Highlands and Islands Enterprise Single Equality Scheme

Transcription

1 Highlands and Islands Enterprise Single Equality Scheme Annual Review December 2009 November

2 Single Equality Scheme Annual Review December 2009 November 2010 Contents Forward p. 3 1 Introduction p Progress against our equality action plan p How has our work increased equality p. 14 in the Highlands and Islands? 4. Our approach to equality and diversity going forward p. 16 Appendix A : Equality and Diversity Board Purpose and Remit p. 17 2

3 Forward Alex Paterson, Chief Executive, Highlands and Islands Enterprise Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has a unique remit encompassing economic and community development, and plays a key role in helping to achieve the overall purpose of the Government Economic Strategy (GES) in the Highlands and Islands. HIE s contribution to the Government Economic Strategy is primarily as a strategic investment and advisory body rather than a direct provider of services to individuals. Consequently our contribution to improving equality for the people of the Highlands and Islands is often indirect and as a result of influencing the work of others. Our single equality scheme set out actions we will take to achieve positive equality outcomes for the diverse range of people in our area. This review summarises progress to date based on key areas, identified in December 2009, in which HIE can touch the lives of the people of the Highlands and Islands, through :- supporting and developing high growth businesses and sectors to increase economic participation levels, employment opportunities and earnings supporting the development of vibrant and sustainable communities and social enterprises, particularly those in fragile areas growing our population, including understanding the impact of inward and outward migration supporting the development of new regional infrastructure to increase opportunities particularly in more rural areas developing HIE as an exemplar employer with a diverse workforce, promoting an inclusive culture and reflecting the demographics of our communities promoting and pro-actively demonstrating the business and social benefits of equality and diversity both as an employer and in the delivery of our functions Increasing equality will be demonstrated by a growing and more diverse population across all parts of the area, a widened employment base with higher economic activity rates and rising income levels. It will also be seen in tolerant and welcoming communities will help attract and retain talented people and foster the innovation often synonymous with diverse communities. 3

4 1. Introduction HIE s single equality scheme, developed in a changing legislative environment, draws together activity which addresses the public sector duties in place in December 2009 on race, disability and gender. In addition it considers the other protected characteristics covered by equality legislation at that time ; sexual orientation, religion or belief and age. In October 2010 the Equality Act introduced new protected characteristics of gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity and (in employment) marriage and civil partnership. We will continue to develop the scheme, taking into account these new protected characteristics, when considering equality activity, in anticipation of the new public sector equality duty due to be implemented from April HIE also recognises that disadvantage may be experienced by people living in remote communities and we recognise the significance of our actions both in fragile areas and areas of employment deficit. We are also mindful of our responsibilities under the Gaelic Act and the significance of social inclusion in many of our projects. Although not covered by equality legislation we consider rurality, the Gaelic language and social inclusion when carrying out equality impact assessment on our functions. HIE welcomes the duties as a means of demonstrating the positive changes we can make to enhance the lives and the prospects of people in the Highlands and Islands. The general duties in place up to April 2011 require HIE to give due regard to the need to :- o eliminate unlawful discrimination related to race, disability and gender o eliminate unlawful harassment related to disability and gender o promote equality of opportunity in relation to race, disability and gender o promote good relations between different racial groups o take account of disability even where this favours those who have a disability o promote positive attitudes to disabled people o encourage the participation of disabled people in public life We are also bound by a range of specific duties which assist us to achieve this and these are set out in our single equality scheme One of the specific duties is to publish and review an equality scheme and this report summarises progress in the first year of this scheme. 4

