RACE EQUALITY GUIDANCE FORFURTHER EDUCATION COLLEGES

Race Equality and EqualityImpact Assessments

Purpose This is one in a series of booklets which provideguidance for further education colleges in managingtheir approach to race equality. This guidance willhelp providers to meet the requirements of currentrace equality legislation and offer advice on how toensure that race equality features appropriatelywithin the new single equality context.

Providers can also use this guidance to ensure thatrace equality issues are addressed as part of their

general approach to single equality. More specificguidance for third sector, work based learning andadult and community learning providers will beproduced at a later date.

The guidance in these booklets has a primary focuson race equality and workforce issues. However,the guidance may also be useful when consideringapproaches to equality matters in general and maybe applied to learner issues.

Summary Points to remember when undertaking race equality and equalityimpact assessments:• Try to incorporate equality impact assessments as part of the

college’s review process.• Equality impact assessments should be staggered – prioritise policies

according to their relevance to race equality and other equality strands.• Equality impact assessments should not be conducted by just one

person – this is a collective activity that should ideally be co-ordinated by the college’s equality and diversity group.

• Consult both internally and externally where appropriate – offsetdisillusionment with previous consultation exercises by providingfeedback to those who have contributed information, showinghow they have helped to bring about positive change.

• Make sure that decisions have been reached as a result of a clearrationale. Be sure to communicate good work and share practiceboth internally and externally.

Timeframe At the time of writing, collegesare subject to the Race RelationsAct 1976 (as amended) and assuch this is the main legislativefocus of the booklets.

The guidance also takes atransitional approach so thatproviders can use it to prepare forthe likely changes towards singleequality legislation, which is likelyto be implemented in 2010-2011.

Who are the booklets for?These documents contain usefulinformation for governing bodies andcorporations, senior management,provider staff, trade union membersand officers, marketing andcommunications professionals,human resources professionals andequality and diversity practitioners.

This series of booklets include:The Race Equality Duty: what itmeans for further education colleges

Race Equality Policies

Race Equality and Equality Impact Assessments

Publishing Race Equality Information

Introduction to the resource

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This booklet is divided into the following sections:Section One: •What are equality impact assessments?Background •Why are they relevant to further education colleges?

•How can equality impact assessments be used to improve performance in relation to race equality?

•Relevant race equality considerations when conducting an equality impact assessment.

•How to conduct impact assessments.Section Two: •Organise for impact assessment determining an Plan appropriate assessment timeline.

•Relevant questions to consider.•Establishing a realistic timetable.

Section Three: •Screening. Implement •Collection of data and information.

•Analysis of data and information. •Dealing with impact.

Section Four: •Reporting key findings. Progress •Actioning recommendations.

•Publishing and communications.

What are equality impact assessments?Equality impact assessments are a way of evaluatingthe effectiveness of organisational performance inrelation to equalities. They aim to identify the impact,or likely impact, of a policy, service or function upondiverse groups of people and can also help exploreways to promote equality.

The legal requirement to undertake impactassessments to measure adverse impact on thegrounds of race (specifically in relation to staff andstudents of different racial groups) was introducedwith the Race Relations (Amendment) Act of 2000.The scope of impact assessments has since widenedwith the introduction of new legislation andstatutory duties, which currently cover disability andgender. These will be widened to include age, sexualorientation and religion or belief with theintroduction of the Equality Bill in 2010.

For an impact assessment to be effective, staff shouldhave a good understanding of the issues affectingdiverse groups of people, together with a generalknowledge of discrimination and an ability to identifyinstances of direct and indirect discrimination alongwith the measures to address them. Equality anddiversity training will be required for staff involvedwith equality impact assessments.

Why are equality impact assessments relevantto further education colleges?Equality impact assessments are not only a legalrequirement, but they also support self assessmentand the Framework for Excellence1 as a qualityreview mechanism and allows for an enhanced andmainstreamed approach. Assessing organisationalperformance in this way is critical, particularly asprospective staff and service users will expectorganisations to demonstrate a commitment totackling inequality.

