Fairness for All Scheme - Appendix

Fairness For All Scheme Promoting Equality, Celebrating Diversity

Borough of Poole’s Equality Scheme Sept 2009-2012

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1 Foreword

Our second Equality Scheme “Fairness for All” sets out our policy commitments and future actions to promote equality and celebrate diversity. We will do this for and with Poole’s residents and visitors, our partners and contractors, and our employees and Councillors.

This Scheme is for everyone who uses services, facilities and information provided by, or on behalf of, the Council.

We recognise that people have different needs, find themselves in different circumstances, and may face barriers that could limit what they can do and be. We recognise that by promoting equality and celebrating diversity we will provide better quality services and outcomes for the people of Poole. We see our Scheme’s commitments as important to achieving real improvements in the way that we work.

We have taken steps forward over the life of our first “Promoting Equality, Respecting Diversity” Scheme but we know that we are still on a journey. We would like to thank those who have helped us move forward this far. We know there is much more work to do still.

We have revised the Scheme based on the views of residents and partners but want this to be a ‘living’ programme of work. We will continue to welcome your feedback or suggestions about where we can do better. We will regularly review and report on our progress and let you know how we are doing.

John McBride Elaine Atkinson Chief Executive Portfolio Holder for Equality and Social Inclusion

Sept 2009

Please contact Sue Newell, Improvement and Policy Officer - Equality on 01202 633035 or e-mail [email protected] for more information about our Scheme or to tell us what you think.

2 Contents

Definitions of Equality and Diversity 4

Our Fairness for All Commitment 5

Our Vision for Fairer Outcomes 5

What Informs Our Commitment 6

Who Delivers Our Commitment 6

Our Commitment Targets 8

How We Will Check and Report How Well We are Doing 8

Framework for Our Approach 9

Delivering Our Commitment 10

Providing Council services and information in a way that meets 10 individual needs - simply, fairly and efficiently

Enabling people to influence decisions that affect their lives and no 12 community being considered hard to reach

Building a strong, safe and inclusive community where people from 13 all backgrounds come together …

Enabling people to trust and have confidence in us to tackle 14 discrimination, abuse and report prejudice incidents …

Services enabling people to fulfil their potential and make choices 15 about their lives and services they use

Being an employer of choice, promoting fair pay and equal access 16 to employment ...

How We Pay For This Work 19

Sharing Our Approach and Welcoming Your Views 19

Appendices

1. What Informs Our Commitment 20

2. The Law 27

3. Supporting Policies and Guidance 28

3 Definitions

Equality

Equality is concerned with breaking down the barriers that block opportunities for certain groups of people, in society, the workplace, education and so on.

Equality schemes aim to identify and minimise the barriers that exclude people. They take action to ensure that everyone has equal access to all aspects of life and work.

Eliminating discrimination is important in achieving equality. It is not just physical environment or poor policies that create barriers. It is also ways of working, attitudes and stereotypes about different groups of people.

Diversity

Everybody is different, with different needs and potential. Treating everybody in the same way fails to recognise the differences between people and can cause unfairness and inequality.

By recognising diversity and meeting different needs effectively, every individual has a better chance of being able to live and work in the way that is best for them.

Britain and Poole are made up of increasingly diverse communities. The Borough of Poole has a leadership role to play to make sure people from different backgrounds get on well and value each other, as well as in promoting the celebration of diversity in our local community.

4 Our Fairness For All Commitment

We are committed to taking action1 to:

- Promote equality of opportunity - Promote good relations and positive attitudes towards all people - Encourage participation in public life - Eliminate discrimination and harassment - Take steps to meet the needs of disabled people, even if this requires ‘more favourable’ treatment.

Our Fairness For All commitment covers promoting equality and celebrating diversity on the grounds of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion and belief, and sexual orientation. These are collectively known as the seven equality strands.

We also recognise that people on very low incomes or that live in relative poverty may also experience inequality and reduced life chances. Other groups also need additional support or specialist services to achieve their aspirations. These include children looked after by the Council and carers. Our commitment extends to all people who live in and visit Poole.

Our commitment is recognised in our work with partners in Poole’s Sustainable Community Strategy. Our Corporate Plan ‘Striving for Excellence’ reflects the Council’s continued promise to promote ‘equality of opportunity’ as one of our values. This shapes everything the Council does.

Our Vision For Fairer Outcomes

We are committed to promoting equality and celebrating diversity in our town, services and workplace. The outcomes we want to see are:

1. Council services and information provided in a way that meets individual needs - simply, fairly and efficiently

2. People can influence decisions that affect their lives and no community is considered ‘hard to reach’

3. Poole being a strong, safe and inclusive community where people from all backgrounds come together, get on well and diversity is celebrated

4. People trust and have confidence in us to tackle discrimination, abuse and report prejudice incidents, and are happy with how we deal with it

5. Services enable people to fulfil their potential and make choices about their lives and services2 they use

6. We are an employer of choice for all our community; promote fair pay and equal access to employment, training and career development opportunities

1 based on the ‘general duties’ of disability, gender and race equality legislation 2 These may be directly provided by us or on our behalf by other organisations 5 What Informs Our Commitment

Inspections What you have told us Performanc e indicators Demographics

Fairness for All National/ Government Poole / Community Scheme

Equality Framework for Progress Local Government reviews of equality work Best practice, Law

Our ‘Fairness for All’ commitment sets out how we will meet our duties under equality legislation. We aim, however, to carry out our work in the spirit of the law and go beyond the minimum legislative requirements.

Our Fairness For All vision is shaped by our wider learning and experience over the last few years. Each of the above sources helps us identify issues that we need to address locally and is used in shaping and designing our service and action planning. Appendix 1 gives more detail.

In the life of this Scheme we recognise the need to involve people on an ongoing basis and to fill gaps in our knowledge. Our action plan sets out areas where we need to do this. We will regularly review new information and update it as a result.

Who Delivers Our Commitments

Everyone – our Councillors, employees, suppliers and contractors - is responsible for working together to meet all our Scheme’s commitments. All Councillors represent and need to reflect the needs of all parts of our community. However some people have specific responsibilities:

- Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Equality is the Member lead that makes sure that Cabinet embeds equality and diversity into our policies and culture

- The Equality Councillor Champion and Councillor Champions and leads for each equality strand support the Portfolio Holder in their Cabinet role. They engage with specific community groups to better understand local needs, highlight issues and address concerns

6 - Chief Executive has overall leadership responsibility for the commitments in the Fairness for All Scheme

- Strategic Directors are responsible for providing leadership and delivering consistent practice on the equality and diversity agenda across services

- Service Unit Heads are responsible for making sure that equality and diversity is considered in their service delivery and employment practice

- Line managers are responsible for making sure their teams are aware of the Council’s Fairness For All commitments. They should provide support to achieving these and deliver good practice in their services and employment practice. They are also responsible for recruiting and employing people fairly

We require all employees and Councillors to deliver our commitments by:

- Providing access to services, facilities and information - Treating staff and customers fairly, with dignity and respect - Reporting and responding to prejudice incidents and complaints in a positive, proactive way - Meeting specific needs of service users, the public and those they work with

We have an Equality Leadership Group. This is made up of:

- Chief Executive - Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Equality - Equality Member Champion - Lead representative from opposition parties - Strategic Director with an Equality lead - Improvement and Policy Officer – Equality

This Group meets every two months to steer and monitor delivery of the equality objectives and performance targets. They recommend key decisions to Cabinet. The Improvement and Policy Officer – Equality supports the Group by developing, co- ordinating and reporting on the corporate programme of work.

An Equality Group helps implement and shape the agenda. This is made up of representatives from all service units, Trade Unions, Voice - the disabled employee group, and the Black Workers Support Group. The group meets quarterly to receive updates, review progress and discuss how work should develop. In addition regular support meetings are held to discuss putting corporate guidance into practice and problem solve.

7 Our Commitment Targets

The Equality Framework for Local Government is a national standard that helps us put in place processes to meet the needs of different people and our legal duties. It has three levels – ‘Developing’, ‘Achieving’ and ‘Excellent’. We want to reach and be externally assessed as ‘Achieving’3 by September 2009.

By September 2012 we want to meet the ‘Excellent’ level of the Framework

We will also use a number of other national and local performance indicators to monitor progress, measure success and set improvement targets (see below). We will develop further equality-related targets as a result of Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs), which will be included in updates of our action plan.

Other examples of key success measures include:

- Achieve web accessibility standards accredited by disabled people from the Shaw Trust - Responding to all prejudice incidents reported to the Council - Increase number of domestic violence offenders brought to justice - Increase number of older people who are satisfied overall with the local area - Increase the proportion of our employees from a Black and minority ethnic background

How We Will Check and Report How Well We are Doing

We have six Overview and Scrutiny Committees that look at the effectiveness of our policies and practice in our service delivery. An additional Committee exists for decisions that are ‘called-in’ or challenged. Each committee looks at equality issues in relation to their area of work.

In addition the Communities Overview and Scrutiny has the overall responsibility for reviewing our work on equality. A report will be taken to them at least annually to enable them to assess progress and raise any issues.

We report to Cabinet on the performance indicators used to measure progress against our objectives every six months. We produce a full annual review to highlight achievements, assess progress and set future priorities.

We will be looking into how we can work with the Bournemouth and Poole Diversity Forum to help shape and scrutinise our equality work. The Forum is made up of community and voluntary sector organisations with an interest, knowledge and understanding of equality issues.

We will also undertake external assessments against the Equality Framework.

Any performance issues will be referred to the Equality Leadership Group to investigate and take action on.

