London Borough of Enfield
Race Equality Scheme 2002 - 2005
Contents
Page
1. Why we have a Race Equality Scheme
3
2. Tackling racial discrimination, ensuring equality of opportunity and
4
promoting good race relations
3. Work recently undertaken
6
4. Assessing and consulting on the impact of our key functions and
7
policies
5. Monitoring progress and publication of results
8
6. Access to information and services
10
7. Compliments, complaints or comments about the Scheme
11
8. Race Equality Scheme action plan 2002 – 2005
12
9. Council’s relevant functions and policies - 3 year action plan for reviews/impact
assessments
14
Foreword
This booklet is a summary of Enfield Council’s first Race Equality Scheme. The Scheme illustrates the work that the Council is doing to promote race equality, combat discrimination and improve race relations among the diverse community that makes up the borough’s population.
The Council was one of the first boroughs to hold a community debate on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and to develop a plan for prioritising its race equality work in consultation with a wide range of voluntary and community sector organisations.
We welcome the opportunity that the Race Relations Amendment Act provides to make this a legal requirement of all public organisations – indeed any efficient and forward-looking agency should be doing this as a matter of course.
The Scheme lays out our progress so far and outlines our plans for future work. We see the Scheme as a vital means of consulting with those who live, work and study in Enfield, and therefore we would welcome any views and comments you may have on what we plan to do. This is the executive summary version of the Scheme, the full version is available on request.
David Plank - Chief Executive
1. Why we have a Race Equality Scheme
Following the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the Government amended the law on race relations. As part of the new law, public organisations such as councils have to produce a Race Equality Scheme.
The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry showed that although public authorities often have policies and statements on racial equality, discrimination can still take place. The Government has said that it is not enough to have policies in place and that authorities such as Enfield Council must show that they are taking effective action to tackle racial discrimination.
2. Tackling racial discrimination, ensuring equality of opportunity and promoting good race
relations
Under the Race Relations Act all public service providers must seek to meet the general duty. This requires us (the London Borough of Enfield), to:
· eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
· promote equality of opportunity
· and promote good race relations between different racial groups.
Enfield Council has always sought to meet these key objectives in the past. Although there has been some success, it is recognised that there is much more to do to integrate race issues into the mainstream work of the Council.
All public authorities that deliver important services have to make arrangements that will help them to meet their general duty. The specific duties are:
· we must prepare and publish a Race Equality Scheme by 31 May 2002.
· we must monitor our existing workforce by ethnic group. This refers to all employment practices, e.g. training, the disciplinary process, job applicants, etc.
· we must publish ethnic monitoring results every year.
Schools and further education establishments also have specific duties to follow – each school has to publish their own Race Equality Policy – for further information, contact Neil Parr, Education Group on 020 8803 4460, or e-mail to
Good race relations is about involving the whole community. To eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity, we must look to see whether all members of the community are receiving fair and equitable treatment. In so doing, we will try our best to remove barriers and inequalities that exist and play a leading role in promoting good race relations.
The services we provide all play an important role in the fabric of our community, whether it be in education and training to enable people to access the kind of jobs they want, or ensuring that the housing we provide is accessible and of an equal standard for all. In improving our services, we play an important role in removing inequality and promoting good race relations.
We work in partnership with other public authorities such as local fire, Police and heath agencies, and with other local organisations such as Enfield Racial Equality Council (EREC), with whom the Council has regular meetings. All such partnerships are
encouraged to foster an improved understanding and a more co-ordinated approach to delivering services and support to communities. Our relationship with voluntary and community sector partners has improved through the development of the Voluntary and Community Sector Compact, launched in November 2001. This provides a firm framework for partnership working and is one of only four such compacts agreed in London.
Through the establishment of the Enfield Strategic Partnership, and concerted joint action to bid for regeneration and other funds to improve the quality of life in Enfield, we have demonstrated that partnership brings results. The Strategic Partnership was set up in November 2001 and brings together many of the agencies and organisations in the borough that deliver services, or represent particular interests such as business and black and minority ethnic communities. The role of the Partnership is to make sure that agencies and organisations work together to promote the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the area.
