With apologies for cross posting

Dear colleagues

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Liz Sutherland and I have just
started work with the Equality Challenge Unit as their Policy Adviser on
Disability and Age, working alongside Alex Miles, the Policy Officer on
Disability and Age and other colleagues who cover race, religion and belief
and gender and sexual orientation issues.
ECU's remit is with staff but there are areas where equal opportunities work
needs to be institution-wide and the forthcoming Disability Discrimination
Bill and the duty it introduces on public bodies to promote equality for
disabled people proactively through having a Disability Equality Scheme is
one of these.
Following on from Neil (Crowther's) recent message to the list re the
consultation exercise Delivering Equality for Disabled People ECU has
produced a brief Update on that exercise and has sent it today to all heads
of institution, human resource directors and equal opportunities officers.
You can find the Update on our web site at http://www.ecu.ac.uk/updates/
We do hope that this Update and the fuller briefing which we are planning
for later on this month/early September will encourage HEIs to recognise the
significance of this new duty and the importance of this consultation
exercise.
Its good to be back working with the HE sector as a whole. (Some of you will
know that I worked with the first national disability team and have since
worked with the University of Edinburgh and the Open University in Scotland
as disability adviser).Looking forward to being in touch with you all on
regular basis either through this list or through other lists or through our
web site.
Best wishes
Liz Sutherland
ECU works in partnership with universities and colleges of higher education,
unions, and agencies across the country. We are owned by the sector. Our
sponsors are HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England), SHEFC
(Scottish Higher Education Funding Council), ELWa/HEFCW (Higher Education
Funding Council for Wales), DELNI (Department for Employment and Learning
Northern Ireland), Universities UK and SCOP (Standing Conference of
Principals). The ECU's remit is staff in higher education, but we recognise
that often equal opportunities are indivisible.


Liz Sutherland, Policy Adviser (Disability and Age), Equality Challenge Unit
Direct tel +44 (0)20 7520 7081 Email [log in to unmask]

Office: 3rd Floor, 4 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RA
Switchboard tel +44 (0)20 7520 7060 Fax +44 (0)20 7520 7069
Web www.ecu.ac.uk Email [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>



Liz Sutherland, Policy Adviser (Disability and Age), Equality Challenge Unit
Direct tel +44 (0)20 7520 7081 Email [log in to unmask]

Office: 3rd Floor, 4 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RA
Switchboard tel +44 (0)20 7520 7060 Fax +44 (0)20 7520 7069
Web www.ecu.ac.uk Email [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>

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The Equality Challenge Unit promotes diversity and equality of opportunity for all who work or seek to work in higher education. We are sponsored by the representative bodies (SCOP and Universities UK) and the four UK HE funding bodies.

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