Issue - meetings

Report of Head of Transformation

Purpose of report

To review the completion of the annual Self Assessment undertaken by the Council against the Achieving Standard under the Equality Framework for Local Government.

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended:

 1.1        To consider the evidence and information submitted in the Council’s Self Assessment against the ‘Achieving Standard’ under the Equality Framework for Local Government.

1.2         To agree the equalities action plan for 2014/15 noting the areas of good practice upon which it builds and the areas for development that it addresses.  

Resolved

(1)          That the evidence and information submitted in the Council’s Self-Assessment against the ‘Achieving Standard’ under the Equality Framework for Local Government be noted.

(2)          That the equalities action plan for 2014/15 noting the areas of good practice upon which it builds and the areas for development that it addresses be noted. 

The Head of Transformation submitted a report which reviewed the completion of the annual Self-Assessment undertaken by the Council against the Achieving Standard under the Equality Framework for Local Government.

Resolved

(1)          That the evidence and information submitted in the Council’s Self-Assessment against the ‘Achieving Standard’ under the Equality Framework for Local Government be noted.

(2)          That the equalities action plan for 2014/15 noting the areas of good practice upon which it builds and the areas for development that it addresses be noted. 

Reasons

Cherwell District Council has made significant progress delivering against the equalities agenda in recent years. This year the Council received the findings and recommendations following the Public Sector Equality Duty Review (PSED) and its impact upon the work of Corporate Equality Performance. The review arose from the Government’s Red Tape Challenge and was established to examine whether the PSED is operating as intended. A key aim of the PSED was to sensitise public bodies to equality while addressing the bureaucracy associated with the previous duties on race, disability and gender.

Based on the conclusions drawn by the PSED Steering Group and suggestions for improvements raised by participants in the review, the PSED Steering Group developed nine recommendations split across different sectors with the clearest being:

-           It is too early to make a final judgement about the impact of the PSED. Government should consider conducting a formal evaluation of the Duty in three years’ time. This would enable the PSED to embed more thoroughly and should consider whether the Duty is an effective means of achieving the goal of sensitising public bodies to equality issues and what alternatives there might be. This work could also be informed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) medium-term work on how the PSED and the more prescriptive specific duties operate in Scotland and Wales.

Cherwell District Council continues to adopt a proportionate to equality performance with meaningful and relevant Corporate Action Plans to support this work.

The self-assessment identifies areas of strength and key developmental priorities and has been undertaken in line with a nationally agreed self-assessment model.

The updated action plan demonstrates how the Council will continue to deliver its equalities objectives over the coming year. Progress will be reported via the performance management framework on a quarterly basis.

The three year impact assessment rolling plan also provides assurance that the Council is mindful of policy change and seeks to understand and address the impacts of service and policy change where appropriate.

Alternative Options

Option 1: To note the report

Option 2: To request additional information on items within this report