Dear Nick,
In response to your question:
Everyone within the UK comes under the statutory expectations of the Race
Relations Act 1976 and all institutions are responsible and liable, for what
happens to all people within that institution. The institution is therefore
fully liable under the Act, directly or indirectly, by commission or by
omission, for any racism that occurs within it.
Under the RRAA General Duty's three elements, named public institutions,
(schools and HEIs included) have certain statutory expectations, through
their Specific Duties, to ensure that they are functioning within the
requirements of the RRAA. The first of the three General Duty elements, to
which all the named public bodies need to have due regard, is " eliminate
unlawful racial discrimination "
Without quoting the other two, I would say that if the racist incident that
you allege, is investigated, as it should, and is found, then it
transgresses all three elements of the General Duty and appropriate action
needs to be taken under the Race equality Policy and anti-racist procedure
that the institution should have, under the Act.
This also illustrates very obviously, why institutions, as part of their
commitment to turning their worthy policy words into meaningful action, need
to:
Adopt the McPherson definition of both Institutional Racism and a Racist
Incident and make sure that they have in their Action/Implementation Plans,
procedures, processes and mechanisms that take account of what must be done,
when and by whom, when the McPherson definitions are applied to the relevant
functions of the institution.
Institutional roles and responsibilities must be clearly spelt out and
defined, in the institutions' anti-racist procedures, in order to enable
those who are responsible to deal effectively with reported racist incidents
while encouraging those who might feel there is an incident to report, to
feel confident enough to come forward, knowing that issues will be dealt
with in an appropriate manner. This was the main reason why the Act was
amended in the first place and institutions will need to do at least this
bare minimum, in order to begin to formulate the employment and service
provision practices that the RRAA template will enable us to implement.
Schools, like HEIs have now got a positive duty that the RRAA places on them
to deal with all forms of unlawful racial discrimination that anyone within
the institution might suffer. It is also their legal responsibility to make
sure that everything possible is being done to ensure that the institution
is discharging of its responsibilities under the act. Definition,
communication, consultation, monitoring, assessment and review based on
these statutory responsibilities are also part of the liability that is on
all institutions.
I might also add that the RRAA also places a responsibility on all
institutions to ensure that in all their procured partnership functions,
they are liable to ensure that any partner institution is functioning as
appropriately as it should, under the Act's statutory requirements. Failure
on the part of the partner institution will bring liability to bear on the
procuring institution.
In the case you are referring to Nick, if your colleague is from Exeter
university, then it is your institution's statutory responsibility to ensure
that the school in question does the right thing by adequately investigating
this particular incident and come up with relatively appropriate findings
that can then be satisfactorily actioned to adequately support the victim
(both present and potential) while effectively dealing with the perpetrator,
if the incident occurred. In this way, both institutions will be seen to
implement their commitment to the General Duty requirements, in working
towards best practice for all.
I hope this answers your query but more importantly links to both the letter
and the spirit of the RRAA, in order to ensure that institutions are doing
what the aim of the Inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence was all
about, i.e. to make sure that all our institutions are doing their best for
all those who they employ and serve, regardless of their backgrounds.
Any comments, suggestions, queries and any other issues arising, are most
welcome.
Regards
Mannie
Mannie Kusemamuriwo
Policy Adviser: Ethnicity & Cultural Diversity
Equality Challenge Unit
3rd Floor, 4 Tavistock Place
London WC1H 9RA
Tel 020 7520 7060
Fax 020 7520 7069
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Givens [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 09 May 2002 10:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: reporting racial incidents
Hi,
A colleague has been subjected to verbal racial abuse whle visiting a local
school.
I know that schools are obliged (or at least strongly advised) to report
racial incidents in which the target is a pupil. I think this grew out of a
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry recommendation, but I am not sure about the legal
basis. As an example, Devon LEA has an on-line form for this reporting
(http://www.devon.gov.uk/dcs/a/anti-racism/ in case you are interested).
Staff from University schools of Education do a great deal of partnership
work on school premises. Do any of you know whether schools are obliged to
report racial incidents that were directed at ADULTS (e.g as pertinent to
us, adults visiting a school in a professional capacity)?
Nick Givens
Lecturer in Education,
School of Education,
University of Exeter,
Heavitree Road,
Exeter,
EX1 2LU,
England.
tel (44) 1392 264869
fax (44) 1392 264792
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