3 Level 3 of the former Equality Standard. 8 Framework For Our Approach

Driven by:

Poole Partnership’s Sustainable Community Strategy Striving For Excellence - our Corporate Plan Legislation

Led by:

Equality Leadership Group

Implemented via:

consistent Equality Impact Assessments and monitoring in all services and partnerships

Embedded through:

Equality Group Planning and Performance Framework Programme and Project Management Customer Service Standards Communications Guidance Procurement Strategy Asset Management Plan Community Engagement Strategy Research Governance Workforce Plan Appraisals Training

Outlined in:

Equality specific guidance Corporate guidance on the above areas

Support to employees:

Trade Union Representatives Employee Groups Chaplaincy

Scrutiny and Performance Management through:

Cabinet Overview and Scrutiny Committees Customer and community feedback Progress reviews Inspections and performance measures

9 10 Delivering Our Commitment

This section of the Scheme sets out our policy for delivering our commitment and identifies some of the areas for improvement and review following on from our first Promoting Equality, Respecting Diversity Scheme. Our action plan sets out in more detail what we intend to do over the next three years to further meet our commitments.

1. Providing Council services and information in a way that meets individual needs - simply, fairly and efficiently

Our vision for customer service is to provide people with the highest quality services we can afford, in a way that meets their individual needs – simply, fairly and efficiently – at times and in places that are convenient and accessible.

Treating people fairly

We are committed to treating people fairly and according to their needs. We already have standards for our Customer Service Unit and all services are encouraged to work to them. The standards say that when you make contact with us we will:

- Be easy to deal with and provide quality responses to your queries - Treat you fairly, equally and with respect - Ensure your privacy in all your dealings with us - Try to give you all the advice and information you need the first time you contact us - Where appropriate, give you a case number or reference number and contact details relating to your enquiry - Advise you of relevant timescales for responding to your enquiry - Where it is not possible for us to meet the standards we have set, keep you updated on the progress with your enquiry and let you know when a full response can be provided - Keep information on our website and in our reception areas up to date

We aim to deliver the highest standard of service to all our customers. In return we ask you to:

- Help our employees to help you effectively by being patient when asked for information and by providing answers where you can - Not use any foul or abusive language - Let us know if you have any specific access needs - Ask us to explain anything you are not sure of - Arrive on time for appointments and tell us in advance if you are going to be late.

11 Access to information

We aim to provide our information in an accessible way. This means we will:

- Use plain English - Follow our guidance on making printed information accessible and make it clear that we will help people understand the information and / or provide other formats, such as large print, Easy Read, audio tapes - Provide access to services through BigWord written and telephone translation services and RNID’s Text Relay service for contacting deaf and speech-impaired customers by telephone - Make arrangements for a sign language interpreter and other face to face language interpreters when necessary - Use positive images that reflect all sectors of our local community - Meet web-accessibility standards on boroughofpoole.com

We will review use of our intranet to improve employees’ access to information and improve access to translations and interpreting services.

Access to buildings

We audit buildings and facilities run by the Council for their compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act. We will work to ensure that people with physical disabilities are able to access and use our buildings and the surrounding environment using the same route as other people. Signage will be simple, clear and use symbols. Entry systems, reception points and meeting rooms will be adjusted for ease of access and communication.

All new and refurbished Council buildings will be fully accessible.

Access to meetings

We will make sure events and meetings are easy to access. We expect meeting organisers to ask people in advance if they have any special requirements such as diet, access or communication support. We ask people what their most suitable form of support is and then seek to arrange this. Where people need communications support, this will be provided. When food and drink is made available, special diets must be identified and catered for, different food separated and clearly labelled.

When people attend meetings we plan for emergency evacuations. Organisers must consider how best to evacuate disabled attendees.

Events, meetings, facilities and services must take account of people’s ability to get to them. This includes public transport links, disabled parking bays, slopes or steps around the building. When setting a date or time commitments such as caring responsibilities and religious holidays or Sabbaths, including the implications of fasting, should be considered.

12 Buying or commissioning goods and services

Where we buy or commission goods and services we expect contractors, suppliers and consultants to meet equality legislation and standards. A review of our Corporate Procurement Strategy will provide refreshed procedures that will clearly set out our expectations. These will be mandatory and apply across all Service Units and local authority community schools, and will be monitored for compliance. Employees and Members will be trained on their use. Contracts will not be awarded if commitment to promoting equality is not demonstrated. Breaches may lead to termination of contracts.

Monitoring fair access to services

We collect data about our customers and employees, which we use to identify trends and patterns. It will help us see if we apply our policies fairly or if they have any unintentional consequences. We look for under or over-representation of different groups of people and use this information to take action where needed.

Where relevant and appropriate, data will be collected on the seven equality strands. We may collect other information, such as first language or cultural or religious needs, where this will help deliver our services.

We will implement new guidance about gathering, collecting, using and storing this information sensitively, consistently and appropriately.

2. Enabling people to influence decisions that affect their lives and no community being considered hard to reach

We are committed to enabling people to influence our service design and delivery, and in setting our priorities. This includes minority, disadvantaged, and emerging communities or groups so they are not considered hard to reach. We want this involvement to be meaningful, and will therefore be honest about what we can and cannot achieve or do.

Over the past 3 years we have improved the research and community development taking place in Poole. We recognise, however, there are gaps in our knowledge and contact with specific equality communities or groups. To strengthen this work we will develop a Community Engagement Strategy to formalise and focus on how we enable people from Poole’s diverse communities to have a more effective say.

We will also be developing a prioritised programme of research with ‘hard to hear’ groups. This will be used to inform our service plans. A review of our Research Governance Framework, which includes equality elements, will be used to check how effectively the issues are considered in our research.

13 3. Building strong, safe and inclusive communities where people from all backgrounds come together …

We are committed to fostering safe, strong communities where people feel included and everyone can contribute and support one another. This involves developing a strong community and voluntary sector that supports and represents a diverse range of Poole people. This would include organisations such as Dorset Race Equality Council, Faithlinks, Poole Forum, Dorset Deaf Action and Dorset Blind Association. We will work with Poole Community and Voluntary Services (PCVS) and Dorset Race Equality Council to strengthen and broaden the diversity of this sector.

We regularly support events and activities in our communities. We want to make sure these appeal to a diverse range of people and that people with specific needs can attend Council organised events. We can help community groups seeking support and advice for particular events that celebrate diversity.

We also offer advice and support on setting up community groups including the Council’s annual grant process and the Council’s mini grants scheme (maximum of £250), which can help newly forming groups. We work closely with PCVS, who support community groups and promote volunteering for the benefit of Poole’s communities. PCVS can also advise and support groups to gain funding.

In 2007, we launched the Safer Neighbourhoods initiative with the Police and other agencies. It is now working in seven local areas across Poole. Through the scheme local residents decide what the most important community safety issues are for them, and are then involved in finding and delivering solutions to their concerns.

We support the work of the Safer Poole Partnership. This is made up of local agencies who tackle crime and substance misuse together. They monitor the types and levels of crime and make sure there are local services to support people who are affected. Their priorities include providing support services to domestic abuse victims, and ensuring the safety and well-being of children and adults.

Over the coming three years we will be addressing how we work with communities to develop a strong sense of belonging and a shared vision for Poole through a Community Cohesion Framework.

14 4. Enabling people to trust and have confidence in us to tackle discrimination, abuse and report prejudice incidents …

We aim to challenge all forms of discrimination where we find them. We encourage people to report any issues either through our complaints or ‘Prejudice Incidents Reporting’ processes.

Making a Complaint Against the Council

We have a complaints process to encourage people to tell us what we are doing wrong so that we can try to put it right. We take complaints seriously. It is an opportunity to listen to those who use our services to see how services can be improved. People can tell us through this process if they think they have been subject to discrimination, prejudice or harrassment.

We aim to deal with complaints within 10 working days of receiving one. A review of the complaint outcome can be requested. We aim to deliver this within 15 working days of its referral. Reviews are carried out by a Strategic Director, who is independent of the service.

Complainants also have the right to refer the issue to the Local Government Ombudsman, whose job it is to investigate complaints in a fair and independent way without taking sides.

We encourage people to tell us about themselves when they make a complaint. This allows us to identify if there are particular equality issues that have led to the complaint being made. We then consider what we need to do so that it does not happen again.

We are currently working to make customer feedback processes more consistent across the Council. We want to improve how that feedback is used to inform service development.

Prejudice incidents

We also encourage people to tell us when they have experienced or witnessed any incident that they think is discriminatory based on age, disability, gender, gender identity, faith/belief, race and sexual orientation, or a combination of any of these. A ‘prejudice incident’ could have happened on the street, at school or work. It could be a crime but it may also be a complaint against a service, an outcome or a member of staff. We provide training to our staff on what to do if someone reports an incident to them or if they witness or experience an incident.

We follow up on every report. Our Community Safety Team check how well we respond to reports. They may be able to help residents where the incident is community based. We also monitor reports collectively with the Police and other agencies, through the Bournemouth and Poole Prejudice Free Group, to see where there are particular problems. We then take action together to provide support to particular communities or groups of people, for example for Take Away Restaurants or taxi drivers. We will also campaign together to raise awareness of the reporting process and put help in place for those affected.

15 The complaints process and the Prejudice Incident Reporting are linked so a problem can be raised under either process and should be dealt with effectively. We will review how well the two processes work together.

Annual reports on complaints and Prejudice Incidents are reported to our Management Team. Learning from complaints feeds into our Equality Impact Assessment process.

