Building Better Opportunities Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Policy and Action Plan

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1 Building Better Opportunities Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Policy and Action Plan All organisations involved in delivering BBO projects must be committed to promoting equal opportunities and non-discrimination in all areas of their work. This must ensure full compliance with current legislation, most notably the Equality Act Further details are provided in Section 6 of the BBO ESF Manual which can be found at Themes. You are required to develop a project-specific gender equality and equal opportunities policy and action plan. This could be provided within your project plan, or as a separate document submitted as an appendix. Prior to developing your policy and plan you are strongly advised to read about the Big Lottery Fund s approach to equalities which can be found here A) Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Policy You are required to have a project-specific gender equality and equal opportunities policy in place, covering staff and participants. This is a formal document that is a public statement of your project s commitment to preventing discrimination, promoting equal opportunities and treating people fairly. It should be updated as the project progresses to reflect changes in legislation. The policy should: Have a clear title linking it to the project Have a clear general statement which recognises the importance of the Equality Act 2010 and the related Public Sector Equality Duty and commits the project to meeting the aims of the Act and advancing equality The public commitment should be endorsed by the chief executive of the lead organisation (or a similar senior figure within the organisation), reflecting commitment from a high level within the organisation Have a clear revision history indicating when the plan was agreed and who approved it, and any changes as the project progresses to reflect changes in legislation and best practice The policy should cover the nine protected characteristics of the Equality Act. Public authorities also need to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination against someone because of their marriage or civil partnership status. Explain how the organisation will ensure that any partners and subcontractors will operate within the policy and action plan

2 Give a commitment to communicate the policy to staff, participants, partners and subcontractors as necessary Give a commitment to monitoring of progress towards key objectives, including monitoring representation and performance of different groups (sex, race, disability, age). B) Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Action Plan You are required to have a project-specific gender equality and equal opportunities action plan in place. This describes how the project will turn its equality commitment into action in the way you deliver services, employ people and manage your project. You should make arrangements for monitoring and review of the action plan. In addition to your Action Plan your grant agreement with the Big Lottery Fund requires you to collect equality data in relation to your participants and monitor equality output targets as identified in your project outline. Where targets are not being met remedial action should be put in place. The plan should address the following five aims: Aim 1: to understand the different needs and challenges of the people who will benefit from the project You need to be able to understand the different types of need of your participants and the potential challenges they may face. Which groups face particular disadvantages and what is the nature of this disadvantage? You could obtain this information in a number of ways such as: Evidence gathered from previous projects you or your partners have delivered Evidence gathered through your own research and consultation with potential beneficiaries and other local projects Statistics about your catchment area and its population Research from other organisations Feedback from those who do not use your services at the moment you should consider how you can locate and find out about their needs This research should be undertaken during the planning and development stage of your project but should also be revisited throughout as your participants needs may change.

3 Aim 2: to address any difficulties people may have finding out about the project You need to make sure that the people who could benefit from the project know about it. You should consider: What sorts of marketing will reach your intended participants press, leaflets, social media, events, posters in local venues, word of mouth, use of community partners? What sorts of publicity material will be welcoming consider what are appropriate images and messages, use of plain English, do you need any translations into community languages? All marketing and branding materials for the BBO project should promote positive messaging to address potential stereotypes. Aim 3: to ensure that the project is accessible by those hardest to reach You need to make sure that your intended participants are able to fully participate in the project. You should consider: Undertaking a needs assessment with each participant to make sure that you fully understand each individual s specific needs and aim to meet these as far as is possible Whether your services should be accessible for the whole community, including disadvantaged groups (inclusive approach) or whether it is more appropriate to offer a specialist targeted service aimed at particular disadvantaged group(s) What support services you need to provide to meet participants childcare and other caring responsibilities, transport needs, language, communication (such as signer, induction loop) or any other identified support need What reasonable adjustments are required to make sure that disabled participants can access the project: consider the physical accessibility of your premises, what equipment disabled participants require and what other support needs they have What support is required for participants to deal with low basic skills (literacy, numeracy, IT) or out of date qualifications Where your services are located (safe and served by public transport) and the timing of provision (consider holidays, religious festivals, office hours) to make sure that it is sufficiently flexible to meet participants needs The costs of participating (such as travel, childcare, equipment etc.) to make sure that this is not a barrier for those with the greatest needs What specific food and dietary needs you need to cater for (for cultural, religious or health reasons) What barriers you need to be aware of in relation to culture, language, faith or age and how to accommodate them. An example could be the desire to see workers from the same gender or ethnic/religious background or to use informal teaching methods for young people.

4 Aim 4: to ensure people s barriers are overcome and needs are met in taking part in the project You need to make sure that your participants can fully benefit from the project and that they are treated fairly. You should consider: How participants will be informed of the project s equality policy, and related policies such as anti bullying and harassment. How will you make sure that they learn about the importance of good relations? Developing personal learning plans and using these to meet the needs of individual participants as far as is possible How you will gain feedback from participants How participants will be involved in planning services How participants can submit grievances and complaints and how these will be dealt with Aim 5: To ensure that equalities are integrated in how the project is managed and run You need to make sure that your project s management policies and practices fully take account of gender equality and equal opportunities. You should consider: Undertaking equality impact assessments to make sure that your services do not disadvantage certain groups of participants, particularly the hardest to reach How you ensure that the make-up of your board of trustees/management committee/senior management team/directors reflect the people you are trying to serve How you ensure that your partners and subcontractors operate within your equality policy and action plan How participants are involved in the running of your project Your staff, partner and subcontractor recruitment and employment policies and processes fully incorporate good practice in equalities How you ensure you provide support and make reasonable adjustments for staff/trustees Putting in place staff/trustee equality training and ensuring that staff have equality objectives in their personal development and appraisal processes Annual monitoring of staff/trustees by equality characteristics How you will communicate the plan to staff and participants and where necessary, partners and subcontractors.

5 Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Action Plan Template You can present your action plan in whatever way works for your project. You may find the following template useful in monitoring your SMART objectives. Example objectives are illustrated below: Responsible Owner: person responsible for monitoring and reviewing the plan and reporting to the Big Lottery Fund Dates when the plan will be reviewed: How and when updates will be made to the plan: Objective Activity When (Quarter and Year) 1.1 Ensure proposed location of courses are fully accessible by public transport 1.2 Ensure that partners operate within project equality policy and action plan Check timetables against timing of courses and participant home addresses - Work with partners to develop policy and action plan - Undertake Q Q Q Who s responsible? Course administrator HR Manager Progress/ Outcomes Amend timing of course x to ensure that participants can use bus pass Change location of course y as no public transport after 6pm Partner a, b, c satisfactory Partner d - support needed on Follow up action required Status Monitoring None Closed Check prior to each new set of courses Partner d to work with partner a Open Annual review

6 Objective Activity When (Quarter and Year) briefing for all partners - Review partners Q paperwork - Ongoing review Quarterly of partners monitoring data - Undertake Q individual discussions within first 6 months, earlier if analysis indicates high risk Who s responsible? Progress/ Outcomes methods for obtaining participant feedback Follow up action required Status Monitoring