Oral - Single Equality Scheme

I am pleased to have this opportunity to announce our first single equality scheme and action plans following on from it. This is a landmark for the Welsh Assembly Government. We are producing a single equality scheme because we believe that a more holistic approach is needed to allow all those who live in Wales to do so on a full and equal basis without fear of discrimination or prejudice. People have many complex needs and do not necessarily fit easily into any single strand or category. Putting the citizen at the heart of our policy-making and service delivery means that we are truly taking an inclusive approach to the work that we do as a Government. Moving from a single strand to a multi-strand approach is a way forward to improve the life chances of our population in all its complexity.

Wales is becoming a more diverse country and we must embrace the cultural richness that follows. I want our single equality scheme to deliver a progressive agenda for equality, diversity and human rights. Our scheme and its 10 action plans set out how we will be promoting equality and how we will meet the general equality statutory duties for disability, race and gender. We will apply the same broad principles to the other areas of equality: age, transgender, religion and belief or non-belief and sexual orientation. The scheme looks at how we assess the impact of our work on different groups and the actions that we will be taking to address that impact over the next three years. It will seek to ensure that our organisation has the principles of equality and human rights embedded in its work and culture. We have made tremendous achievements in promoting equality by appointing the UK’s first children’s commissioner and, following that, the appointment of the commissioner for older people.

As an employer, we continue to improve; our latest recruitment campaign has doubled the number of job applications from minority ethnic groups. We also have a place in the UK’s top 100 employers for promoting lesbian, gay and bisexual equality. We celebrate these successes but we understand that there is still much work to be done. We need to understand and value the diverse people who make up Welsh communities. We need to look at people as individuals with differing needs who might face multiple disadvantages. We undertook an intensive programme of engagement to ensure that we learned about some of these issues before and during consulting on the scheme. The programme started in November 2007 and ended 15 months later, in January 2009. We spoke to over 100 organisations, arranged 25 focus groups and had 1,400 citizen panel questionnaires completed. As a result, we received 121 written responses to our two consultations. These messages were circulated to departments and were used to refine their action plans. I am very encouraged that, as a result of this long period of engagement, much debate has taken place about equality issues.  

Many messages emerged in responses from the engagement that we undertook, and we are looking to review these. These included messages saying that the equality scheme was welcomed, and that moving from one strand to a citizen-centred approach seemed to be the way forward to improve the life chances of the population; that equality is everyone’s business and should matter to everyone; and that we need to design more services around our citizens, which requires a true understanding of their needs and wishes.

We were also told that we must always think about equality and human rights issues at the start of policy formation to make sure that we make the best possible decisions and place equality at the core of business; that we must continue to develop strong links between the Welsh Assembly Government, public bodies, the private sector and the third sector and collaborate effectively together to achieve shared outcomes—we know that we cannot take a one-dimensional approach to addressing persistent inequalities; and that we must consider cross-strand issues and joint-working opportunities—we understand that many policies are interlinked.

The processes that we have used have allowed us to carefully consider the views of a wide range of interest groups, service providers, communities of interest and the wider general public. We have specifically listened to the feedback that we have received. For example, we will ensure that the scheme’s executive summary is available in all accessible formats.  

The action plans from each department in the Welsh Assembly Government will help to promote equality of opportunity and eliminate inequalities and unlawful discrimination. These action plans build upon the commitments that we, as an Assembly Government, made in 'One Wales’.

I recognise that we are producing this scheme at a time of change in equality law. I believe that we are embarking on a dynamic and exciting journey, and the scheme provides us with a solid foundation and building blocks for change.

We will not produce the scheme and forget about it. The scheme is evolving. I am setting up a delivery group of external and internal stakeholders to monitor the scheme’s effectiveness on a six-monthly basis and to publish updates. I will also issue a review document every 12 months on the scheme’s effectiveness. To ensure that the scheme is robust, I will be commissioning an independent review.

We will continue to build upon the relationships sought during the engagement process. All departments will be encouraged to continue to involve representatives from equality groups when developing future policies. We also intend to put in place procedures to involve all equality strands when monitoring the scheme’s effectiveness.

The single equality scheme celebrates all of the hard work that we have done to date. It is a real vehicle for change. Through its development, it has put equality at the forefront of the minds of leaders, managers and staff and has provided a means of addressing a culture of inclusion through ownership at all levels of the organisation. I hope that it will achieve the same for the people of Wales.