheme and are committed to mainstreaming race

equality and place it at the centre of all functions and policy making;

service delivery, regulation, enforcement and employment practices.

2.

Sutton, the Community and the Council

2.1

Sutton – the Community

Sutton is an outer London borough situated on the south-west edge of the

city. It borders three other London boroughs and the County of Surrey.

Sutton has one major shopping centre – Sutton Town Centre – and six

district shopping centres including Carshalton, Wallington, Rosehill and

Cheam. The current resident population is approximately 180,000 of whom

7.3 per cent are from black and minority ethnic communities. Over the next

decade, the authority is expecting significant increases in the proportion of

residents from some minority ethnic communities.

The Borough has 18 wards and is a Liberal Democrat controlled Council.

The Council has 54 elected Members, of whom 43 are Liberal Democrat,

8 Conservative and 3 Labour. The Council's estimated net budget for

2001/02 was £167 million.

2.3

The Council’s main decision making body is the Strategy Committee. It is

chaired by the Leader of the Council and the two opposition parties have

seats on this Committee. There are four Performance Committees that

monitor and scrutinise the performance of the Council ’s Groups. Learning

for Life, Environment and Leisure and Community Services Committees

each monitor their respective Groups. The Resources and Corporate

Services Committee monitors the Chief Executive’s Grouping and the

Resources Group. Performance Committees will also monitor other areas

of work if they fall within their remit.

2.4

The Council’s Corporate Management Team is made up from the Chief

Executive, the Assistant Chief Executive and four Strategic Directors who

are responsible for the Chief Executive’s Group, Learning for Life,

Community Services, Environment and Leisure and Resources (Appendix I).

All have responsibilities to progress the Council’s Equalities responsibilities.

3.

Our Vision, Core Values and Goals

To provide clear direction to everyone in the Council and communicate this

to the community, we have adopted a vision, core values and goals. Our

Vision is the ideal we are striving for in everything we do. Our Core Values

are our fundamental beliefs, which underpin the way in which all our work

is carried out. We adopted our vision and core values more than ten years

ago. Our Corporate Goals are statements of intent.

Our Vision for Sutton

We aim to build a community in which all can take part and all can take

pride

Our Core Values

•

Working

in

Partnership

with the people who live or work in the

Borough.

•

Enabling and encouraging

Involvement

in the Council’s

decision-making processes.

•

Making our services open and

Accessible

so that everyone should feel

able to approach us with confidence, be listened to and treated with

respect.

•

Providing

High Quality, Cost Effective

services, which meet

•

of the special needs of people who lack resources or face

disadvantage.

•

Investing Wisely for the Future,

protecting and developing human

and natural resources to ensure a healthy environment for present and

future generations.

•

The Council also recognises that its

Most Important Asset is its Staff,

who have a key role in promoting pride in our community through the

adoption of these Core Values.

Our Goals

Achieving Environmental Sustainability by protecting and improving

our environment for now and the future.

We will work with our partners in the community to protect and enhance

the environment in a sustainable way for now and future generations.

Achieving Social Inclusion

We will actively support those members of the community most at risk of

social exclusion by promoting fair access to services and by targeting

resources, thus enabling them to participate more fully in the life of the

community.

Improving Economic and Community Well-Being

To achieve this, we will seek to support and promote local businesses,

local cultural and leisure opportunities, local employment opportunities,

voluntary organisations and communities.

Promoting Lifelong Learning

4.1

Our Chief Executive, Joanna Simons, started the process last year by

giving a presentation to her Corporate Management Team (CMT). Senior

staff who would be involved in the development of the scheme attended

conferences and seminars in 2001 and early 2002 to further their

understanding of the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment)

Act.

We organised six initial half day training sessions for managers and eight

half day sessions for front line staff, in conjunction with Sutton Race

Equality Council to develop their understanding of the requirements of the

Act. We distributed approximately 100 draft consultation packs to Heads

of Services and Managers.

4.2

Sutton’s Equalities Champions Group, consisting of mainly senior staff

from all groupings, produced a project plan and timetable for developing

the scheme. They consulted with staff and Members, including the Sutton

Minority Ethnic Workers Group, the Corporate Management Team, the

Race and Community Relations Forum, the Disability Forum and Unions

on their approach.

4.3

The project plan divided the duties to be undertaken into four categories

A. Actions to be undertaken by departments, Groupings, in Sutton.

B. Corporate Actions

C. Employment Actions

D. Drafting of the Scheme

In addition we made arrangements for assisting schools in developing their

equality policies.

4.4

Actions to be undertaken by Groupings

All sections in all Groupings of the Council were asked to list all their

functions and policies and make an initial impact assessment

(Appendix III).

managers of sections. The result of these forms has enabled us to list our

functions and policies and draw up an action plan for the next three years.

The actions will link into business planning, Best Value reviews and

comprehensive performance assessments (CPA).

4.5. Corporate Actions to be undertaken

The actions were identified as:

•

drafting a new Equalities Statement and consulting on it, as the

previous one is getting old and outdated;

•

agreeing and finalising arrangements for corporate consultation;

•

agreeing and finalising arrangements for corporate monitoring of

services;

•

deciding on reporting arrangements for equalities both in

employment, service delivery and community relations;

•

take decisions on person(s) responsible for initiating and

co-ordinating equalities activities;

•

reviewing and finalising arrangements for integrating equalities into

the Best Value regime and brief officers and Members;

•

making arrangements for mainstreaming equalities in Business

Planning and Investors in People;

•

making arrangements for showing how contractors will comply with

our Equal Opportunities policy;

•

making arrangements for a comprehensive translation and

interpretation service;

•

making arrangements for reduction of racial harassment/crime;

•

ensuring there are proper arrangements in place for dealing with

complaints.

