Participants discussed the following question in relation to the work of key areas of Government: How can you/your organisation help implement the Government’s race strategy?

Points from discussion groups:

Education

Educational outcomes depend on pupils themselves, parents and schools – Government needs to remember this and constantly reassess the links between the three when assessing race equality within education and considering/launching initiatives to close the attainment gap.  For example, there is no point attempting to raise aspirations of BME pupils,  if the schools they attend have lower expectations of these pupils because of conscious or unconscious institutional racism.

Initiatives such as the Leeds-based Stephen Lawrence education standard – innovative curriculum projects designed to make schools more inclusive – should be rolled out more widely. [Editors note – this award is now being promoted nationally by DCSF]  Similarly, the new OFSTED inspection framework, with a renewed emphasis on race equality needs to be closely monitored – both in terms of how it is being applied and what it is revealing.

While the use of role models can be inspirational, example should not only be set through exposing pupils to the highest achievers in a particular field, but also through encouraging individuals to achieve better on their own terms.  Individual mentoring is invaluable in this regard – the Government should encourage and allow more volunteering to enable this – maybe allowing a fixed number of hours off work per month for mentoring in schools.

Employment – progression and professions

The group discussed ways to help workers from minority ethnic groups to improve their promotion and career prospects. The group acknowledged the work of staff networks in supporting the development and progression of minority ethnic employees. The group also stressed the impact of positive interventions in early years in informing people’s career aspirations. Three key messages from the group were:

• Thought should be given to ways to support Staff Networks in Public and Private sector organisations. Staff Networks should work together to maximise their impact.
• TRIF partners with an interest in employment and professions should link up to share knowledge and develop joint work. This will help to break down the wider silos across the tackling race equality agenda.
• Early intervention is important in raising aspirations – schools and parents should encourage children to set challenging career goals.

Employment, Unemployment and Recruitment

• To be successful in addressing high levels of unemployment there is a need to make progress at different levels – Individuals – Employers – Co-workers/Operational level.
• There is still a need to shift perceptions/attitudes around ethnic minority employment issues and the levers we have e.g. we should address ignorance around positive action training.
• Training/solutions need to tackle both managers and HR but crucially also people at all levels throughout the organisation.

Criminal Justice System

• Build the business case for alternative methods of rehabilitation.
• Capacity build the VCS with resources and knowledge to challenge agencies.
• Honest and upfront dialogue on what is going on.
• There needs to be a significant alternative to current Eurocentric models of custody – especially for young people (review policies and procedures)
• Review the recruitment processes so that those recruited are more aware of diversity (e.g. the interview question ‘Can you give an example of how you have challenged senior management…’)

Housing, Regeneration and Civic Participation

• There is still much work to be done to effectively tackle race inequalities.
• The Quality of Impact Assessments varies considerably.
• Choice Based Lettings (CBL) – not everyone has access to a PC, therefore accessing CBL is problematic.
• When an asylum seeker receives a positive decision on their asylum application they are required to leave UKBA accommodation within 28 days. Without appropriate planning this risks homelessness and considerable disruption.  The third sector spends considerable time and resource helping people access accommodation and other services e.g. access to GP.

Civic Participation and Regeneration

The key issue is that the “black voice” is not strong in public/civic and political life.  Many communities are very under represented e.g. Chinese and Gypsy and Traveller communities and people that fall into more than one equality group (e.g. ethnic minority LGBT)

The debate has to be about access and inclusion in terms of need:

• identifying it
• acknowledging it
• engaging with communities
• thinking about resolutions
• resourcing  work
• enforcing delivery
• evaluating impact
• BME health is still seen in ‘project’ terms instead of as mainstream provision
• Single equality legislation does not mean attention should divert from the need to promote race equality. BME communities encompass all the equality strands
• Commissioners have the power to change services, and the World Class Commissioning Competencies give scope to target services to meet community needs
• Services should be based on needs not numbers – so having a ‘small’ BME population is no reason to ignore need
• Don’t forget the strength of equality impact assessments- and don’t forget to carry them out

The Government responded to the Business Commissions recommendations in July 2008 and that
reply can be found here.

Since then Government has been working on taking forward the recommendations and a letter from Jim Knight, Chair of the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform to the Chancellor, updating him on progress can be found here. Good progress has been made, particularly given the weaker economic circumstance, but much more work is still to be done and the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force will continue to lead this work across Government. The Idea guide can be found here.

……don’t hesitate to make that public.