5 2. Progress against our equality action plan In the past year HIE has made significant progress against our action plan. The following information identifies what we have done in relation to the objectives which were priority for the first year of the scheme. Identify equality issues in key sectors In February 2010 Scottish Enterprise and HIE jointly commissioned research to provide baseline equality and diversity information on the main equality issues for each of the Scottish Government s key sectors, as identified in the Government Economic Strategy. In July 2010 Blake Stevenson published their report Equality and Diversity Baseline Information on Scotland s Key Economic Sectors which mapped data by equality characteristics, identified evidence gaps in published data and highlighted equality issues by sector, based on stakeholder information and published research. They also developed a business case which will help strengthening HIE s engagement with businesses around the equality issues identified. Key equality issues identified in the report include :- o under-representation of women, disabled people and those of ethnic minority background in employment across most sectors, particularly at higher levels o skills shortages alongside under-utilisation of skills (e.g. women qualified in science, technology and engineering not in related employment) o falling numbers of young entrants in the climate of an ageing workforce, particularly evident in the universities sector o focus of race-related information on black and minority ethnic populations, with little reliable data on East European migrants, which make up a growing proportion of the workforce in the Highlands and Islands. o occupational segregation and gender pay gaps are evidenced across sectors, particularly in the finance sector We are now taking this work forward to publish Highlands and Islands-specific data by sector which will inform future decision-making. We will also develop a short guide for businesses to promote the business benefits of addressing equality and diversity. Address occupational segregation in key sectors Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) By building links between education and industry students will develop an understanding of how science, technology and mathematics taught in the classroom, has a practical application in the real world. By helping students to realise the relevance we hope they will continue to study the STEM subjects and so gain the skills that employers in our region are looking for in order to grow their businesses. One aspect of this is the STEM Ambassador Programme. Throughout 2010 the Ambassador Programme has continued to grow, attracting a diverse range of volunteers with varied backgrounds and experiences, at all different ages and levels in their profession as well as those working in non-traditional roles. An important aspect has been to recruit appropriate role models to help change the stereotypical attitudes with some STEM professions. In the last year we have increased the diversity of our STEM Ambassador population with a marked rise in 3 particular areas. The percentage of female ambassadors has 5

6 increased by 8% with 33% of our 400 ambassadors being women, exceeding our stated aim of 25%; those from a minority ethnic origin have increased to 4%, higher than proportion of minority ethnic people in the local population and 45% of ambassadors are under age 35 which is a 3% increase in the last year. A cohort of 27 Ambassadors has recently been trained to become mentors to a group of young people; over 50% of our mentors are women and 30% are under age 35. The mentoring will take place on a one-to-one basis however group mentoring sessions will also take place allowing students to hear from a very varied group of volunteers. LifeScan Scotland Ltd were nominated and went on to win the award for the Best Overall Employer (Commercial Business or Public Sector) at this year s Highland Diversity Awards. STEM nominated LifeScan for this award for their commitment to the STEM Ambassador Programme where staff at all levels are encouraged to become ambassadors. Employees are provided with paid time off to visit schools and take part in community events, ensuring that no one is disadvantaged. The diversity that LifeScan are able to offer, gives young people of all abilities and backgrounds, a great insight into the career opportunities that lie ahead. LifeScan are also able to provide great role models through their female engineers, who can encourage young girls to consider the profession and also through their apprentices, many of whom have just left school. The impact the programme is having on young people s choices is currently difficult to measure. We aim to see a marked rise in the number of school pupils studying the STEM subjects at a higher level and hope that this will become evident over a 5 year period. Already, after only two years, feedback suggests that the Programme is already making its mark. Hate Free Highland incident reporting HIE continues to work in partnership with other public sector agencies to develop the online hate incident and crime reporting system Hate Free Highland, first launched in May Reporting from the first year of operation indicates that racism and disability discrimination represent the highest percentages in terms of the types of hate crime being reported through the website 45% racism and 18% disability. The system has shown that reporting of disability hate crime has increased since the launch, when compared to the figures for such incidents in Police annual crime figures. No incidents have been recorded relating to HIE s activities or premises. A strength of the initiative is that it offers an alternative to reporting incidents direct to the Police and provides a source of victim and witness support, should it be required. Further promotion of the website and the involvement of additional voluntary and community organisations as third party reporters are key priorities for the partnership. In October 2010 training was provided for new third party reporting agencies, which will increase awareness and use of the reporting facility, encourage reporting of incidents not previously captured by the system and widen the support available to victims and witnesses. The website can be accessed at Young people in the Highlands and Islands The report Young People in the Highlands and Islands, published in 2009, explored the reasons behind the lack of young people in our population. If the Highlands and Islands had the same age profile as Scotland there would be 18,500 (25%) more 6

