BMG meeting date Issue Equality Considerations

Transcription

1 BMG meeting date Issue Equality Considerations 15 th February 2011 IC objectives 2011/12 None anticipated PCC callbacks Incidence of callers referred to PCC calling back to Helpline Centralised location of IC services It is not anticipated that selecting one location in preference to another will impact markedly on protected characteristics, except perhaps as regards ethnic diversity. That is likely to be most easily maintained or increased by choosing a location with an ethnically diverse Updating of IC client service standards CIWM policy guidance (agreed by correspondence) population. It is not anticipated that this measure will have any adverse impacts on persons covered by protected characteristics, indeed it is possible it could lead to better outcomes for such people No issues identified 15 th March 2011 Guidance update Implementation of guidance strategy Developing Future Leaders CIWM & CMC standards Whether to revise CIWM to meet the new CMC standards Procurement strategy securing greater value Not required (no changes made) An initial equality impact assessment has been carried out, and a full assessment will be required in due course. No impact

2 for money from government procurement expenditure Transparency agenda public publishing of tender and contract documents 19 th April 2011 Estates update BIS management of the estates BMG terms of reference Guidance product performance Finance processing transferring financial processing to the Centre 18 th May 2011 Phoenix benefits realisation Surplus selection process Roll out of training for experienced conciliators Decision taken elsewhere The training courses will be run in Area offices to minimise travel time and access issues. The training team is experienced in seeking information and making adjustments required to enable delegates to benefit fully from training. The delivery of training has no immediate impact on service users but the provision of training on face to face and joint meetings should assist us in meeting our equality obligations to service users who prefer this approach. An EIA of the IC

3 service as a whole is currently underway and any findings from this can be incorporated into this training as it is rolled out. 14 th June 2011 e-learning update Potential disability issues around audiovisual accessibility are addressed through current website policies and format. Consultation with TUs may highlight other issues. Social media current use of social media in Acas and report on progress against recommendations Our work on social media may have an impact on those with disabilities and raise potential accessibility issues for them. However, much work has been done and continues to be done to ensure content hosted on our website meets the required accessibility standards, including by providing subtitles for our videos and accompanying all of our videos and podcasts with transcripts. The external social media sites that we use/will be using all have their own obligations to meet accessibility standards and, as long as we do not add non-accessible content to them, should not present additional issues for disabled users. Furthermore, providing content in different

4 digital formats could help us to reach people who may not be able to access our content and services in traditional formats. Guidance update Model workplace update research findings and plans for its promotion Direct PCC referrals achieving targets for PCC referrals coming directly to the conciliation team IC staffing forecast Helpline staffing levels 12 th July 2011 Open track cases initiatives to improve performance Given the above, a full impact assessment is not considered necessary. Not required Not required There are no specific equality issues relating to this proposal beyond those which relate to the provision of individual conciliation as a whole and we are currently undertaking an EIA of the IC business. The model itself does not have any equality considerations but the decisions which arise from it may and will need to be assessed as they are made. A full equality impact assessment has not yet been conducted but will be once the BMG has indicated which of the options it favours. An EIA of Individual Conciliation as a whole is underway. There are potential equality issues for staff in arranging joint meetings and attending training. The training issues are being minimised by offering a number of

5 locations for training and seeking information on delegate needs in advance. Case management discussions - Evaluation of the second Employment Tribunal/Acas pilot on attendance of Acas Individual Conciliators at Case Management Discussions Early conciliation flowchart showing potential model 13 th September 2011 New Schools implications of Acas ICMs are responsible for making local adjustments to handle any situations where staff are unable to travel or conduct face to face meetings for equality reasons. An equality impact assessment would be needed if roll out was agreed. There are implications of asking staff to travel to Tribunal offices which are not their usual place of work for which adjustments might be needed for those with disabilities or caring requirements. Most of the cases listed for CMDs are discrimination cases and adjustments may be required by parties to these claims. Some of these adjustments will be picked up in the current EIA being undertaken by IC Policy but further discussions with conciliators involved in the pilot could indicate additional factors which we need to take account of. (paper is seven lines long)

6 involvement with the new free schools set up by the Government PCC continuous improvement initiatives to improve performance and encourage best practice IC case receipts - monthly monitoring of IC case receipts to assist decision-making in balancing case receipts and staffing requirements. GPS performance 18 th October 2011 Mental health guidance proposal for Acas to begin producing guidance on this subject Olympics brief on proposed strategy and approach RWD governance arrangements The initiatives outlined in this paper aim to improve consistency of service. They should not have any adverse equality impacts but should improve quality of service to all clients without any adverse impact on staff. This analysis is of case receipts allows us to ensure that any mismatch between case receipts and staffing levels is identified in time to avoid adverse equality impacts on staff or service users. Regular monthly updates will be undertaken. The proposed guidance on mental health helps to foster good relations for people with mental health impairments by raising understanding and tackling prejudice. It also helps Acas meet the general equality duty required of public bodies. The Project Board will ensure that each owner of the different product strands will do an equality impact assessment. The RWD initiatives will have substantial Equality implications both internally and externally. Equality will form one of the work strands and initial

7 discussions have already taken place on how this will be undertaken. 15 th November 2011 Operational planning 2012/13 Internal comms evaluation and recommendations e-learning update Information management update Stakeholder engagement new system for recording conversations between Acas and stakeholder organisations The Internal Communications Team tested the accessibility of the Chief Executive s Bulletin and Acas Active with the Disability Involvement Forum earlier this year. Internal Communications will continue to ensure that any significant changes to existing channels or any potential new communications channels would be tested for accessibility. Potential disability issues around audiovisual accessibility are addressed through current website policies and format. Current external research being carried out with previous e-learning registrants contains questions around disability and accessibility. Any equality issues will be managed as part of individual work streams. No impact