Policy | Action | By whom | By when | Outcome expected | Progress and Measure |
|---|
Statistical, economic, analytical and scientific research that will support and inform policy development, ensuring that the needs of disabled people are fully taken into account, | Provision of disaggregated disability data, where possible and feasible to do so in an analytically/statistically robust way, to support departmental policy formulation | Analytical Services Group | Ongoing | Evidenced based policy making reflecting the needs, views and experience of disabled people. | See chapter 3 on information gathering. |
Human Resources. Diversity Strategy - the strategy reflected legislative and organisational priorities that were identified by the working group of both internal and external equalities experts. The chair of the Executive's staff disability network was a member of the working group. Diversity Delivery Plan - sets out how we will ensure proper and effective representation of disabled staff at Senior Civil Service and feeder grade level. By bringing on and bringing in talent will ensure we meet targets to do this. Diversity Placement Scheme Monitoring diversity targets | Review Strategy through involvement with stakeholders including disabled staff and disability network via electronic consultation and meetings. To ensure it reflects staff views and requirements and embraces best practice. Progress, monitor and report on actions within plan every 6 months. This report will also be audited by a Cabinet Office Peer Group. There are a range of actions that will deliver disability equality, including identifying barriers to progression; policy review and monitoring; expanding development opportunities; awareness raising initiatives and embedding diversity in our business planning process. Successful placement of around 5 disabled graduates and non graduates over Easter and summer 2007. Effective re-survey of staff ethnicity and disability. We will do this by reviewing how and at what stages we capture diversity information. We will also positively target all staff whose diversity information is missing or incomplete. This will allow us to monitor and track disabled staff at all stages of their career to check for and rectify any discriminatory or negative effects of any policies or procedures. | Change and Corporate Services: HR Diversity Team Change and Corporate Services: HR Diversity Team/stakeholders Change and Corporate Services: HR Diversity Team Diversity Team | 2008 - thereafter every 3 years. 2008 Summer 2007 and annually thereafter April 2007 and ongoing until the introduction of e-HR in Octber 2007 | Compliance with legal requirements and becoming an exemplar employer and employer of choice. This will ensure that policies encourage and help disabled staff into the organisation and aid retention when they join. Outcomes and targets within plan are achieved. Awareness of the business of the Executive and opportunities is increased amongst disabled people resulting in an increase in disabled people applying for and securing posts in the Executive. Reduction in number of non respondents to surveys below 25%. | The planned review of the Strategy will take place over the coming year. The timing has yet to be agreed. All staff networks, including that for disabled staff, will be fully involved in the review, as will the Scottish Government trades union. A light touch assessment of the Diversity Delivery Plan was undertaken in September and submitted to Cabinet Office. A new Workforce Equalities Taskforce is being set up to accelerate diversity progress. The 2007 summer placement scheme provided places for a total of 16 minority ethnic and disabled graduates. 6 subsequently had their placements extended. 2 students from the Cabinet Office fast stream were also placed. The new e-HR system is now in place and legacy information has been migrated. The new self-service feature, to be introduced in the coming months, will enhance the quantity and quality of our information and also our reporting capabilities. In preparation for the new system, regular re-surveys of non-responders were undertaken to maximise returns. |
Resourcing Policy applies to recruitment and resourcing in the Executive and its Agencies. Those involved in any stage of the staff resourcing process should be aware of and adhere to the contents of this policy. Any feedback from the disability network group will be taken into account. Interchange Strategy: Interchange is a temporary exchange of people between the Scottish Executive and other public, private and voluntary organisations. | We will continue to review the policy and associated processes to ensure they reflect best practice and are legally compliant. We will continue to review Interchange policy and strategy to ensure best practice. In line with wider resourcing policies applications from disabled people are encouraged. | Change and: HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise Change and Corporate Services: HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise | Ongoing. With the introduction of a dedicated Resourcing Centre of expertise within our HR, it will ensure the resourcing and interchange policies will be revised continuously in response to feedback and legislative requirements. | The Executive complies with legal requirements and will be a best practice employer. We will comply with legal requirements and will be best practice employer. | A new Resourcing Policy is currently under negotiation with the trades Unions. Equality issues have been considered throughout development and negotiation. A new Interchange Strategy is in the final stages of preparation. Equality issues have been considered throughout development |
Diversity and equalities training | We are presently reviewing and enhancing the training available to staff (both on their legal duties, their duties as managers, and the impact of policies on disabled people). We are also recruiting for a specialist trainer to take this forward. | Corporate Learning Services ( CLS)/Equality Unit/Diversity Team | Completed. A secondee trainer is now in place. | Managers and policymakers understand and comply with their legal obligations, and produce policies which recognise the needs of disabled people. | A member of the Diversity Team has been seconded (on a half-time basis) to CLS to assist with the development and delivery of diversity training and to develop capacity for the future. The Essentials management training programme contains an integral diversity segment and over 600 staff will have undergone this training by March 2008. A further diversity elective training module has now been piloted A two hour discrimination awareness seminar has been delivered to over 200 staff and delivery of this event will continue until March 2008 when it will be reviewed. In addition, various open learning options have been obtained for staff for whom e-learning is a better and more accessible option. |
Access to training facilities | We continue to meet the specific needs of individual disabled staff so as to enable them to access training by making reasonable adjustments as requested and providing alternative formatted materials. | CLS/Diversity Team | Ongoing in response to need. | Disabled staff can access the same or better development opportunities as colleagues. | External opportunities of particular relevance are circulated to members of our disability network. Reasonable adjustments continue to be made as requested. |
Human Resources Policy Review | The review will include ensuring policies reflect best employment practice and are legally compliant, through benchmarking with other organisations, reference to ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and consultation with Scottish Executive solicitors. | HR Employee Relations, Policy Reviewer | Ongoing during 2006 and 2007. | HR Policies comply with legal requirements (including requirement to promote equality for disabled people) and demonstrate best practice. | We have invested in an additional staffing resource to scope out the requirements for effective Equality Impact Assessment of our HR policies. The scoping work is now complete. The resulting process guidelines have been built into our agreed HR Policy Development Programme planning document and will be implemented as part of each HR policy review. |
Health and Safety | Ensure necessary adaptations identified and implemented to enable disabled staff to operate effectively in the workplace | CCS: Facilities and Estates Services | Ongoing -requirement is to keep up with demand | Services do not provide unreasonable barriers to disability equality | Programme continuing |
Accommodation | Ensure premises compliant under DDA Extend range of adaptations. | CCS: Facilities and estates services A user group to look at existing and new accommodation and IT project and policies will be set up to take account of the views of all groups; including disabled people will be set up in the coming year. | Done Ongoing | Services do not provide unreasonable barriers to disability equality. | Improvements made to accessibility in ongoing, planned programme of works. For example, ongoing programme of work to replace signs within buildings which include braille. User group building on existing groups has been agreed with 6 monthly meeting on issues of interest |
IT services | Ensure appropriate equipment and IT best practice standards are followed. | CCS: Information Systems and Services. A user group to look at existing and new accommodation and IT project and policies will be set up, in the coming year, to take account of the views of all groups, including disabled people. | ongoing | IT accessible to disabled people. | New systems are required to consider disabled users and to comply with disability legislation. Hardware such as large screens, alternative mice and alternative keyboards are provided on request. Software such as voice recognition, talking software and screen magnification software is already available on the desktop or is provided on request. User group building on existing groups has been agreed with 6 monthly meeting on issues of interest |
Internal communications delivery development of corporate internal communications strategy and policy on diversity and equality matters will involve the participation of staff, in consultation with Equality Unit and HR. | Assess current disability equality arrangements - existing commitment to a comprehensive review and evaluation of corporate internal communications, including "accessibility issues", The Team will support the development and delivery of a Diversity and Equality Communications Plan. | Communications Directorate: Corporate Communications Team | Initial review December 2006 - March 2007 thereafter continuing assessment of internal communications impact | new internal communications guidance: practice statement on disability equality matters. | |
