Update on MPA progress towards meeting the equality standard for local government

Report: 15
Date: 7 February 2008
By: by the Chief Executive

Summary

The report outlines where the MPA is on the Equality Standard for Local Government (ESfLG) and how it proposes to respond to changes made within ESfLG. It also provides a concurrent response to the MPS’ position paper in relation to the ESfLG.

A. Recommendations

That members agree:

1. The steps that the MPA is taking to meet Level 3 of the ESfLG.

2. The response to the MPS’ progress towards ESfLG.hat

B. Supporting information

Background

1. First introduced in October 2001, the Equality Standard for Local Government (ESfLG) provides a framework for ensuring that ‘a comprehensive and systematic approach’ is taken towards equalities. By working through the Standard, disadvantage associated with age, disability, faith, gender, race and sexual orientation can be identified and action taken to eliminate these barriers. The Greater London Authority (GLA) agreed that all members of the GLA Family Group [London Development Agency (LDA); London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA); Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA); Transport for London (TfL)] would work towards level 5 of the Standard. The Metropolitan Police Service was also expected to meet ESfLG.

2 The ultimate purpose of the ESLG is to fully integrate equalities at the heart of an organisation’s policy-making, service delivery, employment and community engagement (‘mainstreaming’).

MPA Progress Made To Date

3. In December 2007, the MPA was able to ‘sign off’ levels 1 and 2 of the Standard. Eight actions had been identified for completion [1] and this enabled the MPA to sign off level 1 – Commitment to a comprehensive equality policy; and level 2 – Assessment and Consultation.

4. Incorporated in the action plan for signing off levels 1 and 2 were some of the key actions for level 3. These actions included carrying out a disability access audit of Dean Farrar Street (DFS) [2] and undertaking an Equal Pay Audit [3]. Both of these actions have now been completed and the MPA Senior Management Team (SMT) is leading in responding to the key issues emerging from these activities.

Next Steps

5. The MPA is striving to reach level 3 of the ESfLG as quickly as possible. This level will need to be externally validated. A strategy for achieving this objective has been devised and shared with the MPA SMT. Some of the recent actions taken include:

• Setting equality targets across all MPA committees
• Attending ESfLG workshop sessions facilitated by Capital Ambition
• Recording decisions made at Business Management Team meetings in relation to ESfLG work

6. Additional work in order to meet the ESfLG is coming on-stream. This includes:

• Learning from the experiences of City of London (who, as a police authority, have reached level 3)
• Enlisting the services of Capital Ambition to work alongside EDU staff
• Agreeing and signing off the MPA Corporate Strategy
• Setting equality objectives at individual and business units’ levels
• Ongoing Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) [4]
• Revisiting control documents as to how the MPA undertakes and oversees scrutinies

7. In terms of assessment, the MPA is generally at a position of ‘unconscious competence’: through its service delivery and community engagement activities it often successfully integrates equality and diversity; however, there will be a need at external validation level for this to be consciously and competently articulated by staff.

8. The other issue to be considered with regards to assessment is that the Standard is a cyclical process and that, at any stage, a business can be moving either forwards or backwards through levels – and, in some instances, even in two opposite directions at the same time in relation to different parts in the Standard.

MPS Progress To Date

9. The MPS continues to make progress to integrate the Equalities Standard for Local Government and has satisfied the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) that it has achieved level 3 of the Standard.

10. The MPS acknowledges that there is more work to do in this regard in relation to governance of the Standard, ensuring evidence is obtained from the boroughs as well as the centre, resourcing this activity and managing the risk to the corporate body should it fail to reach level 4.

New and Emerging Context

11. It should be mentioned that the ESfLG was originally designed for local government. Other public bodies such as police authorities that are not primarily service delivery bodies have had difficulties in fully adapting and meeting all the elements of each standard.

12. Against this backdrop, there are a number of developments on the equalities metrics horizon of which both the MPA and MPS will need to be cognisant. These include:

1. Changes to existing EsfLG: The standards against which evidence has to be produced has increased from 142 to 167 as a result of all equality strands being addressed. With the arrival of the Equalities and Human Right Commission (EHRC), it is likely that the number of standards will increase. In addition, there are debates as to whether external validation will be required for levels 1 and 2 for local authorities;
2. Equalities Standards for police: the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is looking at designing an equalities standard for police services in England and Wales. Alf Hitchcock, currently an Acting MPS Assistant Commissioner leads on this project nationally; and
3. London Equalities Standard: the GLA, together with Capital Ambition is exploring the possibilities of devising an equalities standard that is London-specific.

C. Race and equality impact

1. At the core of the ESfLG is the mission to ensure that equality and diversity forms an integral part of an organisation’s business planning and performance management. Considerable work has been carried out to date by the MPA towards demonstrating this fact, for example:

• in employment: the progress made in meeting and exceeding equality targets for gender and disability as acknowledged by the GLA;
• in service delivery: its overseeing, scrutinising and challenging of the changes in areas of business such as the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) following on from the Morris Report; and
• in community engagement: groundbreaking work delivered in relation to counter-terrorism such as events like ‘Together Against Terror?’ and its current Youth Scrutiny

2. This is not to say that the MPA has yet ‘ticked all the boxes’; however, it is making significant steps to secure level 3 and beyond. However, in moving to the next phase, it now has to demonstrate that individual staff not only have personal objectives, but also have personal equality and diversity objectives; that these personal objectives are linked to the work plans of the respective business unit; and that the unit’s business plans directly feed into the MPA’s corporate objectives as well as committee objectives. The link between personal, business units and corporate objectives is critical to ‘mainstreaming’ equality & diversity.

D. Financial implications

1. DIALOG has indicated that the cost of external assessment of the ESLG is £7000.00 per level; it is (often) undertaken by two external assessors and usually takes two days to complete.

2. Following discussions at SMT, it has been agreed that any assessment costs post-level 3 will be met corporately and not from EDU’s budget.

E. Background papers

• Background Papers ESfLG Update – November 2006
• MPS ESfLG Update – February 2007
• The Equality Standard – The Employers’ Organisation For Local Government
• IDeA papers on ESLG
• Report to SMT and Policy Officers’ Group on ESfLG
• Generic Equality Scheme and MPA Improvement Programme (available on request)
• Councils) on ESfLG

F. Contact details

Report author: Laurence Gouldbourne, MPA

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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