Dear Virginia,

Just a reminder that when you revisit your Grievance and Complaints
procedures, please make sure of the following, by all means look at and
adopt and adapt other institutional procedures but bear in mind that:

1.  The Race Relations Act 1976 was amended after Macpherson because of his
and the CRE's finding that institutions were mostly not handling issues or
complaints raised by black and minority groups, in the same effective way
and manner that they were handling complaints from the ethnic majority
groups. This is why the Government then proceeded to amend Section 71 of the
76 Act, which deals with employment and service provision practice, by
giving it statutory Specific Duties, in order to ensure that all the named
public bodies, HEIs included, would function to mainstream anti-racist
practices throughout the institution. How complaints are addressed will be a
transparent way of telling how effectively the institution is implementing
its race equality policy and action plan, or whatever other equality area
policy that is being implemented.

2.  Complaints procedures for race will therefore need to have the
meaningful input and buy-in from both student and staff groups who are
likely to need to use the procedures now or in the future. This is crucial,
if your policy and action plan are to work to address all the race issues
that might need to be raised and dealt with, through an effective procedure.
The communication and consultation procedures that you use will need to
meaningfully access all groups but specifically the black and minority
racial groups of all staff and all student backgrounds. Traditionally and
ironically, these are groups who, despite their need to have effective
anti-racist complaints procedures, have been marginalised and/or excluded
from how those procedures are put together, which is why those processes
have been ineffective and have led institutions to be accused of
institutional racism albeit unwitting. If we are to change this, as the RRAA
is expecting us to evidentially do, then how we as institutions, find out
what the real issues are and therefore how we should address them, will need
to change also. Otherwise we end up in the same position prior Macpherson,
where institutions will still function on a prescriptive basis as far as
black and minority staff and students' issues and needs are concerned, and
run the risk of being unwittingly discriminatory.

3.  Any anti-racist complaints procedures that we adopt will also need to at
least, acknowledge and implement what the Statutory Code of Practice and
Macpherson recommend as the best way of tackling racist incidents and
consequently, institutional racism. Otherwise if our complaints procedures
are not effective then our whole intention of implementing a Race Equality
Policy and Action Plan will fail and we could be challenged for unlawful
institutional racial discrimination.

I would very much advise colleagues to refer to the advice already given as
in the attached information, because needless to say, the HEFCE Race
Equality and Action Plan Policy analysis will be looking for effective,
communicated and consulted on anti-racist complaints procedures.

As usual, do come back, if you need to, on any issues that this may raise.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Regards


Mannie Kusemamuriwo
Policy Adviser: Ethnicity & Cultural Diversity
Equality Challenge Unit
3rd Floor, 4 Tavistock Place
London  WC1H 9RA

Tel 020 7520 7063
Fax 020 7520 7069
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-----Original Message-----
From: Virginia Wainwright [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 October 2002 17:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Student grievance/complaints procedures


We will be reviewing/revising our complaints/grievance procedures, as
they have a high priority in relation to anti-discrimination measures.
Does anyone have any models of good practice in student (model ones for
staff are easier to find) complaints/grievance procedures that they
could share?

Regards,

Virginia

----------------------
Virginia M Wainwright
Director of Equality and Diversity
King's College London
James Clerk Maxwell Building
57 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8WA
020 7848 3399
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