7 people in the age group resident in our area. The gap varies, significantly greater in rural areas and the islands and considerably less in large towns. In addition, it found that there were fewer young women than young men in the area; of the gap of 18,500 around 60% are women. Reversing this loss of young people is the central reason why HIE is supporting UHI. The placement programme outlined below, whilst open to both men and women, expects to attract proportionately more young women to the newly created posts and this will help address the deficit outlined above. Graduate Placement Programme In April 2010, the HIE Board approved the HI-Grads project, a 2.4M project which aims to increase innovation through links between HIE businesses and universities and to address youth out-migration by creating graduate level jobs. The project is funded by HIE, ERDF, Scottish Funding Council, Technology Strategy Board and Skills Development Scotland and is jointly promoted at Scottish level with Scottish Enterprise under the branding the TalentScotland Graduate Placement Programme. Over three years, HIE aims to support up to 130 graduate placements, 160 summer placement and 60 Shorter Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. As well as providing the infrastructure to promote, deliver and support the placements, HIE is subsiding wages to encourage uptake of the three programmes. In line with HIE s focus on supporting fragile areas and areas of employment deficit and our remit to support the social enterprise sector, a sliding scale of wage subsidy was approved by the HIE Board. The intervention rate of 60% applies to businesses in the most challenging areas and to social enterprises and will encourage the provision of graduate level jobs and business innovation in the areas and organisations which are most disadvantaged and require the most support. We are working to a target of 50 graduate placements in the challenge areas. Lower intervention rates apply in the Inner Moray Firth area (25%) and in the remainder of the region (40%). Equality impact assessment recognised that rurality was an issue in terms of the uptake of placements and that the sliding scale of intervention addressed this. For those in placement in the more remote organisations, the cost and time involved in travel to the mandatory training course was identified as a barrier. HIE has addressed this by supporting reasonable travel costs for journeys where the round trip is greater than 40 miles. International students in the Highlands and Scotland are encouraged to apply for graduate placements and businesses will be informed of the benefits of such graduates in an induction pack which covers a range of issues. At the application stage, candidates will be asked to complete an equality monitoring questionnaire and these will be analysed in relation to successful appointments. East European graduates who are currently working well below their skill level will be encouraged to apply for graduate placements. HIE Employment Occupational segregation and equal pay HIE asked the Close the Gap Project to help us understand the reasons underlying an imbalance in the distribution of men and women across HIE s grades, with more men currently at higher grades and more women at lower grades. Close the Gap delivered a report, published to staff in July 2010, outlining the views expressed by the men and women who attended gender workshops or gave interviews and this formed the basis of an associated action plan. This exercise highlighted to us the value of open communication and transparency as some of the suggestions relate to work we already do behind the scenes but which is not apparent to all staff. The 7