Excellence Awards aim to recognise and celebrate those people working on the strategic objectives of the Scottish Government who have gone the extra mile and who can inspire others. | Review current disability equality arrangements - an initial diversity and equality assessment of existing arrangements, in consultation with Equality Unit and HR, followed up with an impact assessment of 2007 Excellence Awards process and outcomes to influence future arrangements. | CCS: Employee Engagement Team | December 2006 Existing Management Group commitment to a 5 year programme of employee surveys - commenced ES 2005 - annual survey evaluation. | We will actively promote the concept of diversity and equality through the Excellence Awards, and as part of any other employee recognition initiatives. | Both Equality and Diversity are championed through the Awards, both as components of particular categories ("Developing Our People"/ People & Business Innovations for 2008) and in terms of being special criteria. The Employee Engagement Team are also actively supporting the Diversity Awards and will invite the winner of the Diversity Awards to our main Excellence Awards ceremony in March 2008. Strategic Board (formerly MG) have agreed to a full review of the Awards after the 2008 ceremony (first 5 years of the Awards). |
Employee Survey. The Executive is committed to annual employee survey as a means of assessing employee engagement across the organisation | Review current disability equality arrangements. The employee survey 2006 action planning workstream will be aligned with the teams ongoing review and evaluation programme - disability equality matters will be taken into full account when developing future employee engagement surveys. | CCS: Employee Engagement Team | | We will recognise the challenges some colleagues may face by producing an accessible Employee Survey which meets established diversity & equality standards and expectations. | Existing Strategic Board commitment to a 5 year programme of Employee Surveys - commenced with ES 2005 - annual survey evaluation. Question on discrimination and harassment included in 2007 survey. |
| Action | By whom | By when | Expected Outcome | Progress and measure |
|---|
1. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that the policies you develop and/or the services you provide pay due regard to the need to eliminate any unlawful discrimination against disabled people? | Ensure staff involved in policy development have access to relevant training information on disability. We are to meet with trade unions to discuss improving the quality of management information around resourcing, specifically in relation to diversity issues. A 2 day workshop is mandatory for training of staff on resourcing issues. This includes a session on diversity issues including disability. | Ensure that we collect and monitor relevant statistics on the uptake of corporate training by disabled staff. Change and Corporate Services: HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise | CLS/Shared Service Centre/Diversity Team Ongoing | Executive meets audit requirements. Scottish Government complies with legal requirements and will be a best practice employer. Disabled staff taking a full part in training opportunities. | By way of a pilot for the newly developed EQIA process an assessment of our age retirement policy has already been undertaken. All HR policies will be subject to equality impact assessment as they are reviewed and this will help ensure that there is no unlawful discrimination against disabled people An Equality Impact Assessment process has been developed for all HR policies and is an integral part of our agreed HR Policy Development Programme Plan. |
Regular monitoring of management information. As part of its annual audit we supply the Office of Civil Service Commissioners ( OCSC) a statement that ensures proper arrangements for disabled staff are in place. | | | Executive meets audit requirements. | Regular Management Information reports on diversity issues will be provided by the new e-HR system. External opportunities of particular relevance are circulated to members of our disability network. The second phase of e-HR should allow us to monitor training for disabled staff. Various other training options are also currently being investigated. |
All IT systems tested to ensure DDA compliance. This includes the internet website of the Scottish Executive | CCS: Information systems. | Ongoing | Accessible IT for disabled people | Systems are required to comply with W3C disability standards. |
In implementing a new HR system, take account of both the needs of disabled people for HR services and their need to access the system. | CCS: e-HR programme team | 12-18 months | Equality of access for disabled people | We have been working closely with our e-HR providers on accessibility issues and will continue to do so to achieve a satisfactory resolution for our disabled staff. |
2. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that the policies you develop and/or the services you provide are able to pay due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between disabled and non-disabled persons? | Ensure that HR policy review and development: - Is carried out in consultation with relevant groups i.e. staff disability network.
- Involves and consults key people, including Diversity Manager, trade unions, Scottish Executive solicitors, and staff.
- Is overseen by a diverse working group including disabled people.
| CCS: HR Policy Leads /Stakeholders | Ongoing | SE achieves and maintains best practice and continues to strive to become exemplar employer and employer of choice. | See 1 above on the Equality Impact Assessment process. This process should help ensure that our HR polices promote equality of opportunity between disabled and non - disabled people. In addition the Diversity Team will continue to provide support and guidance as required. |
The new policies, including guidance and procedures, will: - Take account of the SE Diversity Delivery Plan.
- Have a monitoring and evaluation framework, including Management Information.
- Be clearly communicated to all staff, with training where appropriate.