We also work in partnership with many other service providers, from both the private and voluntary sectors, where we have entered into formal contracts for them to provide a service or part of a service direct to the public. The Council will explore the possibilities of further strengthening the equality requirements of these partnerships in the light of the Race Relations Amendment Act.
3. Work recently undertaken
Enfield: Equal Opportunities for All
This is the Council’s equal opportunities policy. It is continually revised to ensure it is as current as possible, and addresses issues such as new legislation and current thinking around equalities issues.
The Council’s corporate equalities action plan
The Council adopted a corporate equalities action plan in the late 1990s to pull together all the work needing to be done to address race issues. The plan is regularly reviewed. Race work is just one element of the plan – it also covers work in relation to disability, gender, age and other equalities issues.
Working towards Racial Equality in Enfield community conference and action plan
The Council worked closely with Enfield Racial Equality Council to hold a community debate in July 1999 on the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. Following on from that a successful consultation exercise ‘Working towards Racial Equality in Enfield’ community
conference was held on 20 February 2001. The Council’s Cabinet agreed an action plan that addressed the specific concerns and priorities expressed by community representatives in winter 2002.
Commission for Racial Equality standard for local government
The Council has assessed itself as reaching level 2 of this national race standard, and has a commitment to reach level 3 by December 2002. At the same time, we are investigating the implications of the new proposed generic equality standard for local government that covers not only race, but also disability and gender issues.
Performance monitoring
4. Assessing and consulting on the impact of our key functions and
policies
What we currently doing
How we identified relevant functions and policies
We listed all our functions and related policies and devised a scoring system to identify priorities for action based on our existing knowledge and data.
The initial assessments assisted us to identify the relevance of our functions and policies to the three general duties of the Act, i.e. combating discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity, and promoting good relations between different racial groups. This exercise has helped us determine those that are likely to be the most relevant to the new legislation, and where race issues may have the most importance.
What we will do
We intend to carry reviews of existing functions and policies over the next three years and conduct full comprehensive impact assessments of the most relevant ones. The review programme is laid out in section 9.
We already publish details of all the Council’s key decisions, three months in advance, to allow all interested parties to become involved and have their say. This is called the Forward Plan. Any new key decisions and policies of the Council that may have a significant impact on communities will be included in the public Forward Plan.
The Forward Plan is available on the Council’s website (www.enfield.gov.uk), in all customer service areas in Council buildings, and on request from the Democratic Services Team (contact Jo Williams on 020 8379 4093 or e-mail to
[email protected]
Consultation
What we will do
We will continue to develop ways to engage the people of Enfield in all that we do. We plan to conduct ongoing consultation about the Race Equality Scheme in a number of ways, including –
· meeting with community representatives and management committees of local voluntary and community sector groups and organisations who represent the different communities
· collecting more detailed information on the needs and concerns of different racial groups within our community
· making use of established existing consultation mechanisms as much as possible to avoid consultation overload
· publicising the Scheme through use of the Council’s Youth Assembly (an assembly of representatives from schools and youth centres elected by their peers)
· using other events such as Black History Month to publicise and consult on the Race Equality Scheme
· consulting the Council’s Citizens’ Panel (a group of 1,000 residents recruited to represent all different groups within Enfield)
5. Monitoring progress and publication of results
Monitoring is a vital part of our strategy to promote race equality within the Council.
Monitoring can tell us how our policies and functions are affecting different racial groups and if they are having any adverse impact on some communities.
Service monitoring
We will strengthen our equalities monitoring systems to ensure we are collecting data from all key service areas and that proper analysis and meaningful reporting is conducted. There are several types of “universal” services, such as refuse collection, where the service is delivered to every household – ethnic monitoring of recipients of such services would be of little value. For these services, we will collect useful information on customer satisfaction levels and complaints.