8 action plan, endorsed by HIE s Management Team, draws on the report s comments and suggestions and focuses on actions being implemented during 2010 and 2011, across the key areas of culture and policy, recruitment and selection and performance management and development. This will help ensure that both women and men can progress freely within HIE according to their abilities and aspirations. Diversity of HIE s recruitment pool In June 2010 HIE implemented online recruitment for both external and internal appointments, which, in conjunction with widening our recruitment advertising, is likely to increase the diversity of our candidate pool. The system has significantly improved the quality and accessibility of recruitment monitoring, reporting and analysis. Recruitment monitoring statistics cover all six equality strands covered by legislation at the time of going live and this will be reviewed in light of the new protected characteristics effective from October Once we have six months data gathered via the online system (January 2011) we will review recruitment and appointment monitoring statistics and do so annually thereafter to identify trends and ensure that the diversity of the candidate pool is reflected in appointments. Disabled employee network In May 2010 HIE, as part of a partnership of eight public sector agencies, delivered a seminar Disability in the Workplace - Valuing and Supporting Staff which aimed to: raise awareness of the support available to employees who have a disability or disabilities and to their managers look at the causes of disability discrimination in the workplace and consider strategies designed to promote disability equality share and promote good practice and explore the potential for disabled employees to set up and run a disabled employee network. This event was an opportunity to take forward joint action to promote and advance equality and challenge discrimination and prejudice. In addition to valuable networking opportunities and sharing information on working practices and disabilities, the benefits of partnership working included shared organisation of the event and efficiencies in shared costs. Over half of the line managers and disabled employees completed an evaluation form which provided valuable lessons for future events as well as highlighting the enthusiasm and energy generated on the day. Equality monitoring of respondents shows that :- o Over 80% were female. o Most were aged between o 46% stated that they were a disabled employee and 29% that they linemanaged employees who have a disability. Of those with a disability, physical/mobility issues were most prevalent, followed by sensory impairment, mental health difficulty and learning disability. Of the respondents who attended the session on disability and employee networks, 40% expressed a definite interest in participating in a potential employee network with a further 28% who would consider participating. An outline of the event, includes a DVD featuring key speakers, a summary of the workshops and associated event documentation. A subsequent meeting, open to disabled employees from the partner agencies, took place on 3 November. A group of disabled employees has elected to establish a 8

9 disabled employee network across the partner agencies and HIE has committed to supporting the network going forward. Equality training plan All employees and board members currently have access to an e-learning package of six modules covering equality legislation, information about employees rights and responsibilities relating to equality and diversity in employment and in service delivery and specialist information for managers and for those who mainstream or develop equality strategy. To date over 80% of staff have completed at least one module and all new recruits are required to complete a module as part of induction. The resource also acts as a reference tool, with access to internal equality-related documents as well as external websites and sources of confidential support. HIE has developed an equality and diversity training plan to complement the e- learning resource which includes the development of internally run awareness-raising workshops, open to all employees, on equality and diversity in HIE. This will articulate HIE s approach to equality and diversity and outline our equality outcomes. Workshops will also be delivered, open to all employees, on equality impact assessment, an essential tool to identify the impact of our activities on equality groups and also to strengthen the evidence base around equality. The workshops can also act as a refresher for those who have already received training. Equality will also be mainstreamed into other training. For example a training toolkit is being developed for all line managers, including soft skills training, and equality and diversity will be included in the programme and checklist. In addition an Applied Skills Group is currently looking at providing ongoing support for account managers (who deal with businesses and communities) in terms of technical training and mentoring /coaching. A session on equality and diversity set in the context of account management will be included. Two members of the Human Resources team have trained and qualified as members of a partnership mediation pool. This increases our ability to respond appropriately and professionally should any situations arise requiring mediation, situations which often revolve around equality issues. All of these elements will ensure that a range of equality and diversity training is available, appropriate to employees roles. The workshops and training will be developed for implementation from Highland Diversity Awards 2010 The Highland Diversity Awards, developed by a partnership of public sector agencies including HIE, aim to :- recognise inclusive employment practices across the public, private and social enterprise sectors recognise exceptional achievement by employers and by individuals demonstrate the benefits of inclusion in employment, whether related to age, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and social or financial circumstances. Now in its third year, interest in the awards is growing, helping us promote the business and individual benefits of a diverse workplace. The 2010 awards were presented in May in front of an invited audience of business and community representatives. Award winners included two companies supported by HIE, Rag 9