4.6

The tasks were divided between individuals, groups and the Corporate

The actions were identified as:

•

recruiting a representative workforce including monitoring of existing

staff, including schools. Monitoring applicants for employment

through the different stages of the recruitment process according to

ethnicity, gender, disability and age. Setting targets and developing

action plans and review them yearly;

•

making arrangements for monitoring of promotions, applicants of

training and training received, performance assessments,

grievances, disciplinaries and staff leaving the organisation

according to ethnicity, gender, disability and age;

•

making arrangements for equalities to be integrated in all training

and development initiatives, including Investors in People;

•

making arrangements for implementing a new revised Harassment

and Bullying at Work policy including monitoring on grounds of race,

gender, disability, age and sexuality;

•

making arrangements for a staff survey of their satisfaction with the

Council including monitoring according to ethnicity, gender, disability

and age.

The Central Human Resources team in close co-operation with

(departmental) Group Personnel Managers undertook all these actions

and reported back to the Equalities Champions Group.

4.8

Drafting of the Race Equality Scheme

5. Equalities Statement and Principles

5.1

Through our vision, core values and goals, Sutton Council recognises that

good practice in equalities benefits all people. We acknowledge that no

organisation is immune from institutional discrimination and that some

people have been and still are discriminated against because of their

ethnic origin, gender, disability, age, sexuality or religion. The Council also

recognises that some people suffer disadvantage through unemployment,

social exclusion, ill health, poverty and other socio-economic factors.

5.2

The Council aims to treat all people with dignity and respect, recognising

their value by eliminating all forms of unlawful discrimination and promote

equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different

racial groups, in services, employment, recruitment and in our

partnerships.

5.3

We aim to do this by mainstreaming equalities into all our functions and

policies, listening and responding to staff and members of our community,

challenging past and present discrimination and allocating resources fairly.

5.4

To achieve this we have set equalities objectives for accessible and

effective services, fair and appropriate practices in recruitment and

employment and meaningful partnership working.

5.5

Equalities objectives for effective services:

•

Review Council services to make sure they meet different needs of

individuals and different sectors of the community.

•

Consult with different groups of the community to understand service

needs.

•

Monitor and analyse services to ensure that they are free from all

forms of discrimination.

•

Provide information and services that are accessible to all who

needs them.

•

Publish the results of consultation and monitoring and make it

accessible to the public.

employment and recruitment

•

Employ a workforce that represents the community we serve in terms of

race, gender and disability.

•

Monitor the existing workforce and recruitment and selection process to

ensure that we do not discriminate.

•

Monitor the workforce in terms of seniority and promotions to ensure

that Black and minority ethnic staff, women and disabled people are

visible at all levels of the organisation.

•

Monitor and review all personnel procedures to ensure that they are

free from discrimination.

•

Develop a culture that supports networks of staff from different groups

and consult with them on employment issues.

•

Provide an accessible and safe working environment for all staff.

•

Make sure that all staff are treated with dignity and respect and that the

contributions of each individual are valued.

•

Publish results of consultation and monitoring and make the results

available to the public.

•

Train staff to understand and implement all the provisions of all

equalities legislation including the Race Relations Amendment Act.

5.7

Equalities Objectives for meaningful partnership working

•

Listen to the views of people and encourage them to participate in the

life of the community.

•

Work in partnerships with different groups of the community.

•

Provide a safe and accessible environment for consultation with

individuals and groups.

•

Work together to provide an environment free from discriminatory

harassment and violence.

•

Ensure that other organisations, with whom we enter into contracts to

provide goods and services, place equalities at the core of their

services.

6.1

We have made an initial impact assessment of all functions and policies

(using Appendix III). This involved assessing their relevance to the

general duty of the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000, ie., whether they

were considered to be “1. Important”, “2. Fairly important” or “3. Not so

important, in terms of their impact on race quality, i.e. whether they relate

to:

•

eliminating discrimination

•

promoting equal opportunities and

•

promoting good race relations.

6.2

The answers in some areas were based on results of existing consultation

and monitoring data. For many functions and policies such data does not

yet exist and the initial assessment was based on the Head of Service or

responsible manager’s perception. (Appendix V)

6.3

The use of Appendix III can be described as an initial screening to

prioritise our functions and policies, following CRE guidelines. The

functions and policies with the greatest impact assessed as “1. Important”,

will be reviewed in greater depth in this financial year April 2002 - March

2003 (year 1). The functions and policies assessed as “2. Fairly important”

in year 2003-2004 (year 2) and the ones assessed as “3. Not so important”

in year 2004-2005 (year 3), or in some cases not at all if they have no

relevance to race equality. (Appendix V)

6.4

This initial assessment, although not perfect, has had the benefit of giving

us an overview of what consultation, monitoring and training in equalities is

taking place up to now in every section of the Council and a baseline to

build the updating of an Equalities Improvement Plan on. It has also had

the advantage of giving Heads of Sections and Managers the responsibility

for assessing their own sections and take initiatives to decide what

arrangements they will make (using Appendix IV) to facilitate improvement

and change in terms of consultation, monitoring, publishing their results,

reviewing their functions and making them more accessible and training

their staff in race equality.

6.5

Other areas of equalities such as gender, disability, sexuality and age have

been included by some sections, following “Equalities Standards for Local

Government”, but not by all through shortage of time. The intention is to

build these in at a later stage.

7.