Here’s how:

What is an Honour?
An Honour is the Government’s way of recognising merit and showing appreciation for the effort that people put into the development of our society, through initiating national projects, volunteering, or community work.  Community leaders notice such hard work and recommend people to be nominated.  Nominations are competitive and lead to an award ceremony usually performed at Buckingham Palace, by a member of the royal family.
It comes with more than letters after your name!

The sheer success of having achieved something for the State or Community is an exhilarating experience which comes with special benefits.  Not only will you have the rare privilege of having letters after your name, according to the level of your award, all  successful candidates appointed to the Order of the British Empire are entitled to apply to the Registrar of the Order at St. James’s Palace, to hold wedding or baptisms for themselves or specific members of their family in the Chapel in St. Paul’s Cathedral designated for those achieving this national honour.  Similarly, a Chapel is set aside in Westminster Abbey for those who earn the higher title of the Order of Bath. Click here to see the varoius award levels.

Who Can be Nominated for an Honour?
Anyone can be nominated for an Honour, particularly those who freely give their time, energy and expertise to improve the quality of life in our communities.  Nominations are invited from all manner of people, including farmers, teachers, cleaners, soldiers, volunteers, civil servants, gardeners, chefs, community workers, bus drivers, plumbers, to name a few.

People can nominate themselves as well as colleagues, friends and relations, whose work for the state or community they think deserves national recognition.  And the diversity of British society gives everyone an equal chance of competing for and being selected for an honour.

When Does One Receive an Honour?
Two rounds of honours occur each year.  The New Year Honours are announced at the beginning of each Year and the Birthday Honours, which form part of celebrations marking the Queen’s Birthday are announced in June. More information is available on the Cabinet Office website which has overall responsibility for the Honours System, at http://www.honours.gov.uk

So, what stops you from nominating someone you think deserves an honour?
Once you have identified what it is that your nominee has achieved, you can start writing your nomination. To download the nomination form click here. Nominations should be submitted to honours@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk

Many of you came to our Listening Events last Spring or wrote in with your contribution regarding the way ahead on Tackling Race Inequalities, you may also have attended the launch of the race statement last month. We’ve now made a documentary, covering the process, and it has its first showing tomorrow – on Tuesday 16 February on OH TV.

The launch was filmed, as were the Listening Events last Spring, and a documentary has been produced by ebb&flow.  This will be aired on OH TV from 16 February. The documentary showcases the consultation in Spring 2009, the Communities Secretary’s speech launching the race statement on 14 January 2010, (accompanied by footage of Cohesion Minister Shahid Malik, Baroness Scotland and EHRC Commissioner Simon Woolley), and concludes with a panel discussion of the implications of the statement.

The documentary is scheduled to air at:

10.00pm on Tuesday 16 February

1.00 and 10.00pm  on Friday 19th February

7.30pm on Saturday 20th February.

It is likely to be repeated further after these dates, but times are not confirmed.

The channel: OH TV, is channel 199 on SKY

(some Virgin cable packages may also give access to OH TV).

I hope you will find the opportunity to watch the documentary, and please publicise it so that we get maximum viewing.

Commissioned by the Government Equalities Office (GEO) and run by Operation Black Vote, the programme will train 60 BAME women in up to 30 local authorities. A further 50 women will take part in a community leadership course to learn more about the role of a local councillor.

The two schemes were initiated by the Women Councillors Taskforce, which produced a report making recommendations aimed at improving the representation of BAME women in local government, who account for less than 1% of all local councillors in England.

To further embed the work of the taskforce, GEO is developing a toolkit, which will be available online, to enable public and third sector organisations to organise BAME gender specific events to raise awareness and encourage more women to get involved in public life.

The taskforce’s other recommendations include:

The collection of more regular and up-to-date data on the diversity of local candidates and elected councillors to identify where efforts should be targeted to bring about a better representation of BAME women councillors;

all political parties to support and encourage BAME women to stand as candidates;

and a national website should be developed as a resource for those interested in becoming involved in local politics.

Click here to learn more..

