In line with the public sector equality duty, from July 2011, the information that the Council routinely publishes should be broken down by the 'protected characteristics' of ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and, where available, sexual orientation, religion/belief and gender reassignment. Here is a Sample Equalities Monitoring Form
In respect of service delivery, this information or data will obviously vary between services but could include:
- performance information, especially around outcomes (for example attainment levels or recovery rates)
- access to services
- satisfaction with services, and
- complaints (broken down by protected group, with an indication of reasons for complaints).
In respect of our workforce, published data should include:
There are likely to be services or protected groups for which we do not have information, including information about potential service users and the barriers they face. Engagement with protected groups can help us to fill these gaps, and it can us an idea of how accurate our information is.
Obtaining sensitive information
The general equality duty requires us to analyse the effect of the Council's functions on all protected groups. Therefore, we will not be able to meet the duty unless we have usable and sufficient information. This includes where information collection can be particularly sensitive, such as sexual orientation.
If we do collect this information, we need to explain why the information is being collected, what it will be used for, and how privacy will be protected. The purpose of information-gathering (as well as any legal requirements around storage or dissemination) should be explained.
Collecting information with regards to gender reassignment is a particularly sensitive area and opinion continues to be divided on this issue. People could be very negatively affected by disclosure of their status, but without information it may be difficult to monitor the impact of policies and practices on transgender people.
Equalities Monitoring in Bath and North East Somerset Council
Below the Council's recommended guidelines for monitoring in both employment and service delivery are set out. These have been written with regard to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and the Council’s own Corporate Equality Commitment.
The purpose of equalities monitoring
In line with legislation, guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Stonewall and ACAS, Bath and North East Somerset Council is committed to ensuring that it is operating fairly and equitably in both Service Delivery and Employment. The Council’s Corporate Equality Commitment and Equal Opportunities policy, by themselves, will not bring about equality – the Council must have a system for checking whether their policies are being carried out and whether they are working. Comprehensive equalities monitoring will enable us:
- To find out if our Equality policies are working.
- To find out which groups are using our services (and how satisfied they are with them).
- To determine whether we are offering equality of opportunity and treatment to all groups.
- To highlight areas where we are not complying with our equality policy.
- To enable the Council to find solutions and make changes, rather than using guesswork or assumptions.
- To provide evidence that we know who our users and non-users are, and that we have found out what their needs are.
- To avoid what could be costly complaints of discrimination, by making sure that we identify problems and issues at an early stage.
- To improve our reputation as a good and fair provider of goods or services, and as a good employer.
What to monitor
To comply with best practice guidelines from the CRE, the DRC the EOC, ACAS and the Employers Organisation and current legislation, it is recommended that monitoring in employment and service delivery is undertaken in the following categories which represent 'protected characteristics' outlined in the Equality act 2010:
- Age
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Religion/belief
- Sexual orientation
- Gender re-assignment
More detailed guidance on how to monitor within each of these categories follows.
Detailed guidance on monitoring categories:
Age
Date of birth or age bands. E.g.
- Under 25
- 25 - 34
- 35 - 44
- 45 - 54
- 55 +
- Prefer not to say
Disability
Monitoring disability should be done with reference to the previous Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) definition. The DDA sets out the circumstances in which a person is "disabled". It says you are disabled if you have:
- a mental or physical impairment
- this has an adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities
- the adverse effect is substantial
- the adverse effect is long-term (meaning it has lasted for 12 months, or is likely to last for more than 12 months or for the rest of your life)
Progressive conditions such as HIV or multiple sclerosis count from diagnosis rather than from the onset of symptoms. Also, If your disability has badly affected your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, but doesn't any more, it will still be counted as having that effect if it is likely to do so again. Past disabilities are covered.
The above notes (or something similar) should be included as a guidance sheet in your monitoring information. Below is an example of how you might word your disability question:
Do you consider yourself to be a Disabled person?
(i.e do you have physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long term adverse effect on your ability to carry out day to day activities?)
Gender
- Male
- Female
- Prefer not to say
Transgender
Is your gender different from that assigned to you at birth?
Ethnicity
We have adapted the 2001 Census question (to break down Chinese and Other Asian to include South East Asian). Ask people to choose ONE section from A to E, then tick the appropriate box(es) to indicate their cultural background.
A. White
- British
- Irish
- Eastern European
- Any other white background (please write in)
B. Dual Heritage (tick all that apply)
- Black Caribbean
- Black African
- Asian
- Chinese
- White
- Any other Mixed background, please write in
C. Asian or Asian British
- Indian
- Pakistani
- Bangladeshi
- Any other Asian background (please write in)
D Black or Black British
- Caribbean
- African
- Any other black background, please write in
E. Chinese or other ethnic group
- Chinese
- South East Asian
- Any other (please write in)
F. Prefer not to say
Religion/belief
The 2001 Census question included the following categories
- No religion
- Christian
- Buddhist
- Muslim
- Hindu
- Jewish
- Sikh
- Other (please write in)
- Prefer not to say
Sexual orientation
The recommended categories are:
- Bisexual
- Gay
- Heterosexual
- Lesbian
- Prefer not to say
Analysis, interpretation and action
It is essential that monitoring information is used to inform practice. If data shows, for example, that a service is not being equitably used by the whole community, or if one group in the community is found not to figure in recruitment statistics, it will be important to find out why this is so and take any necessary action.
Reporting and publishing monitoring findings
Equality monitoring is part of all fundamental performance reviews, service planning and reporting processes. Service areas are, therefore, expected to report annually on how they are embedding equality objectives and performance indicators in service plans.