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ADMIN-EO  July 2008

ADMIN-EO July 2008

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Subject:

Re: The Equality Bill - Impact on Higher Education CRM:0013425

From:

Angie Cousins <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

HE Administrators equal opportunities list <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:13:28 +0100

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (277 lines)

We are just putting together our SES and hope to be finished by end of
this month.  I have been working with an excellent consultant and if
anyone wants further details please contact me at the details below.

One of the main drivers to put together our SES is to try and streamline
all the action plans and make them more meaningful for our institution.
This has also had a positive effect when implementing our EQIA's and it
lessens the paperwork!!!

 


Angie

Angie Cousins
HR Manager, Equality & Diversity  
University of Surrey Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, 
UK Tel: +44 (0)1483 689189 
[log in to unmask] 
http://portal.surrey.ac.uk/humanresources/structure/equal



-----Original Message-----
From: HE Administrators equal opportunities list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Caroline Old
Sent: 01 July 2008 13:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Equality Bill - Impact on Higher Education CRM:0013425

We are implementing our SES prior to the deadline for the due date of
the next DES. I will be following the ECU guidelines and recommendations
regarding the bill. Anything that comes in that we haven't included I
will add as a supplement.

Caroline Old
Equalities Officer
Southampton Solent University
East Park Terrace
Southampton
SO14 0YN
Tel: 02380 319631
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

Please note that my usual office hours are 08:15-17:15 Monday- Thursday.



Deborah Viney <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: HE Administrators equal opportunities list
<[log in to unmask]>
01/07/2008 13:06
Please respond to
HE Administrators equal opportunities list <[log in to unmask]>


To
[log in to unmask]
cc

Subject
Re: The Equality Bill - Impact on Higher Education CRM:0013425






The timeframe is that this will go into the Queen?s speech in November,
which means Parliament will consider the bill in the next session and IF
it is passed, it would be implemented some time after that.  However if
the govt. decides to call an early general election, then it might get
lost altogether and never be considered during the life of this
parliament.  And of course if Labour lose the next General Election
before the bill is passed, then the bill will die and never become law.
My guess is that the earliest it could be implemented, even if
everything goes to 
plan, is sometime in 2010.   That means we would be due to produce our
new 
Disability Equality Schemes, and possibly Gender Schemes too, before the
new Act came in (if it comes in) regards, Deb
 
Deb Viney
Diversity Advisor, SOAS
Email [log in to unmask]
Tel 0207 898 4957

From: HE Administrators equal opportunities list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Fehmeeda Riaz
Sent: 01 July 2008 11:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Equality Bill - Impact on Higher Education CRM:0013425
 
Dear All,
 
I found this briefing from the Equality Challenge Unit very helpful
indeed so many thanks to the ECU for producing such a concise and
helpful document.  I have a couple of questions that I hope colleagues
will be able to help me with.  Firstly, do we know when this new
legislation is likely to come into effect.
 
Currently, we have comprehensive and dedicated Race, Gender and
Disability Equality Schemes which are underpinned by a Diversity and
Dignity at Work & Study Policy which covers all strands of equality and
diversity and lays out the procedures for dealing with bullying and
harassment.  We also have an Equal Pay Policy and cary out Equal Pay
Audits every two years.  We have done alot of work on religion and
belief and promoting good relations between people of different faiths
and backgrounds and have a very comprehensive religion and belief
policy. I feel fairly confident that we are well equipped to meet the
challenges of the new Equality Bill does it mean that most institutions
will have to work towards a single Equality Scheme?
 
Also, there has been alot of negative press about the Postive Action
aspects and how this would apply in practice.
 
Any thoughts would be most welcome!
 
Best wishes

Fehmeeda
 
Fehmeeda Riaz
University of Westminster
HR Manager - Equality & Diversity
HR Department, 5th Floor, Copland Building
115 New Cavendish Street
London, W1W 6UW
Tel: 020-7911-5776 
 
 

From: Equality Challenge Unit [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 30 June 2008 16:42
To: Fehmeeda Riaz
Subject: The Equality Bill - Impact on Higher Education CRM:0013425

Equality Challenge Unit Briefing
The Equality Bill ? Impact on Higher Education On the 26 June 2008
Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, made a statement in the
House of Commons setting out the main themes of the Equality Bill which
will be announced in the Queen?s speech in November and is due for
publication in Spring 2009. While the Commons statement may not have
contained much fine detail, it did make certain priorities clear. 

An Equality Duty
The document confirms that a new ?Equality Duty? on public bodies will
replace the current race, disability and gender duties. The new
streamlined duty will cover not only those three areas, but also gender
reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion and belief. The
Government will be discussing with relevant organisations how the new
duty will work in practice, especially in relation to religion and
belief. 
What this is likely to mean for higher education institutions is that
they will need to take proactive steps to eliminate any unlawful
discrimination against both staff and students on the new grounds, and
probably also take steps to promote good relations for those groups and
also between the groups. This would not require institutions to
arbitrate between the different interests of ? for example ? certain
fundamentalist religious groups and gay and lesbian staff and students.
But it might provide a clearer and more transparent framework in which
consensus could be sought. 