Your responses to our first phase of consultation (reference number 090813) that was published in August 2009 have enabled us to produce a draft single equality scheme which sets out the key activities that Ofsted will take to achieve our equality priorities. We are currently seeking your views on this draft scheme, which will be finalised and published along with a detailed action plan in April 2010. The consultation closes on Friday 12 March 2010. We will be holding three involvement and consultation events across England throughout the consultation period. If you would like to get involved, you can take part by:
• accessing the consultation document online at www.ofsted.gov.uk/consultations, or

• joining us at one of our consultation seminars across England:

• 27 January 2010, 1pm to 4.30pm, London
Holborn Bars (DeVere Venue), 138-142 Holborn, London EC1N 2NQ

• 16 February 2010, 9.30am to 12.30pm, Newcastle
Newcastle College, Rye Hill Campus, Scotswood Road, Newcastle NE4 7SA

• 12 March 2010, 9.30am to 12.30pm
Birmingham Metropolitan College, Matthew Boulton campus, B4 7PS

Places are limited, so please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to attend or send a representative. For further information about the events or to book your place, please email sesconsultation@ofsted.gov.uk. Please state clearly which event you are interested in. You can also let us know if you have any reasonable adjustments or dietary requirements.

I do hope that you will be able to contribute to this important process. Your opinions are important to us and will be vital in helping us to produce a single equality scheme for Ofsted that will continue to raise standards and improve lives.

or

Download the Easy-Read Version Here

John Denham has today published Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race. This document details the consistent progress that has been made to tackle racism and secure race equality in recent years, highlights the remaining challenges and the need to broaden the focus of equalities work to respond to new and emerging issues.

Over the past decade, the Government has worked tirelessly to build a fairer, more equal society. A society where a person’s chances and opportunities in life are determined solely by their talent and effort – not by their class, gender, religion, sexuality or their race.

The Macpherson Report in 1999 was a wake-up call for all public services. The Race Relations Amendment Act that followed in 2000 extended the laws against discrimination meaning that over 43,000 public bodies were charged with promoting race equality. This has led to a more representative police force and a halving of racially motivated incidents since 1995. In addition, in schools, there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of pupils of black Caribbean heritage gaining five good GCSEs.

These measures have transformed the way public services serve BME communities, no longer simply passively addressing individual racist incidents but actively promoting racial equality and better race relations.

Across Government, efforts to raise incomes, reduce poverty and promote equality – whether through the minimum wage, Sure Start or housing – has made a real difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged, including those from BME communities.

However, there is still much to do. There are still areas of concern, especially in school exclusions and stop and search. Alongside these old challenges there are new and emerging trends affecting White and BME people There is a growing Black and Asian middle class – they are now coming up against the old problems in new settings. Research shows that people whose surname suggests they are from a BME background find it harder to get an interview when applying for a job. In education we know that Chinese and Indian students in particular do better than the average in schools whilst White working class boys appear to be lagging behind.

Migration, the growing importance of community cohesion, and a better understanding of the way in which race interacts with class and other factors have all changed the terms of the debate and made promoting race equality a much more complex challenge.

Tackling racism will only be effectively achieved if all forms of discrimination, prejudice and inequality are tackled.

Mr Denham today pledged to redouble efforts to promote greater equality for all, and combine that with action to target the specific problems faced by particular groups. He stressed the need to do this in ways which are fair, seen to be fair, and in a way that will ensure no group is neglected or overlooked.

The new document details how Government will build on the remarkable achievements of the past ten years setting out a threefold approach to tackling what is now a more complex challenge:

Enforcing the strong legal framework – The new Equality Bill will modernise, streamline and strengthen the existing legislative framework, helping people to understand their rights and further reduce inequality and discrimination.

The Bill acknowledges the wider context in which race inequality must now be tackled. Instead of addressing the needs of different groups separately, it will require all public services to offer a decent service to everyone – regardless. And it will mean more of a focus on outcomes – not processes. For the first time, public bodies will have to take class into account and consider what action they can take to tackle entrenched socio-economic disadvantage.

Leadership – Communities and Local Government will work with those charged with inspecting public bodies to make sure that services are complying with their duties and obligations. CLG will continue to challenge other Government Departments and public bodies to promote race equality in everything they do.

Targeted work – where certain groups face specific challenges targeted work is needed in response. The REACH role modelling programme is addressing low achievement and low aspirations amongst young black boys, works is going on in schools to improve poor white boys progress and help particular groups overcome specific challenges, where needed.

John Denham said:

“The Government has an absolute commitment to eradicating racism and promoting race equality. And that work will not stop until every single person in this country has the same opportunities and an equal chance of success.

“Sustained action over the last ten years has promoted racial equality and better race relations, dismantled unfair barriers faced by many and helped to nurture a society more comfortable with diversity than ever before.

“New trends are emerging linked to the way that race and class together shape people’s lives and this makes the situation much more complex. That does not mean that we should reduce our efforts to tackle racism and promote race equality but we must avoid a one dimensional debate that assumes all minority ethnic people are disadvantaged. The landscape has changed and we have to make sure that our efforts are tackling problems of today and not those of the past.

