Equality Strategy 2009 – 2012
Our Plan for Equality and Diversity in
North Lanarkshire
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Contents
Page
Our Equality Strategy
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Our area and people
5
Our commitment to equalities
 Our mission and vision
 Human rights, values and social inclusion
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8
Driving forward the equality agenda
 Our corporate approach
 Partnerships
 Assessing the impact of our core business
 Consulting and Involving our stakeholders
 Gathering information
 Procuring goods and services
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12
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Meeting our public duties
 Our legal obligations
 A focus on key themes to deliver our
outcomes
- involvement and consultation
- promoting positive attitudes
- access and opportunities
- employment
- information and communication
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19
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24
Glossary of terms
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Supporting documents
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Appendices
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Our equality strategy
North Lanarkshire Council is committed to equalities and in response to
legislation has developed separate equality schemes for race, disability and
gender. Legislation has given us duties to eliminate discrimination and
harassment and to promote equality and good relations in everything we do.
The development of our three schemes has provided us with an excellent
platform to develop our equalities agenda. However, as a council we need to
ensure that equality issues and actions are mainstreamed and that they do
not sit on the periphery of our core business.
When we published our Disability Equality Scheme in 2006 we stated then
our intention to move towards a single equality scheme within 3 years and
this strategy has been developed in accordance with that. We also anticipate
the Equality Bill currently going through parliament becoming law in the near
future. At this point this strategy will be revisited to ensure it captures the
terms and spirit of the new legislation.
This strategy sets out what we are currently doing and planning to do over the
next three years to meet our general and specific equality duties and to
achieve our aims for mainstreaming equality and diversity.
We have identified five key themes with outcomes that relate to each theme
that are central to what we want to achieve over the next 3 years as we
continue to develop an approach to equalities. Our themes are:
Theme 1
Outcome
involvement and consultation
Improved opportunities for people to shape the
services they use
Theme 2
Outcomes
promoting positive attitudes
Improved awareness of equality issues for
employees
Increased awareness raising of equality issues in
wider population
Theme 3
Outcomes
access and opportunity
Improved accessibility to council buildings and
public spaces
Improved opportunities for people to access
services and participate in community life
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Theme 4
Outcomes
employment
Improved access to employment opportunities
Improved sustainability of employment
opportunities
Theme 5
Outcome
information and communication
Increased provision of accessible and inclusive
council information and communication
The identified outcomes support our vision to make equality a regular part of
the mainstream policy process by ensuring that equality issues are integrated
into the services we deliver to the public and our employees. These
outcomes are complemented by corporate and service actions that allow us
not only to fulfil our legal duties but to make sure that the council takes
ownership of the delivery of the outcomes in this plan.
The council wants to go beyond the statutory duties that are placed on us to
make our policies and practice fully inclusive, eliminate discrimination, and
promote equality by embracing diversity in all its aspects. With this in mind
we have developed a number of actions which will help us make strides in
tackling other equality issues such as age, religion or belief or non-belief,
sexual orientation, nationality, culture, marital status, health, poverty and
employment.
This strategy will influence and inform the way we deliver services, develop
policies, treat our employees and customers and how we develop and work in
partnership with other service providers. It will place equality and diversity at
the heart of what we do so that we develop systems in which all can benefit
and will embrace our organisational values of respect, commitment, pride in
the job and being a listening and learning organisation.
Signed
Chief Executive
Signed
Leader
‘ Equality is a central pillar of all Trade Union work, and the
Joint Trade Union’s would support and endorse this policy and
anything that promotes Equality and Diversity and makes a
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stance against discrimination in all it’s forms.’
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Our area and people
Based in the heart of Scotland, North Lanarkshire currently has a population
of around 325,000 and is one of the largest local authorities in Scotland. Two
thirds of our residents live in the main towns of Airdrie, Bellshill, Coatbridge,
Motherwell, Wishaw and Cumbernauld.
Compared with the rest of Scotland, our population is younger and has lower
numbers of older people. However, like many other areas in Scotland our
population is living longer and becoming more diverse. The end of our
traditional industries - coal-mining and steel - left their mark, and in the past
our area and our people have suffered from large-scale disadvantage and
deprivation. Today however, our area is undergoing rapid transformation and
regeneration. With our partners we are improving the quality of life, prospects
and opportunities for our residents.
The health and wellbeing of our residents is improving with people living
longer and opting for healthier lifestyles. The regeneration of the former
Ravenscraig steelworks over the next twenty years will revitalise our area
even further, with the creation of a vibrant new community providing housing,
employment, retail and major sporting and leisure facilities.
Although the current economic climate is undoubtedly posing many
challenges for our economy, in recent years we have seen a period of
business expansion and significant increases in the number of people in
employment. Our town centres and physical environment are being
revitalised and more people are choosing to live in North Lanarkshire. We
welcome the trend of migrant workers into the area.
Some facts about living in North Lanarkshire drawn from the 2001 census
and other sources:
Population 2001: Males 154,000 Females 167,100
Total Households 132,620 this includes households with children 39,260
(30%).
Single Householders 39,170 (30%).
Minority ethnic and migrant population
In the 2001 census, 95% of our resident population was born in Scotland, the
highest ratio of all Scotland’s councils. Only 1.3% of our population is from a
non-white ethnic background. Our Pakistani community is the largest non6
white group (0.5% of our population) followed by the Chinese and Indian
communities (each 0.2% of our population) and with the
expansion of the European Union we also now have a recognised Eastern
European population.
Between 2004 and 2008, 2475 people registered as migrant workers from A8
countries. Of these, 85% were Polish, 4% Hungarian, Czechs and
Lithuanians accounted for 3% each, 2% were Slovakian and the remaining
3% were from other A8 countries.
