How Derbyshire County Council is meeting the public sector equality duty—the Derbyshire Report
Spring 2012
Foreword
Welcome to our first report outlining how we are meeting the new public sector equality duty introduced by the Equality Act 2010.
Derbyshire is a large county and home to over 760,000 people from all types of different backgrounds. Many people in the county experience inequality because of their background, because of where they live or because of the impact that economic changes have had on them over the years.
The Council is firmly committed to tackling all forms of inequality and injustice, and to providing the best possible standards in employment and when delivering services to our residents and customers. This report outlines some of the ways in which we place equality and diversity at the heart of all the things we do—to help improve life for all the people of Derbyshire.
We hope that you will find this report interesting and informative, and that it demonstrates the Council’s commitment is to making equality a reality for all through the wide ranging work we carry out.
We intend to publish further information in 12 months time that will tell you about anything which has changed in relation to our equality duties, and to provide you with details of the progress we have made in delivering our equality objectives.
Councillor Andrew Lewer
Leader of Derbyshire County Council
Councillor Carol Hart
Cabinet Member for Public Health
Nick Hodgson
Chief Executive, Derbyshire County Council
Contents
Chapter / Description / Page1. / The Equality Duty – an explanation of the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 / 5
2. / About Derbyshire – Demographic and economic information about the county of Derbyshire / 8
3. / How the Council works – a brief description of the decision-making structures of the Council and the different service departments / 17
4. / Employment with the Council – information about the Council’s workforce, its employment policies and practices, and its methods for engaging employees / 19
5. / Giving children and young people the best start in life – a focus on the well-being of young people and their progress through education / 30
6. / Accessible and personalised Council services – information about different Council services, how they are made accessible and who uses them / 36
7. / Working with partners to tackle inequality – how the Council works with its partners to tackle inequality in Derbyshire / 54
8. / Integrating equality into the way the Council carries out its business – the structures and methods used by the Council to ensure it has due regard for equality matters when carrying out its business or making decisions / 59
9. / Protecting vulnerable people from the harmful impact of crime and anti-social behaviour – what the Council does to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour based on discrimination / 69
10. / Celebrating diversity and promoting cohesion – examples of the ways in which the Council celebrates diversity within Derbyshire and actively promotes good relations between people from different backgrounds / 73
11. / The Council’s proposed equality objectives – an explanation of how the Council’s equality objectives have been developed / 78
12. / Sources of data and information / 80
13. / Appendices – detailed tables providing more detailed workforce data / 81
1. / The Equality Duty
The Equality Duty is a duty on public bodies and others carrying out public functions. It ensures that public bodies consider the needs of individuals in their day to day work—when developing policies, delivering services and in relation to their own employees or when recruiting new employees. The Equality Duty supports good decision-making—it encourages public bodies to understand how different people will be affected by their activities so that policies and services are appropriate, accessible to all, and meet different people’s needs.
By understanding the effects of our activities on the different people living in Derbyshire and how inclusive Council services can support and open up people’s opportunities, we can be better placed to deliver policies and services that are efficient and effective.
What the Duty says
The Equality Duty has three aims. These are known as the ‘general duties’. It requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to:
§ Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
§ Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it and
§ Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
What has been changed by the Equality Act 2010?
The new Equality Duty replaces the three previous separate public sector duties for race, gender and disability. The new Equality Duty covers the following ‘protected characteristics’:
§ Age
§ Disability
§ Gender reassignment
§ Pregnancy and maternity
§ Race—this includes ethnic or national origin, colour and nationality
§ Religion and belief—this includes a lack of belief
§ Sex or gender, and
§ Sexual orientation
It also applies to marriage and civil partnership, but only in respect of the duty to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination.
Having due regard is an important part of the duty and means consciously thinking about the three aims of the Equality Duty as part of decision-making. This means that we must consider equality issues when making decisions, when reviewing policies and services, and when proposing changes to these things—by considering the effect those decisions, policies or changes will have on different people and whether there is more we need to do the meet the three aims of the duty.
The new Equality Duty is less detailed than the earlier duties but is still meant to help public bodies, like Derbyshire County Council, to play their part in helping to make society fairer by tackling discrimination and providing equality of opportunity for all.
Taking account of disabled people’s disabilities
The Equality Duty also explicitly recognises that disabled people’s needs may be different from those of non-disabled people. Public bodies must consider these needs when making decisions about policies and services. This will probably mean making ‘reasonable adjustments’ or treating disabled people more favourably than non-disabled people in order to meet their needs.
The Specific Equality Duties
In addition to the ‘general duties’, which are outlined above, the Government has introduced a number of ‘specific duties’ for bodies like Derbyshire County Council, and the Police, Fire and Rescue, and Health Services in Derbyshire and elsewhere in the country.
These specific duties are intended to help public bodies to achieve the aims of the general duties. Under the specific duties, Derbyshire County Council must:
§ Publish information to demonstrate its compliance with the Equality Duty annually commencing in January 2012 and
§ Adopt and publish equality objectives by 6 April 2012 and then every four years.
This report has been produced to help meet the specific duty to publish information and demonstrate compliance with the Equality Duty.
How the report is organised
The report has been broken down on the basis of some of the key issues we have identified when reviewing the equalities information which is available about Derbyshire and its people, the Council, its services and employees.
