According to the Office for National Statistics, the estimated resident population by ethnic group in 2006 was predicted around 8 million and the population of the UK is ageing. Over the last 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and over increased from 15 per cent in 1984 to 16 per cent in 2009, an increase of 1.7 million people. By 2034, 23 per cent of the population is projected to be aged 65 and over compared to 18 per cent aged under 16. In mid-2007 there were 31.0 million women compared with 29.9 million men in the UK population. At all ages above 31, women outnumbered men. A higher mortality rate of men over women from 60 onwards showed that in 2007 there were almost three times as many women as men aged 90 or over.
The 2001 census showed Buddhist, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Judaism being also practiced in the UK. According to the Family Resources Survey 2002/3, about 10 million adults in Britain are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act. There are over 6.9 million disabled people who are of working age (Labour force survey June 2006). Finally the Government is using the figure of 5-7% of the population for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, which Stonewall feels is a reasonable estimate.
The aforementioned data demonstrates that equality groups are clearly not invisible and have a wide representation in society as consumers, service users and employees etc. Equality legislation has been introduced to ensure protection of these users of public services and the Public Duty under the Equality Bill will continue this. However what does this really mean for these prescribed equality groups? Public organisations all have some where in their promotional material or websites reference to a ‘real commitment to equality and diversity’ and or an equality and diversity policy to promote the same as well as schemes and processes in place.
So why is Equality still not seen as a main driver in performance and delivery. Issues such as:
- lack of resources to consult and engage properly;
- lack of equality data and
- when (if at all) to impact assess
continuously arise as problematic. The underlying fact is that Equality is still seen as an ‘add on’ and despite efforts by organisations to mainstream, it is still seen as a bureaucratic and time-consuming process which most people do not really see the benefit of. Until organisations start seeing Equalities as a real business objective rather than a cumbersome issue, nothing will really change.
Also a lack of money and budget constraints should not take away a legal obligation by organisations to show how their policies and functions take equality into consideration. This has been clearly demonstrated in the recent Fawcett case against the Government where the Society’s solicitor has indicated
“………………Firstly, an equality impact assessment must be conducted before policy decisions are taken.
“Secondly, where an assessment reveals a risk of discrimination, urgent action must be taken to address those risks. Clearly, if the equality impact is not even assessed as a starting point, a public authority cannot start to consider what steps to take to mitigate any inequality.”
Compliance is only part of the solution, what is needed is a radical and innovative approach which needs to be demonstrated by those in senior positions to show that real equality objectives do matter and are part of everyday performance. Huge cuts should not mean that equalities should suffer, what is needed is for equalities to be include in an organisation’s thinking when they are looking to pool resources and work more innovatively. Some of the things to address are:
- Public organisations pooling resources together in geographical areas to invest in setting up a central database to capture the relevant equality data which then can be accessed by a range of organisations to conduct relevant equality projects.
- Organisations when working in partnership should have a consistent approach to Equality Impact Assessments in order that data and actions captured can be stored centrally and shared accordingly.
- Develop a local information and knowledge bank around good practice and case studies around equality and diversity.
- Set up a local performance equalities task group with representation from senior management to discuss and work towards equality objectives as recognised in that area.
- Much of the equality data and information is already in your area, all that is needed is for this knowledge to be researched and captured – this will involve outreach work with third sector organisations and providers.
If your organisation is committed to ensuring that equality groups receive a fair and equitable service, then now is the time to ensure that ‘Equality’ is under a main heading on your agenda and does not fall into the category of ‘any other business’.