Working patterns for men and women
Our workforce in North Lanarkshire is 55% male and 47% female. 76.2% of
North Lanarkshire’s working-age population is economically active. 71% of
working-age people are currently employed. 5.4% of the working age
population are claiming unemployment benefit (Job Seekers Allowance). In
total, however, 22.3% of the working age population are currently claiming
some form of out of work benefit, which includes Incapacity Benefit,
Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support. This rate is
affected significantly by the high proportion of working age people on
incapacity benefit and Employment and Support Allowance – 11.4%
compared to 9% nationally in mid-2008.
The current economic recession has had a significant impact on North
Lanarkshire’s labour market with many individuals being made redundant.
The impact on the economy is severe with a high number of businesses
going into administration. Nevertheless, the North Lanarkshire economy is
forecast to come out of the economic downturn more strongly than other
areas of Scotland. This is mainly due to the structure of the North
Lanarkshire economy having a large finance & business services and
construction sector.
Disability
The lives of over 125, 000 people in North Lanarkshire are affected by longterm conditions (or chronic diseases).
Of these 8.2% claim disability living allowance (DLA) compared to a national
average of 6.2%. 14,555 people are visually impaired, including 3002 that are
registered blind or partially sighted. Of the 18,617 people who are deaf,
deafened, hard of hearing or deafblind around 200 use British Sign Language
(BSL) as their first or preferred language.
Approximately 1175 people have learning disabilities.
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Our commitment to equalities
Our mission and vision
Our Council mission is to put 'Service and People First' to maximise the
benefits of North Lanarkshire's location creating prosperity, achieving social
justice and meeting local needs by providing best value quality services.
Our Corporate Plan 2008 - 2012 outlines the challenges ahead in providing
best value, continuous improvement, promoting inclusion and equal
opportunities and involving our citizens in the development of our services.
The vision and values outlined in our corporate plan demonstrate our
commitment to build on the foundations of our past success and to meet our
public duties around equalities. We will:  Serve and involve our communities;
 Plan ahead and lead the way in working with our partners;
 Promote equal opportunities and social inclusion;
 Make the most of opportunities for economic and environmental
improvements;
 Provide best value services;
 Work to the highest standards, and be open and accountable;
 Value people, treat them with dignity, respect, and meet their needs;
and
 Be forward thinking and aim to be the best in all we do
We have adopted the social model of disability and use this to inform our
work to promote equal opportunities and to tackle discrimination.
The Scottish Accessible Information Forum states that “through the social
model, disability is understood as an unequal relationship within a society in
which the needs of people with impairments are often given little or no
consideration. People with impairments are disabled by the fact that they are
excluded from participation within the mainstream of society as a result of
physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers. These barriers prevent them
from gaining equal access to information, education, employment, public
transport, housing and social/recreational opportunities”.
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We believe that some of these same barriers cut across other equality issues.
We intend to carry on using this model to bring our processes for tackling the
other equality issues for race and gender to the same standards as we have
for disability. More information on the Social Model of Disability is contained
within appendix 2
We are committed to delivering services that fit the needs of our communities.
We will continue to work towards making equality a regular part of the policy
process by ensuring that equality issues are integrated into the services we
deliver to the public and in relation to our responsibilities as an employer of a
diverse workforce.
Human rights, values and social inclusion
As well as our commitment to ensuring equality in all we do, the council also
respects and recognises the duties we have in relation to human rights,
promoting our organisational values and promoting inclusion.
As a local authority we have an obligation to act in accordance with the
European Convention of Human Rights. This means we will promote human
rights and take them into account in our day to day work.
When it comes to decision making the rights of one person often have to be
balanced against the rights of others or the needs of the wider community.
We will ensure that we are complying with the human rights convention by
including core human rights values, such as equality, dignity, privacy, respect
and involvement when a service is being delivered directly to the public or a
new plan or procedure is being developed.
Our organisational values of respect, commitment, pride in the job and being
a listening and learning organisation place a responsibility on the council to
value our customers and employees and treat them fairly, with respect and
dignity.
In addition our workplaces must be free from bullying and
harassment or victimisation and be a place where employees are valued for
their skills and abilities.
We will support the Scottish Government’s drive to reduce inequalities.
Inequalities are evident in a number of areas across North Lanarkshire and
this strategy will help us make concentrated efforts to target those suffering
from exclusion.
The Council recognises that poverty is about much more than low income.
The factors that generate poverty are wide-ranging and include many aspects
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of day-to-day life such as health, housing, educational attainment,
employability and access to services. Poverty, income inequality and
deprivation play major roles in stopping people achieving their full potential.
This has an impact on their ability to be included in activities that contribute to
developing North Lanarkshire’s economy and being included in society in
general.
We will promote inclusion and work towards reducing inequalities between
the most disadvantaged groups and communities and the rest of society. We
will continually work to improve equal opportunities for all our communities in
North Lanarkshire. One size does not fit all. We have different needs because
of differences in our ability, race, gender, age, religion or belief or non-belief,
nationality, culture, sexual orientation, marital status, health, poverty and
employment. We are committed to delivering services that fit the needs of
our communities and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to be included.
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Driving forward the equality agenda
Our corporate approach
The commitment to mainstream equalities within the council is set out in
North Lanarkshire’s Corporate Plan 2008-2012 and this will be driven under
the Corporate Plan theme of Developing the Organisation. The Corporate
Management Team is responsible for delivering the outcomes for Developing
the Organisation. In order to deliver our commitment to equality the council
put in place a Corporate Equalities Working Group (CEWG). Membership of
the group consists of key officers from each council service and there is
representation from the Employee Disability Forum and the Black and
Minority Ethnic Employee Forum.