“We are committed to tackling inequality and disadvantage wherever it exists. If the cause is racism and discrimination we will challenge racism and discrimination. If the cause of disadvantage is social class, we will promote opportunity. And if the cause is a combination of racism and social class we will tackle both together.

“We are working towards building a society where regardless of class, race, beliefs or anything else: in every community, in every corner of the country – we are on people’s side. No favours. No privileges. No special interest groups. Just fairness.”

Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race details a wide range of measures that Government has and will put in place to deliver on this crucial agenda. This includes:

• Communities and Local Government will support the Equality and Human Rights Commission as it develops guidance on implementing the Equality Bill and intervenes in legal cases which will advance equality
• Through effective inspection of public services public bodies will be held to greater account on delivering against their responsibilities. Progress has already been made on this area with Ofsted now rating schools as inadequate if they do not fulfil requirements on equality
• The DCSF now has rules requiring Local Authorities to set targets to raise attainment amongst underperforming groups
• The Government Equalities Office has today launched a new ambassadors network -180 individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds who currently hold a range of public appointments, such as membership of NHS trusts and boards of public bodies, who will be encouraging people from under-represented groups to consider applying for public appointments
• Earlier this year the CLG made £8.8m available through the Tackling Race Inequality Fund (TRIF). This funding is supporting 27 national and regional Third Sector Organisations to tackle inequalities faced by a range of minority ethnic groups. Organisations funded include Operation Black Vote, Age UK, The National Black Boys Can Association and Show Racism the Red Card

Notes to editors

This press notice applies to England Only

1. Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race can be found at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/tacklingraceinequalitystatement

2. The Race Relations Amendment Act followed the publication of the Macpherson Report and was seen to be a watershed moment. It not only extended the laws against discrimination, but also charged over 43,000 public bodies with positively promoting race equality and better race relations. It has meant a sea-change in the way that public services work. It has introduced a proactive approach to meeting the needs of all communities, to understanding how different communities are affected by different policies and put in place measures which can prevent adverse impacts and promote equality and to monitor outcomes.

3. Changes within the police force have, perhaps, been the most striking. Macpherson found a service which was overwhelmingly white, lacking in cultural awareness and sensitivity, and did not take racist incidents seriously. To raise awareness of the issues and ensure the police are properly serving minority communities, Government set targets for representation, recruitment and progression for minority ethnic officers, changing the way that police officers are trained, how racist incidents are defined and making the recording of Stop and Search more transparent. As a result, the number of police officers from minority ethnic backgrounds has doubled. The number of racially motivated incidents estimated from the British Crime Survey has more than halved since 1995. There are hundreds of specialist hate crime officers working in the Met Police and detection rates for hate crime have doubled.

4. In schools, Government’s major worry was the considerable gap between pupils of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, African and Caribbean heritage and their white peers. Government required all schools to have a race equality programme, focused resources and efforts on raising attainment through projects like the Aiming High Strategy and the Black Pupils Achievement Strategy. The results are paying off, with the number of pupils of black Caribbean heritage getting five good GCSEs increasing by more than twenty percentage points. The gap between pupils of Bangladeshi heritage and their peers has been virtually eliminated. Government is now building on this, by enabling councils to set targets for different groups’ attainment.

5. In employment, ten years ago, the concern was both the disparity in employment rates – and the fact that the gap had stuck at around 19 per cent for around a decade. A review from the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit concentrated attention on the issues and led to the setting up of the Ethnic Minority Task Force. Government has championed the business case for equality, stressing the benefits and importance of a diverse workforce which reflects society. Government has also set up projects such as Ethnic Minority Outreach which helps thousands of people to prepare for work and find jobs.

6. Communities and Local Government has established a national Black role modelling programme. This was one of the recommendations made by the REACH group in their report An Independent Report to Government on Raising the Aspirations and Attainment of Black Boys and Young Black Men which can be viewed at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/reachreport. The REACH group was set up by Government in 2006 and had 22 members drawn from a variety of sectors, including the voluntary and community sector, education academia and law enforcement.

7. Communities and Local Government will also hold two feedback conferences in the early Spring 2010 to update people who fed into the consultation on how we have responded.

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John Denham said:
“We must redouble our efforts to promote greater equality for all. And combine that with efforts to target the specific problems faced by particular communities such as tackling social exclusion, child poverty, poor housing and raising standards in schools. This is not a job for one public service, or one government department, but for us all.”

http://www.communities.gov.uk/speeches/corporate/tucstephenlawrence

For more on the speech see Communities and Local Government website: