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Race Equality Advisory Forum

7 Consultation with Minority Ethnic Communities

7.1 Introduction

The promotion of more effective consultation with minority ethnic groups is part of developing a more comprehensive understanding of the needs of all communities. It is necessary not only for effective policy-making but also to fulfil the legislative requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. The Act's general duty to promote race equality requires public bodies to seek to avoid unlawful discrimination before it occurs by assessing how their policies and programmes could affect the promotion of race equality. Further to this, key central bodies will also soon be subject to a specific duty to develop means of consulting on proposed policies.

The Forum also sees consultation as being central to effective partnership working with communities. Its own approach of involving members of minority ethnic communities and organisations in wider dialogue on the development of the race equality strategy and action plans at the same time as public, private and mainstream voluntary sector interests demonstrates the value of such direct exchanges.

7.2 When?

It became apparent during the Forum's dialogue with communities that their experiences of participating in consultation processes have often been very negative. In particular, some individuals and communities complained of consultation fatigue.

It was also suggested that some consultation was tokenistic, taking place after decisions had already been made and that public consultation was sometimes used as a means of delaying action and avoiding responsibility. Impressions that minority ethnic consultation is tokenistic have the potential to reduce participation. Efforts should be made to ensure that consultation is, and is seen to be, meaningful.

• Consultation should be built into the process from the beginning so that the purpose of the consultation exercise is clear from the outset.
• Consultation with minority ethnic communities and their representatives should not just take place at one point in the development of policy but throughout the whole process.
• In order to involve and inform minority ethnic community members enough time should be allowed for the consultation process. Extra time might also be needed should translation or interpreting services be utilised.
• The planning of consultation exercises needs to take into account religious festivals or other events that different minority ethnic communities might be involved in so that as many members of minority ethnic communities as possible are able to take part.

7.3 How?

The methods applied to different consultations may have a significant effect on both the outcome of the consultation and the level of participation. Choosing the appropriate method of consultation should involve an examination of both the needs and circumstances of those being consulted and the type of information required. Also some minority ethnic individuals and communities may have specific requirements. Issues of confidentiality, a fear that detailed personal information could be misused and language barriers can be of particular concern for minority ethnic community members who take part in consultations and must be taken into consideration.

Traditional paper-based approaches to consultation can cause difficulties for some members of some minority ethnic communities but at the same time it should not be assumed that this is always the case. A number of factors can contribute to an experience which fails to maximise partnership with communities and enable effective timely input from communities. These include language issues (see below) and lack of the necessary resources within communities to consider the impact of proposed changes.

Focus groups, in-depth interviews or targeted paper-based questionnaires (so long as they take into account language barriers) can all provide a means to involve groups normally excluded from other consultation approaches. Targeted, or structured, consultation methods also allow for consultation with under-represented groups within minority ethnic communities, for example young people or disabled people.

• In-depth interviews and focus groups offer the opportunity to examine and explore sensitive subjects in some detail as reassurance can be provided as to the confidentiality of the exercise.
• When face-to-face consultations are used it is usually advantageous to conduct consultative events in known community locations where possible so that consultees are placed at ease.

7.4 Language

Language can pose a real barrier to participation for some minority ethnic community members. For this reason the Forum suggests that:

• when clarifying the purpose of the consultation exercise it may be appropriate to provide briefing material or seminars in other languages;
• the use of complex, specialist language or jargon in consultation documents should be avoided;
• alternatives to written translations such as tapes of spoken translations into minority languages should be considered;
• where possible, translated material should be provided and disseminated rather than simply being made available on request;
• even non-written forms of consultation, such as informal brainstorming sessions can be excluding because unless everyone involved speaks the same language to the same level some people may find it difficult to follow the conversation or may feel too intimidated to participate fully; and
• for all forms of consultation appropriate steps should be taken for example through the use of interpreters and translators to avoid language barriers.

7.5 Who?

Central to effective consultation is an appropriately structured sample of people, groups or organisations on both sides of the consultation process, those being consulted, but also those involved with designing and carrying out the consultation. This is essential to reflect the diversity of minority ethnic communities and the full range of experiences and circumstances. Although this is an issue which can affect consultation with all groups, some specific concerns exist around consultation with minority ethnic communities.

7.5.1 Those conducting the consultation

The choice of those conducting the consultation, especially if it involves the use of interviewers or facilitators, should also be made carefully as they can have a significant impact on the outcome of the consultation. This could be due to lack of training or because of pre-conceived judgements made by consultees or those conducting the consultation.

