Equality and Diversity

The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act is the most significant piece of legislation to be introduced for many years. It is there to strengthen protection, advance equality and simplify the law. Some of the main provisions that relate to local government are:

• the introduction of new strategic socio-economic duty to reduce socio-economic inequalities
• a new public equality duty that will extend the public duties to age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and transgender status
• clarification that procurement can be used to drive equality
• extending age discrimination rules to include goods, facilities and services

Equality and Diversity in the Workplace
Treating people equally is essential to being an effective and productive organisation. Through fair and open employment practices and providing opportunity to all society groups, councils aim to develop a workforce that is representative of their local communities.

Equality legislation has identified six ‘strands' or areas of inequality that should be tackled; age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

The Equalities Framework for Local Government is an effective means of reviewing progress against the broader equality outcomes.

The North West Women and Work Task Force
The North West Women and Work Task Force was set up by the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and 4 North West (4NW) to investigate the barriers to women achieving higher levels of leadership positions across all sectors in the North West of England. Liz McQue, North West Employers' Chief Executive sat on the Task Force. Over a six month period the Task Force set out to understand the current position; to examine the economic case for greater diversity at senior leadership levels and to identify practical recommendations for change. The case for strong and diverse leadership teams report highlights the evdience found.

What's new for Employers'
Using the equality duties to make fair financial decisions, the related documents are guides setting out the principles of what is expected of key decision makers responsible for key services.

Contact Keith Power, 0161 214 7128.