5. Services enabling people to fulfil their potential and make choices about their lives and services4 they use

To make sure that we enable people to reach their potential and have choices about services, we will make equality and diversity part of our thinking and culture. We expect managers to consider equality and diversity in all aspects of their business, project and programme plans.

We use a tool called Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs) to guide our thinking. This helps us to systematically consider how to best meet people’s needs across the equality strands and reduce any potential negative impacts. We use EQIAs when a new policy or service is being developed or changed. EQIAs make use of national and local data, consultation and other feedback to inform developments.

EQIAs should:

- Be clear so people can understand how decisions are made - Show how the service impacts on and meets the needs of different communities - Allow people to feed into or challenge decisions

Our revised Planning & Performance Framework guidance will reflect the need to undertake EQIAs, making it integral to these processes. Our Programme and Project Management guidance already includes this.

Our Management Team, Cabinet, and Overview and Scrutiny Committees expect to see evidence of EQIAs. This enables them to make informed decisions about meeting the needs of specific groups of people. Committee administrators will check that equality implications are outlined in decision-making reports before they are sent to Councillors.

All EQIAs are published on our website and will be reviewed every three years. We update and publish service units’ EQIA timetables.

We will update our EQIA toolkit and continue to provide training to managers.

4 These may be directly provided by us or on our behalf by other organisations 16 6. Being an employer of choice, promoting fair pay and equal access to employment …

We want to be an employer of choice that reflects all sections of our community. This means providing equality of opportunity in all aspects of our employment practice. We value and want to make best use of employees’ different competencies, skills and knowledge, and the contribution they make to the organisation. We value diversity because of the opportunities and rich experiences that this brings to the Council.

All staff must be treated fairly and we expect everyone to be treated with dignity and respect at work. We are committed to and work towards promoting a working environment free from all forms of unacceptable behaviour.

We carry out and publish EQIAs on our Human Resources policies and practice.

Recruiting people fairly

We advertise all our job vacancies on boroughofpoole.com and with JobCentrePlus. We also use local press and, where appropriate, national press, specialist publications and relevant websites. Our adverts and supporting information use positive images that reflect the diverse nature of our community.

We are a Positive About Disabled People ‘Two Ticks’ employer. We are assessed against this Scheme. It commits us to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

We give priority to internal candidates where they have skills and experience appropriate to a job in special circumstances, such as redundancy and redeployment.

Each role has a job description and person specification that outlines the main responsibilities and criteria required to undertake the role. These must not include criteria that could directly or indirectly discriminate against a potential applicant. When recruiting to new posts, we measure applicants on whether they meet the person specification. We do not have essential or desirable criteria. We judge applicants on their ability to meet various competencies, not the length of experience in a role.

Genuine Occupational Qualifications/Requirements may apply to some jobs. For example, recruiting a female worker to work with women affected by domestic violence.

We positively consider applications from those seeking to work part time or job share.

We will take lawful positive action to achieve a workforce who reflect our community at all levels. We will use specialist media/events to target under-represented communities or training/development/work-placement opportunities targeted at certain people where we think this will be beneficial.

Our interview processes are designed to be free from bias and to promote equality of opportunity. For example, a candidate will not be asked questions – formally or informally – that are not directly relevant to the job (for example, questions about family life or hobbies).

17 All managers involved in the interview process are encouraged to attend our two-day Recruitment and Selection course. This covers our Recruitment and Selection guidance and best practice for interview procedures. At least one member of an interview panel must have attended the course. We also encourage services to consider the gender balance of interview panels.

Monitoring fair access to employment

To ensure fair practice, we will monitor our employment practice for those who:

- Apply for jobs, are shortlisted, interviewed and get the job - Apply and receive training and development opportunities - Have been involved in grievance or disciplinary procedures - Leave the organisation

Service Unit Heads will receive monitoring reports on their service area and be given guidance about taking action to address any imbalances. For our workforce as a whole, targets are set, monitored and reported on to Management Team and Cabinet. Each year the results will be published on our website.

Providing appropriate training

We expect all our staff to understand and be confident about delivering our Fairness For All commitments and their legal obligations in relation to their role. We support them to achieve this through training and development.

An introduction to our equality and diversity commitments starts in our Corporate Induction Programme. A further understanding of this and our legal duties is provided in our mandatory Embracing Diversity training.

Additional training is available and provided according to job roles, including:

- Welcoming Disabled Customers - Dyslexia Awareness Training - Prejudice Incident Training - Equality Impact Assessment Training (for Managers) - Recruitment and Selection Training - Carer’s Rights Workshop - Gypsies and Travellers: Lifestyles, beliefs and practices - Trans-gender Awareness Training - Life and customs of the Polish community, …Chinese Community - Understanding Judaism, … Islam, … Christianity

Other mainstream courses, such as appraisal and business planning, include our equality and diversity commitment at their core. Equality and Diversity intranet pages provide access to advice and guidance. This and our Talking Matters staff newsletter keep all employees informed of new developments.

Members’ Equality training has been provided in modules. A full Member induction programme will be developed.

18 Listening to our employees

We listen to the experiences of our employees to improve our employment practice on an ongoing basis.

We carry out a staff survey every two years and look at statistically significant differences in satisfaction in relation to different service areas, age, gender, and where possible disability, race, sexual orientation and faith.

We will continue to engage with Trade Unions. Our employee support groups5 are also consulted in the development or review of relevant policies.

We have also carried out equality specific consultation with employees through our Investors in People re-assessment and a series of ‘All things being equal’ discussion forums in 2009. An action plan will be developed in consultation with employees.

Employee concerns

Employees have the right to raise a complaint relating to equality and diversity, and to do this in good faith and without being victimised. Our grievance procedure aims to resolve problems as early as possible and as close to the point of origin. We hope to avoid formal grievances through effective communication and early discussion between employees and their immediate line managers.

Employees are encouraged to follow our Dignity At Work Policy if they have any concerns about bullying. Employees can also raise an issue under the Prejudice Incident Reporting Process. Affected employees are given information on appropriate support, such as:

- Unions - Chaplaincy – which is open to people of all faiths and none - Counselling or Occupation Health Services - An Employee Group - Buddies - Human Resources

Grievances are included in the monitoring data we collect and will be reported as part of our employment practice.

5 Black Workers Support Group, Voice – the disabled employees group, and a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexaul and Transgender group is being developed 19 How We Pay For This Work

Most equality work is about making sure our services and employment opportunities are accessible to everyone. As a result we plan how we can best use our resources through Medium Term Financial Planning, annual budget setting and business planning process.

In doing so we will seek to target resources for groups and communities as appropriate and within the overall means available to us in the short to medium term future. Priorities will be identified using Equality Impact Assessments.

Some work is undertaken on a short-term, small-scale project basis. Funding this may be planned as part of the annual budget planning cycle or could be funded by, or in partnership with, external organisations.

Some large costs (such as making Council buildings accessible) need to be planned and budgeted for. They will be prioritised and carried out over several years.

We have a small dedicated ‘Corporate Equality Budget’. This is used for:

- External scrutiny - Supporting events and activities for celebrating diversity - Consultation and research with minority or disadvantaged communities and employees - Producing guidance, campaigns and communications - Supporting telephone language translations

Our rolling medium term financial plan will more clearly demonstrate how resources will be allocated to help meet our equality commitments in future years.

Sharing Our Approach and Welcoming Your Views

We will continue to update guidance and our approach, where needed, over time. Employees and Councillors will be kept informed of new developments so they can keep in touch with what is expected of them via our intranet, staff newsletters and our Equality Group.

Our equality and diversity pages on boroughofpoole.com provide a range of information about our work. Every year we will publish progress reports against this Scheme on this site. We also aim to keep the community informed about progress and developments through ‘Poole News’, our website and the media.

This Scheme will be made available in a summary version and a range of different formats. It is a ‘living’ programme of work that is updated annually and fully reviewed after three years. We want to involve people on an ongoing basis, continue to develop our knowledge and make improvements. We welcome comments and suggestions on our equality work and how the issues affect you.

Please contact Sue Newell, Improvement and Policy Officer – Equality, on 01202 633035 or e-mail [email protected] for more information or if you have a complaint to make under this Scheme.

20 Appendix 1: What Informs Our Commitment

Demographic information

The Borough of Poole is a unitary authority in the South West of England and covers an area of 65 km sq. Despite a declining average household size, new development is expected to increase the population from 138,100 (ONS 2007 mid year estimate) to about 143,000 by 2026 (ONS 2006 estimate).

More important is the changing composition of the population as this will impact on the types of services we provide and the needs of our customers. In the future there will be proportionally more older people but there is also an increasing number of children in Poole. In comparison to the UK, Poole has a smaller proportion of its population under the age of 50, and a higher proportion over 50. By 2021 one in four of Poole’s residents will be aged 65 years and over, and by 2027 one in ten will be aged 80 years and over (ONS 2006 population projections). In the past five years there has been a large increase in the number of 0 – 4 year olds in Poole (over 900 children). Between 2006 and 2007 the number of births increased by nine percent compared to three percent in England and Wales.

Poole’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) population is relatively small but diverse. Although the Black, Asian and minority ethnic population remains small it has more than doubled, in percentage terms, between 2001- 2006 (Census 2001 and ONS, Mid- year Estimate, 2007).