Scrutiny arrangements
Service managers are responsible for the assessment of their functions and policies and for annual reviews of their entire service. A team of Council officers known as the Corporate Equalities Group will monitor progress.
public. If you would like more information about scrutiny panel meetings, please telephone Stephen Addison on 020 8379 4097 or e-mail to [email protected]
Employment - meeting the specific duties in employment
Enfield aims to employ a workforce which is representative of the local community. It acknowledges that it is only when you employ a workforce that is truly diverse and celebrates the value of diversity that you can provide and deliver effective services to your local community. The Council already meets the specific duties around employment required by the Act – we already
undertake equalities monitoring across a wide range of Human Resources activities, and have conducted detailed equalities audits of all our employment practices.
What we will do
· we will explore which new and more modern databases are currently on the market to enable us to better monitor and produce more sophisticated reports (and benchmark) not just our workforce data, but other areas of service that have, or may have, an equalities dimension
· from our monitoring data, it is clear that Enfield has very few black and ethnic minority staff at senior level. In addition, we attract few black and ethnic minority applicants. We are therefore researching senior level recruitment campaigns to assess how the Council can attract, appoint and retain black and ethnic minority staff
· we will publish annual results of monitoring both internally and externally. This will be available to all in paper form and via the Council’s website
·
we will look at how we can develop the role of the Council’s Black Workers Support GroupPublication of results of assessments and monitoring
The Council is required to publish the results of the assessment of the impact of its key functions and policies, as well as results of service delivery and employment practices by racial groups.
What we will do
6. Access to information and services
Access to information and services for all who live, work and study in Enfield is key to our equalities strategy. We are continually developing services, and managers review their service delivery arrangements on an annual basis. We want to identify any
barriers that prevent anyone from accessing a service. The Council also publishes an A to Z of Council Services that is available on the Council website, and in many community languages.
Each service manager is responsible for delivering a service that everyone can fully access in whatever way is most appropriate. As an example, some key services are taken out to housebound customers, while some other services employ specialist officers to engage with different groups of people, such as people with learning difficulties or asylum seekers.
We have a Translation and Interpreting Team that co-ordinates requests from service groups for assistance. We will translate any of our literature, information leaflets, letters, forms, etc. into any language you request.
We encourage job applicants who can speak several languages for any front-line positions, in an attempt to be able to assist customers whose first language is not English.
What we will do
· we plan to open a Council-wide customer contact centre in January 2003. This is an essential and substantial part of our plan to improve public access to all Council services through the provision of a single telephone number service available 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. The contact centre aims to ensure that all calls are answered and dealt with at this first point of contact for all our customers. The contact centre will access the Translation and Interpreting Team on behalf of telephone callers, and any e-mail correspondence, whenever required. Interpreters will be available via the contact centre 24 hours a day.
7. Compliments, complaints or comments about the Scheme
We have issued this Scheme as a consultation document and we will engage with our partners and all community groups to gain feedback to make this Scheme more effective. We will then review the Scheme and incorporate as many of the views obtained through the consultation exercise as possible.
We are conscious that many voluntary and community organisations feel that they suffer from consultation overload, so we have published this executive summary of the Scheme to make it easier for people within Enfield’s community to respond. Copies of the full Scheme are available from Martin Garnar, Policy Team, PO Box 61, Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield, EN1 3XY, telephone 020 8379 3113 or e-mail to [email protected]
Contained at the back of this summary is a feedback questionnaire and we would be grateful if you could complete this and post it back to us. Please feel free to add any comments you wish to make on separate sheets if the general questionnaire does not cover that aspect in enough detail to satisfy you.
Challenges and complaints
We take our duty to ensure that we promote race equality in all we do very seriously. Martin Garnar, Policy Officer, will handle any formal challenges or complaints about the Scheme itself or about the Council not having “due regard” to its duties under the Act.