Arrangements for consultation

7.1

Sutton has a long tradition of successful consultation, which goes back at

7.2

The Council has a strong commitment to further improve community

involvement and recognise how it contributes and complements the

established democratic process. We will make appropriate arrangements

to ensure that we consult with all sectors of our community and meet the

general duty of the Race Relations Amendment Act.

7.3

The Council has a statutory

duty to consult arising from several pieces of

legislation, such as the Local Government Act 1999, and the duty to

consult over Best Value reviews. Other examples are the Crime and

Disorder Act, Education Development Plans, and crosscutting plans such

as the Community Plan and the Cultural Strategy and very importantly the

Race Relations Amendment Act 2000.

7.4

Apart from its statutory duty the Council wants to consult because there

are positive benefits from doing so. The Council can improve the quality of

decision making by involving residents, people who work in and visit the

borough, individuals, groups, businesses, key partners and other

organisations. The Council wants to hear the views of all the community.

To do so the Council will make further arrangements to ensure that black

and minority ethnic people, women, disabled people, lesbians and gay

men, young and old people, travellers and other hard to reach and less

visible groups are included in consultation programs and targeted,

particularly when proposed decisions may have an effect on their quality of

life in some way. By consulting the Council will be more able to;

•

identify any discrimination or disadvantage, which any particular

individual or group may face and address it.

•

improve access to services by identifying and removing obstacles to

both users and non-users of services.

•

Improve levels of satisfaction with services and ensure that services are

delivered in a relevant and appropriate way.

What process will we use?

7.5

The volume of consultation has grown. As a result we need to base any

expansion on existing good practice, and ensure that we achieve

meaningful outcomes and avoid frustration of people involved in the

process. No one wants to feel used, often referred to as ‘consultation

fatigue’. For this purpose we are in the process of developing a

Protocol

for consultation

, which will set and keep good corporate standards. The

•

•

advising on best method to use

•

advising on relevant parties to consult

•

advising on size and timing of consultation

•

advising how to evaluate, publish and implement the findings and

•

advising on how to feed back results to those involved .

A well thought out corporate approach will enable us to balance the needs

of individual services, corporate needs and use limited resources in a cost

effective way. A co-ordinated approach will ensure that we do not overuse

particular groups and link issues together where appropriate. Although

individual sections have already made initial suggestions in their action

plans how and whom they plan to consult, this will need to be cleared with

the Policy and Research Officer.

What method will we use?

7.6

We will use a range of different methods. Which one we will choose will

very much depend on what we want to find out. Examples of methods we

will use are;

•

opinion polls and questionnaires

•

focus or discussion groups

•

individual

interviews

•

sampling of service users

•

postal

surveys

•

telephone

surveys

•

public

meetings

•

conferences and seminars

•

inconspicuous testing often referred to as ‘mystery shopper’

•

user panels or friends groups

•

Area Committees and Forums

Who will we consult?

7.7

Who we consult will depend on the issues in question. It is very important

community is not a homogeneous group. Different groups have different

needs. Our consultation will recognise this and we will consult with

particular minority ethnic groups on different issues. Examples of minority

ethnic groups with whom we will consult, with their permission, in addition

to all the ones mentioned in 7.4 include;

•

Sutton Racial Equality Council

•

Ethnic Minority organisations

•

Organisations dealing with Racial Harassment

•

Anti-racist

organisations

•

Refugee

network

•

Asylum Seekers Forum

•

Race and Community Relations Forum

•

Disability

Forum

•

Traveller’s

Forum

•

Women’s

Groups

•

Disability

Groups

•

Charity

organisations

•

Religious

organisations

7.8

Information resulting from any consultation must be properly analysed and

published in appropriate media. It will need to feed into the

decision-making process, review and action plans. The people, who took the

trouble to get involved, must also be informed of the outcome and thanked

for their participation.

7.9

We need to be aware that there may be certain barriers when involving

black and minority ethnic people in consultation.

There may be few black and minority ethnic people in some local groups

and organisations. If so we will approach them directly when appropriate.

If people do not have English as their first language, we will provide

8.1

The Council has been monitoring applicants and the existing workforce in

employment for some time according to ethnic origin, gender, disability,

age and seniority. In recent years the Council has started to monitor

services, particularly in Learning for Life and Community Services, some

due to legislative requirements. However, monitoring of services is still

very patchy across the authority. We have kept mainly manual records

until fairly recently.

8.2

The Council is committed to monitor all of its services that are relevant to

the general duty of the Race Relations Amendment Act in order to;

•

eliminate

discrimination

•

promote equal opportunities and

•

promote good relations between people of different racial groups

The Council will continue to make appropriate arrangements to improve

monitoring of services. In year 2000 the Equalities Champions group

agreed a corporate framework for monitoring services. It was designed to

ensure standardisation. We adopted the Office of National Statistics

categories used in the census forms and approved by CRE. This was

initially a manual system with a form that could be used by front line staff,

communicating with the public face to face, over the phone or by post.

8.3

The Council launched the Customer Relationships Management System

(CRM) in December 2001. This computerised system will gradually

replace the manual system. The idea is that all people, who use Council

services will be entered on the system. It will enable us to know the

service needs of our residents, even when it spans over several areas, and

make appropriate linkages. Each Individual will have a separate entry with

a separate screen for equalities information, including ethnic origin,

gender, disability and age. We use the new census categories. We

collect the users name, basic details and equalities information only once,

which is a major advantage. Data protection issues are naturally

incorporated in the system and taken very seriously. Several services are

already using the system. The Corporate Management Team (CMT) will

decide in which order services will be entered into the system. The

services not using the new system will be using the manual system and

the form we developed.