10 Tag n Textile (Overall Best Employer Social Enterprise) and Lifescan Scotland (Overall Best Employer - Commercial Business or Public Sector). This year HIE funded the filming of short video-clips to introduce each finalist, outlining the reasons for their nomination. In the spirit of the awards it was a requirement of the filming contract that the videos be produced with community involvement which would give participants the opportunity to acquire skills or experience which they would not otherwise have gained. Phoenix VP worked with the Falcon Group, adults who have special needs, offering six people the opportunity to build personal and social skills to enable them to interact with awards finalists in the filming process. This also involved two days training on camera or interview skills. The use of the video clips was universally acclaimed as a major enhancement to the awards ceremony. Particular efforts were made this year to increase the diversity of nominations. The partnership also published a set of guiding principles which set out how the awards are organised, promoted and funded to ensure transparency. In August 2010 a benchmark analysis was carried out to establish the balance of nominations, shortlisting and finalists by equality strands, as well as the geographical reach across Highland. The benchmarking report identified that, although disability continues to be the main equality category recognised, overcoming other factors such as age, offending behaviour and long-term unemployment were also acknowledged. There was an absence of nominations around race or personal identity (religion or belief or sexual orientation) and the report recommended investigating the reasons underlying this. For example these categories may be less visible in our communities and therefore not nominated or they may not be seen as barriers to employment. The wide geographical spread of nominations reflects the local value placed on the awards and demonstrates that good practice exists and can be celebrated across our area. The benchmarking data will be used to assess the changing nature of the awards over time and to determine how they can best contribute to supporting an inclusive culture in Highland businesses and communities. As recommended a focus group was held on 4 August and considered ways in which the documentation and nomination process can be improved as well as seeking suggestions to widen awareness of the awards and enhance promotion. The group identified a range of ways in which the diversity of the awards can be increased for future years, from increasing the involvement of business and community champions to developing an online nomination process. Suggestions were fed back to the partnership groups for consideration in preparation for the 2011 awards. Equality Impact Assessment Equality impact assessment is carried out on a range of activities across HIE, such as projects which support account managed businesses to develop employment opportunities, investment to support the European Marine Energy Centre, partnership working on effective exploitation of information communications technology (digital Highlands and Islands), HIE s internal employment policies, and all projects which attract European funding (for which HIE is the strategic delivery body). Equality impact assessment training for employees in a variety of disciplines across HIE was delivered by an external provider in March In order to open up 10

11 training across HIE in-house workshops, which will draw on HIE case studies as well as the growing evidence base on equality issues experienced by our key sectors, will be offered from A review of equality impact assessments carried out to date is currently underway. This will provide a valuable source of data on the areas of HIE activity which have the greatest impact on different groups of people, identify evidence gaps, inform our decision-making and provide materials for the development of training workshops. Community engagement HIE s support in developing vibrant and sustainable communities and social enterprises is particularly important in our fragile areas. HIE s programme of intensive support for communities, delivered through a model of community account management, aims to achieve sustainable community action planning, sustainable community incomes and greater cohesion. Community Surveys A series of resident surveys were commissioned in May 2010 to explore the attitudes of people living in remote and disadvantaged communities with a view to understanding priorities within communities, community capacity and the level of community confidence. By October surveys were completed with two further phases of surveying to be carried out. The surveys included monitoring on four equality characteristics : gender, age, race and disability. As well as exploring peoples views and experiences of employment, job opportunities and community involvement some questions were also included specifically exploring peoples experiences of how inclusive their community is, and the experience of minority groups. Initial analysis shows that respondents expressed a range of views about identity, both positive and negative. These covered race (English / Scottish as well non-british), disability, sexual orientation and faith. There was less comment around gender and age. This information will be explored further to identify whether issues raised are experienced locally or more widely prevalent. It is planned to repeat the surveys in three to five years time, which will enable us to monitor changes over time against the benchmark data. Gaelic Language HIE recognises that the diminishing Gaelic speaking population requires support in order to avoid inequalities arising and HIE assesses the impact of our functions on Gaelic speakers alongside other equality characteristics in our equality impact assessment. HIE continues to invest in Gaelic development through its procured contract with Commun na Gàidhlig including support for Gaelic student summer placements, and three grant funds for community regeneration, marketing and signage and innovation. Commun na Gàidhlig also runs a Gaelic community of the year and a Gaelic business of the year competition on behalf of HIE to raise awareness of the value which Gaelic gives our society. HIE also supports the Gaelic speaking community through its investments in Clì Gàidhlig, a Gaelic learners organisation and Fèisean na Gaidheal, the umbrella organisation supporting Fèisean, which in turn develops musical talent in the Celtic tradition. HIE has also made a significant investment in the Soillse (Gaelic research) 11