All complaints and challenges regarding race issues or the Scheme itself will be reported to the officer who has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Race Equality Scheme, the Council’s Corporate Equalities Group, and the Director with cross-council responsibility for equalities work.
8. Race Equality Scheme three year action plan and timetable
Key Task
Target Date
Who’s Responsible Measured By
·
analyse the consultation feedback of thisScheme and use the key outcomes to influence the development of the Scheme
September 2002 Race Relations Amendment Act Implementation Project Team
· analysis of feedback
· report to Council’s Cabinet and Management Team
· review of the Scheme
·
conduct reviews of all relevant functions and policies (to identify which ones require a full impact assessment being completed) see our list of relevant functions and polices in section 9Year 1 reviews completed by October 2002
Year 1 Impact
assessment completed by March 2003
Group Management Teams and service Centre Managers
· progress reports to Corporate Equalities Group
· impact assessment reports completed
·
put systems in place to capture equalitiesmonitoring data in service areas identified where this is not already established
by December 2002 Group Management Teams and service Centre Managers
· progress reports to Council Management Team and Corporate Equalities Group
· review of all existing training short courses to ensure they take into account the new duties of the Act
August 2002 Althea Loderick – Assistant Head of Human Resources – Organisational Development
· progress report to Corporate Equalities Group
· run awareness sessions for staff about the new duties of the Act
June – and on-going through out the year
Althea Loderick
-Assistant Head of Human Resources – Organisational Development
· awareness sessions course evaluation forms
· train specialist staff to fulfil their duties under the Act.
August – November 2002
Althea Loderick
-Assistant Head of Human Resources – Organisational Development
· awareness sessions course evaluation forms
· specialist staff successfully completing their duties.
·
explore positive action programmes toencourage more Black and Minority Ethnic staff to be recruited into senior management roles.
January 2003 Susan McNally- Assistant Head of Human Resources – strategy and policy
· reports to Council Management Team ,CEG and Cabinet (BVPI’s and annual employee profile)
· review guidance for service managers on equalities monitoring to ensure it meets the specific duties of the Act.
October 2002 Corporate Equalities Group (CEG)
Key Task
Target Date
Who’s Responsible Measured By
· ensure consultation for the Community Strategyincludes individual and groups from disadvantaged communities
October – November 2002
Jane Connor – Policy Officer
· via Council Cabinet and Management Team
· conduct a gap analysis in connection with the new Generic Equalities Standard and agree an action plan.
October 2002 Martin Garnar – Policy Officer
· reports to Council
Cabinet/Management Team and Corporate Equalities Group
· review guidance for Service Centre Planning and Best Value Fundamental Reviews to ensure it meets the specific duties of the Act.
December 2002 Performance Improved Planning Group (PIP)
· changes made to Service Centre Planning/Best Value Fundamental Review training and guidance documents.
· all service managers to complete their agreed actions to achieve the CRE Level 3 Standard
December 2002 Group Management Teams and service Centre Managers
· progress report to Council
Management Team and Corporate Equalities Group
· review Equal Opportunities Policy December 2002 Corporate Equalities Group (CEG)
· review report to Corporate Equalities Group
· review Race Equality Schemes of our strategic partners who have a duty under the Act to produce Schemes
December2002 Enfield Strategic Partnership
· review report to Corporate Equalities Group
·
publish annual report against progress of the Scheme for 2002/3 year.May 2003 Corporate Equalities Group (CEG)
· annual progress report of Scheme published and widely circulated
·
review related staff training and evaluate its effectiveness.April 2003 Althea Loderick – Assistant Head of HR – Organisational Development
· review report to Corporate Equalities Group
·
conduct reviews of all relevant functions and policies to identify which ones require a full impact assessment to be completed) see our list of relevant functions and polices section 9.Year 2 reviews completed by October 2003
Year 2 impact assessments completed by March 2004
Group Management Teams and service Centre Managers
· progress reports to Corporate Equalities Group
· impact assessment reports completed
· publish annual report against progress of the Scheme for 2003/4 year
May 2004 Corporate Equalities Group (CEG)
· annual progress report of Scheme published and widely circulated
·
review of whole Scheme and publication of new Scheme, including progress of the Scheme for 2004/5 yearMay 2005 Corporate Equalities Group (CEG)
· report to Council Cabinet /Council Management Team and EREC.