8.4

The purpose of the monitoring is to collect statistics of users and

stressed enough that the purpose of the monitoring is continual

improvement of services and not just collection of statistics. Monitoring

and consultation are tools to inform service providers, those who develop

and deliver the services, how they can improve them.

8.5

Following the completion of the assessment forms (Appendix lll), we now

know what monitoring is taking place across the Council. The services,

which were assessed as having high relevance to the general duty of the

Race Relations Amendment Act, will be monitored in the next year as a

priority.

8.6

120 frontline staff have already been trained in carrying out the practical

monitoring i.e. asking the monitoring questions in a sensitive way and

inputting the information into the computer system. The training was

delivered within a framework of the provisions of the Race Relations

Amendment Act and we are committed to continue the training for all

front-line staff.

9.

Arrangements for publishing the results

9.1

London Borough of Sutton will produce an annual equalities report both in

employment and service delivery, which will record and assess the

progress of the Race Equality Scheme. It will include results of monitoring

and consultation and actions and targets set in each service area. The

report will capture all equalities issues of the authority, both drawing on

and complimenting the existing reporting arrangements for equalities in

each service area, Best Value reviews, performance indicators and

corporate objectives.

9.2

When drafting the report we will work very closely with each management

team. We will consult on the draft report with each grouping. The

Equalities Champions Group and the Corporate Management Team

of the

Council will consider the draft report. The Performance Committee of each

service area, the Scrutiny Panels, the Race and Community Relations

Forum and the Disability Forum will consider the final report. We will also

consult with Sutton Racial Equality Council. The full report will be

available to the public. We will print a summary and make arrangements

for it to be freely available and distributed widely. We will ensure that it is

accessible in large print, Braille or tape and translation on request.

9.3

We will publish the Race Equalities scheme and make it freely and widely

10.1

The Council communicates with the public through leaflets, the London

Borough of Sutton’s website, magazines etc. All information is widely

available free of charge. All Council information is available in large print,

tape, Braille and translation on request.

10.2

For non –English speakers the Council has a contract with Language Line.

It is a telephone interpreting and translation service. The use of language

line allows staff, predominantly at the public interface point, to access by

telephone a range of languages, to enable them to communicate with the

person in front of them and deal with them successfully. It is paid for from

a corporate budget.

10.3

Should a service group require a face- to- face interpreter or get a

publication translated, they are required to make their own provision and

pay from their departmental budget.

10.4

We will review our provisions for interpreting and translations. We will look

into the possibility of using local community interpreters, as there are many

who are trained with English as a second language who would like to

develop and expand their service. We will discuss the possibility of using

provisions of other Boroughs and we will look into the possibility of using

staff who are bilingual as additional possibilities.

10.5

As there are no corporate guidelines for interpretation and translation at

present, we will draft guidelines and develop services to enable staff,

Members and the Council as a whole to communicate effectively with all of

those who live and work and receive services in the Borough and who do

not have English as their first language. We will also draft guidelines to

ensure that all buildings and communication are accessible for people with

physical and sensory disabilities.

10.6

We will train our staff in valuing diversity and increase their understanding

and sensitivity towards people of different cultures, religions, with little or

no understanding of English and disabled people to ensure they have

access to our services and do not suffer discrimination.

10.7

By reviewing our services and drafting new guidelines for accessible

11.1

Our Chief Executive held a seminar for her Corporate Management Team

(CMT) in the content of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act. The

Council has trained 100 managers and 120 front-line staff in the content of

the Act. Approx 100 Draft Codes of Practice have been distributed to

senior staff. Staff, who have been closely involved in developing the

scheme, have had more intensive training. In addition one member of staff

has attended a seminar on how to train others in the Act. We have also

included one session on equalities and the Race Relations (Amendment)

Act in our induction training for all new staff.

11.2

We are committed to continue the training of managers and staff on a

rolling program at similar rate as we have done up to now. We commit

ourselves to training at least 100 managers and staff each year in the Act

until we have trained all our staff. We will also set up a training session for

Members. In addition staff will be trained according to need identified

through performance appraisal.

11.3

We will mainstream the Race Relations Amendment Act and other

equalities legislation in all our training activities. We will design our

training material and deliver it in a way that does not discriminate on

grounds of race and promotes equal opportunities and good relations

between people of different racial groups. We will do this for example by

using videos, overheads and power- point presentations presenting black

and minority ethnic people in a positive way and make sure they have a

strong presence in case studies etc. We will only use facilitators and

trainers who have a good grasp of equalities issues generally and the

Race Relations (Amendment Act) in particular. We will also include

specific sessions on the Act within other training such as Staff Selection,

Induction, Management Training, Performance Appraisal and Best Value

training. We will develop a session for new Members in the Act, in their

induction program, following the election.

12.

Our arrangements for mainstreaming equalities in Corporate

Initiatives, Best Value, Investors in People, Business Planning,

Corporate Purchasing and contracting out services

12.1

We will make arrangements for mainstreaming equalities through

13.1

Current arrangements for reducing racial harassment and racial crime in

the London Borough of Sutton include;

•

corporate procedures for tackling racial harassment including support to

employees and members of the public wishing to report harassment

•

a nuisance and harassment panel. This multi-agency panel focuses

primarily on nuisance and harassment in the housing stock of the

Council.

•

funding for the Sutton Racial Equality Council. The Council provides the

majority of funding to this organisation and expects that the issues of

racial harassment and racial crime are tackled and dealt with as part of

the service agreement.