| CCS: CLS/Diversity Team | Ongoing | See above, also reduced staff turnover and absence. | |
Regular monitoring of staff through all stages of employment to ensure no disparate effects. Where disparate effects are identified remedial action is taken. | CCS: HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise | Ongoing | Ability to obtain feedback directly from disabled staff. | Ongoing - e-HR will dramatically improve our monitoring capability. |
Regular communication with staff disability network. Involvement of members of staff disability network in reviews of training and development. A statement about how we recruit people appears in our recruitment code on our internet web site. Statements about disability are embedded into resourcing policies and strategies. | | The dedicated HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise ensures that the statement is reviewed continuously . | SE complies with legal requirements and will be a best practice employer. | A review of all staff networks has now been completed and volunteer committees are in place. The creation of our confidential mailboxes and electronic bulletin boards will make access to the network easier for disabled staff and those in remote locations |
Appropriate consultation as changes in accommodation are made. A user group to look at existing and new accommodation and IT project and policies to take account of the views of all groups, including disabled people will be set up in the coming year | CCS: Facilities | Ongoing | Equality of access to building and accommodation services. | User group building on existing groups has been agreed with 6 monthly meeting on issues of interest |
Office of the Chief Statistician commissioned work on a gender audit of statistics and research. This report will, where possible, disaggregate statistics on disability, | Analytical Services Group | April 2007 | Wide range of statistics disaggregated by gender and where possible disability and ethnicity, | Completed and published March 2007 |
Constitutional Policy and Civic Participation Team will draw to policy customers' attention through good practice guidance and the Consultation Registration Evaluation System ( CRES) the issue of disability and other equality duties regarding newly commissioned consultations. | OPS: Constitutional Policy and Civic Participation and IT services | January 2007 | Disability issues fully considered in newly commissioned consultations. | |
Stakeholder consultation; e.g. review customer feedback on web services and internal customer feedback to gauge satisfaction with services. | CCS: IT and accommodation services | Ongoing | Services which meet the needs of internal and external disabled users. | ISIS has an officer dedicated to liaison with disabled staff and the provision of suitable hardware and software. A specific budget is allocated for this purpose. A user group to look at existing and new accommodation and IT project and policies will be set up, in the coming year, to take account of the views of all groups, including disabled people. |
3. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that the policies you develop and/or the services you provide are able to pay due regard to the need to eliminate any harassment of disabled people, related to their disability? | Ensure that policy review and development: - is carried out in consultation with relevant groups i.e. staff disability network;
- involves and consults key people, including Diversity Manager, trade unions, Scottish Executive solicitors and staff; and
- is overseen by a diverse working group.
| CCS: Diversity Team | Ongoing | SE achieves and maintains best practice and continues to strive to become exemplar employer and employer of choice. | The Dignity at work review has been completed and is now being implemented. The creation of a pool of Investigating and Deciding Officers from across the organisation will encourage mainstreaming and awareness. |
The new policies, including guidance and procedures, will: - take account of the SE Diversity Delivery Plan;
- have a monitoring and evaluation framework, including Management Information; and
- be clearly communicated to all staff, with training where appropriate.
Regular monitoring of staff through all stages of employment to ensure no disparate effects. Where disparate effects are identified, remedial action is put in place. | CCS: Diversity Team | Ongoing | See above - also reduced staff turnover and absence. | A range of monitoring and reporting measures are now available through the new e-HR system. |
Appropriate consultation as changes in accommodation are made. A user group to look at existing and new accommodation and IT project and policies will be set up to take account of the views of all groups; including disabled people will be set up in the coming year. | CCS: Facilities and Estates Services | Ongoing | Equality of access to building and accommodation services. | User group building on existing groups has been agreed with 6 monthly meeting on issues of interest |
The Mainstreaming Equality Website has been updated and relaunched as the Portal to Resources and Information on Mainstreaming Equalities ( PRIME). It contains a toolkit to help analysts consider, incorporate and address equality issues, including disability, from the early stages of project design to publication dissemination. | Analytical Services Group | Ongoing | Statistical publications proofed to ensure disability issues are addressed. | See chapter 3 on information gathering. |
4. What arrangements will you put in place to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people? | Ensure that both internal and external recruitment advertising literature use positive images of disabled people. The HR policy review will be taking account of this and will be clearly communicated to staff on an ongoing basis, including where training is appropriate. | CCS: Resourcing Centre of Expertise | Ongoing | Increase in applications from disabled people. | The Diversity Team continues to work closely with Resourcing colleagues to provide advice and support.