Percentage of the total population in each ethnic group

Ethnic Group 2001 (%) 2007 (%)

White British 96.0 92.9 All minority ethnic groups 4.0 7.1 White Irish ethnic group 0.6 0.7 ‘White other’ ethnic groups 1.6 2.2 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Groups (i.e. not incl. ‘white 1.8 4.2 other’)

Since May 2004 over 2,500 people have travelled from Eastern Europe to live in Poole. In schools, pupils speaking Polish as a first language grew from 27 in January 2007 to 49 in January 2008. Anecdotally, we know that some local minority ethnic people are the second and third generation to live here. In Poole there is one static Gypsy and Travellers site, with 5 pitches and 11 people living there (May 2009). Settled Gypsies and Travellers are resident throughout Poole, mostly in Alderney and Turlin Moor.

Poole’s population enjoys good health and life expectancy is above the national average, although differences can be found in some areas of Poole. Almost 25,000 people, of whom 10,000 are of working age, reported that they have a long-term limiting illness (Census 2001). There has also been a steady rise in the number of people claiming disability living allowance from 4,130 people in August 2002 to 5,330 in August 2008 (Nomisweb – ONS). There are 438 people with a learning disability who are registered with Poole Adult Social Services.

21 In 2001 14,387 people were providing more than an hour of unpaid care per week. 4,093 of those were providing 20 or more hours unpaid care per week (2001 Census).

The 2001 Census provides some data on people’s beliefs. At the time 74% of the population said that they were Christian. There is however a long established Jewish community in the conurbation and we know of smaller numbers of people of other faiths through Faithlinks, an interfaith project.

The Government estimates that 5 – 7% of the national population is gay. There is no reliable data on the number of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals for Poole. If national rates are reflected in Poole there would be between 6,900 and 9,700 gay people living locally. There is no data available about transgender people in Poole.

We put the customers at the centre of our planning processes and are responsive to the changing needs as a result of the current economic climate. We are aware of the impacts on financial health and social consequences for some of our vulnerable groups, and the known and likely increase demand for services such as homelessness, benefits, mental health and domestic violence services.

For further information see www.boroughofpoole.com/research

What you have told us

We use the feedback from consultation and participation activities (which may be carried out by ourselves or others) as well as other feedback to inform what we do. This includes comments, compliments, complaints or prejudice incident reports.

Research and consultation We undertake regular consultation through, for example, the Place Survey or Poole Opinion Panel. In these we look for statistically significant differences in opinions between different types of people, for example by age, gender, disability and MOSIAC groups6. When designing research we seek to identify and consider specific equalities issues need to be addressed. Recent examples of equality specific consultation are:

- Fair Say consultation has led to amendments to Fairness for All Scheme. Three consultation sessions were held at Lighthouse. In total, 93 residents took part in the event, and over 20 organisations were represented. Feedback was also invited through our website and a leaflet provide in a range of formats (Polish, Easy Read, Audio).

- A Time of Our Lives – Poole’s older people strategy is based on the views and ideas put forward by the older population during a variety of consultation exercises and three annual ‘Older People’s Speak Out’ events. The Older People’s Services Steering Group oversees progress the Strategy.

- The Children and Young People’s Plan is based on and reviewed in light of an annual Children and Young People’s Needs Assessment that identifies inequalities for different groups of children and their families in the different areas of Poole.

6 Mosaic analysis shows the likely demographic and socio economic characteristics of households. Each postcode has a different Mosaic Group. 22 - Gypsy Housing Needs Assessment led to the redevelopment of the existing Traveller site and engagement with the community about a site allocation policy.

- In 2006 the ‘Positive about Disability’ consultation offered disabled people the opportunity to share their experiences of living and working in Poole, to tell agencies what is important to them, the barriers they face and what can be done to overcome them. This informed the development of our disability equality work.

We use other local relevant research, such as Gay and Grey’s research ‘Lifting the Lid on ageing and sexuality’ and Dorset Healthcare Trusts report ‘Needs not numbers’, which was about mental health needs of Dorset’s BME community, to inform decision- making. NHS Bournemouth and Poole commissioned consultation about the needs of gay and lesbian young people from the SPACE Youth Group. As a result we commissioned SPACE to work with LBGT young people in Poole to develop local activities. National research and benchmarking is also used to inform service planning.

Community Engagement and Development Some community engagement examples are set out below:

- Locality work with older people has improved access to health and social care services in people’s homes, which in turn has decreased avoidable hospital stays. Older People’s Steering Groups led to new services being developed such as podiatry, exercise classes and a new range of community social care and well-being services. Older people have also become much more involved in the recruitment of Council employees, taking an active part in some selection panels.

- The Annual Performance Assessment (APA) praised the rate of participation of young people in helping to develop the Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP). This includes initiatives such as the CYP Shadow Board, Inclusion Forum, school councils, Youth Forum, Anti-Bullying Alliance and further specific consultations, such as Children and Young People’s consultation 2009.

- Engagement with BME communities has improved but needs to be better co- ordinated and extended. This includes: - with Dorset Healthcare Foundation Trust’s BME Community Development work to improve access to mental health services - funding and other support to Dorset Race Equality Council, and groups such as Poole Indian Cultural Society, Unity in Vision, Dorset Bengali Women’s Association and Bournemouth’s Chinese School - funding a community development worker to work with settled Gypsy and Travellers, and work with South West Association of Nomads and those on the existing Travellers’ site - Support to Multi-Cultural days and other BME community events.

- Dialogue with the faith sector takes place via Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education for schools, and through Chaplaincy and an interfaith project, Faithlinks, which is funded by the Council. Engagement with the Poole-based Dorset Islamic Centre has helped find them a new, larger premises and resolved issues around burials. We also support the work of a church-based community worker in the regeneration area of Poole, which supports the integration of existing and new communities in the area.

23 - International Women’s Day is an annual event that is organised and involves a wide range of local women. The day highlights women’s contribution to the local area as well as profiles local services to ‘hard to reach’ groups of women.

- Established ways of engaging with people with a learning disability are through Poole Forum, a user led organisation funded by the Council. They are commissioned to service our Learning Disability Partnership Board and are routinely involved in all staff interviews. In 2009 they took part in the tendering process for new care and support providers and volunteers are being trained as quality checkers for the ‘Moving on from Hospital’ project.

- PRO Disability, Disability Wessex and other specific user groups, including Dorset Blind Association, Dorset Deaf Action, and Broadstone Access Group have contact with different parts of the Council. Transportation’s ‘Getting About Group’ influences its transport plans and developments in the town. Partners have also engaged others through the Expert Patient Programme and the Mental Health Service User Forum. We are looking at how we can support the development of local user-led (disability) organisations in the conurbation.

Engagement with the gay community includes addressing homophobic incidents, through the Police-led Lesbian and Gay Liaison Officer Group, and Bournemouth and Poole Prejudice Free Group. We are developing our engagement with the SPACE Youth Group. We have contact with organisations, such as Over the Rainbow, the MCC Church and Body Positive (funding them through Supporting People Programme) and have a presence at the annual Bourne Free celebration.

Complaints and prejudice incidents From the equalities monitoring information about who is making complaints we found that a significant number of ‘longer-running’ complaints relate to a person’s physical disability. Problems generally arise because the service has not identified disability as a key factor in the complaint or request for service from the beginning. More rare are issues related to mental, sensory loss or learning disability or other equalities issues, possibly because affected people may not be aware of the complaints process. As a result we have plans in place to improve complaints training, monitoring and to provide information in other formats.

Analysis of prejudice incidents informs the support given, for example, by our community safety team to neighbour disputes; anti-bullying work in schools, and training to schools and Take Away Restaurant owners.

24 Progress reviews

We annually review and report progress on the equalities agenda to Cabinet. We also undertook a 3 year race equality review in May 2008. Some examples of key achievements7 since 2005:

Supporting Children and Young People

- Published our Children and Young People’s Plan - Established six Children’s Centres across Poole, which are supporting vulnerable families in the areas of highest need in Poole. Work has included father groups, groups for ethnic minority, parents/carers and grandparent groups - Ten schools have achieved the Poole Inclusion Mark - Published a strategy for raising achievement of Traveller and Black and minority ethnic children and young people, and provided ongoing race equality training and support to schools - Developed English Language support to children whose first language is not English through bi-lingual teaching assistants scheme - Developed an Anti-Bullying Strategy and Children and Young People Led Anti- Bullying Alliance which has looked at racist and homophobic bullying

Promoting Health and Well-Being

- Developed and published 'A Time of Our Lives’, our Older People’s Strategy - Improved access to health and social care services in people’s homes, which in turn has decreased avoidable hospital stays. Older People’s Steering groups led to new services being developed such as podiatry, exercise classes and a new range of community social care and well-being services - Established a new, accessible mobile library to improve services to residential care and nursing homes, and people who do not live near a static library - Improved take up of direct payments so that disabled people and parents of children with disabilities can have a greater choice over the social care services they receive - Increased the take up of benefits by older people - Relaunched Poole Forum a speaking up group run for and with people with learning disabilities - Supported Dorset Healthcare Foundation Trusts research and ongoing work on the mental health of local Black and minority ethnic communities - Improve disability access to our Leisure Centres

Protecting Poole’s Environment

- Improved disabled access at recreational and leisure facilities around Poole. These include play areas, fishing platforms and at the beaches - Set up ‘no cold calling’ zones with the Police in three areas of Poole. These help prevent residents using rogue trades who sell goods and services door-to-door and prevent distraction burglaries affecting older people - Amended the burial policy for Muslims to enable them to be buried facing Mecca without additional costs

Strengthening Our Communities

7 Further examples are identified in our Level 3 Equality Standard Self-Assessment August 2009 25 - Increased support to more diverse community groups and events, supported a wide range of arts and cultural activities which have celebrated diversity - Redeveloped our existing Gypsy and Traveller site - Facilitated an increasing number of civil partnerships and funerals - Enhanced support to those affected by Domestic Violence - Launched the Safer Neighbourhoods Initiative across seven areas of Poole - Extended the racist and homophobic incident reporting to cover all equality strands and increased reporting levels from 20 in 05/06 to 46 in 08/09 - Safer Poole Partnership funded the production of a DVD and teaching pack looking at prejudice and discrimination, “harassment journals” (an evidence diary to be used as court evidence), and Late Night Safety Training for Black and minority ethnic take away restaurants

Developing a Dynamic Economy

- Set up the Cosmopolitan business initiative, which promotes dialogue with local BME businesses and raise awareness of help available to them - Provided ‘Induction to Communicating in English’ (ICE) training for migrant workers who are in employment through local employers - Supported up to 60 disabled people a year into employment through the Workstep programme and implemented the ‘Bridge to Work’ Programme to help those who have been unemployed for a long time into work - Supported Skillsfest, which is a hands-on jobs fayre for young people. Over 8000 pupils went in 2008 which is 1,500 more than in 2007 - Provided translated food safety workshops for BME-owned restaurants - Improved access to transport for older people and those with disabilities through improved facilities at bus stops and pedestrian crossings; implementing the concessionary fare scheme for over 60s and travel training for people with learning disabilities - Amended route 128 bus service to serve Upton House to facilitate learning disabled people to access work placements.