Carrying out equality impact assessments will helpcolleges to develop:

• increased participation rates of staff and learners,resulting in increased transparency in policy andservice development

• policies that are informed by qualitative andquantitative information and data derived fromdiverse groups

• more effective and accessible programmes forboth staff and learners

• improved decision making processes

• a proactive approach to the promotion of equality

• a process to identify and tackle any institutionaldiscrimination

• ways to avoid harmful policies that have a negativeeffect on staff, learners and the community

• a natural link between race equality, communitycohesion and social inclusion.

The above factors are particularly important giventhe changing environment for further educationproviders, in which the world-class skills agenda andself-regulation is a long term aim. The impactassessment process acts as a means for continuedimprovement and evidence based policy making,which in turn will contribute to achieving world-classskills in an increasingly competitive sector.

A college of any size can, and should, use equalityimpact assessments as a way of measuring theimpact of their policies, services or functions onstaff and service users.

It is increasingly the case that colleges are using ageneral equality impact assessment process to coverall equality strands, for example race, disability andgender. This can be an effective way of combining thecurrent legal requirements and is a recommendedapproach. If a college chooses to adopt a generalequalities impact assessment process, it is importantto use the impact assessment process as a detailed

Section One:Background

31Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Department for Children, Schools and Families, The Frameworkfor Excellence [online]. Available from: http://ffe.lsc.gov.uk/.

analysis to understand more fully the issues withinrace equality and other equality strands, rather thanproducing a generic and anodyne assessment.

The remainder of this booklet will refer to equalityimpact assessments with a particular focus onrelevant race equality issues.

How can equality impact assessments be used to improve performance in relation torace equality?Equality impact assessments provide an opportunityto review any policies, services and functions forissues related to equalities and performance. Goodpractice would be to prioritise impact assessmentsfor those policies, services and functions that arehighly relevant to race equality and other equalitystrands to be assessed first. Those policies, servicesand functions with medium or lower relevance toequality should be assessed afterwards. Ideally, thewhole process should take place within a three-yearly cycle.

The equality impact assessment is complementary toboth the self assessment process and the Frameworkfor Excellence. In both of these processesperformance is measured across all service provision,tackling poor performance, raising standards andskills, increasing efficiency and being closer to learnersand employers. The thread of equality and diversityruns through all these areas of performance.

Recent research has outlined the particular issuesexperienced by black and minority ethnic staff. This includes findings of the Learning and SkillsImprovement Service’s report on successionplanning within further education and the AnnualWorkforce Diversity Profile published by LifelongLearning UK. In order for colleges to tackle theissues raised by these pieces of research, it isimportant that both qualitative and quantitative data and information is used to inform the impactassessment process, which in turn can facilitatepositive change at the local level. The combinationof data and information provided through an impactassessment process will allow for an objective

review of progress. Questions in relation to racematters should be asked of the policy, service orfunction in order to identify areas for improvement.This may include:

• considering the accessibility of services andcommunications

• measuring equality of opportunity in recruitmentand selection

• looking at whether the workforce is diverseenough to provide breadth of knowledge,experience or skill and is representative of thecommunities and learners it serves

• considering whether poor performance is linkedto low morale, unchallenged prejudice ordiscrimination on the grounds of race.

Whilst the Disability Equality and Gender EqualityDuties make explicit reference to consultation andengagement requirements, it is recommended thatcolleges include appropriate consultationmechanisms for race equality within the equalitiesimpact assessment process. This approach will allowcolleges to undertake an effective assessmentapproach and help their preparations towards theforthcoming Equality Bill, where a combinedapproach will be required.

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The Commission for Black Staff in FurtherEducation made the following recommendationin relation to embedding race equality in thehuman resource function:

Assessing the effectiveness of employment-related policies and procedures is a keyfunction of human resource departments.Close analysis of data and embedding keyquestions into the policy review process is away of mainstreaming race equality andreduces the scope for discriminatoryemployment practices.

Source: Commission for Black Staff in FurtherEducation, Good Practice Guidance, Book One

An alternative approach to equality impact assessmentsThere are strong parallels between the impactassessment process and the changes an organisationwill make to their services to accommodate theneeds of their clients or service users. For example,opening late on certain days and offering products indifferent formats, languages and types. Equalityimpact assessments can help providers to identifyimprovements like this in many ways, for exampleby enhancing its external reputation, improvingmorale amongst staff and learners and strengtheninglinks with employers and the local community.