9. Council’s relevant functions and policies - 3 year action plan for reviews/impact
assessments.
We have already undertaken brief initial assessments our functions and policies for their relevance to the three general duties of the Act, i.e. combating discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity, and promoting good relations between different racial groups. This exercise has helped us determine those that are likely to be the most relevant to the new legislation, and where race issues may have the most importance. We intend to carry reviews of all existing functions and policies and conduct full
comprehensive impact assessments of the most relevant ones over the next three years. The programme is laid out below.
The review/assessment of the function or policy will be the responsibility of the relevant service centre manager.
We would like to hear your views on whether you feel we have made the right decisions – please let us know what you think
Planning Policy and Advice Road Safety
Shopmobility Pest Control Animal Welfare
Unitary Development Plan
Travellers Policy Food Safety Fair Trading Legal Licensing Parking Enforcement House Improvement Grants Housing Enforcement
Sustainability/Local Agenda 21
Building Control Refuse Collection
Environment Direct(information and advice)
Environment Services relevant functions/policies
Complaints against schools
Early Years Development and Childcare Schools Admissions
Schools Exclusions Child Guidance Educational Welfare Home Education Schools Transfers Inclusion Support Staff Training
Special Educational Needs Lifelong Learning
Pupil performance School Premises/Places Personnel Services
Educational Partnerships Member Governor Services Educational Development
Budget Strategy and External Funding Excellence in Cities Strategic Plan Career Advice and Guidance Library and Job Search Facilities
Assessing Educational Implications of Planning Applications
Youth Service
Caretaker Service Drugs Education Plan
Access to Resources to Enhance Curriculum Parents Forum
Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education
Detached and Outreach Work Two E advice and information centre Young Disabled Club and Holiday Project Secondary Tuition Unit
Year 1 2002 - 3
Year 2 2003 - 4
Year 3 2004 - 5
Housing Strategy and Business Plan Housing Capital Programme
Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Strategy Homelessness and Provision of B&B Accommodation
Housing Racial Incidents Anti-Social Behaviour Policy Private Sector Housing Policy Empty Property Strategy
Housing Reception Advice Service Housing Repairs/Maintaining Stock Housing Adaptations
Playground Maintenance Grants to Vacate Policy
Comprehensive Development Initiative Policy Leaseholder Charges Policy/Service Charges Tenant Consultation/Compact
Provision of Sheltered Housing to Older and Vulnerable People
Re-servicing of Empty Properties and Allocation of New Tenants
Supporting Tenants Training Tenants Tenants Information Buy-back Scheme Right to buy Halls Policy
Out of London Placements
Caretaking
Mutual Exchanges
Rent Arrears and Write –Off Policy Recovery of Tenants Rent Arrears Ground Maintenance/Estate Inspection Tenants Complaint Procedure in respect of major works
Housing Services relevant functions/policies
Sports Courses and Activities Learn to Swim Programme Public Library Service
Leisure Centres (Client Responsibility) First Stop Information
Open/Green Spaces, Trees (including highways) Sports Development
Cemeteries Landscaping Unit Schools Library Service
Development of Community Art Museum and Display Service Events Management
Allotments
Play Development – after school clubs, holiday schemes, etc.
Leisure Services relevant functions/policies
Community Safety – supporting vulnerable communities
Maintaining Electoral Register Administering Elections
Racial Harassment Policy and Victim Support Supporting Elected Members and Political Groups
Legal Conveyancing and Contracts Commercial Lettings
Building Management/Maintenance
First Contact – Information Desks (Civic and Edmonton centre)
Administering Council Tax and Housing Benefits Benefits Take-up Strategy
Providing Customer Financial Services Advice and Information
Collection of Council Tax, Business Rates and other Debts to the Council
Charitable Relief
Supporting the community to participate in the democratic process.