The Team will also be part of the new working group on resourcing issues,
The diversity summer placement scheme also promoted positive attitudes through the inclusion of disabled students. |
IT project requirements regarding accessibility for disabled people will stand on their own justification and will not be discounted on the basis of cost. | CCS: IT services | Ongoing | Accessible IT for staff and external users ( e.g. internet users). | New systems are required to consider disabled users and to comply with disability legislation. Specialist hardware and software is readily available and a specific officer deals with individual requests and helps system implementers to ensure disabled users are catered for. |
5. What action will you take to encourage the participation of disabled people in public life? | Support for and extension of flexible working hours and flexible work patterns to facilitate staff, including disabled staff, participation in volunteering or other opportunities in their communities. | CCS: Diversity Team | Ongoing | Disabled staff have the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities. | Continue to promote flexible working opportunities, particular at senior grades and to provide advice and guidance to those seeking to work flexibly., including around reasonable adjustment issues for disabled staff. Consideration of increasing provision of the amount of time for staff undertaking volunteering in our volunteering policy is currently underway |
Continue to encourage staff to take part in secondment working with disability organisations. These opportunities are advertised on our internal vacancy board and staff are invited to apply. | CCS: HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise | Ongoing | See above | |
To draw to the attention of policymakers the Office of the Chief Statistician's Social Focus on Disability published in 2004. This publication explores in depth, the characteristics and position of disabled people in Scotland. | Office of the Chief Statistician ( OCS) | Complete | Work produced by OCS provided greater information on disabled people in Scotland enabling relevant action to be considered. | See chapter 3 on information gathering and use of information. |
6. How will you ensure that disabled people are involved in the development of your department's policies and activities? | Regular communication with staff disability network. Including providing the network with information and advice on relevant subjects either electronically or by appropriate speakers and also by seeking and considering their feedback on policy development and internal processes. | CCS: Diversity Team/Stakeholders | Ongoing | The Executive achieves and maintains best practice and continues to strive to become exemplar employer and employer of choice. | Our diversity newsletter will be circulated to all staff on a quarterly basis and will include a report on the work of the disability network and Team contact details. Regular meetings and consultation exercises are also held with our trades unions and the staff network. The inclusion of network groups is also part of our EQIA process. |
Seek and consider feedback from disability network. The HR policy review will include appropriate consultation, including disabled members of staff. | CCS: HR Resourcing Centre of Expertise CCS: HR Employee Relations, Policy Reviewer. | Ongoing | Executive complies with legal requirements and strives to be a best practice employer. | All Diversity networks were invited to input into the Resourcing review. |
Involvement of disabled people and specialist in disability access in accommodation and IT projects. | CCS: FES and ISIS | Ongoing | DDA compliant(and beyond) accommodation and IT facilities. | A user group to look at existing and new accommodation and IT project and policies has been established. |
The PRIME Website assists analysts to consider, include and incorporate ideas and perspectives of disabled people, which informs research and evidence that feed in to policy formulation across the Executive. | Analytical Services Group | Ongoing | Views of disabled people fully taken account of in policy formulation and implementation. | See chapter 3 on information gathering. |
Ensure disabled people are given the opportunity to express their views through SE consultation exercises. | Constitutional Policy and Civic Participation and IT Services | Ongoing | Disabled people consulted on all issues affecting Executive policies. | Constitutional Policy and Civic Participation Team will provide advice to policy colleagues through consultation good practice guidance and consultation registration evaluation system ( CRES) to capture Scotland's demographics. |
7. What arrangements will you put in place to ensure that we are able to report on progress on an annual basis? | Staff monitoring is in place for all stages of employment this will be further enhanced with the introduction of e-HR in late 2007 (an electronic Human Resources data system, which will allow staff to enter, update and manage their own diversity information which will increase the reliability of information and the level of information captured). Re-survey of staff disability to reduce non respondents to fewer than 25%. | CCS: Diversity Team/Management Information Team | Ongoing Complete: e-HR now in place with self service | Robust and reliable information. | The diversity forms have been configured in the e-HR system. The employee self-service, which will enable staff to check and update their own records, will be rolled out to the different areas of the SG, its Agencies and NDPBs using the e-HR system between 5 November and 17 December 2007. Non-response rates down to 25% or less at Band C and in the SCS. |
Continued collation of Statistical information on disabled applicants from external and internal recruitment competitions. | CCS: HR Central Resourcing Unit. (Part of Shared Service Centre) | Ongoing. Has been available from May 2005. | As above. | See chapter 3 on information gathering. |
The HR Policy Review will have a monitoring and evaluation framework, including management information. Progress information will be collected on an ongoing basis. The monitoring and evaluation framework will be used. | CCS Employee Relations, Policy Reviewer. | Throughout 2007/8 and ongoing as review milestones arise. | Diversity is mainstreamed throughout all HR policies. | Monitoring and evaluation framework assesses if/how policy impacts, either positively or negatively, on employees/ different groups. Includes regular analysis of relevant statistics, engaging with the appropriate people from different groups and feedback from HR frontline staff. Provides indicators to enable assessment of how far policies are achieving desired outcomes. Where a potential adverse impact is found a further assessment and/or changes to the policy are considered |