A similarly robust process of review can be usedfor corporate and workforce issues. For example,consideration of workforce issues can beenhanced by the use of The National Centre forLanguages (CILT) National Occupational Standardson Intercultural Working2, which clearly outline theneed to consider intercultural working in areasfrom planning workforce requirements toimplementing workforce procedures. As part ofthis, impact assessment provides a vital tool tomeet the standard through better understandingof the areas where the college is succeeding andthose that require further work.

Relevant race equality considerations whenconducting an equality impact assessmentIt is important to note findings from relevantresearch, such as Lifelong Learning UK’s AnnualWorkforce Diversity Profile (which analyses StaffIndividualised Record data in relation to ethnicity,disability, gender and age) identified a slow rate ofincrease in the representation of black and minorityethnic staff at different grades.

The Learning and Skills Improvement Service’s reporton succession planning and race equality in the furthereducation sector considered qualitative informationand data within its research. Based on surveyresponses, focus group sessions and one-to-oneinterviews with black and minority ethnic groups, the research produced the following findings:

• Many black and minority ethnic staff:

• feel ignored, believe that they are seen as athreat by others, have low morale and wish to leave the sector

• believe they are trapped beneath resistant glassceilings and fail to win promotion on merit

• believe that promotion is achieved throughinformal networking from which they areexcluded

• do not have confidence in using formalcomplaints procedures to resolve instances of racial discrimination in college.

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As mentioned above, a form of impactassessment already exists within furthereducation through the self assessment reportprocess. Self assessment stresses the need forinsightful and challenging self-evaluation as partof the assessment process. Dr Christine Rosehas considered this further, and recommendedthat equality impact assessments are used inconjunction with the self assessment process tomeet colleges’ goals and development needs.

Source: Quality and Equality: a match made inheaven? Dr Christine Rosehttp://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/EastofEngland/From_quality_to_equality.pdf

TIP: Bear in mind that impact assessments are a means of meeting the Race Equality Duty andtherefore should be outcome focused. Ask thefollowing questions for this purpose: • What are the issues, and how is the college

going to address them?• How will the college know when aims have

been achieved?

2The National Centre for Languages (CILT), 2008. National Occupational Standards on Intercultural Working [online]. Availablefrom: http://cms.cilt.org.uk/Cilt/home/standards_and_qualifications/uk_occupational_standards/intercultural_skills.aspx.

• Approximately only one quarter of black andminority ethnic respondents rated their appraisalas effective3.

Both these pieces of research indicate a need forfurther action at national, regional and local levels. It is particularly important that issues such as staffrepresentation, general morale in the workplaceand satisfaction with career progression areanalysed further within the college equality impactassessment process as a means of meeting theRace Equality Duty.

How to organise impact assessments Remember that equality impact assessments areessentially a reviewing process to make sure that allelements of the college offer are fit for purpose.

The following diagram outlines the main stages forthe impact assessment process, using the ‘PIP’mnemonic as outlined in the Race Equality Dutyguidance – plan, implement and progress. Thefollowing stages of the impact assessment processprovide a basic framework, which should becontextualised within the provider setting.

3Learning and Skills Improvement Service, 2009. Succession planning and race equality in the further education sector.

Both current and proposed policies should be included as part of the impact assessment process. With regard to the latter, it is important that assessment is built into the policy formation process.

Each of these stages is explored in the following sections.

Preliminaryorganisation

>

>

PRO

GRE

SSIM

PLEMEN

T

PLAN

Mapping andscreening

Gathering data

Consultation andengagement

Analysis

Mitigation, change or promotion

Reporting, action andreview promotion

>>

>>

>

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Effective planning is an important part of the impactassessment process and can help to ensure thatassessments are conducted in a constructive way.The college’s equality and diversity group will needto plan the process and consider the following:

• what are the relevant functions, policies, practices,provisions and criterion within the college

• how data is gathered, e.g. managementinformation systems

• who will carry out the assessments and what are their training needs

• how information will be screened

• effective consultation mechanisms for staff,learners and the local community

• how information is analysed and assessed

• what happens as a result of analysis, e.g.recommendations to senior management and next steps

• a quality assurance process that acts as a ‘criticalfriend’ to maintain a consistent output of highquality assessments at the screening and fullassessment stages (this can also be used toinform future training needs)

• how the results of assessments are publicisedinternally and externally, e.g. progress reports

• action planning and resource implications

• aligning actions within core business planningwork plans

• how changes are reviewed and progress is monitored.