12 project which is gearing up to deliver contemporary research to support the maintenance and development of Gaelic language and culture. Cultural Development HIE contributes to the support of community cultural activity and has allocated funding to HI~Arts to support an audience development programme, focusing on disability equality within the cultural sector. The aim of the programme is to develop a range of services and activities designed to raise awareness and where necessary change the perception of disability equality and access issues for the sector. Highland Public Services Partnership In January 2010 the Highland Public Services Partnership Equality and Diversity Group agreed a three year work plan, focussing resources and funding in year one on developing and promoting Hate Free Highland, discussed above. The group funded a project worker to provide project support and promotion, specifically expanding work with third party reporting agencies and awareness raising, updating the website and developing website protocols. The project worker, appointed in September 2010 has since refreshed and delivered third party reporting agency training and explored website development required to reflect legislative changes. Procurement / Business engagement During 2010 HIE worked with a range of partners to identify ways in which support can be provided for businesses applying for public sector contracts. Many businesses, particularly SMEs, do not have sufficient awareness of the requirements placed on contractors around equality and hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2012 offers the opportunity to link promotion of equality and diversity with winning public sector contracts. The group is exploring how businesses can be supported, by drawing together existing resources or planned initiatives, and with the aim of supporting the development of an accredited equality standard for businesses. This work will continue into Homeworking Initiatives HIE has supported a range of initiatives which focus on realising the business benefits of home-working. Home-working can offer advantages for employers, their existing workforce and potential recruits who would otherwise be remote from the labour market. This can be particularly suitable for people who are carers and unable to work traditional full-time hours, those who have a disability which can be accommodated more easily at home and without the need to travel to work and people remote from traditional workplaces and from suitable transport links. Vertex Home-working Pilot In 2009 Vertex, a leading international Customer Management Outsourcing business, established a model of operating some of its contact centre activity on a six month trial basis from a hub of home offices in Ross-shire and Sutherland. Vertex wished to explored home working as a solution to allow it to expand its business further. Working with HIE, the Highland Employer Coalition and Jobcentre Plus, Vertex targeted people within the community not normally able to access a traditional workplace for a number of reasons such as disability, caring responsibilities and childcare demands. As well as providing a benefit for Vertex the project also aimed to boost the cohesion of the local communities involved. 12