In many respects, the higher education sector is well-positioned for the
new duty. It is already unlawful for institutions to discriminate
against not just staff but also students, so the impact on the sector
may be less than for other sectors where the law has only to date
extended to staff issues. Further, many institutions are already
actively engaged in ensuring that their institutions attract and engage
with students of all ages and that students from different religious
backgrounds are supported. 
A duty to promote good relations between the groups is already something
that is integral to many institutions? approaches to promoting good
campus relations. 
But where the duty is likely to have impact is in terms of requiring a
more systematic and evidence based approach to all the equality areas. 
Engaging with issues such as the impact of religion or sexual
orientation on campus will no longer be optional or just a question of
?good practice?, but will require a more strategic and systematic
approach.
Working with a range of higher education institutions, Equality
Challenge Unit has already anticipated the extension of the public
sector duties to all the equality areas:
*        The UUK/GuildHE/ECU publication Promoting Good Campus
Relations, 
2007 sets out advice and guidance, with many case studies from existing
practice within institutions, of the promotion of good relations across
all equality areas. This publication was extended in 2008 to focus
specifically on issues of religion and belief;
*        The Unit has recently commissioned the University of Leeds to 
carry out research into what the barriers are, if any, faced by gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender staff and students in higher education
which will assist institutions in determining what the priorities might
be in terms of complying with the duty in relation to issues of sexual
orientation (anticipated publication date January 2009);
*        Trans Staff and Students in Higher Education published in 2008 
describes the steps that institutions might choose to take to support
members of staff or students who have decided to change their gender,
again illustrated with extensive case studies of inclusive practice from
the sector.
*        General Guidance Note on Age and Student Issues, 2006, contains

advice and case studies of a range of good practice in relation to age
issues on campus.
Positive Action
The Bill will look to extend the scope of ?Positive Action? to allow
institutions to take under-representation into account when selecting
between two equally qualified candidates in the area of staff
recruitment. 
This provision will be optional, not mandatory. It is likely to prove
one of the most controversial elements of the new Bill. This power is
already in use elsewhere in Europe, and for example in Scandinavian
universities it is now common to see advertisements which state that
?priority will be given to a person of an underrepresented sex (in this
case women), when applicants are otherwise equal.? The difficulty is
that in practice it is unusual for applicant to be ?equal? and it
remains to be seen how and in what ways higher education institutions
might choose to use the new powers. 
It is disappointing that the Statement does not suggest that the
positive action provision should extend to students. This is an area
where institutions have expressed a need to have more freedom in
treating different groups of students differently to enable them to
compensate for past disadvantage, for example by offering student
bursaries to underrepresented Black and Minority Ethnic applicants.
Equality Challenge Unit has previously raised this issue with Government
in their response to the Government?s original consultation (available
on the ECU website), and will continue to make this point prior to the
Bill being published. 
Pay Audits
A great deal of joint work relating to equal pay has already been
conducted, with employers and unions working together across the sector
to achieve equal pay practices. Pay already forms an integral part of
the Framework Agreement process, and for many institutions data on the
pay gap is already in the public domain. Institutions will be expected
to conduct equal pay job evaluation audits and publish the percentage
difference in the average pay of men and women. It remains to be seen
whether the percentage difference that is required to be published will
include all pay, including market supplements, ex gratia payment and
bonuses, and merit pay. 
Procurement
The Bill will also be placing a duty on some private companies in
relation to procurement, and will look to private companies working with
institutions to produce audits showing the extent of their gender pay
gap, as well as the proportions of their staff that come from ethnic
minorities or who are disabled. This information may then impact on the
institutions? 
engagement with the private provider, and feed into their approach to
the new equality duty. 
Next steps
A more comprehensive paper on the content of the Bill, and the
Government?s response to the consultation, Discrimination Law Review; A
Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great
Britain? will be published by the Government Equality Office shortly.
This will offer more clarity on details for implementation of the Bill
and the time allowed for institutions to review their practices.
Equality Challenge Unit will continue to work with higher education
institutions to clarify the implications of the Bill for the sector and
will be feeding into government consultations on developing the specific
duties underpinning the Bill. 
The Unit has launched an Equality Bill homepage containing information
on developments of the Bill and their relevance to the Higher Education
Sector.
About the Equality Challenge Unit
Equality Challenge Unit supports the higher education sector in its
mission to realise the potential of all staff and students whatever
their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief,
or age, to the benefit of those individuals, higher educations
institutions and society For further information and advice on equality
and diversity in higher education
T: +44 (0) 20 7438 1010
E: [log in to unmask]
www.ecu.ac.uk

The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by
guarantee. Registration number: 977818 England. Registered Office: 309
Regent Street, London W1B 2UW.

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