Section Two:Planning equality impact assessments

This section will look at:• including the equality and diversity group in determining an appropriate assessment timeline• relevant questions to consider• establishing a realistic timetable.

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Training or briefings forimpact assessments can go a long way towardsfacilitating understanding ofthe process and can helpbuild capacity within theorganisation.

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EXAMPLE: The Open University devised acomprehensive and realistic timetable for its raceequality impact assessment process that took placebetween 2006/7. The timetable, covering both unitand central level activity at the university, can befound at: http://www.open.ac.uk/equality-diversity/

On a wider level, the group should also consider thefactors below.

Mainstreaming – How the impact assessmentprocess can be mainstreamed within existing reviewpractices, allowing the college to provide a tailoredreview process.

Senior–level championing – Visible leadership andcommitment is a vital part of the impact assessmentprocess and can help to ensure that the process isunderstood and taken forward by the providerorganisation as a whole.

Embed the equalities impact assessment process inrelation to proposed policies – Making sure thatthose responsible for developing policies within thecollege incorporate equalities considerations in asystematic way, helping to ensure that it is able tomeet legal requirements.

The type of training required – Training or briefings for impact assessments can go a long way towardsfacilitating understanding of the process and can helpbuild capacity within the organisation. Think about thetype of training and briefings that may be appropriateto particular staff members. For example, will they berequired to carry out impact assessments or provideinformation? The Commission for Black Staff inFurther Education have produced their Good PracticeGuide on Training (Book Three), which provides acomprehensive outline of appropriate interventions.

Developing a ‘consultation finder’ – This is asystem that will allow staff to access the outcomesof past consultations and find out about any futureconsultations. This will create a consolidatedapproach to consultations, reducing the likelihoodof consultation fatigue.

Consideration of these areas will allow the equalityand diversity group to develop a broad timetable forthe main stages of the impact assessment process.

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Screening allows colleges to prioritise the policiesthat are of high relevance to race equality andequalities generally, which can then be focused on asa more immediate priority in the reviewing process.

MappingMapping precedes the screening process and canhelp colleges look at how policies fit into the generalframework. It is recommended that collegesundertake an indicative mapping exercise (conductedthrough the equality and diversity group) to outlinetheir functions, within which policies, services andpractices can be located.

Once the mapping exercise is completed, it ispossible to move onto the screening stage.

Screening This process should be undertaken by those whohave best knowledge of the policy, and thereforeshould be driven by heads of departments andpolicy makers.

The following questions should be considered:

• What are the objectives of this policy?

• Who created the policy?

• Who is the policy aimed at?

• How is progress towards outcomes measured?

• Could people of diverse racial groups havedifferent needs in relation to the policy or service?

• Does the policy help promote good racerelations?

• Does this contradict the college’s race equalitypolicy/single equality scheme or objectives?

Reports on the screening process should also outlinethe type of relevant and reputable information usedto answer the above questions.

Screening policies allow the provider to prioritiseareas into high, medium and low relevancecategories, and then establish timelines for actiondependent on their priority level. If a policy, serviceor function is seen as highly relevant to raceequality, it should be prioritised for a full impactassessment, followed by those that have mediumor low relevance.

If the initial screening has identified a potentialimpact, either positive or negative, then a full equalityimpact assessment should be carried out.

Section Three:

This section will look at:• mapping and screening • gathering data • consultation and engagement • analysing data and information.

Implementing equality impact assessments

Unwritten practices, criterion and provisionsThese areas are more difficult to assess thanwritten or codified policies, but progress inidentifying them can be made in the followingways:

• Good and reflective training interventionscan help identify the college standard onrace equality, and show what will and won’tbe tolerated. This can help weed outdiscriminatory practice.

• Engage with staff groups and trade unions to see if there are any practices etc at thecollege that people are uncomfortable with.

• Complaints – it may be possible to look atthe number of complaints that include arace dimension to them. This will helphighlight any particular practices etc thatmay discriminate.

