‘Mainstreaming Equality’

Rob BeardallPolicy Adviser, Equalities

Equalities & Social Justice TeamWelsh Local Government Association

‘Perception’

“Costly, time consuming, confusing, irrelevant, biased, not business sense”

OR.,…

Equalities is

“Understanding the customer, tailoring service provision, employing the best people, and….good business sense…”

Equalities is…. a ‘concept’ and therefore involves…

Earth

Rings of Saturn

Taken, September 15, 2006 by the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn.

The ‘concept’ must be communicated, and therefore involves…

‘Positioning’

Moral case

Legal case

Business case

Collective IdeologyCollective ideology BUT..….Individualistic society

Positioning happens through... Discourse

Positive language

Value for moneyFive years ‘interest

free’½ price sale, act now

Removing barriers to an equal life

Areas for improvementFairness

Negative language

It’s expensive5 years paying it off½ price, but not needed

Discrimination

Adverse ImpactEquality ? (Public

perception)

The ‘communicator’ carry’s the message, and can easily become perceived as…..

And the ‘communicator’ is up against..…..

Negative presscoverage

Financial cuts

Competing priorities

Lack of concern

Hard drivers• Equalities Legislation requiring:

– Equality scheme(s) to be in place and implemented– EqIA’s to be conducted on policy and functions

• New Equality Bill, with potential for:– Wider public duty to promote equality – ‘Setting Equality Objectives’ based on evidence

• New LG measure ‘and fairness’• Financial cuts - requiring a more ‘efficient

approach’ to meeting needs• Prevailing inequality

Current mainstreaming drivers Welsh Local Government

Soft drivers• Prevailing inequality• ‘Citizen centered service delivery’• Connecting equality to ‘adding value

and improvement’• Public doubts about achievements and

relevance• Credibility - Quicker, better, more

targeted improvement is needed

Current mainstreaming drivers Welsh Local Government

“Mainstreaming is a comparatively recent approach and the evidence and evaluatory basis of its effectiveness is weak. It can be problematic in that it may only operate to influence policy development rather than tackle the root causes of discrimination, and in the absence of specific policies and programmes to promote equality interests, it can result in a form of policy dilution where the responsibility for equality is lost”.‘Managing Equality in Welsh Local Government’Sullivan, Williams & Wooding, 2004

Mainstreaming, effective or not?

The literature suggests various prescriptions for effective mainstreaming strategies including:• The importance of good quality disaggregated data; • the need for a strategic approach; • the necessity for institutional and personal capacity building; • effective monitoring and evaluation processes; • appropriate training and awareness raising;• and the availability of equality impact tools and frameworks.

‘Managing Equality in Welsh Local Government’,Sullivan, Williams & Wooding, 2004

Mainstreaming…what works?

• Multiple Equality Schemes, largely unachieved• Problems related to EqIA’s • Limited corporate consistency (mainstreaming) • Limited engagement from senior management & resistant middle management• Challenging organisational wide improvement, often resting on shoulders of a few officers• Frustrated practioners

Current situation – Welsh Local Government

• A corporate ‘vehicle’• Careful evaluation of why things don’t work• Planned organisational communication

– Right message, Right audience, Right medium, Right time…...........You’ve got to ‘sell it’ right

• High level = 1 to 1 communication• Middle level = provide clear communication and negotiate intended outcomes• Lower level (service management), provide good quality tools, training and ongoing support

• Adopt a project management methodology

– What, when, how, who by, with what?

For mainstreaming to work…it requires

Case study: New approach to EqIA’s ‘Aim High’ project Powys

• Misconception process was onerous and resource intensive• Lack of buy-in• Lead Assessors – understood theory, but not practical actions required • Too many assessments – overwhelming • Progress monitoring insufficient• Other competing priorities

New approach

• Buy in – careful communication– Aim High Status– 1 to 1 meeting with key senior personnel– Message ‘carried’ to next tier by a senior person– Tailored communication

• Rationalisation – Slimmed 4 stage EIA process – Redesigned EIA toolkit – added scoping section– Service based’ assessments

• Scoping workshops

– 2 hours, conducted with each of 40 lead assessors– Discussions around data, what to collect – Project objectives and milestones agreed

• Project management methodology– Careful selection what to work on– Progress monitoring & clear lines accountability– Ongoing dialogue and communication

New approach

Conclusions

• Perceptions, positioning, communication, have powerful impact on mainstreaming potential

• Legislative and process drivers have not generated enough change• For mainstreaming to work, we need a core ‘vehicle(s) to carry the change process

Conclusions

• Need to understand the organisation and take a pragmatic, targeted approach

• Planned Equality improvement needs to be ‘outcome focussed’

• Once we know all this…everything rests upon effective tailored communication

A final point on perception…

“It all depends on how we look at things and not how they are in themselves”

Carl Jung