The Corporate Equalities Working Group has a responsibility to:
 ensure that services undertake impact assessment procedures in line
with the public duties on equalities;
 create and maintain liaison opportunities with partner agencies and
explore opportunities for joint initiatives;
 ensure effective involvement and consultation arrangements internally
and externally;
 ensure effective monitoring procedures are in place to include
interpretation and translation; training and workforce and customer
profiles;
 develop the awareness and competencies of employees and elected
members around responsibilities under equalities legislation;
 prepare and publish appropriate information, reports, policies, and
impact assessment findings; and
 provide support and guidance to individual services
In order to progress work on particular issues, the CEWG delegates work to
sub-groups. Currently two such groups exist:The Access Sub-Group reviews various physical access issues and the
Training Sub-Group promotes training and development around equality
issues. Both sub-groups report recommendations to the Corporate Equalities
Working Group as required.
In addition we work with key groups and organisations to drive the equality
agenda forward. These include:

the Disability Equality Scheme (DES) Monitoring and Review Group
that brings together members of the CEWG and disabled people from
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community organisations thus ensuring that the council continues to
move forward the disability equality scheme, that will be replaced by
this equality strategy, in an open and accountable way. This group
reports to the community via an annual conference;
 Lanarkshire Ethnic Minority Action Group (LEMAG) has representatives
from the minority ethnic community organisations from across the whole
of Lanarkshire. As well as consulting with LEMAG on service issues as
and when required, we also have formal meetings twice yearly to
discuss the priorities of minority ethnic communities that subsequently
informs service delivery; and
 The Employee Disability Forum and the Black and Minority Ethnic
Employee Forum support the involvement of employees in the
development of corporate equalities and equality issues.
As this equality strategy encompasses all equality strands (age, disability,
gender, race, religion or belief or non-belief and sexual orientation) it is a
priority that we review our arrangements for driving the equality agenda
forward and ensure accountability for all equality strands.
Diagram 1
Developing the organisation
Corporate management team
Corporate equalities working group
Access sub-group
Training sub-group
DES Monitoring and Review
Group/LEMAG
BME employee forum
/lemag
LEMAG
and other
organisations and
individuals
Employee disability forum
Service equality groups
s
Trade union
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A key element of our approach to mainstreaming equalities into our core
business is to ensure that all our planning processes have equality actions
and indicators as part of performance management and reporting activities.
This relates to both corporate and service plans and is also reflected within
the Single Outcome Agreement we have with the Scottish Government.
Each council service will be responsible for taking forward relevant actions
through their individual service plans. The progress of these actions will be
reported to the Corporate Equalities Working Group and key stakeholder
groups on a regular basis.
Information on performance and mid-year reviews of current performance will
be used to inform the following year’s targets and improvement actions. An
annual performance report will be published detailing our progress towards
achieving the outcomes laid out in this strategy.
Partnerships
Working in partnership is at the heart of how we do our business. We
understand that to be able to achieve equality of opportunity and social justice
for the people of North Lanarkshire we cannot do this on our own and we
have striven in recent years to build strong partnerships with our people,
employees and other service providers.
The North Lanarkshire Partnership is responsible for community planning in
our area. This means engaging with people and communities, listening to
their views, experiences and needs, and planning our services to meet those
needs. Voluntary and community groups, the public sector and other
agencies are all working together to make sure that these services deliver
real benefits
The North Lanarkshire Partnership is led by a Board made up of senior
representatives from the organisations and sectors that, together, can make
Community Planning successful. These are:

the council;

North Lanarkshire's Voluntary Sector;

NHS Lanarkshire;

the Further Education Colleges;

Communities Scotland;
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
Jobcentre Plus;

Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service; and

Strathclyde Police
Partnerships with other service providers have been developed and nurtured
in a number of areas to ensure that experience is shared, services are
relevant and co-ordinated and that maximum use is made of the resources
available. Some of these partnerships have provided real positive outcomes
for our people.
North Lanarkshire Health and Care Partnership
This oversees all the partnership working between health (NHS Lanarkshire)
and social work. Its membership includes local councillors, senior officers
from NLC and NHS Lanarkshire and representatives from service users and
carers. It will oversee progress on key areas relating to the joint priorities for
community care 2009-2012.
North Lanarkshire Violence against Women Working Group
This is a multi-agency group responsible for tackling violence against women
and has successfully piloted and rolled out the first Multi Agency Risk
Assessment Conference (MARAC) for high risk victims of domestic abuse in
Scotland
Ethnic Minority Law Centre Project
This is a partnership between NLC, South Lanarkshire Council and Citizens
Advice Scotland to provide free legal and complainant services to minority
ethnic communities in Lanarkshire.
Assessing the impact of our core business
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 established a procedure to
assess the impact of a policy, function or procedure on black and minority
ethnic communities/individuals and to consider the promotion of race equality.
A similar legal duty has since been applied to Disability from 2006 and
Gender Equality from 2007. In addition it is good practice to make an
assessment across all areas of equality and diversity covered by existing or
anticipated equality/discrimination law.
Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments on all our functions, policies and
procedures is seen as the main way of ensuring that equality is
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mainstreamed within our core business. A key aspect of our approach is to
ensure that equality considerations are part of the process of forming new
policies and procedures rather than a retrospective action once a policy etc.
has been developed. Policy development training is now offered which has
assessing the impact on equalities at its heart. It also introduces a new online Equality Impact Assessment Toolkit which will automatically publish these
impact assessments on our website.