Mainstreaming equalities into our business and employment practice

- Established a cross-party Equalities Leadership Group to shape and monitor progress against the agenda - Undertaken Equality Impact Assessments across the Council and improved our understanding of the needs of different equalities groups to inform services - Improved disability access to Council buildings and schools, and published guidance on emergency evacuation for disabled visitors and employees - Signed up to the Plain English Campaign, implemented BIG Word language translation services, and improved website accessibility - Invested significantly in equalities and diversity training across the whole organisation and established a more comprehensive training programme - Reviewed the Council’s staff appraisal process, which now includes setting equality objectives for individual employees - Undertaken Equal Pay audits targeted at groups of female employees where there have been potential equal pay issues. An analysis undertaken indicates that 1662 employees have benefited from equal pay reviews already undertaken, including 1514 female employees (91%). Equality Framework, best practice and legislation

26 We review our progress against the Equality Framework for Local Government annually. We are also committed to a number of other national best practice standards that aim to support our employees, and potential employees, to have a positive experience. In 2008 we were successfully re-assessed as an Investors in People employer. We are also a ‘Positive about Disabled People’ and ‘Skills pledge’ employer (which develops the basic skills of all employees).

We maintain a watching brief and update our policies following changes to legislation.

27 Appendix 2: The Law

Our Scheme is built around the following key pieces of legislation and their subsequent regulations and amendments:

- Equal Pay Act 1970 - Sex Discrimination Act 1975 - Race Relations Act 1976 and Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 - Disability Discrimination Act 1995 & 2005 and Disability Discrimination (Public Authorities) (Statutory Duties) Regulations 2005 - Human Rights Act 1998 - Employment Equality (Religion & Belief) Regulations 2003 - Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 - Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 - Equality Act 2006 (which makes provision about discrimination on grounds of religion and belief in goods and services, imposes the Gender Equality Duty, and enables further regulations to cover provision of goods and services on grounds of sexual orientation, and religion and belief).

Definition of disability is an impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on someone’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities. The impairment should have lasted or be expected to last 12 months or more.

Note: It includes people with conditions such as cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, asthma and HIV. A mental impairment could also be a mental illness, for example depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder or stress.

Substantial and adverse means 'more than minor or trivial'. Normal day-to-day activities include: mobility; manual dexterity; physical co-ordination; continence; ability to lift, carry or move everyday objects; speech, hearing or eyesight; memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand; perception of the risk of physical danger.

It includes people with conditions that may re-occur or who had conditions in the past that meet the definition. Some progressive conditions (such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV) count from when the condition first develops. Other types (e.g. motor neurone disease) count as soon as the condition has some effect on the ability to carry out normal day to day activities. This effect does not need to be continuous or substantial now, but is likely to be substantial and adverse at some point in the future.

Medical or other treatment and aids are disregarded when defining disability, however normal use of spectacles or contact lenses are included so the disability is based upon the ‘corrected’ vision. Tattoos and decorative body piercing are excluded from the definition of severe disfigurement.

Equality law also applies to people ‘by association’ that is, for example, someone who is not disabled is protected from disability discrimination if the discrimination relates to the fact that they care for someone with a disability. People are also protected from discrimination if they are perceived to be of a particular age, disability, gender, race, religion/belief, sexual orientation.

For more information see Commission for Equality and Human Rights

28 Appendix 3: Supporting Policies, Standards and Guidance

Equality Impact Assessment Guidance Accessible Meetings Checklist ‘How to’ Accessible Communications Guidance and statement Accessible Communications Suppliers Design Standards for Printed Materials Equality Monitoring Guidance For Service Delivery; Emergency Evacuation Planning for Employees and Visitors Prejudice Reporting Process Guidance and Support Pack Research Governance Framework and Consultation Brief Procurement Toolkit Asset Management Plan Workforce Plan and Recruitment and Selection Guidance Customer Services Standards Customers First Programme Definition Document

For Human Resource Policies see: HR Handbook for Managers including Recruitment and Selection Guidelines Employee Handbook including Dignity At Work Policy Corporate Training Planner

Acknowledgement Borough of Poole would like to acknowledge Devon County Council’s Fair for All Programme in aiding the development of this Scheme.

29 Borough of Poole’s Fairness for All Action Plan Sept 2009-Sept 20012

Code Objective Action Targets/ Milestones Lead Deadline

Outcome 1: Providing Council services and information in a way that meets individual needs - simply, fairly and efficiently

C Make it clear what the - Research what equality groups know about Strategic Mar 2011 Council does so our services, how they contact us, their Directorate customers know that experience of using our services and what they can expect from us can be done to improve this

- Investigate using pictures/ photos as part Mar 2011 of ‘Your Poole’ portal

- Provide Poole News in Easy Read and Customer Mar 2010 BSL formats Services and Communications - Rename and publicise ‘site map’ as ‘key Dec 2009 information’ (or something similar)

C Reduce number of - Provide staff with a simple ‘desktop guide’ ICT Nov 2009 phone calls that are not to transferring and retrieving calls transferred correctly

D Help people who need - Promote the fact that staff are willing to Strategy Dec 2009 it to complete forms help with forms etc in Poole News and Directorate/ All reception areas Services

- Simplify forms as they are revised and All services Ongoing provide supporting guidance to help people complete them

A Improve access to - Improve the range of information and - Increase number of older people Customer’s First Mar 2011 information about local advice for older people through our who feel well informed about services for older customer contact centre council services (Place Survey people and their carers Q12)

30 Code Objective Action Targets/ Milestones Lead Deadline

A Improve access to - Improve the range of information and Customer’s First Mar 2010 information to families advice to children and families through our with children contact centre, Family Information Service and face to face at the Central Library

A Improve access to local - Set up 2 more children centres to bring the - Increase number of children with Children and June 2010 services for families network across Poole to a total of eight, disabilities accessing children’s Young People’s R with young children and provide services through outreach centres Integrated bases - Increase number of BME children Services D accessing children’s centres (establishing baseline in 09/10) D Improve access to - Provide guidance to staff on using British - Consultation with the deaf Customer Oct 2009 services and Sign Language interpreters and publicise community in 2010/11 to assess if Services and information for deaf this and Text Relay service to the deaf improvements have been made Communications people community

- Enable our website to use British Sign Mar 2010 Language videos summarising key information As above/ - Provide deaf awareness training to our Human Oct 2009 contact centre staff and corporately Resources

- Train 24 Council and independent sector Adult Social Mar 2010/ staff in deaf awareness Services Annually

- Review our Social Services hearing loss Mar 2010 work in consultation with deaf people R Improve access to - Develop and implement Corporate Customer Sept 2010 services and Guidance (incl. schools) on the use of face Services and information for Black to face language interpreters Communications and minority ethnic people - Commission research on the culturally Strategy Dec 2010 specific service needs of older BME people Directorate

R Improve access to - Undertake a review of the health promotion Adult Social Mar 2010 services for Gypsies work amongst older Travellers Services and Travellers - Review work with Gypsy Traveller children, Children and Apr 2010 young people and families around Young People’s accessing services which are sensitive to Trust their needs

- Provide culturally sensitive services from Housing and 2012 Yarrow Road Traveller site and support Community Travellers to access all services Services R Enable migrant workers - Make online Welcome Pack available and Strategy Dec 2009 to have easy access to publicise it to the community Directorate information about Poole and our services

D Improve access to - Consider ‘Fair Say’ findings when - 50% of Council buildings having Property Services Sept 2009 Council buildings and developing the disability access strategy for routine public access to be DDA Ongoing services Council buildings and implement compliant in line with DCLG guidance (BoP 190) - Publish and train on Personal Emergency Sept 2009 Evacuation Plans for disabled visitors and Ongoing employees

- Provide Fair Say feedback on Crown Dec 2010 Building reception in contract monitoring meeting

- Use symbols and/ or photos / pictures for Ongoing future sign in Council buildings

- Enhance the Civic Centre reception map Customer Mar 2009 with photos and produce picture maps of Services and Civic Centre for visitors Communications C Ensure we and our - Review and update Procurement Guidance Financial Dec 2009/ contractors meet and related policies Services Apr 2010

equalities legislation obligations - Provide training on revised guidance Apr 2010