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The equality and diversity group should check anycompleted screenings to make sure that the rightinformation has been considered and that thecompleted screenings are published.

The screening process therefore acts as a filter for providers to identify and focus on the mostimportant issues for each equality area.

The Equality Challenge Unit has published examplesof the screening process in its guidance for highereducation4.

Carrying out a full impact assessmentGathering data There is a natural link between monitoring activitiesand impact assessment exercises, in that the datagathered from monitoring can be analysed in animpact assessment. This link makes it possible for theimpact assessment to identify causal factors behindgaps in representation and/or disparity of treatment.

Data can be either:

a. Quantitative – such as population figures, thenumber of users, census data, indices of multipledeprivation data, workforce data, etc.

b. Qualitative – data that reveals people’sperceptions, such as their views of a service,analysis of complaints and/or outcomes of focusgroups discussions.

Looking at monitoring data within the impactassessment process will also allow colleges toconsider the following:

• How effective have past targets/positive actionbeen? Allowing colleges to better understandwhat works at the local level.

• What are the larger contextual issues for theprovider? Issues around location or history canimpact on colleges, for example past conflictsbetween different groups in the local area.

• How are internal or external provisions beingused? Monitoring data can identify how servicesare being used and more importantly who is notusing them.

An important way of considering these questions in more detail is through effective consultation andengagement with staff. This is looked at in the next section.

TIP: Remember that policies may differ in their‘equality relevance’ to different equality strands.

EXAMPLE: West Nottinghamshire College isdeveloping an equality impact assessment processthat covers race, gender and disability. They haveproduced college-specific guidance, identified thefunctions and policies that are of relevance to eachrespective equality strand and conducted an initialscreening of policies and procedures in relation tohuman resources, corporate and learner issues. www.wnc.ac.uk

4Conducting Equality Impact Assessments in Higher Education, 2007, Equality Challenge Unit,http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/conducting-equality-impact-assessments.pdf/view

Consultation and engagementConsultation and engagement is the central stage ofany equalities impact assessment process. It goesbeyond simply informing people of what will happen,but instead actively involves them in shaping a wayforward. It also allows colleges to gain a clearerinsight to what is happening with staff and learners‘on the ground’. In relation to staff development,consultation can play a vital role in helping withcareer progression and up/reskilling. Echoing therecommendations of the Commission for Black Staffin Further Education, the Learning and SkillsImprovement Service’s Equality and DiversityCompetencies5 recommends that providers impactassess human resources policies, procedures, plansand strategies in consultation with learners and stafffrom diverse backgrounds.

There are a range of possible approaches toconsultation and engagement, and the success ofdifferent methods often depends on the local contextand how well people understand the college’sstandard on race equality and current activities.Colleges can build trust in the impact assessmentprocess by selecting consultation exercises thatprovide a comfortable environment for staff, learnersand/or the wider community. This may includefacilitated focus groups or liaising with informalnetworks through trade unions and team meetings.Colleges can also consider other innovativeapproaches to help elicit feedback.

TIPS:• Make sure that there are adequate resources

available for consultation exercises. • Be clear as to why consultation exercises

are taking place and make it meaningful, asconsultation fatigue is common among manyequality groups.

• It is important to remember that equalitygroups are not homogenous – colleges maytherefore need to consult more than onegroup in each equality group.

• Use innovative ways to raise awareness andattract participation, for example the use ofpayslips, intranet, staff notices, newsletters anduse of a senior-level champion can all help.

• Make sure consultations take place at timesthat are appropriate for people to attend.For example, it may be better to run staffevents outside of working hours, or withclear assurance that staff will not be penalisedif they attend a session during working hours.

• Ensure adherence to the provisions of theData Protection Act – people need to knowthat their responses will be anonymous.

• Both internal and external consultations are a good way of promoting communitycohesion, by facilitating discussion andimproved understanding between peoplefrom diverse backgrounds.

EXAMPLE: Worcestershire County Council has developed a consultation toolkit that can beadapted and used by colleges. When deciding onthe most appropriate consultation method, thinkabout the following:

• Will this method elicit a high level of responsefrom black and minority ethnic staff and thewider community?

• Are there sufficient resources to undertake thisconsultation method?

• How will the college use the consultationfindings in the impact assessment process?