•

effective liaison, information sharing and joint work with the police within

the parameters of the Crime & Disorder Act

•

‘Safecall’, a Council alarm system which is installed in vulnerable

peoples houses, allowing them to contact the Council 24 hours a day

•

Race Crime Group, which is a multi-agency group, overseeing issues

concerned with racial crime and racial harassment. This group can itself

take action, and make recommendations for action

•

The Race and Community Relations Forum which is part of the

Council’s Committee Structure, offers the opportunity for the community

to raise issues of concern directly with the Council, both Members and

officers.

13.2

Future arrangements include a fundamental review with the Sutton Racial

Equality Council. We intend that this area of work will have a greater

prominence in the future.

Meeting the specific duties in employment

14.

Our arrangement for employment including monitoring employment

in schools.

14.1

The London Borough of Sutton are required to monitor by reference to

racial group the numbers of:

•

staff in post

•

applicants for employment, training and promotion

•

staff who receive training

•

staff who benefit or suffer detriment as a result of performance

assessment procedures

•

staff who are involved in grievance procedures

•

staff who are subject to disciplinary procedures

for 2000-2003. The action plan set out to;

•

attract and retain a workforce which reflects our community

•

create a work environment free from discrimination, where all

employees feel respected and valued

•

provide opportunities for training and development for all staff

addressing any negative impact for under-represented groups.

14.3

In year 2000 we introduced a complete monitoring system of the existing

workforce and new recruitment according to ethnic origin, gender,

disability, age and seniority. We sent a letter to all our staff, asking them to

classify themselves according to the new census categories. We had a 97

per cent response rate, except for schools, where the ethnic origin of 27

per cent of staff is still not known.

14.4

The composition of staff from minority ethnic background of the London

Borough of Sutton has increased from 6.7% in 2000 to 7.3% in 2001 and

8.2% in 2002 compared to 7.3% living in the borough estimated by the

London Research Centre (LRC). However, including schools the

percentage is reduced to 5.1 % in 2002. We do not know if this is because

they employ fewer minority ethnic staff or because all the statistics from the

schools have not been collected yet. In senior grades there is an

under-representation of black and minority ethnic staff in the Authority as a

whole.

14.5

Central Human Resources has also collected recruitment information from

all groupings giving information on success rate of applications, shortlists

and appointments according to ethnicity, gender, disability, age and

seniority from 01 April 2000. This process is now being automated through

the introduction of a scanning process of applications.

14.6

Black and minority ethnic people apply in large numbers to the London

Borough of Sutton. They are less successful in being short-listed and

appointed. This has been of great concern and groupings have been

trying to find out the reasons and set targets with action plans to remedy

the imbalance.

14.7

We have set up systems to monitor promotions, applicants for corporate

training, those who receive training and those leaving the organisation

according to ethnic origin, gender disability and age. From 1 April 2002 we

will also be able to tell the reasons why people are leaving the

according to ethnicity and disability. We already monitor Hay Officers pay

by gender. We will also monitor appraisals of other staff by confirming that

the appraisals have been carried out according to race, gender and

disability and its quality by sampling. We will record the results.

14.9

We are in the process of setting up systems together with Group

Personnel managers for monitoring staff who are involved in grievance

procedures and subject to disciplinary procedures. In addition we have set

up systems to monitor staff, who have been involved in cases of

harassment and bullying. We will be reporting in June 2003 for the first

time.

14.10

All monitoring statistics will be reported to the senior management team in

each grouping. Together with corporate HR they will analyse the figures,

set targets and action plans to remedy any imbalances.

14.11

We will report and publish all monitoring statistics, with analysis, targets

and action plans annually in June in the Equal Opportunities in

Employment report. We will consult with the Equalities Champions Group,

the Sutton Ethnic Minorities Workers Support Group, the Corporate

Management Team (CMT), The Race and Community Relations Forum,

the Disability Forum and Sutton Racial Equality Council. The first report of

new monitoring statistics of applicants and participants of corporate

training, promotions, leavers, grievances and disciplinaries will be

published in June 2003.

14.12

We will make arrangements to collect monitoring statistics from staff in our

schools together with the Personnel Manager and Strategic Director for

Learning for Life and ensure that we reduce the high numbers of staff

showing ethnic origin as “unknown”.

15.

Staffing responsibilities for co-ordinating equalities in employment,

service delivery and community relations

The Chief Executive and the Assistant Chief Executive are responsible for

Equalities as are every Strategic Director for their grouping. A new post

Executive Head of Corporate Strategy will have equalities as one of his/her

responsibilities. Executive Head of Human Resources will co-ordinate and

promote equalities initiatives in employment.

16.

Our arrangements for dealing with complaints

16.1

Comments, compliments and complaints are an importance source of

languages and media. The complaints procedure has a second stage,

under which a senior officer will review the complaint, if we cannot resolve

it at stage one.

16.1

We record

•

Complaints details and the gender, ethnic origin and if the person

complaining is disabled. The information must be obtained for all

complaints reaching stage 2 and where possible for complaints

resolved at Stage 1.

16.2

In time managing complaints will be monitored by CRM, the computerised

Customer Relations Management System. Until then we will manually

record complainants’ details.

16.3

By monitoring complains we could identify if a specific section of the

community are involved in a disproportionate number of complaints and if

so what kind of complaints. Analysis of such information will enable us to

make changes to improve the services we provide.

17.

Review of the Scheme

17

.