• The composition of interviewers or facilitators should be monitored and where appropriate, have some links to the consultees to help encourage full and confident responses.
• Consideration should be given to commissioning or funding specific work in communities by members of the communities themselves. Such work might also identify unexpressed or unmet needs or issues specific to particular communities.
• Consideration should be given to the need for gender matching with the groups being consulted as a female facilitator for a female only focus group to encourage participation.

7.5.2 Those being consulted

In deciding who to consult, the following points should be taken into account:

• consultation needs to recognise diversity both across, and within, minority ethnic communities;
• there is no one-unified minority ethnic voice therefore, it is not possible to gain a representative and comprehensive picture of minority ethnic experiences simply through the use of large or established organisations and known contacts. Some degree of grassroots or local level consultation is required to identify minority ethnic concerns;
• consultation with large organisations and/or known contacts can be valuable as long as the limitations of such consultation are recognised and the purpose of consultation is clear;
• the experiences of minority ethnic people arise from a combination of factors including their age, gender, health, financial circumstances and sexual orientation as well as their ethnicity. In order to reflect the range of minority ethnic experiences and needs a balance must be struck between the interaction of these other dimensions with ethnicity for both the collectors and the users of the information gathered; and
• making assumptions about the ethnicity of consultees on the basis of their physical characteristics can lead to inaccurate findings. Wherever possible, participants should be invited to indicate their own ethnic identity.

Much use has been made by the Forum of existing databases of minority ethnic communities and organisations. In particular, it has relied on Positive Action in Housing's directory containing over 400 contacts, the Black and Ethnic Minorities Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS's) database on voluntary sector organisations and Forum members' own contacts with grassroots interests in communities themselves.

7.6 After Consultation: Feedback

In taking the view that consultation is continuous, feedback should occur throughout the process and responses should be regularly reviewed. In line with the proposed specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, under which information should not only be available but be easily accessible and widely disseminated:

• Statutory organisations should be able to demonstrate through annual reports and other reporting processes the ways in which they have undertaken consultation and to what extent the outcome influenced policy or practice; and
• Feedback should be provided to those consulted and the consultation results should be published.

7.7 Recommendations for Improved Consultation

The Forum welcomes the Scottish Executive Central Research Unit's commissioning of a study to develop good practice guidelines in relation to consultation with equalities groups and more specific work to explore issues of engagement with ethnic minorities.

In order to embed improved consultation processes and mechanisms, the Forum recommends that the Scottish Executive:

• take the lead in continuing to support the development of a Scotland-wide database. This database would include minority ethnic community organisations, researchers with relevant experience and interest and race equality contacts within the public, private and voluntary sector organisations. This is a commitment in the Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy and will make a crucial contribution to the successful implementation of this race equality strategy; and
• encourage public sector interests including Scottish Executive departments, local authorities, health and community care and housing providers to develop sectoral specific better practice on inclusive events and consultation. This to be achieved in part through the issuing of guidance on the purpose and timing of consultation and on ways of identifying the needs and interests of minority ethnic communities.

As part of these efforts to develop better practice, the Forum encourages all Departments of the Scottish Executive and organisations to:

• develop awareness of different approaches which might enhance consultation and dialogue; and
• involve members of minority ethnic communities in trying out different approaches and evaluating their suitability for different types of policy-making, service design and evaluation of implementation.

The Forum also recommends that as a minimum those responsible for consultation with civic society in whatever sphere need to ensure that:

• the Commission for Racial Equality, Racial Equality Councils, BEMIS, the Scottish Interfaith Council and the Scottish Trades Union Congress Black Workers' Committee are included in all consultations along with relevant minority ethnic community organisations with a specific interest in the particular policy or service under consideration such as health, education or enterprise;
• responses are regularly reviewed throughout the consultation period to identify gaps in coverage of respondents and action is taken quickly to make direct approaches to communities to identify any difficulties in responding and to identify what support/assistance is required;
• consideration is given to commissioning and/or funding specific work in communities led by members of the communities themselves. Such work might identify unexpressed or unmet needs or issues specific to particular communities such as Gypsies/Travellers, asylum seekers, faith groups, other groups within minority ethnic communities such as women, older or younger people or those living in cities or more rural areas; and
• for all consultation and civic participation initiatives, consideration is given to the provision of relevant, accessible information in community languages (possibly in summary form) with a statement on decisions on the communication strategy adopted included in all consultation documents and reports. Part of this communication strategy should include consideration of the most effective places, media and ways to raise awareness in communities.

The Forum therefore encourages the Scottish Executive Media and Communications Group to initiate a specific study, with input from communities, on accessible and relevant means of communicating with minority ethnic communities.

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