Consulting and involving our stakeholders
In our earlier equality schemes and action plans we gave a commitment to
the National Standards for Community Engagement. We set out to involve
people, not only in monitoring the development and implementation of our
equality schemes, but also to be able to influence the way services are
designed and delivered. There is no doubt that there are opportunities at a
corporate, service and community level for involvement and participation, the
challenge for us remains to ensure that they work effectively and that our
action plans help us promote and assist involvement.
In moving towards a single equality strategy we recognised that our partners
and stakeholders were concerned that there could be a dilution of focus
around race, disability and gender. We therefore embarked on an
involvement and consultation process that began in October 2008 and
continued to the end of August 2009. Our partners and stakeholders can be
defined as
 Employees
 North Lanarkshire Disability Equality Scheme Monitoring and Review
Group
 Lanarkshire Ethnic Minority Action Group
 Over 100 local and national organisations with an equality focus
 Individuals with an interest in what we do
 Trade Unions
 Elected Members
 General public
A phased approach to developing the scheme was undertaken. The first
phase entailed developing a draft framework for our strategy that included
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commitment, vision and structure and set within this were themes and high
level outcomes. This first draft was used to explore with our stakeholders that
we were heading in the right direction with our key partners and stakeholders
on board. Various methods were used to consult and involve in this first
phase including focus groups, media releases, questionnaires and
announcements on the council’s web site.
The second phase focussed on the priorities and actions needed to deliver
the outcomes agreed. We again provided a variety of opportunities for people
to be involved. Through our annual disability community conference we
provided an opportunity for those not already linked to any of our stakeholder
groups or associations to have their views and opinions heard.
Although structures for employee involvement exist through our corporate
equalities working group and our employee fora, opportunities over and
above these mechanisms were provided for employees to have their say on
the development of this strategy. The take up of these opportunities was
limited. This, therefore, remains a challenge for us to develop processes that
maximise employee consultation and involvement and this will be a priority for
us throughout the life of this strategy and beyond.
An audit of the consultation and involvement opportunities provided
throughout the development of this strategy is detailed in Appendix 3
Gathering information
We gather information to inform us not just about what should be in our
equality strategy but how we are performing as a public authority. The
council not only has many electronic systems/databases that we use to
gather information from our own customers, but we also employ a wide
variety of other methods for gathering information from customers and
employees that take account of satisfaction levels, complaints, service user
profiles etc. Examples of these are highlighted below:
Service user/customer data systems
For example, Housing and Social Work Services has a management
information database called the Social Work Information System (SWIS)
which provides detailed service user profiles and the services they receive.
Workforce profiles and surveys
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Employment data is collated and analysed on a quarterly and annual basis.
Monitoring reports are submitted annually to the Policy and Resources
(Human Resources) Sub-Committee and quarterly to the Corporate
Management Team and the employee fora.
We carry out regular staff surveys. In the most recent staff survey carried out
in 2007, less than one in ten who responded said they had any long term
illness or disability. Of those who did, around a third said this illness or
disability limited their activity a little. Just under half said that their illness or
disability did not affect their activity at all.
Evaluating complaints, comments and compliments
We have recently introduced a new system, the Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) software known as Frontline. It records complaints,
comments and compliments and can produce management information to
monitor service performance, highlight areas of service failure, gaps in
provision and feed into the processes for identifying areas for service
improvement.
Citizens panel
Approximately 2,500 North Lanarkshire residents agreed to become
members of the Citizens’ Panel and take part in a programme of consultation.
The panel is broadly representative of North Lanarkshire's population. The
two consultations which have been held so far have focussed on Transport
and most recently Community Safety and Quality of Life.
Commissioning research
Where information is not readily available we commission research to inform
areas of future action and planning of services. Previous research has
included identifying the housing and social care needs of minority ethnic
communities in Lanarkshire and those of migrant workers.
Focus groups, community and employee conferences
We regularly hold events to involve our stakeholders to determine their
priorities. The results of these events feed into service design and actions.
Procuring goods and services
It is our duty to promote equal opportunities and we have taken positive steps
to redress inequality. In turn, we expect our partners, suppliers and
contractors to respect and comply with appropriate legislation and policies.
We consider it necessary for organisations who intend to supply goods or
services on our behalf to demonstrate that reasonably practicable steps have
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been taken to allow equal access and treatment in employment and services
for all.
In relation to procurement we have ensured that our procurement policies and
practices support our corporate objectives by:
 Insisting that our appointed contractors share and help deliver our equal
opportunities and goals;
 Making sure our selection and tendering processes positively address
and include equality considerations;
 Monitoring our contracts for compliance including appropriate terms and
conditions; and
 Training staff in equality issues for procurement.
In particular contractors are asked to complete a six page equal opportunities
questionnaire which has been based on procurement guidance provided by
the former Commission for Race Equality. The analysis of this questionnaire
is part of the tendering process.
Our second procurement strategy has been approved and outlines our
priorities for 2009-2013 and shows how procurement will contribute to
achieving the aims and objectives set out in our corporate plan that includes
promoting inclusion and equal opportunities.
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Meeting our public duties
Our legal obligations
As a result of equalities legislation, we as a council and an education
authority, have public sector duties that place on us a series of legal
obligations. The duties are the race equality duty, the disability equality duty,
and the gender equality duty. They are statutory duties, meaning that they
are legally enforceable.
The duties require us as a council to pay due regard - this means that the
weight given to race, disability and gender equality needs to be in proportion
to its relevance. We will therefore prioritise action to address the most
significant areas of race, disability and gender inequality and focus our efforts
where we can have most impact.