C Improve the way we - Implement new equalities monitoring - Increase equalities monitoring Strategy Sept 2009 collect and use standards to improve our understanding of responses about complaints by Directorate Onwards equalities data to inform how services are used in order to plan for 10% our services the future

- Develop an information strategy for Strategy Sept 2010 collecting, analysing and using customer Directorate information

- Provide guidance to schools on recording Children and Mar 2011 information on and supporting parents with Young People’s specific needs Strategy, Quality and Improvement

- Improve the equalities data being collected Financial Mar 2010 through Benefits application process Services

C Review and improve - Monitor progress Corporate Equalities - Successfully assessed at Level 3 Strategy Annually/ access when we plan Action Plan and undertake 3 year reviews of the Equality Standard / Reached Directorate Sept 2012 and design our services ‘Excellent’ of revised Equality - Update Equality Impact Assessment Standard Framework Dec 2009 (EQIA) Guidance and publish EQIA timetable

- Train managers on undertaking EQIAs Ongoing

- Provide guidance and ongoing advice to Financial Mar 2010 Service Units on equality impacts in budget Services setting and monitoring

Outcome 2: Enabling people to influence decisions that affect their lives and no community being considered hard to reach

A Ensure that children - Review parents and carers involvement in Children and Mar 2010

and young people and the Children and Young People’s Trust Young People’s their parents and carers Strategy Quality are able to influence - Undertake an annual Children and Young & Improvement Mar 2010 the planning and People’s Needs Analysis decision-making of the Children's Trust and no - Review Children and Young People’s Children and Mar 2010 groups are hard to Participation Strategy to see how effectively Young People’s reach we involve hard to reach groups Integrated Services

A Ensure that a wide and - Review and improve engagement with - Increase the % of older people Adult Social Mar 2010 diverse range of older older people through locality work who feel they can influence Services people are able to decisions in their local area (NI4b) influence the planning (baseline to established in 09/10) and decision-making of the Council and its partners D Enable people with - Work with Poole and Bournemouth CVS Strategy Mar 2012 disabilities and mental and local disability organisations to develop Directorate health problems and a network or organisation(s) that can their carers to have a promote the rights of disabled people stronger voice in decision-making - Support Poole Forum and the Learning Adult Social Ongoing Disability Partnership Board to have a voice Services in our decision-making processes

- Support the development of Poole’s health Ongoing and social care Local Involvement Networks

- Develop a mental health service user Oct 2009 forum across Poole and Bournemouth

- Support the new BME carers group and Ongoing Dorset Healthcare Trust’s BME community development workers

- Develop ways of involving disabled people Planning and Dec 2009 in planning processes Regeneration R Develop our - Support the work of Dorset Race Equality Strategy Ongoing engagement with our Council’s community development worker Directorate diverse and growing BME community - Review the way the Council engages and Mar 2010 consults with the BME community B Further develop the - Support the development of and consult Strategy Ongoing understanding of the with Faithlinks, a local inter-faith network Directorate needs, aspirations and perspectives of people of different faiths SO Develop a stronger - Support the SPACE steering group, which - Increase group and individual Children and Ongoing understanding and is a project involving LBGT young people in contact with LGBT young people Young People - engagement with gay, shaping activities for them in Poole (establishing a baseline in Strategy Quality lesbian, bi-sexual and 2009/10) & Improvement trans-gender people in - Support the Pan-Dorset Lesbian and Gay Ongoing Poole Liaison Officer Group to engage with the Strategy community Directorate

- Consult with LGBT groups and set up a Culture and Feb 2011 Museum based volunteer project to Community research LGBT history Learning C Develop, with the Local - Develop a Community Engagement - Increase the % of people who feel Housing and Mar 2010 Strategic Partnership, Strategy, using the Fair Say findings, to co- they can influence decisions in Community stronger processes for ordinate and improve the way partners their local area from 27% in 08/09 Services enabling all residents to work with and respond to communities so to 30.1% by 2010/11 (NI4) influence partnership that no community is hard to hear - Increase perceptions that people priorities and services in the area treat one another with - Develop work with Bournemouth and Poole respect and consideration from Strategy Mar 2011 Diversity Forum to scrutinise our equality 26.1% in 08/09 to 23.9% in 2011 Directorate work (NI23) C Provide better feedback - Meet with or contact the organisations that Strategic Dec 2009 from consultation and took part in Fair Say event, publicise Directorate improve information Fairness for All scheme and opportunities about the opportunities to get involved

to get involved in decision-making - Create a ‘Fair Say’ web portal to publicise opportunities to engage, provide feedback Mar 2011 and information on equalities related consultation

C Promote equality of - Publicise the Member equality leads in the Legal and Dec 2009 opportunity through our Poole News and on the website Democratic Member community leadership roles - Review whether all groups of people feel Mar 2011 able to go to and feel welcomed at Area Committees

- Investigate how other areas look at how Mar 2011 well Members represent the whole community

- Develop accredited Member Induction Mar 2011

C Better understand the - Review how well equalities issues are Strategy Mar 2010 needs of our diverse being address in our research Directorate communities - Develop programme of equalities specific Sept 2010 research and consultation

Outcome 3: Poole being a strong, safe and inclusive community where people from all backgrounds come together, get on well and difference is celebrated C Celebrate Poole’s - Publish an annual programme of equalities - Increase % of people who believe Strategy Dec 2009 diversity events supported by the Council that people from different backgrounds Directorate/ considers the feedback from Fair Say get on well together in their local Housing and 36 Code Objective Action Targets/ Milestones Lead Deadline

area from 79% in 08/09 (NI1) Community Oct 2009 - Promote local events to mark Older Services People’s Day - In 09/10 establishing baseline figures for arts based activities - Support International Women’s Day focussed on the following groups: Mar 2010 disabled, BME, older, children and Culture and - Participate in Bourne Free (Pride Festival) young people, intergenerational Community Annually work and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Learning - Develop an Arts Programme for BME and and Transgender. Targets to be Mar 2010 LGBT communities set in 2010/11. Children and - Develop Gypsy and Traveller Heritage Young People’s 2012 project Integrated Services - Map young people’s achievement Mar 2011 celebrations and co-ordinate activities C Develop strong local - Support the town centre community - Increase the % of people who feel Strategy Ongoing communities and development work so that all residents they can influence decisions in Directorate neighbourhoods where work together as the area is regenerated their local area from 27% in 08/09 people from different to 30.1% by 2010/11 (NI4) backgrounds come - Strengthen how we work with communities Nov 2009 together and support to develop a strong sense of belonging and - Targets for Hamworthy Library: each other shared vision for Poole through a Community Cohesion Framework 50 young people per year having Children and greater impact on influencing local Young People’s - Support schools to fulfil their duties in decisions and increased Strategy Quality Mar 2012 relation to community cohesion participation & Improvement

- Review with Poole CVS and via our 100 older people per year feeling Housing and Sept 2012 community centre leases to ensure these more confident in using the library Community centres are open and inclusive Housing and - Open a new Hamworthy Library which will 50 disabled people per year Community / Mar 2010 involve the local community, particularly improving their community Property older and young people, disabled people relations and people with learning needs Culture and Community

C Ensure that our - Promote our equalities achievements - Increase % of people who believe Customer Ongoing communications are through Poole News, website and the people from different backgrounds Services and relevant to and media get on well together in their local Communications positively promote area from 79% in 08/09 (NI1) Poole's diverse - Improve our stock of positive images that Mar 2010 population reflect equality and diversity - Increase perceptions that people in the area treat one another with respect and consideration from 26.1% in 08/09 to 23.9% in 2011 (NI23) C Support the - Work with Poole CVS to support the - Environment for a Thriving Third Strategy Mar 2010 development of a community and voluntary sector and Sector (NI7) from 13.6% in 08/09 Directorate strong, diverse promote volunteering through the Stronger to 11.6% by March 2011 community and Communities Plan voluntary sector - Participation in Regular Apr 2010 - Ensure procurement policies actively Volunteering (NI6) from 21.6% in Financial encourage third sector to tender for Council 08/09 to 24.1% by March 2011 Services contracts and does not discriminate against them providing us with services

C Ensure our diverse - Support seven Safer Neighbourhood teams - Building resilience to violent Strategy Mar 2010 communities know across Poole extremism (NI35) Maintain or Directorate about and can raise increase current score of 2. concerns and problems - Develop and implement a local plan to Mar 2012 in the community work with communities to prevent potential - Increase awareness of civil tensions in our communities protection arrangements in local area (NI37) - Work with diverse groups to develop plans Ongoing for civil emergencies

A Provide positive - Explore and promote options for affordable Children and Mar 2012 activities for young and accessible ‘wet weather’ activities for Young People’s people young people Integrated Services R Improve understanding - Work in schools with parents and children - See NI1 and NI 23 above Children and Ongoing

between different through ‘Future Stars’ to develop Young People’s A generations and understanding of multi-cultural Britain - Reduce perception of teenagers Strategy Quality different people hanging around on street corners & Improvement / - Seek funds to co-ordinate intergenerational as a problem (Place Survey anti- Integrated Dec 2009 activity social behaviour question) Services

- Deliver “Flourish” intergenerational arts Culture and Mar 2010 project called Common Ground on Poole’s Community Waterloo Estate Learning A Reduce the fear of - Support Neighbourhood Watches to - Reduce levels of older people who Strategy Ongoing crime for older people prevent crime feel unsafe after dark and during Directorate the day (Place Survey question) - Support of a range seasonal projects Ongoing targeted at older people’s safety, such as - Decrease older people’s Trickster (about bogus callers), Jingle Bells perception of anti social behaviour (NI17b) Outcome 4: Enabling people to trust and have confidence in us to tackle discrimination, abuse and report prejudice incidents

