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Hackney Unites is a community coalition for social justice.

We are looking for an academic partner institution to work with us on a
project which looks at the Public Sector Equality Duty (section 149 Equality
Act 2010).

We believe that the legislation can provide a useful mechanism by which
local communities experiencing disadvantage can seek to influence public
sector providers in the way they deliver services. However, we also believe
that the legislation which has been around for nearly 15 years (with its
origin in the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000) has not been effectively
utilised and its potential has not been realised.

We are looking for an academic partner to undertake research to provide an
evidence base for local community organisations to use to effect change in
the policies of public sector organisations covered by the duty (including
police and criminal justice service, the NHS, local Council, housing
providers etc).

Hackney Unites will be using any information to engage with local public
sector bodies with a view to developing more effective action plans to
address structural inequality.

What we need initially is a survey of the current policies of all bodies
covered by the duty who have a responsibility in Hackney. We are interested
in the quality of these policies and the efficacy of any action plans. We
are also interested in the extent to which where communities are facing
multiple disadvantage, is there any evidence of cross agency working to meet
the obligations of the duty. Finally, we are interested in developing
evidence based arguments for higher quality action plans (i.e. plans that
have the ability to deliver real change in outputs for disadvantaged groups)
and cross sector working.

In the initial stages this may involve a research assistant undertaking some
data gathering, it could also provide an area of research for postgraduate
study. In the longer term we would hope to find a partner willing to make an
application to a relevant research funder with a view to a serious
exploration of the potential for community organisations to utilise the duty
to effect positive change in the lived experiences of their communities. The
initial focus will be on ethnicity, but as we develop capacity we would
expect the project to encompass further equality strands.

If you would like to know more, and have access to resources, then please
contact John Page: [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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Professor Jane Holgate
Professor of Work and Employment Relations

Work and Employment Relations Division
Leeds University Business School
31 Lyddon Terrace (room 2.05)
University of Leeds LS2 9JT

email: [log in to unmask]
Mobile: 07960 798399

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