1

We will review this scheme every three years with first reviewal date to be

A

ppe

ndix

I

The Council’s Political Structure

Council

Best Value

& A

udit

o

mmit

te

e

Performance

C

o

mmit

tees

Learning for Life

Resources and

Corporate

Ser

vic

es

Env

ironment and

Leisure

Community

Ser

vic

es

St

rat

egy

C

o

mmit

te

e

A

rea Committees

Beddington and

W

allington

Sutton

Carshalton and

Clockhouse

Cheam and

W

orcest

er P

ark

Dev

el

o

pm

ent

Control

C

o

mmit

te

e

(Specific matters

affecting indiv

idual

members of the

public)

Panels

St

andards

C

o

mmit

te

e

Best Value

Worki

n

g

Part

Appendix II

Management Structure

Chief Executive

Executive

Strategic Director

Resources Statutory Section 151 Officer

Strategic Director

Community

Services

Statutory

Social

Services Officer

Strategic Director

Environment & Leisure

Strategic Director Learning for Life Chief Education

Officer

Service Units Strategy Engagement

Services

Resources Service

Units

•

Financial Services _• Customer Services _• Information

&

Support Services

•

Human Resources (from June 2002)

Community

Services

Service Units

•

Children & Families

•

Housing

&

Regeneration

•

Resources _• Community

Living

•

Community

Care

Services

Environment & _{Leisure Service}

Units

•

Public

Protection

•

Construction

&

Property

•

Leisure Management _• Resources _•Highways, Parks & Waste Management _• Planning

&

Transportation

Learning for Life Service Units _• Foundation Lifetime Learning _•Parent, Pupil & Student Services _•Core & Support Services _• Library,

Heritage

A ppendix III an/Rac er el /RRA-A ppIII.doc A ssessi ng functi

ons and pol

ic ies for thei r r e le va

nce to the gener

a

l duty

of the Race Rel

a ti ons A m endm ent A c

t 2000 and E

qual iti es ar ra ngem e nts for m oni tor ing,

consultation and training

(For fur ther expl a nati on r e fer

to Code of P

racti

ce on the Duty to P

rom

ote Race E

qual ity) 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 ease l is t al l ons & licie s f o r w h ich e sponsi b le ee Appendi x II) W h ic h of these req ui rem ents re la

te to y

our functi on or pol ic y 1 . E lim in a tin g di scr im inati o n 2. Pr om oti n g eq ual oppor tuni ties 3. Pr om oti n g good ra ce re la tio n s D o y ou consul t on y our functi on/pol ic y w ith any par ticul a r r a ci al gr oup or or gani sati on or other body repr esenti n g w om en, di sabl ed, peopl e of di ff er ent ag e or sexuality Do y o u m oni tor y our functi on/pol ic y w ith r e ga rd to ra ce, g ender , d isa b ilit y, a ge or any other status

*

function/policies have an im

pact

w

ith regard to race

equality

?

D

o

y

ou have any

reason to bel

ie ve that som e r a ci al gr oup( s) coul d be neg ati vel y af fe cted by y our functi on/pol ic y? If so wh ic h .

*

has an adver

se

af

fe

ct on any

par ticul a r gr oup? H ow w oul d y ou r ate the deg ree of r e le vance y our functi on/pol ic

y has on the

gener al duty of the R a ce R e la tions Am endm ent Act. 1. Im por tant 2. F a irl y im por tant 3. N o

t so i

m por tant W hat tr ai ni ng has taken pl ace i n r a eq ual ity

to date i

your section What tr

ai ni ng has taken pl ace i n other ar eas of eq ual ity

tions hen answ

er

ing these questi

ons r

e

fer

to the Code of P

racti

ce on the duty

to pr om ote r ace equal ity .

past monitoring r

RRA-APPI V A ppendix IV P lease l is

t the functi

ons/

pol

ic

ies i

n

order of pri

o ri ty from y our l is t. I m

portant under y

ear 1, fai rl y i m portant y ear 2,

not so i

m

portant under y

ear 3. P lease l is t w h

at measures w

ith regards to consul

tati

on,

m

oni

tor

ing and publ

is

hi

ng of assessm

ent,

consul

tati

on and m

oni

tor

ing

information y

ou w

ill put in place in y

ear 1 and 2. W

h

at measures w

ill y

ou take to

make sure y

our serv ices and pol ic ies ar e m o re accessi bl

e and y

our staff better tr ai ned i n r ace equal ity and other ar

eas of equal

ity (For fur ther expl a nati on r e fer

to Code of P

racti

ce on the Duty to P

rom

ote Race E

qual ity) 12 3 45 6 7 ons/ser vi ce licie s W hat ar rang em ents w ill

you put i

n

pl

ace

ensur

in

g that y

our functi ons/ser vi ces/ p o licie s a re subj ect to consul tati on. W h a t a rra n ge m e n ts w ill y o u p u t in pl ace ensur in

g that y

our functi ons/pol ic ie s ar e bei ng pr oper ly m oni tor ed ( both

access to services and sati

sf acti on of ser vi ces) e.g . sur vey s, q uesti onnai re s, f o cus gr oup, i n ter vi e w s, m eeti n gs etc. W hat ar rang em ents w ill you m a

ke to ensur

e that consul tati on and m oni tor ing detai ls ar e publ is hed. W hat ar rang em ents w ill y o u m a ke f o r establ is hi ng a pr ocedur e f or re visin g p o licie s in ligh t o f assessm ent and consul tati on W hat ar rang em ents w ill you m a

ke to ensur

e that your ser vi ces ar e accessi bl

e to al

l g

roups

e.g

. access to inf

o rm ation in di ff e rent l ang uag es,

access to m

eeting s, venues etc. W hat ar rang em ents w you m a

ke to ensur

e that al l y our staf f ar e re cei vi n g tr ai ni ng in the re qu irem ent of the Ra ce Re la tio n s Am endm

ent Act and

other ar eas of eq ual ity

s 1 por

tant

List of Functions and Policies

Chief Executive’s Group

Performance Indicators

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Human Resources

Functions

Recruitment & Selection Race Relations Act 1

Acting up and use of consultants 1976 1

Appraisals Race Relations 1

Staff development 1

Management Development Amendment Act 2000 1

Member Development Sex Discrimination 1

Induction Act 1975 2

Pay and non-pay benefits (including honoraria, job evaluations, ex gratia

payments, flexible working arrangements and annual leave)