D Make it easier for - Review how well Prejudice Incident - Increase the use of Easy Read Housing and Mar 2011 disabled customers to reporting works with complaints and related prejudice incident reporting forms Community C raise complaints about employee policies (Establishing baseline in 09/10) Services, Human services Resources and - Provide complaints information in - See targets below Strategy Mar 2010 / alternative formats, eg Easy Read, BSL Directorate 11

- Improve consistency of complaints Dec 2009 processes through training, advice and equality monitoring

- Implement Corporate Feedback Project, to Customer’s First Dec 2009 how customers’ feedback inform our work C Increase local people's - Share Fair Say findings with Prejudice Free - Increase prejudice incident Strategy Oct 2009 confidence in how all Bournemouth and Poole Group to inform reporting to Council by 15% in Directorate/ agencies respond to development of their action plan 2009/10 comparison to 2008/09 Housing and prejudice incidents and Community crimes so that more - Work with partners to promote where - 100% reporting of prejudice Services Mar 2010

incidents are reported people can report prejudice incidents incident reporting outcomes and people who experience incidents - Identify a wider range of independent Mar 2011 are satisfied with the reporting centres, such as Libraries response - Analyse prejudice incident reports to Ongoing identify areas of concern to address /quarterly

- Publicise how prejudice incidents have Dec 2009 been successfully dealt with

- Monitor outcomes on all Council reports to Ongoing ensure people feel satisfied with responses

- Investigate independent phone / advocacy Dec 2009 support to racist and homophobic incidents R Reduce racist and - Publish and implement Anti-Bullying - Increase racist reporting from Children and Jan 2010 homophobic bullying in Strategy and action plan schools Young People’s SO schools Strategy, Quality - Support the development of the children - Reduce repeat racist abuse & Improvement Ongoing and young people led Anti-Bullying Alliance reporting of children and young people to 0% - Support schools to implement ‘Safe to Nov 2009 Learn’, especially reduce homophobic, racist & disability bullying

- Undertake governor training to raise the Ongoing profile of the issue

G Reduce violence - Develop and implement a Domestic Abuse - Establish baseline for measure of Strategy Mar 2010 against women Strategy based on local need and sexual offences Directorate consultation with victims - Increase no. of domestic violence

- Provide ongoing support and services to offenders brought to justice from Ongoing women and families affected by abuse 185 in 05/06 to 208 in 09/10

- Increase DV incidents reported annually by the victim using the telephone or in person from 1032 in 05/06 to 1148 in 09/10 (LAA Stretch Targets 12 and 13)

- % reduction in no. of DV repeat incidents (NI32) (establishing baseline in 09/10)

A Ensure vulnerable - Increase the safety of children by carrying - Maximum of 9% if children are Children and Aug 2009 children and young out recommendations from case reviews as subject to protection plan for more Young People’s 6 monthly people feel safe in their part of the Safeguarding Action Plan than 2 years (NI 64) Social Care communities and families - Ensure that child protection services are - 12% or less of children becoming Ongoing/ culturally sensitive and meet the needs of subject to protection plan for a Mar 2011 individuals second subsequent time (NI65)

- Raise public awareness around child - Increase number of community Ongoing protection by working with the Local and voluntary sector providers with Safeguarding Children's Board child protection policies Children and - Undertake preventative activities with Young People’s Ongoing children and young people in hotspot Integrated areas, eg use of mobile youth services Services

- Initiate Safe Schools projects to prevent Sept 2010 young people from getting in trouble with the police

A Ensure vulnerable - Work with partners to establish an effective - Reduce the number of repeat Adult Social Sept 09/ adults are safe from Safeguarding Adults Board alerts from people with LD living in Services ongoing D abuse, neglect and congregate living environments by

harm - As part of the Valuing People Board, work at least 10% by April 2010 Apr 2010 with people with a learning disability and their carers to reduce the number of repeat - Increase in alerts by 10% within incidents of abuse for people with a mental health learning disability - 100% of care providers will have - Support residential and nursing care updated procedures monitored providers for people with dementia to through contract review by Mar 10 provide high quality care Outcome 5: Enabling people to fulfil their potential and make choices about their lives and services8 they use

Supporting Children and Young People

G Improve access to - Develop an additional Dad’s club - Increase no.of male carers Children and Sept 2009 childcare in Poole accessing services Young People’s D - Improve disability access for priority set of Integrated Mar 2011 childcare settings Services

G Reduce teenage - Take action to reduce the number of - Reduce under 18 conception rate Children and Mar 2010/ pregnancy conceptions teenage pregnancies in Poole (NI112) from 1998 baseline by Young People’s Annually and improve outcomes 45% by 2010 Strategy, Quality for teenage mothers - Improve sex and relationship training in & Improvement schools and follow up advice

D Improve outcomes for - Implement Aiming High for Disabled - Improve services for disabled Children and Apr 2010 Poole’s disabled Children core offer to improve information, children from 60% from 08/09 to Young People’s children assessment and involvement of disabled 63% in 09/10 (NI54) Integrated children and their families in services Services - 450 Leisure opportunities to be - Extend opportunities for disabled children provided through Short Breaks Mar 2010 to take up leisure, arts and recreational programme by March 2010 facilities through Short Breaks programme C Improve outcomes for - Monitor and support vulnerable young - 16-18 year olds who are not in Children and Ongoing vulnerable young people who are not in employment or education or training (NI117) – Young People’s people training to access services Monitored by race, disability, Trust

8 These may be directly provided by us or on our behalf by other organisations 42 Code Objective Action Targets/ Milestones Lead Deadline

young offenders and teenage - Work with children and adults with complex mothers Children and Sept 2011 needs to provide dedicated support to Young People’s whole family via ‘Think Family’ approach Social Care

D Improve attainment in - Monitor attainment and support Traveller, - Monitor and report attainment – Children and Ongoing school, with a focus on Black and minority ethnic children; children boys and girls measures Young People’s G boys, Traveller children with special needs; and boys and girls - Special Educational Needs Strategy, Quality and children with (SEN)/non-SEN gap achieving Key & Improvement/ R learning and physical - Provide support to children whose first Stage 2 in English and Maths Integrated Ongoing disabilities language is not English in schools - SEN/ non-SEN gap – achieving 5 Services A*-C GCSE inc. English and - Support schools in achieving the Inclusion Maths (NI104 and 5) Ongoing Mark - Key Stage 2 attainment for Black and minority ethnic groups (NI107) - Provide equipment, aids and building - Key Stage 4 attainment for Black Ongoing modifications as part of the Schools Access and minority ethnic groups (NI108) Initiative - Achievement needs to be equal to or greater than ‘white British’ - Train governors on their responsibilities children (G&T or all BME) Ongoing under equalities legislation C Ensure positive - Deliver good health and education - Emotional and behavioural health Children and Ongoing outcomes for children in outcomes for children in care of children in care (Target 16) Young People’s care NI058 Social Care - Improve the diversity of carers available to - Stability of placements of looked Ongoing children in care after children: number of moves (Target 11%) N1062 - Promote employment opportunities, and - 100% of Care leavers in suitable Ongoing provide appropriate accommodation and accommodation (NI147) support for care leavers - 100% Children in care reaching level 4 in English at Key Stage 2 - 100% Children in care reaching level 4 in Maths at Key Stage 2 (NI 99 and 100) - 20% Children in care achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) at Key

Stage 4 (inc English + Maths) (NI101) 70% of Care Leavers in Education, Employment or Training (NI 048) D Improve the mental - Implement the Targeted Mental Health in Children and 2011 health and emotional Schools Project with 5-13 year olds in 17 Young People’s well-being of children Poole Schools Strategy, Quality & Improvement

SO Develop support for - Design and implement positive activities - Increase group and individual As above Mar 2010 Poole’s LGBT young with and for LGBT young people in Poole contact with Poole LGBT young people people (establishing baseline in 09/10)

Promoting Health and Well-Being

A Improve people’s - Promote direct payments so people can - Increase number of people Adult Social Ongoing choice and access to buy the care they wish to receiving care and support through Services D adult social care a personal budget 30% by Mar services - Increase the choice and control people 2011 Jan 2010 have to buy their own care through Personal Budgets - Increase the no of adults and older people receiving ongoing direct - Ensure a wide range of services people payments from 142 per 100,000 in Mar 2011 would want to buy, including culturally 05/06 to 350 per 100,000 by Sept relevant services, are available 09 (LAA Stretch 6)

- Enable a full range of care and support - Increase % of those with ongoing Mar 2011 advocacy options from the independent direct payments who report they sector and the Council are satisfied or very satisfied from 89.7% in 07/08 (LAA Stretch 7) - Undertake a review of day service Mar 2010 provision and offer alternative arrangements to give people choice A Improve the quality of - Support older people to remain - Increase no. of older people who Adult Social Mar 2010 life and overall well- independent in their own home are satisfied overall with the local Services Annually

being of older people in area (Place Survey question) Poole - Use our learning from a project in June 2011 Westbourne that enabled people with - Assist a minimum of 400 older dementia and their carers to receive people through the Safer Homes support in their home at times of crisis scheme each year Ongoing - Improve the health & social services - Signpost 150 older people each assessment process so that older people year to relevant energy efficiency have a positive and consistent experience schemes that can provide them with warmer homes - Increase the number of older people Financial Ongoing receiving their benefit entitlements - Pay additional £2M in state Services benefits to persons of pensionable - Run Locality Steering Groups to make sure age each year As above with Ongoing older people can influence how local Housing and services are delivered - Increase in the total “over 60” Community benefit caseload by 5% between Services - Develop a programme of activities to help 2008-11 Ongoing older people keep mind and body active - Reduce the gap in life expectancy between the worst and best areas by a third by 2013 (see other related National Indicators)