Insurance Services Property Procurement Emergency Planning
First Contact – Customer Contact Centre Corporate Procurement Policy
Asset Management Plan Property Disposals Energy Management
Construction Technical Services
Estates and Valuation/Development Projects Maintenance of Land Register and Land Searched
Construction Web
Resources Group relevant functions/policies
Social Services Direct – welfare rights advice/ Income maximisation
Assessment and Purchasing of Care Services for People with Mental Health Problems
Social Services Direct call centre – initial contact
Care Planning and Review – Adults Assessment of Need – Adults
Financial Assessment and Charging – Mental Health Services
Financial Assessment and Charging – Adult Services
Purchase of Mental Health Services Purchase of Adult Services
Social Services Direct Public Information Provision Procurement of External Home Meals Service Direct provision of Adult Care Services
Children’s Services – User Involvement Strategy Children’s Services – Quality Assurance
Strategy
Children’s Services – Eligibility Criteria Children’s Services – HIV/AIDS
Children’s Services – Leaving Care Policy Children’s Services – Family Support Strategy Children’s Services – Quality Protects Plan Children’s Services –Area Child Protection Committees
Social Services Group relevant functions/policies
Development/circulation and Consultation re Council Performance Plan
Community Strategy
Recruitment and Selection Policy Workforce Monitoring
Human Resources Strategic and Policy Development.
Discipline/Capability Policies Economic Development Social Inclusion Strategy Neighbourhood Renewal Communications Strategy
Council’s Consultation Programme/Strategy Staff Grievance Procedure
Staff Anti-Harassment Policy
Staff Personal Development Scheme Staff Development and Training Human Resources Advice and Support
Communications and Marketing
Grants to Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations
Health Improvement Policy
Performance Management Strategy Equal Opportunities Policy
Advice and Support on Lottery Funding Staff Redeployment
Enfield Compact
Corporate Health and Safety Job Evaluation
Occupational Health/Counselling Service
Strategic Services Group relevant functions/policies
11. Feedback questionnaire
As this is our first attempt at a producing a Race Equality Scheme, we would very much appreciate hearing any comments you may have. Please send them to Martin Garnar, Policy Team, PO Box 61, Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield, EN1 3XY, telephone 020 8379 3113 or e-mail to [email protected] feel free to add any comments you wish to make on separate sheets if the general questionnaire does not cover that aspect in enough detail to satisfy you.
QUESTION
COMMENTS
How useful have you found this summary version of our Race Equality Scheme?
Please give details of any suggestions you may have for improving the Scheme
What do you think about the way we have prioritised our action plan for carrying out reviews and relevant comprehensive impact assessments of our functions and policies? Do you think that our plans to consult with the community within Enfield are
satisfactory? – if not, please say what other suggestions you may have
Have you ever found any barriers that have prevented you from accessing Council services or information? If so, please give examples
Are there any other comments you would like to make on race issues?
NAME (OPTIONAL) ADDRESS (OPTIONAL)
Translation Information
Martin Garnar, Policy Team,
Enfield Council is proud to have won a number of awards that demonstrate our
commitment to equal opportunities issues
·
Corporate Investors in People Award 2002
·
David Plank, Chief Executive, won a British Diversity Trendsetter Award 2000, for his leadership work in
equalities
·
Enfield Training Services achieved a very high standard in the Training Standards Council Equal
Opportunities category assessment
·
The Development and Training Team won a silver British Diversity award for their Women in Employment
project
·
The Human Resources Team was voted Team of the Year by Local Government Chronicle in March 2002
·
Five schools were awarded Beacon Status and one awarded Training School status
·
The Translation and Interpreting Team were highly commended in the 1999 Local Government I.T. Awards
for the Enfield Telephone Interpreting Service initiative