The legislation has two main parts - general and specific duties. The general
duties require us to be proactive and to mainstream race, disability and
gender equality in all our functions. This includes:
 policy development;
 service design and delivery;
 decision-making;
 employment;
 enforcement and
 procurement.
The specific duties are the steps that we have to take to help us meet the
general duty.
Although the duties vary for race, disability and gender, all three share a
common vision. We need to ensure that all individuals are able to benefit
equally from our services, regardless of their race or gender, or whether or
not they are disabled.
Details of the three current public sector duties are outlined in Appendix 1
This equality strategy allows us to not only meet our legal obligations under
the race, disability and gender equality duties but to embrace the other
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equality strands of gender re-assignment, religion or belief or non-belief, age
and sexual orientation.
A focus on key themes to deliver our outcomes
The equality duties mean we must be proactive in challenging discrimination
and poor practice – that we are thinking strategically about equality. We are
committed to going beyond ticking boxes and will review progress to ensure
we are delivering results. To deliver positive outcomes we will further
develop actions for race, disability and gender and introduce new actions that
promote equality across all equality strands
As indicated earlier we have identified five key themes to cover the range of
work we will undertake to fulfil the duties required under legislation. They are:
 involvement and consultation
 promoting positive attitudes
 access and opportunities
 employment
 information and communication
Within each theme we have identified outcomes that we wish to achieve and
an indication of current actions being taken. These are covered in more detail
in the following sections.
Theme 1: Involvement and consultation
We are seeking to move away from using one-off consultation methods to
continue building lasting relationships with those who have an interest in
working with us around equality issues. Involving, engaging and consulting
people is not a one-off tick box exercise. We want to benefit fully from
everyone’s views, experiences and ideas in order to plan action now and in
the future.
We will be clear about the aims of any involvement or consultation and how
information will be used in the decision-making process. Where we can, we
will undertake activities to fill gaps in our knowledge or provide new insights.
We will ensure that groups and individuals interested or affected by a
particular issue will be targeted and engaged in the process and that barriers
to involvement are identified and overcome.
Outcome 2009-2012:
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 Improved opportunities for people to participate in shaping the services
they use.
Some key achievements
 Continued development of and support to North Lanarkshire Disability
Access Panel
 Involvement of disabled community stakeholders and employees in
monitoring the progress of our Disability Equality Scheme through our
Monitoring and Review Group and through the Employee Disability Forum.
 Partnership with Lanarkshire Ethnic Minority Action Group and South
Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire to provide a platform for Black
and Minority Ethnic communities to influence service delivery (including
the Black and Minority Ethnic Employee’s Forum)
 Engagement through Citizen's Panel and Annual Residents Survey
Theme 2: Promoting positive attitudes
Promoting positive attitudes towards equality and diversity is at the heart of
our values and principles. Attitudes have consequences and if unchallenged,
negative attitudes become part of everyday thinking, accepted as true even in
policymaking. We know that attitudes play a major role in creating barriers for
people. We will ensure that our policies and practices place a positive
emphasis and instil positive values on equality in all the work we do.
We know the important role our employees have in helping us change our
organisational culture and on delivering our statutory duties. We believe we
cannot achieve this without commitment from our employees. We will make
sure they understand equality and diversity issues including their collective
and individual responsibilities and how these responsibilities impact on the
delivery of services and on members of our communities.
We want our employees, including senior managers, to understand the
importance of equality issues and we will provide mainstream equality training
to ensure that they understand the importance of equal opportunities. We will
continue to encourage employees to undertake courses of training or study
and will ensure that selection for such courses are in the best interest of the
services and applied on a fair and consistent basis.
This strategy demonstrates our positive attitude towards equality for North
Lanarkshire and that we are making a commitment to rights and equality that
we can be held accountable for. By listening to our staff and residents we will
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identify where problems lie and put measures in place to change attitudes for
the better.
We will provide leadership and champions within our organisation to drive
improvement and performance in relation to equality By developing role
models for equality within our council we can encourage people to think
differently and increase positive attitudes. We will ensure diversity in its
broadest sense is being recognised, understood and considered essential to
the decision making and evaluation processes.
We aim to promote and celebrate our differences and create communities
where everyone feels included, able to contribute and live and work together.
Outcomes 2009-2012:
 Improved awareness of equality issues for employees
 Increased awareness raising of equality issues in the wider population
Some key achievements
 Training and written briefings for Elected Members around equality issues
including the provision of inclusive and accessible information and
communication
 Inclusion of equalities and diversity standards in employee’s Personal
Review and Development (PRD) process
 New corporate equality standards for publications to ensure accessible
information is provided to the public
 Representation on Corporate Equalities Working Group by Black and
Minority Ethnic Employee Forum and Employee Disability Forums
representatives
 Multi –agency training on issues around domestic abuse has seen
145
employees trained in basic awareness raising in 2008-2009
 Training sub-group set up to ensure employees have access to training
and development opportunities and to develop new training initiatives
 Employees undertaking the on-line diversity training module has increased
by 64 in 2008/09 from 149 to 213. This amounts to a 43% increase. The
module was re-launched in October 2008
Theme 3: Access and opportunities
22
We are committed to making sure that people have equal, easy and dignified
access to buildings, places, spaces, services, communication and information
delivered by the council. We want people to live full and meaningful lives with
choice and influence over where and how they live. We will ensure that in our
planning and delivery of all services we consider the needs of all people.
Buildings and services will be designed to be inclusive, safe, predictable,
convenient, flexible, adaptable, sustainable and legible and will be useable by
everybody.
We believe that ‘equality proofed services’ are quality services. We aim to
ensure that public services such as leisure, cultural, health, education,
housing, employment, tourism, recreation, transport and town centre facilities
are accessible as they can be to everyone. Our procurement strategy and
related contracts reflect equal opportunities and we will ensure all our
contractors are assessed for equality.
When barriers to access are identified we will look at ways of removing these
barriers and where we can make adjustments to increase accessibility.
Outcomes 2009-2012:
 Improved accessibility to council buildings and public spaces
 Improved opportunities for people to access services and participate in
community life
Some key achievements
 Development of the Disability Access Panel to ensure disabled people’s
experiences are considered in new design and refurbishment programmes
 Access sub group is developing improved guidance for employer
requirements for all “design and build” contracts for new buildings
 British Sign Language (BSL) on-line interpretation in two First Stop Shops
providing deaf people with access to our services
 We invested in on-line self-assessment guided software for people to find
the equipment and adaptations that best fit their needs. This was piloted in
December 2008 and complements the successful Joint Equipment Service
that deals with a high volume of demand for equipment and adaptations
 Women ‘get set go’ initiative with Sports Leaders UK to get women in the
local community more active.
23
Theme 4: Employment
As one of the largest local authorities in Scotland and the largest employer in
North Lanarkshire we need to provide a good example to other employers
and maintain best practice in employment.
We will make sure that no employee or job applicant is placed at a
disadvantage by requirements or conditions that cannot be legally justified.
We collate and publish relevant information and statistics on the comparison
of the workforce, job applications and other monitoring data. We recognise
our responsibility to provide equal employment opportunities and for ensuring
the full operation and monitoring of equality policies in relation to
employment. We are committed to working with employee fora and trades
unions to eliminate discrimination and promote equality in employment.
We will promote dignity at work for our employees. Our work culture will
regard respect for individuals as essential and we will work to increase
awareness and knowledge of 'dignity at work' issues. We will not tolerate
bullying or harassment in any form. Our Grievance and Harassment policies
may allow us to address any such issues in a fair and consistent manner and
form part of our Equality and Diversity in Employment policy.
Outcomes 2009-2012:
 Improved access to employment opportunities
 Improved sustainability of employment opportunities
Some key achievements
 Double Tick commitment for disability
 Our supported employment service, described as ‘inspirational’ by the
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, boasts a positive
reputation for delivering full-time paid work for people with learning
disabilities. It currently supports 134 people who work more than 16 hours
a week
 The council’s equal pay policy statement was approved by full council in
November 2007 and is now being implemented.
 We are currently developing Flexible Workstyles which may provide
employees with an opportunity to achieve a better work - life balance. A
flexible workstyle initiative is due to start in Environmnetal Services in
November 2009
24
 Development of the Black and Minority Ethnic and Disability Employee
Forums
 We offer 16-19 year olds the opportunity to earn money while achieving a
national qualification. Modern apprenticeships are available in a wide
range of jobs
 We revised our Special Leave Policy to include carer’s leave and career
breaks. The new and very generous provision of carer’s leave gives those
with caring responsibilities more flexibility and can be seen as a means of
retaining existing employees
Theme 5: Information and communication
Information about our services and how we communicate with people will
help to determine whether people can access our services and also the
quality of the service they then receive. We recognise that providing good
information in the right way is important in raising awareness of our services
and in helping people to use them to their maximum benefit.
We are the first Local Authority in Scotland to provide an on-line British Sign
Language (BSL) interpreting service. As well as developing our web site to be
AA accessible we have produced a communication strategy setting out our
standards for providing public information.
Language Line facilities are
available to all services and provides a telephone based interpreting service
on demand. We have developed interpretation and translation guidelines for
providing information and communicating with the public.
We will ensure that employees are aware of the issues that surround the
provision of information and communication to all our customers. We will
consider the use of wider technologies to make our communication and
information accessible to all. Our information will be available in a variety of
ways on request and our employees will know how to have information
produced to suit the needs of the individual.
Outcomes 2009-2012:
 Increased provision of accessible and inclusive council information and
communication
Some key achievements
 Introduction of interpretation and translation guidelines
25
 Production of recycling DVD in other languages including British Sign
Language (BSL)
 Language Line is available at all front line services
 Accessible and inclusive communication training has been provided to
approximately 600 employees and a session for elected members was
undertaken in April 2009 to coincide with a briefing note on the same topic.
The training has now been developed into an on-line module that can be
accessed by all employees
26
Glossary of terms
A8 Countries
Accession
former
Eight,
Eastern
the
eight
European
countries that acceded to the
European Union in 2004.
Citizens’ Panel
North Lanarkshire’s Panel of
approximately 2500 residents,
who are involved in surveys to
establish their satisfaction and
views on various issues
Community
All those residents living in
North Lanarkshire
Disability
A physical or mental impairment
which has a substantial and
long-term adverse effect on a
person’s ability to carry out
normal
day-to-day
(Disability
activities
Discrimination
Act
1995). However, the council has
adopted the social model of
disability that defines disability
in terms of inequalities in society
(see appendix 2).
Double Tick
The disability symbol has been
developed so that employers
can show their commitment to
good
practice
in
employing
disabled people. It also enables
27
disabled people to know which
employers will be positive about
their abilities. Employers who
use
the
symbol
commitments
make
relating
recruitment;
to
retaining
employees
disabled;
five
who
become
consulting
disabled
employees; developing greater
awareness
of
disability
and
reviewing progress.
Equality Act 2006
Act created by the Equality and
Human Rights Commission
which began operating in
October 2007.
Equal Opportunities
The prevention and elimination
of
discrimination
between
persons on grounds of sex or
marital status, racial grounds,
disability,
age,
sexual
orientation, language or social
origin, or of other personal
attributes, including beliefs or
opinions,
such
as
religious
beliefs or political opinions
Deprivation
A
combination
problems
of
linked
such
as
unemployment and ill health
Inequalities
Residents have unequal access
to services such as health care,
28
housing, education, employment
and training
Outcomes
The end result to be achieved
Performance Management
Our
Framework
designed to help the Council
self-assessment
process
assess their achievements and
identify
areas
that
need
improvement
Single Outcome Agreement
The agreement between the
Scottish Government and the
local authority that links national
policy priorities and targets with
local
priorities
and
circumstances, to reduce the
reporting requirements and the
ring-fencing of resources.
Stakeholder
Person, group or organisation
that can influence or has an
interest in or expectation of the
council’s work
Supporting documents
NLC Race Equality Scheme 2005 – 2008
29
NLC Disability Equality Scheme 2006 -2009
NLC Gender Equality Scheme 2007 - 2010
NLC Corporate Plan 2008 – 2012
National Standards for Community Engagement
North Lanarkshire Community Engagement Strategy
NL Procurement Strategy
Joint priorities for Community Care
All of the above documents can be accessed by logging on to our web site
www.northlan.gov.uk
or by contacting:
Development Officer (Equalities)
Learning and Leisure Services
Kildonan Street
Coatbridge
ML5 1BT
Tel: 01236 812851
E-mail: [email protected]
Appendix 1
Public Sector Duties
30
General Duties
Disability Equality
Gender Equality Duty
Duty
Due regard to:
Due regard to :
 Promote equality of
 Eliminate unlawful
opportunity between
discrimination and
disabled persons and
harassment
other persons
 Promote equality of
 Eliminate
opportunity between
discrimination that is
men and women
unlawful under the
Disability
Discrimination Act
1995
 Eliminate harassment
of disabled persons
that is related to their
disabilities
 Take steps to take
account of disabled
persons disabilities
even where that
means treating
disabled persons
more favourably than
other persons
 Promote positive
attitudes towards
disabled people
 Encourage
participation of
disabled people in
public life
Race Equality Duty
Due regard to :
 Eliminate unlawful
racial
discrimination
 Promote equality
of opportunity
 Promote good
relations between
persons of different
racial groups
Specific Duties
Disability Equality Duty Gender Equality Duty
Race Equality Duty
A listed public authority A listed public authority Listed
public
31
Disability Equality Duty
must involve disabled
people
in
the
development
of
a
Disability
Equality
Scheme
which
demonstrates
how
it
intends to fulfil its general
and specific duties and
which
includes
a
statement of:
 The way in which
disabled people have
been involved
 The
methods
for
impact assessment
 Steps
which
the
authority
will
take
towards fulfilling its
general
duty
(the
Action Plan)
 The arrangements for
gathering information
in
relation
to
employment
and,
where appropriate, its
delivery of education
and its functions
 The arrangements for
putting the information
gathered to use, in
particular in review the
effectiveness of its
action plan and in
preparing subsequent
DES.
Within 3 years of the
Scheme being published,
take the steps set out in
its action plan and put into
effect the arrangements
for gathering and making
use of information.
Gender Equality Duty
must
prepare
and
publish
a
Gender
Equality Scheme
The Scheme must set
out
the
overall
objectives the public
body has set to allow it
to meet its general duty.
The public body must
consider the need to
have an objective to
address the causes of
any unequal pay for
men and women staff
related to their sex.
The scheme must also
set out the actions it has
taken or intends to take
to:
 Gather information on
the effect of its
policies and practices
on men and women,
in
particular
the
extent to which they
promote
equality
between male and
female staff, and the
extent to which the
services it provides
and the functions it
performs
take
account of the needs
of men and women
 Make use of the
information it has
gathered to meet the
duty and review the
effectiveness of its
scheme
and
the
actions taken
 Assess the impact of
its
policies
and
Race Equality Duty
authorities
must
publish
a
Race
Equality
Scheme
setting out functions
and policies that are
relevant to the general
duty on race and
arrangements
for:
 assessing
and
consulting on the
likely impact of
proposed policies
on the promotion of
race
equality
monitoring policies
for any adverse
impact
on
the
promotion of race
equality
 publishing
the
results of such
assessments,
consultation
and
monitoring
 ensuring
public
access
to
information
and
services which it
provides
 training staff in
connection with the
duties imposed by
the Race Equality
Duty.
Employers are
required to monitor by
reference to racial
group staff in post and
applicants for
employment, training
and promotion. Where
the employer employs
32
Disability Equality Duty Gender Equality Duty
Publish an annual report
practices on men and
containing a summary of
women, and use the
the steps taken under the
results to inform its
action, the results of its
work
information gathering and  Consult employees,
the use to which it has put
service users, trade
the information.
unions and others
 Achieve
the
From December 2008,
objectives it has set.
Scottish Ministers will
have to publish reports
The public authority
every 3 years that:
must put the scheme,
 Give an overview of the and
the
actions
progress made by
identified, into effect
public authorities in
within three years.
relation to disability
equality
It must report annually
 Set out proposals for
on the actions it has
co-ordination of action
taken. It must review the
by public authorities so scheme and publish a
as to bring about further revised scheme within
progress on disability
three years.
equality.
Listed public bodies with
at least 150 full time
equivalent staff must
publish an equal pay
policy statement, and
report on this every
three years.
Scottish Ministers must
publish reports every
three years, in addition
to
the
Scottish
Executive’s equality
scheme and equal pay
statement.
These reports will set out
the priority areas which
Ministers have identified
for advancement of equal
opportunities across the
Race Equality Duty
150 or more full-time
staff it must also
monitor the numbers
who receive training,
benefit or suffer
detriment from
performance
assessment reviews,
are involved in
grievance
procedures, are the
subject of disciplinary
procedures or cease
employment.
Listed educational
authorities must
prepare a race equality
policy, and have and
fulfil arrangements to:
 assess the impact
of its policies,
including its race
equality policy, on
pupils, staff and
parents of different
racial groups,
including, in
particular, the
impact on
attainment levels of
pupils
 monitor the impact
of the operation of
such policies on
such pupils, staff
and parents,
including, in
particular, their
impact on
attainment levels of
pupils
 take steps to
33
Disability Equality Duty
Gender Equality Duty
Race Equality Duty
public
sector,
and
publish annually the
provide a summary of
results of its
progress made in these
monitoring.
priority areas by the
public sector.
Where the race
equality policy is
prepared by an
education authority,
that authority should
ensure that each
school under its
management complies
with the arrangements
in the race equality
policy.
Appendix 2
The Social Model of Disability
34
The Scottish Accessible Information Forum states that “through the social
model, disability is understood as an unequal relationship within a society in
which the needs of people with impairments are often given little or no
consideration. People with impairments are disabled by the fact that they are
excluded from participation within the mainstream of society as a result of
physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers. These barriers prevent them
from gaining equal access to information, education, employment, public
transport, housing and social/recreational opportunities”.
In its approach to disability, the Council has adopted the social model of
disability in contrast to the medical model. The following table demonstrates
the types of barriers that disabled people may face in their day to day lives.
Barrier
Attitudinal
Environmental
Information
Communication
Institutional
Example
People’s attitudes, fears and
prejudices result in unfair and
discriminatory treatment
Steps, revolving doors and other
physical barriers prevent access to
buildings, transport, signage etc
Lack of information in other
formats, e.g. Braille, audio etc
prevents people from accessing
information about services,
products etc
Lack of signage, poor lighting, lack
of language interpreters, lack of
understanding etc prevent disabled
people from confidently
participating in daily life
Discriminatory practices, policies
and procedures, inflexible or unfair
systems in organisations
encourage inequality for disabled
people
Appendix 3
35
Audit of consultation and Involvement events and processes for
development of North Lanarkshire Council equality strategy
Involvement and consultation events
What
When
Detail
Meeting
6 October
Disability Equality Scheme
2008
Monitoring and Review
Group.
Focus group gender
31 October
2008
Invitation to gender
specific remitted orgs
Focus group
disability
5 November
2008
Employee Disability
Forum (EDF)
Focus group
Race
6 November
2008
Focus group
Disability
7 November
2008
BME Employee Forum
and
Lanarkshire Ethnic
Minority Action Group
(LEMAG)
Monitoring and Review
Group
Focus group
Disability
Focus group
Race
Meeting
9 February
2009
19 February
2009
9 March 2009
Monitoring and Review
Group
Invitation to BME specific
orgs
Stonewall
Questionnaire on
the draft framework
themes and
outcomes
Disability
Community
Conference
Conference
March 2009
ConnectNL
Web site
110 Stakeholder
organisations
Partnership between
Monitoring and Review
Group and Council
Employee Disability
Forum
Re Congolese with CL&D
support worker
Meeting
16 March
2009
25 March
2009
7 April 2009
Phase
Seek
agreement
on
approach
Seek
agreement
on
approach
Seek
agreement
on
approach
Seek
agreement
on
approach
Seek
agreement
on
approach
First
Phase
As above
As above
As above
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
36
What
Group meeting
Race
Meeting
When
9 April 2009
14 April 2009
Detail
Muslim Women and
Family Alliance
Youth Inclusion Officer
Group meeting
28 April 2009
LEMAG
Event organised by
Monklands Asian
Elderly Forum
Meeting
26 May 2009
Asian Women’s Health
Day
Drop-in for
employees
Drop-in for
employees
Drop-in for
employees
Meeting
Questionnaire on
the actions for
delivering on the
outcomes
Meeting
Focus group
meeting
Meeting
Information
What
Core Brief
1 June 2009
Monitoring and Review
Group
22 June 2009 Kildonan St
Coatbridge
23 June 2009 Dalziel House
Motherwell
24 June 2009 Fleming House
Cumbernauld
9 July 2009
Monitoring and Review
Group
April to June ConnectNL , web site
2009
110 Stakeholder
organisations
Elected members
11 August
Elected members
2009
13 August
Trade Unions
2009
1 September Inter-faith Council
2009
When
February
2009
February
2009
Letter from Gavin
Whitefield Chief
Exec. inviting people
to get involved
ConnectNL.
March 2009
Announcement about
strategy
North Lanarkshire
March
Detail
Senior management then
all staff
Stakeholder groups
Phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Discussion
First
phase
First
phase
All employees with access First
to a computer
phase
All households
First
37
What
News.
When
2009edition
Press release
9 March
2009
Press release
13 March
2009
Inside North
Lanarkshire
April 2009
North Lanarkshire
News
May 2009
NLC Announcement
28 May
2009
17June
2009
July 2009
NLC Announcement
Northweb
Detail
Announcement about
strategy and how to have
a say
Coincide with letter from
Chief Exec to local
organisations.
Coverage in Evening
Times
Local newspapers
Evening Times,
Motherwell Times
Interview on local radio
station L107
Article about the
consultation exercise and
relevance to staff
Article on outcomes of
disability community
conference and reference
to ongoing consultation on
Equality Strategy
All users e-mail and poster
phase
First
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
Second
phase
All users e-mail and poster Second
phase
Wider population who use Second
a computer
phase
38