- Number of older people registered with Silver 3X30 scheme

G Improve support to - Implement the Bournemouth and Poole - Increase carers receiving needs Adult Social 2018 Poole’s carers Carers’ Strategy assessment or review and a Services R specific carer's service, or advice - Support BME groups, including the Black and information to 25% by 2011 Ongoing Carers, to participate in carers’ focus & (NI135) support groups - Increase BME uptake of carers services and support from 1% Protecting Poole’s Environment

B Ensure cemeteries - Carry out disability audit of cemeteries and Leisure Dec 2009 meets the needs of update public information on access D faith community and disabled people - Consult with disabled people and faith Dec 2010 groups to plan the new Canford Magna cemetery D Improve disabled - Extend opportunities for disabled children - Modernise 22 play areas through As above Mar 2011 access to recreational to use recreational facilities Playbuild Scheme facilities - Consider introducing disabled scooter hire Mar 2010 at Upton Country Park Strengthening Our Communities

C Make sure future - Review and update Poole’s Housing - Deliver 3500 affordable homes – Housing and Mar 2010 housing meets the Strategy and the Private Sector Housing monitored annually through Community needs of Poole Strategy (which looks at how to keep number of affordable homes Services people independent in their own homes) (NI155)

- Ensure all new homes meet the Lifetime - Year-on-year increase in the Ongoing Homes Standards proportion of all new dwellings built to lifetime homes standards, to be - Monitor Registered Social Landlord monitored annually (PCS8) Ongoing preferred partner protocol as to its progress in meeting delivery and targets for new affordable housing A Provide suitable - Provide more new care home places - Increase number of care home As above 2025 housing and support for beds by 500-700 places by 2025 D older people and - Put in place 45 extra care sheltered Dec 2009 disabled who need it accommodation scheme at Pitwines - No closures of viable care homes housing development site with over 45 bed space capacity

D Enable people with - Implement ‘Moving on from hospital’ - Move 29 Poole people from As above with April 2010 learning disabilities to project to enable people with learning hospital units to a home of their Adult Social live in the community disabilities to live in the community choice with support Services

A Enable more older - Extend library services to housebound - Increase the numbers of people Culture and Nov 2010/ people to access library readers and people living in residential receiving a delivered library Community Nov 2013 services homes service from 600 by March 2010 Learning

A Encourage young - Implement the Read a Million Words - Enrol 1000 children on Read a As above April 2010 people to read more challenge Million Words challenge and access libraries

A Create affordable - Develop ’Flourish’ programme of arts- - Maintain 08/09 level arts As above Ongoing opportunities for older based social activities for older people programmes for older people people to become involved in the arts - Proportion of older people engaged in the arts over a 12 month period D Improve disability - Improve disability access to annual street - Maintain no. of activities and As above Sept 2009 access to arts and the arts festival in Poole engagement of disabled adults in annually Museum the arts at 13% - Undertake arts projects such as the Ongoing “Flourish” focusing on adult mental health and older people, and the Arts and Health programme targeted at disabled people

- Improve access to information for people Mar 2015 with visual impairments and dyslexia at Poole Museum D Provide Poole Adult - Work with partners to make sure Poole - Maintain no. of activities and As above Ongoing Learning courses for Learning courses and activities meet engagement of disabled adults in disabled people disabled people’s needs Poole Adult Learning at 17%

- Introduce courses that lead to qualifications - Number of learners who have Jul 2010 for disabled people learning difficulties and disabilities

R Enable people to - Provide English as Second Language - % of non-English speaking people As above Ongoing improve their English courses, particularly in peoples’ workplaces successfully completing ESOL language skills courses each year (NI13)

Developing a Dynamic Economy

D Promote disability - Ask Tourism Partnership to make an Tourism Dec 2009 access to Tourist equalities commitment and raise disability facilities access awareness at Tourism conference

- Update website and develop Bournemouth Dec 2010 and Poole Tourism disability access guide

- Encourage take up of Tourism for All Dec 2010 access standards for hotels, restaurants, accommodation and attractions A Support young people - Implement Multi-Area Agreement, and - Proportion of 19-64 population Planning and Mar 2010 to find work in the local contribute to the development of sub- with at least NVQ Level 4 (MAA3) Regeneration area regional Employment and Skills Strategy - Graduate retention and - Evaluate schools mentoring programme employment in local economy - Sept 2009 and continue to implement participants successfully completing STRIDE programme (MAA4a)

- Graduate retention and employment in local economy - students successfully completing mentoring programme (MAA4b)

- Graduate retention and employment in local economy - student enterprise projects completed (MAA4c) R Provide business - Support Cosmopolitan Business Initiative Planning and Ongoing information, advice and which raises awareness of support and Regeneration training to Black and advice available to BME businesses minority ethnic Environmental businesses - Provide more translated food safety and Consumer Mar 2010 seminars if required Protection

D Support people who - Support and enable disabled people to find - Maintain 56 full time equivalent Adult Social Ongoing have been unemployed and sustain meaningful employment jobs through Workstep contract Services R for a long time to find and keep jobs - Implement ‘Bridge to Work’ project to help - To support 72 people across Culture and Jul 2010 G the long term unemployed into ongoing Poole to gain long term Community employment employment Learning

A Improve information - Implement Community Transport Voucher - Increase number of community Transportation Ongoing and access to public Scheme for people with mobility problems transport journeys to 24,500 D transport who are unable to make use of a bus pass - Increase use by those under 60 - Develop a Community Transport Strategy years old by 5% by 2011 Mar 2012 with partners for Bournemouth and Poole

D Improve access to - Improve lift D by the office in Dolphin - Maintain or increase satisfaction Transportation Mar 2010 disabled parking Centre multi-storey car park with disabled parking in Poole from facilities 2008 - Review disabled parking across the Feb 2010 Borough

A Improve road safety of - Extend pre-driver training and continue to - Reduce the no. of killed or serious Transportation Ongoing young men in Poole deliver ‘Pills, Thrills and Automobiles’ road injuries (KSI) involving G training for 16-24 year olds children by 50% by 2010 (NI148)

- Evaluate the impact of road safety - Reduce the no. of young men Ongoing initiatives / policies involving young men involved in KSIs traffic collisions by a third from 40 to 27 by 2011

Outcome 6: We are an employer of choice; promote fair pay; and equal access to employment, training and career development opportunities

G Equalise pay between - Complete implementation of Equal Pay - No tribunal equal pay claims Human Dec 2009 men and women review so that male and female employees awarded against the Council (BoP Resources receive equal pay for equal work 223)

- Review the terms and conditions of staff Jan 2010

that are transferred from the Council to work for other organisations

G Support staff with - Provide a workplace nursery for employees - Average number of children As above Ongoing caring responsibilities attending Flippers per week to be supported and (BoP224) Jul 2010 work flexibly - Review the experience of women taking maternity leave

C Monitor diversity in our - Revise Workforce Plan and set targets to - % of Top 25% of earners who are As above Mar 2010 workforce and make ensure that reflect our workforce reflects women (BoP 247) Ongoing sure it reflects our our community make up community - % of Top 25% of earners who are - Develop guidance and take action where from minority ethnic communities Apr 2010 there is under-representation of particular (BoP 246) groups in services’ workforce - % of Top 25% of earners who are - Publish results of workforce monitoring and disabled (BoP 245) Sept 2010 performance against targets - Increase number of employees - Encourage more disabled people to work under 25 years old across Mar 2012 for the Council organisation

- Implement a new system to enable more - % of employees with a disability Dec 2010 effective equalities employment monitoring (BV16a) compared to local population - Introduce Graduate Trainee Scheme and a Apr 2010/ joined up approach to traineeships across - % of employees from a BME Mar 2012 the Council (with Adult Learning) background or 'white other' classification (BoP 225) - Implement Positive About Disabled People Ongoing/ (Two Ticks) scheme and develop guidance - % of employees from a BME Dec 2010 to support managers to recruit disabled background (17a) compared to people local population

- Develop and implement an Adult Social Adult Social Services Oct 2009 50 Code Objective Action Targets/ Milestones Lead Deadline

Care Workforce Plan which is integrated with Corporate and partners’ plans C Build the skills and - Review how the new appraisal scheme is As above Feb 2010 confidence of helping staff apply equality and diversity to employees and their job roles Members to deliver the equalities agenda - Deliver the mandatory corporate equalities Ongoing training to all Council’s staff groups and provide a better range of equalities training to employees/ Councillors Mar 2010 - Develop a Councillor induction programme

- Monitor equality of access to training for Dec 2010 corporate training courses C Listen to employees - Ask employees how confident they feel As above Oct 2009 about their experience about addressing equality issues in the to shape our policies People Matters Survey and practice - Develop an action plan as a result of ‘All Sept 09/ things being equal’ staff consultation annually

- Promote, develop and respond to Ongoing employee groups and Trade Union engagement

- Undertake a successful IiP re-assessment, Dec 2011 including progress against equalities

D Improve ICT access for - Improve our ICT guidance and information Information Dec 2009 disabled employees about how to support disabled staff and talk Communications to them to further understand their needs and Technology

51 A Age equality G Gender equality C Cross cutting covers all equality strands D Disability equality R Race equality B Faith and belief equality SO Sexual orientation equality