• How will the college provide feedback to thosewho participated in this consultation process?

• Will this be a regular form of consultation or a one-off?

• How will feedback be provided to seniormanagement and the governing body (or equivalent)?

When deciding on the most appropriateconsultation method, colleges should consult withthe recognised trade unions and wider community,ideally through the equality and diversity group. http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/home/wcc-con-toolkit-stage5-a

5Learning and Skills Improvement Service, 2008. Equality and Diversity Competencies [online]. Available from:http://www.centreforexcellence.org.uk/UsersDoc/EqualityDiversityCompetencies_May08.pdf

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CASE STUDY:Subject: The Black Staff GroupOrganisation: West Thames CollegeLink: http://www.lluk.org/race-equality.htm

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Analysis or assessing impactQuantitative data will provide a certain level ofevidence for an impact assessment, which can berefined by gathering qualitative data throughconsultation exercises. Once consultation has takenplace, the equality and diversity group will be in a

position to assess whether the information gatheredis complete. To aid their decision, the equality anddiversity group can develop a framework to identifythe key issues that were consulted upon, and thenthe main findings from those consulted with.

The following template can be used for this purpose:

Key Key Key Key Key message message message message messageone two three four five

Issue

People consulted

Date

Area one

Area two

Area three

Areas one, two and three can include the mainfindings that have emerged from monitoring data,whilst the key messages can include the feedbackgained from consultation.

This type of analysis will allow colleges to extract thekey messages from consultation exercises, and give aclearer idea of the impact of a policy.

Once quantitative and qualitative data has beengathered a full impact assessment can be conducted.In particular, the following areas should be considered:

• the aims and objectives of the policy

• who the policy is aimed at and the rationale for this

• the information that has been considered (bothinternal and external sources)

• consultation and engagement methods

• identification of any gaps in data or information

• impact of the policy, be it positive, neutral ornegative, including unlawful discrimination and theways in which it helps meet the three strands ofthe Race Equality Duty.

The Equality and Human Rights Commissionidentifies the following areas that should beconsidered when analysing any differences for staff,learners and the community6:

a. Is the institution helping all staff and students toachieve as much as they can, and get as much asthey can from what is provided for them?

b. How does the institution explain the differencesbetween groups of students in terms of teachingand learning, drop-out rates, student progressionand achievement, assessment, access to learningresources, support and guidance, and curricularand other opportunities?

c. Are these explanations justified? Can they bejustified on non-racial grounds (for example,English language difficulties)?

d. How does the institution explain the differencesbetween groups of staff in terms of grade andposition, type of contract, career development,training, and other opportunities?

e. Are these explanations justified? Can they bejustified on non-racial grounds (for example, achange in institution-wide policy on permanentrecruitment)?

f. What is the institution doing to:

(i) raise achievement levels and tackle raceinequalities when recruiting staff, and instudents’ performance and progress;

(ii) promote race equality and harmony, bothinside the institution and in the widercommunity; and

(iii)prevent, or deal with, racism?

g. Do the policy’s aims lead to action to deal withany unjustifiable differences that are identified?

h. Is the action appropriate and effective? Are thereany unexpected results? If so, how are they beinghandled?

i. What changes does the institution need to maketo policies, relevant policy aims, and relatedtargets and strategies?

The Commission for Black Staff in Further Educationrecommends that both positive and negative impactis looked at and that the quality of information anddata used features as part of the overall assessmentprocess7. To this end, it provided the following keyquestions to help in this area:

• Could this policy or procedure affect some racialgroups differently?

• What does available statistical data tell us?

• Does the policy or procedure promote good race relations?

• Have we taken account of all relevant andavailable information, for example:

• staff surveys or sampling activities

• feedback from staff consultations and focus groups

• reports from responsible managers and their teams

• the views of the Equality Forum and other key committees.

• Does the policy or procedure need to be revisedin light of this assessment?

136Commission for Racial Equality (now Equality and Human Rights Commission), 2002. Statutory Code of Practice for RaceEquality. Paragraph 6.32.7Commission for Black Staff in Further Education, 2002. Good Practice Guide, Book Two.

The Commission for Black Staff in FurtherEducation recommends that both positive and negative impact is looked at and that thequality of information and data used featuresas part of the overall assessment process.

