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Listen
Fair Enough?
Fair For All Progress Report:
Analysis of Race Equality Schemes and Fair For All Action Plans
The Way Forward
Much work has gone into the preparation of Schemes and Action Plans. Commitment and enthusiasm has generally been demonstrated.
The real work lies in what is delivered on the ground, and whether the experience of all communities truly reflects fairness, justice and equity.
This is echoed by Robin Schneider, co-author of the survey mentioned earlier, (Towards Racial Equality, CRE, 2003), who says
"The need now is to focus on outcomes. Year one has been about putting the foundations in place, subsequent years are about making a real difference in the things the public will notice _ setting goals for service user satisfaction, or employee profiles - accompanied by transparent reporting of progress, so that those that are responsible can be properly held accountable. The heat will be on our public servants to deliver."
The Next Steps
With this report, the review by the independent consultants is concluded. The CRE, NRCEMH, Scottish Executive and individual Boards and Trusts will need to consider the recommendations and their implications.
- Comments on this report and on individual analyses will need to be taken forward by individual Boards and Trusts. It may be relevant for common issues to be discussed through the NRCEMH and its range of networks.
- In line with RRAA guidance, Boards and Trusts should be preparing detailed year 2 Action Plans and considering priorities for year 3.
- The CRE expects reports on progress at least annually.
- All Schemes should also be reviewed in full at the end of year 3 i.e. by November 2005.
- Discussions are currently taking place to consider the different reporting dates under RRAA and FFA and the difficulties this places on Boards and Trusts.
- Support and guidance continue to be available from the CRE and NRCEMH, both individually for public authorities, and in the production of national guidance.
- The CRE also continues to have an enforcement role in relation to RRAA.
Methodology
National Assessment Framework
The foundation for analysis of all the Schemes and Action Plans is a National Assessment Framework (Appendix D). This Framework was drafted for reference by the consultants during the analysis exercise. It was also intended as a rich source of guidance and suggestions for Boards and Trusts as they refined their Schemes and Action Plans and for the longer term. It is potentially of use to other public authorities.
The National Assessment Framework lists a range of areas which a comprehensive Scheme and Action Plan covering race equality and cultural competence might be expected to include. It goes beyond the legal and policy requirements. The Framework is not a checklist and there was therefore no scoring system. Few if any organisations could be expected to satisfy the full range of indicators.
Individual analyses and summaries
The main product of the analysis of Schemes and Action Plans using this Framework has been the individual analyses and summary reports. Only the summaries are included in the CD-rom which is being published to accompany this report. The detailed individual analyses were intended for reference for the organisations concerned.
The approach taken in the individual assessments has been to identify within the Scheme and Action Plan whether or not the RRAA and FFA requirements have been reflected. In addition, the analysis identifies areas of good practice and areas for general improvement. The assessments have taken into account the context of the organisation (e.g. whether or not there is a history of work in the area of black/minority ethnic service provision and employment). The process has been designed to be both robust and supportive.
A two stage process: preliminary and final reports
A preliminary report was issued in early March 2003. It reflected the results of the analysis of Race Equality Schemes (published on 30 November 2002) and was also intended to assist with the preparation of Fair For All (FFA) Action Plans (submitted on 31 March 2003). In the event, many Boards and Trusts submitted at least a preliminary Action Plan together with their Race Equality Scheme at this initial stage. The preliminary analysis in that case covered both documents with the proviso that there would be a further review after the deadline for the FFA Action plans.
This report is the second stage and is the final report of the project. It reflects the final individual analyses and summaries. The summary of findings now incorporates both recommendations and examples of practice and planning. In addition, this new summary covers 27 Schemes and Action Plans (rather than the 15 covered in the preliminary report summary of findings).
Comments to and from Boards and Trusts
NRCEMH and the CRE sought copies of Schemes from Boards and Trusts after 30 November 2002. Difficulties and delays (for various reasons) in obtaining all the Schemes for analysis to take place meant that the preliminary report and individual analyses were issued much later than had been intended. Thus Boards and Trusts did not have much time to take account of comments when revising Schemes and Action Plans. Whilst some were able to reflect comments in Schemes and Action Plans, many were not. The analyses therefore reflect a range of positions so direct comparison is not valid between Schemes. An attempt has been made to show the position for each Board.
Comments were also sought from Boards and Trusts on the analysis that had been provided. Many positive comments were received indicating that comments had been helpful in developing thinking and planning in the areas of racial equality, cultural diversity and cultural competence.
There were many specific comments and explanations offered on the individual analyses and summaries. The consultants have done their best to revise each analysis and summary as appropriate to reflect the additional information or clarification. However, this has generally been done only where such additional information is now part of the Scheme or Action Plan or where omissions may have been made the first time around. (The principle has been to comment on the documents that are known to be publicly available, i.e. the Scheme and Action Plan proper.)
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