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

2

Equal opportunities in Employment BVPI 2, 11a, 11b, 12,

13, 15, 16, 17

1

Providing HR information ongoing

Health & Safety at Work 3

Occupational Health 3

Industrial & Employee Relations 1

Policies

Recruitment & Selection Procedure 1

Probation Procedure 2

Training and Development Procedure } Management Development Procedure & }

Member Development Procedure } 2

Equal Opportunities Policy 1

Harassment & Bullying at Work Policy & Procedure

1

Job Share Policy 2

Managing Sickness Absence Policy BVP I 12, BVPI 14 1

Disciplinary Policy & Procedure 1

Grievance Policy & Procedure 1

Capability & Poor Performance Procedure (in the process of drafting)

2

Minimising Stress at Work Policy 2

Redundancy Policy & Procedure 2

Procedure dealing with reorganisations 2

Smoking Policy 3

Chief Executive’s Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Legal Services

Functions

Legal advice and action by instruction of client departments:

• drafting agreements

• conveyancing

BVPI 02 2

• prosecutions

• housing repossession

• child protection/vulnerable adult

protection & mental health

• education and employment

Advise on compliance with new legislation – equalities (including Race Relations

Amendment Act)

1

Policies

Legal Services does not directly administer

any policies N/A

Policy & Performance

Functions

Performance Management Local Government Acts since

1974 and related circulars and statutory instruments.

1

Policy Development Civic Defence (General Local

Authority Functions) Regulations 1993

1

Emergency Planning 3

Policies

BVPP 1

Corporate Action Plans 1

Local Democracy Action Plan 2

Complaints Policy 1

Consultation Protocol 1

Committee Section

Functions

Service the Council’s democratic and decision making processes

BVPI 5, 6 2

Provide administrative support to Councillors 3

Provide secretarial and other support for the

Mayor and Deputy Mayor 3

Provide administrative support functions for

the Chief Executive’s Department 3

Maintain twinning relations and liaise with the

Council’s twin towns 3

Conduct the annual canvass of electors, produce the electoral register, organise all elections in the borough

2

Policies

Chief Executive’s Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Communications/PR

Functions

Provide an effective marketing, publicity and media relations service to promote the aims and objectives of the authority to internal and external audiences.

2

Effective corporate promotion of the Council 1

Develop and improve of the LBS website to provide a more effective source of news, information and publicity.

2

Report on the performance of the Council against local and national performance indicators including the annual summary of the Best Value Performance Plan.

2

Support members, officers and key partnership organisations.

2

Corporate Strategy

Regeneration Functions

Project management of local, sub-regional, Londonwide and national regeneration initiatives.

Programme management of single regeneration budget

Support community based projects, eg community health, social enterprise, community nursery and community based learning.

1

1

1

Economic Development Functions

Draft and support the delivery of the Sutton Economic Regeneration Strategy. Business Support and Mentoring

Support Lifelong Learning

Support for ethnic minority businesses Work together with other organisations, e.g. The Prince’s Trust, Sutton Chamber of Commerce, Round Table.

1

2 1 1 2

New Deal Functions

Set up New Deal contract with the DFEE Environmental Task Force

Manage New Deal Mentoring Manage New Deal Innovation Fund

Chief Executive’s Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Community Safety Functions

Implement Crime and Disorder Strategy Crime and Disorder Act 1

Chair and lead Community Safety Steering Group.

Project Management of crime reduction projects and reducing fear of crime. Tackling racism and domestic violence Implementation of the Drugs Action team agenda.

Supporting the Youth Offending Team Year one implementation of CCTV in the Wallington, Beddington Lane and Purley Way areas

BVIP 126, 127, 128, 173, 174, 176, 177, 189

1

1

1 1 2 1 2

Policies

Crime and Disorder Strategy

CCTV Code of Practice and Compliance to Data Protection and Human Rights

Legislation

Sutton Domestic Violence Protocol

Sutton Community Safety Steering Group Information Sharing Protocol

Hate Crime Protocol

Safer Sutton Small Grants Protocol

Voluntary Sector Liaison Function

Review of the corporate voluntary sector grant aid programme.

Support of centrally managed voluntary grant aided organisations.

Monitor and establish service level agreements.

1

1

1

Community Centres Functions

Assess needs of these centres

Assess grant aid opportunities and or other funding sources for improvements and refurbishment of centres.

Community development and capacity building in the voluntary sector building on ESF Thames 4 programme.

Ongoing

Corporate Equalities Strategy Functions

Implement Equalities Improvement Plan and

Race Action Plans 1

Set up Race Relations (Amendment) Act

Resources Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Resources

Housing Benefits Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient

Housing & Council Tax Benefit Service Housing Benefit(General) Regulations

1987

Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992

BVIP 9, 10, 76, 77, 78a, 78b, 78c, 78a, 79, 79b, 80

1

Cashiers

Function

Provide a comprehensive and efficient

Cashiers Service 1

Insurance Services

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient

Insurance Service Council StandingOrders 2

Pensions and Payroll

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient

Pension and Payroll Section Local GovernmentPension Scheme

Regulations

3

Text Processing

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient Text Processing Centre

3

Payments & Control

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient

Payments and Control Service BVIP 8 2

Receptionists & Telephonists

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient

Resources Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Governance Section

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient Internal Audit and Risk Management Service in addition the Best Value and Performance Management Team provides a central support role for Members and officers

2

Accountancy & Financial Advice

Service

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient corporate Accountancy and Financial Advice Service

3

Policies

Standing Orders 1

Security

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient Out of Hours base and Mobile Officer Security Service to the Borough and its working and resident community

1

Internal Services

Functions

Provide Internal Support Services (including Personnel Services) for both the Chief Executive’s and Resources Service Groups. Provide building services (cleaning,

photocopying etc) for all users of Civic Offices. (This ‘function’ definition excludes Premises security related duties, which are covered on a separate sheet.)