13 A review of their pilot was carried out in May 2010 which concluded that the pilot had been extremely successful, with 11 of the 12 recruits still in employment, a higher than average retention rate. Quality indicators were above average for Vertex staff indicating the business benefits to be realised by engaging with those distanced from traditional employment. In additional to the 12 pilot recruits a further 20 employees were recruited to the Dingwall site, an unexpected spin-off of exploring this candidate pool. As well as benefiting recruits the pilot has suggested significant opportunities to support further economic development in the Highlands and Islands, including the more remote communities with fewer job opportunities. This will offer sustainable jobs to people currently excluded from the labour market, cutting across a range of equality groups including people who have a disability and those who have caring responsibilities, who are predominantly women. Arise - home-working in the Western Isles and Bute HIE has also worked with Arise Virtual Solutions UK Limited, a leading provider of virtual business services for brands seeking to improve business results through their sales and service channels. The Arise business model has been developed over a number of years in the US where they have around 9000 home based contractors. Their homeworking model offers a good opportunity for people in areas where there are few office based opportunities or where peoples particular circumstances make it necessary for them to work from their home environment. HIE have assisted the development of home working for many years in the Highlands and Islands and are working with Arise to further enhance their model for the UK and especially the Highlands and Islands. HIE ran a series of workshops in Stornoway, Uist, Fort William and Rothesay which attracted a range of skilled people interested in homeworking, including some people who have disabilities and some for whom travel to work is an issue. As well as providing home-based employment the Arise training is of a very high standard and all delivered on-line to peoples homes. One person with whom HIE has worked closely is Ron Turner on the Isle of Bute : "I just can't stress just how strong an opportunity this is for people who want to work in rural areas or who have other commitments. People looking for a second income, those with young families, or even just people who live in an area with few opportunities can find home working an excellent solution. Supporting Inward Migration Although inward migration from Eastern Europe has dropped to the lowest levels since 2005, many migrant workers remain in the Highlands and Islands. These are mainly young and well educated workers who can contribute to both demographic and skills needs of the region if they are to remain as longer term residents. Programmes to support migrant workers and their families in integration into the community and the workplace have continued through-out 2010 although some of the earliest projects have been mainstreamed into general service provision. HIE continues to support an English language project which delivers language classes at all levels, supports tutor development and aligns to strategy at Scottish level. The appointment of a Migrant Worker Co-ordinator has been delayed, but it is anticipate that this role will begin in January As well as co-ordinating activities and improving communication, this role will focus on mainstreaming inward migrant policy and practice into wider service provision and policy development. 13

14 3. How has our work improved equality in the Highlands and Islands? As mentioned in the introduction the current public sector duties focus on eliminating discrimination and harassment and promoting equality of opportunity in relation to race, disability and gender, as well as additional duties relating to disabled people. The activities outlined above contribute to these aims, with many activities cutting across the duties. For example :- o the Hate Free Highland reporting tool is specifically designed to eliminate discrimination and harassment but it also serves to promote equality and foster good relations between different groups of people. During the first year we have already seen an increase in the reporting of incidents related to disability, which would otherwise have been unrecorded. o Internally, the development of our equality training plan promotes an inclusive culture while minimising the potential for discrimination in recruitment and selection and in our employment practices. Over time we can monitor staff views (via the staff survey and exit interviews), instances of equality-related grievances or other issues and retention rates to quantify the benefits of this approach. Some initiatives focus on particular equality groups where specific disadvantage has been identified. For example :- o our work on occupational segregation recognises and aims to reduce the gender pay gap as well as increasing representation of women in senior roles, both internally within HIE and in some of our key sectors :- o HIE completes an internal equal pay review every two years and initial findings for the current review (not yet completed) indicate that HIE s pay gap is reducing. o the STEM Ambassador programme aims to promote equality for young women by providing suitable role models in non-traditional careers. The diversity (gender, age and race) of our STEM Ambassador population has increase; female ambassadors now represent 33% of the total group, exceeding our stated aim of 25%; those from a minority ethnic origin have increased to 4%, significantly higher than proportion of minority ethnic people in the local population; 45% of ambassadors are under age 35 which is a 3% increase in the last year. Of the recent cohort of 27 Ambassadors trained to become mentors; over 50% are women and 30% are under age 35. o the development of a disabled employee network recognises the particular disadvantage often experienced by employees who have a disability. The development of the network will provide for employees a means of sharing their experiences with peers. They will also be able to raise disability related issues with their employer in a supported environment. This initiative also recognises the duties to take account of disability even where this favours those who have a disability, to promote positive attitudes to disabled people and to encourage the participation of disabled people in public life. o initiatives to support inward migration aim to foster good relations between people of different races who are often working below their skill level. Support has been varied over time to reflect the changing needs of inward migrants and their families, resulting in many choosing to stay in our area. 14