Where further information is available, we provide details of where to find this information, for example, by providing a web link to a specific policy, details of a service or other statistical and other information.
At the end of the report we have included a number of more detailed data tables in relation to our workforce and recruitment and selection.
Further information and enquiries
If you require any further information or wish to discuss any of the information contained in this report please contact the Senior Policy Officer for Equalities by telephoning 01629 538384 or by emailing
Alternatively, you may also find the information provided by the Government Equalities Office or the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the equality duty helpful:
http://homeoffice.gov.uk/equalities/equality-act/
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/public-sector-equality-duty/guidance-on-the-equality-duty/
2. / About DerbyshirePopulation
Derbyshire is a large and geographically diverse county covering around 900 square miles and home to around 763,700 people. Derbyshire is a place of geographical and social contrasts with a number of heavily built‐up areas and large, sparsely populated rural areas. A large part of the north and west is very rural, much of it in the Peak District National Park. Derbyshire’s population is increasing and is expected to reach 867,900 by 2033. The fastest growth is taking place in South Derbyshire where the population is likely to increase by around 27% by 2033 to around 116,500, and least in Derbyshire Dales where a more modest growth of 10% by 2033 is expected, taking the district’s population to 77,200. North-East Derbyshire and Chesterfield are also expected to have more modest increases of just over 10% by 2033.
There are 10 towns with a population exceeding 20,000 people, the largest being Chesterfield with just over 100,000 people. Most people in Derbyshire live in its small towns and villages.
How diverse is the county’s population?
The county has a relatively small but growing black and minority ethnic population, currently estimated to make up around 5% of the total population, when all groups other than White British are counted. Unlike the nearby cities of Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, Derbyshire’s black and minority population is not concentrated into particular neighbourhoods or towns, and only one ward in the county is estimated to have a population made up of more than 10% black and minority ethnic people.
The black and minority ethnic population has been changing quite rapidly in recent years and now contains well over 50 different communities. When compared to neighbouring cities, Derbyshire’s black and minority ethnic communities could be termed to be more affluent, as a larger proportion of those living in the county hold higher paid professional jobs. Many commute to work in the nearby cities.
Disability affects a relatively higher number of people in Derbyshire than the national average. This is in part due to the impact of the traditional sources of employment on health. Derbyshire was formerly home to a large coalmining, iron and steel industry. Other physically demanding occupations such as quarrying, farming, and engineering remain important source of employment in the county. Around 20% of adults of working age (16 to 64 years of age) have a long term limiting illness or disability in Derbyshire. This represents around 113,000 people.
The gender split of Derbyshire’s population means there are 10,000 more women than men, and this difference increases as the population gets older, with women living on average 7 years longer than their male counterparts. The gender gap in earnings between men and women in Derbyshire is greater than the national average. Nationally, women earn £98.80 per week less than men, but in Derbyshire they earn £115.80 less. Girls still outperform boys in gaining 5 A*—C GCSEs although the gap has been narrowing in recent years as work has taken place to raise the achievement of boys.
Derbyshire has an ageing population, and the number of older people is expected to increase by 66.8% by 2033. In 2010 25.6%% of the population or 196,000 people were aged 60 or older. This included 38,700 people over 80 years of age, 68% of whom were female.
By comparison there were 133,100 people or 17.5% of the total population were aged 0—19 years. This is a lower proportion than the regional or national averages. Evidence suggests that young people are more likely to leave Derbyshire but that older people retire to the county, often in rural areas in the west of the county, placing additional demands on local services in these areas.
Derbyshire is believed to have a fairly small number of people from religious minority communities (Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim or Sikh). At the 2001 Census just under 2% of the population belonged to a faith other than Christianity. Although it is expected that the 2011 Census will show an increase in the number of people who belong to other faith groups, the numbers are still likely to be small. There are few mosques, synagogues or temples to be found in the county for these groups. The proportion of the population of Derbyshire which indicated it belonged to the Christian faith was higher than the national average at 77% (71.7% in England).
The exact number of lesbian, gay or bisexual people in Derbyshire is unknown. If the national estimate produced by the Department of Trade and Industry of around 5—7% is applied this would mean around 40,000 people in Derbyshire are lesbian, gay or bisexual. Recent monitoring by the Council to capture information in relation to employment and a number of Council services has resulted in between 1 and 2% of people providing confirmation that they are lesbian, gay or bisexual. The true figure is believed to lie somewhere between both figures. The rural nature of Derbyshire makes it difficult to identify where lesbian, gay and bisexual people are located and the Census does not capture this in a comprehensive way.
No figures are currently available on the exact number of Transgender people in Derbyshire, although estimates by Derbyshire Friend, the main local organisation which supports the gay and transgender community, suggest that somewhere between 150 and 200 people identify themselves as Trans. This very small number is believed to mask many more people who experience gender dysphoria, but who have not identified themselves to others.
How Deprivation Impacts on Derbyshire
The economic well-being of Derbyshire’s residents varies significantly, with pockets of extreme wealth and poverty.
Only 17 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in Derbyshire fall within the 10% most deprived within England. Ten of these areas are located in Bolsover and Chesterfield. Erewash contains three; High Peak two, North-East Derbyshire and Amber valley each contain one such area. The most deprived LSOA in Derbyshire covers the Cotmanhay area which lies within the Ilkeston North Ward. On average each LSOA contains around 1,500 people.