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Dealing with positive, neutral and negative impactFollowing assessment, it is important to explorethe potential outcomes and next steps as a resultof the exercise.

Negative impact The person conducting the assessment shouldconsider the following action if a negative impact is found:

1. Changes to the policy or the way in which it isimplemented.

2. Adopting a different policy that aims for thesame objectives as the original policy, but avoidsthe negative impact.

3. In a few cases negative impact can be justified ifit relates to a legitimate positive action or healthand safety issue. This is a very narrow optionand the college will need to show that the policyis important on grounds independently of thediscrimination, and that it has tried to find non-discriminatory alternatives to the policywithout success.

In choosing the most appropriate action thefollowing questions may be useful8:

• Are there any alternative measures or mitigationthat could be taken to achieve the desired aimwithout the identified adverse impact?

• What are the consequences for staff andlearners if the college does not take the actionthat best meets the requirements of the Duty?What are the implications for the college?

• Is it justified to proceed with an indirectlydiscriminatory policy? Can the college arguecredibly that the policy aims and objectiveswere essential and justifiable to the organisationand that the means it employed in achievingthem were appropriate and necessary?

These questions will help the person conductingthe impact assessment in choosing the appropriateaction to take in the case of negative impact.

Positive impact If positive impact is found then considerationshould be given to how this impact can be widelypromoted and used in other equality strands. Thepolicy in question should be reviewed again as partof the college’s review cycle.

Section Four:

This section will look at:• dealing with positive, neutral or negative impact • reporting and action-planning • taking recommendations forward• publishing results.

Progressing equality impact assessments

8Adapted from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20687/52424

Once the senior management team orgoverning body has approved anyrecommendations, the equality and diversitygroup should oversee subsequent activity toensure that changes are implemented.

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Neutral impact In the event of a neutral impact, considerationshould be given to ways in which more positiveimpact can be encouraged. The policy in questionshould then be reviewed again as part of thecollege’s review cycle.

Reporting and action-planning All impact assessment exercises should bereported back to the equality and diversity group,who in turn can look at the information assessed,make recommendations and report to the seniormanagement team and governing body (orequivalent). Whilst general reports can follow thecollege’s usual reporting procedures, reports onimpact assessment should include the followinginformation:

• policies reviewed

• summary of assessment process (e.g. information used)

• result

• recommendations.

Taking recommended actions forwardOnce the senior management team or governingbody has approved any recommendations, theequality and diversity group should overseesubsequent activity to ensure that changes areimplemented.

As well as providing feedback to those whoparticipated in the impact assessment process, itwould also be useful for the college to invite feedbackfrom the same people so that improvements can bemade to future assessment exercises.

The equality and diversity group should alsoconsider when the next timetable of review takesplace and put measures in place to improve futureassessment processes.

Lifelong Learning UK5th FloorSt Andrew’s House18-20 St Andrew StreetLondon EC4A 3AY

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Information and Advice Service

020 7936 5798Email: advice@lluk.org

This information is available in alternative formats from Lifelong Learning UK www.lluk.org

Publishing resultsThe Equality and Human Rights Commissionrecommends that the following information isincluded when publishing information oncompleted impact assessments9:

• a description and explanation of the policy,putting it in its wider policy and legislativecontext

• a brief explanation of how the policy wasassessed for its effects on different racial groups,with clear references to the information andresearch used as a benchmark

• a brief description of the consultation methodsused, and a summary of the overall findings

• the conclusions reached through theassessment and consultation as to the likelyeffects of the policy on meeting each part ofthe Race Equality Duty

• an explanation of whether and how theadopted policy differs from the original one

• a statement of the plans for monitoring thepolicy when it is put into effect.

The Association of Colleges and Trade Unions’model agreement on race equality recommendsthat colleges include relevant information on raceequality work within their annual reports10.

EXAMPLE: The Open University haspublished a progress report on its race equalityimpact assessments for both internal and externalaudiences: http://www.open.ac.uk/equality-diversity/

9Adapted from: http://83.137.212.42/sitearchive/cre/duty/reia/how_stage2.html#publish10Association of Colleges, 2008. Joint Agreement on Race Equality [online]. Available from: http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/docs/l/3/fejointag_raceq_08.doc.