15 We also have a duty to promote equality and some of our activity aims to raise awareness across the general public in our communities or to the business community. For example :- o the Highland Diversity Awards celebrate good practice in employment across all equality characteristics, as well as other sources of disadvantage such as long-term unemployment. Over the three years of the awards the diversity of nominations has increased, although we are aware that this can still be improved. Feedback from those attending the awards ceremony indicates that businesses present take away ideas to make their own organisations more inclusive. o Our work with Vertex, alongside the Highland Employer Coalition, and with Arise demonstrate the business benefits of inclusive employment practices, resulting in business growth as well as providing employment opportunities for those distant from the traditional recruitment market place. However in order to address inequalities we first have to understand the equality issues which affect the people of the Highlands and Islands. This requires us to build a robust equality evidence base, relevant to the people of the Highlands and Islands. Commissioning research to identify equality issues in the key sectors has been a vital first step in this understanding. It also identified significant gaps in data e.g. around sexual orientation and religion or belief. It is likely that there will be minimal information on the new protected equality characteristics from October By including monitoring data and relevant equality-related questions in surveys and research we can build on this over time. We have begun to do so in our employment activity (staff survey and equal pay review), in the youth migration study in 2009 and in the community surveys in We have also specified the need for equality data in the tender procuring economic updates and we will continue to look for ways to supplement our evidence base in the future. 15

16 4. Our approach to equality and diversity for the future HIE welcomes the public sector equality duties as a means of promoting and achieving equality and diversity. We will maintain and update the actions in our equality scheme, to be replaced in due course by equality outcomes as proposed for the new equality duty effective from Much of the work we do is in partnership with other agencies and we will continue to seek out and develop opportunities to work in partnership, realising the benefits of shared outcomes as well as economies of scale. In 2010 HIE established an Equality and Diversity Board, to ensure, on behalf of HIE s management team, that we adopt an approach which realises the benefits of, and achieves compliance with, the public sector duty on equality. This is consistent with a drive to achieve continual improvement through Best Value practice. The Equality and Diversity Board will lead on and drive HIE s strategic approach to equality and diversity, identifying and promoting the economic and business benefits of equality and diversity for HIE and for the businesses and communities of the Highlands and Islands. This relates to how we act as an employer as well as in the delivery of our functions. The remit of the Equality and Diversity Board is attached at Appendix A. In December 2010 the first annual report on equality and diversity will be submitted to the HIE Board, ensuring that equality sits at the heart of our strategic and operational activity. 16

17 Appendix A Equality and Diversity Board Purpose and remit Purpose The Equality and Diversity Board will ensure for management team that HIE adopts an approach which realises the benefits of, and achieves compliance with, the public sector duty on equality. The Board will lead on and drive HIE s strategic approach to equality and diversity, identifying and promoting the economic and business benefits of equality and diversity for HIE and for the businesses and communities of the Highlands and Islands. This relates to how we act as an employer as well as in the delivery of our objectives. Remit The remit of the Board is to :- develop, maintain and publish relevant equality outcomes, aligned to HIE s Operating Plan monitor and review delivery against the outcomes and report on progress promote culture change to establish HIE as an exemplar in our approach to equality and diversity, both internally and externally, through our influencing role consider the resource implications of the delivery of HIE s equality agenda encourage and support mainstreaming of equality and diversity activity in HIE and report on progress prepare an annual report on progress of equality outcomes for the HIE Board to oversee HIE s implementation of equality impact assessment (EqIA) by :- completing an Assessment for Relevance for equality of HIE s functions and identifying significant policies as priority for EqIA scheduling priority EqIAs with due regard to resource implications providing quality assurance of priority EqIAs carried out taking a strategic overview of EqIA outcomes as reported by the Equality Impact Assessment group Frequency of meeting Group to meet quarterly on dates agreed annually 17