1 for Personnel Services 3 for everything else

Network Support

Functions

Maintain and enhance the Council’s

computer networks and corporate systems such as e-mail and Internet access.

1

Maintain and enhance the Council’s Mitel Telephone (PABX) system network and related technologies such as Voice Mail and mobile phones.

Resources Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Desktop Support

Functions

Provide IT Desktop Support to Members and

Officers 2

Information Communications

Technology

Functions

Provide Information Communication

Technology Project Management guidance and support for all service groups

BVIP 157 2

Policies

Specify and maintain ICT Strategy and Computer Security Policy

3

Contribute to enabling social inclusion by providing an accessible Web Site

Environment & Leisure Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Resources Unit

Functions

Provide a range of support services (including personnel & training, finance, Business Systems (ICT) and monitoring complaints) to services across the Environment & Leisure Group

1 for personnel, inc complaints

3 for rest

Provide caretaking services (including reception) to those working in, or coming to Denmark Road offices

1 for those working in reception; 3 for rest

Provide a purchasing function for the Council, based at Therapia Lane Depot

3

Co-ordinate corporate accreditation under EMAS

3

Policies

Sutton’s Environmental Purchasing Policy 3

Construction & Property

Functions

Provide a comprehensive and efficient property acquisition, construction,

maintenance, management and if necessary disposal service.

BVIP 156, 180 3

To deliver technical work programmes on time, on budget

3

Policies

Corporate Asset Management Plan 3

Public Protection

Functions

General for Public Protection Advice

Investigation of Complaints Planning Advice

BVIP 62, 64, 166

2 2 2 Commercial Premises

Health & Safety Inspections Food Hygiene Inspections Food Hygiene Training

Investigate Infectious Diseases and Outbreaks

Sampling of Food

2 2 1 2

2 Residential

Housing Inspections Grants

Energy Conservation

Environment & Leisure Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Environmental Protection Animal Wardens

Air Quality

Contaminated Land Authorised Processes Water Quality

Noise Assessments Pest Control

Clinical Waste Collection

3 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 Trading Standards

Enforcement Consumer Advice Business Advice Inspections Licensing

2 1 1 2 2 Safety and Licensing

Issue of Licences e.g. street trading, Entertainment, door supervisors Corporate Health & Safety Asbestos

2

3 3 Administration

1st contact for public

Receiving complaints Admin Support to Teams

1 1 1 Building Control

Approval of BR Applications Dangerous Structures Demolitions Sites

Advice on Disabled Access

3 3 3 2 Staying Put

Assist elderly & disabled people to stay in

own accommodation 1

Sutton Catering Services

Provide meals to schools 2

Policies

Contaminated Land Noise

Food Safety Water Pollution Grants

Enforcement

Reduction of Dog Fouling Consumer Advice

Environment & Leisure Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Planning/Transportation/Highways

Strategic & Environmental Planning Functions

Prepare/Review of the Unitary Development

Plan 2

Prepare/Review of the Annual Transport Plan 2

Advice to relevant Committees on planning/transportation policy issues

2

Development of sustainable transport projects

3

Development of nature

conservation/countryside management projects

3

Development of streetscape enhancement

schemes 3

Delivery of comprehensive road safety education programme in Schools, to cyclists, motorcyclists and the local community

2

Management of the Ecology Centre 3

Town Centre Management 2

Highways & Street Lighting

Management of the Borough’s public highways, including the inspection and enforcement of carriageways, footpaths, highway verges and street lighting and ancillary street furniture

BVIP 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 105, 178, 186, 187

2

Development Group

Control of Development BVIP 106, 107, 108,

109, 110, 111, 112, 179, 188

1

Securing capital receipts and negotiation with

developers 3

Advice to Committee on planning

applications 2

Planning aspects of regeneration activities 1

Conservation, historic building and tree preservation

3

Provision of front-line advice to the public on all planning matters and promotion of the Council’s planning services

1

Transport

Development and installation of traffic management schemes to control traffic and reduce accidents

BVIP 165 3

Advice to Developmental Control on transportation implications of planning proposals

Environment & Leisure Group

Target Year 1 = Important 2 = Fairly Important 3 = Not so Important

Planning/Transportation/Highways

cont’d

Transport cont’d

Development of cycle ways, bus priority

network and area-based traffic management 2

Design of controlled Parking Zones and other

Parking Schemes 3

Parking Services

Enforcement of yellow lines and footway

parking restrictions 3

Promotion of the Council’s Parking policies 2

Management of the Council’s car parks 3

Customer Services and Administration 2

Policies

Draft Modified Unitary Development Plan 2

Sustainable Transport Strategy 3

Interim Local Plan for Transport 2

Highways & Waste Management Functions

Refuse Collection BVIP 82, 84, 85, 86,

87, 88, 91

2

Street and other cleaning 2

Recycling 2

Waste Disposal 2

Transport Provision (internal support service

responding to user requirements) 2

Policy

Environment & Leisure Group

Target Year 1 =