Getting to the Root of Inequality
Local authority lawyers have an important part to play in driving improvements in equality and diversity, writes Linda Walker.
The government might be committed to creating a fair society with fair chances for everyone, but to achieve this, there is a need to tackle inequality head on and to root out discrimination, whether inadvertent or deliberate.
The government’s strategy is an issue that goes right to the heart of the role of local authorities, and in actual fact, the implementation of the new Equality Framework puts local government significantly ahead of central government, whose Equality Bill is yet to make it to the statute books.
The Equality Framework is designed to provide simple, smart solutions that place equality at the heart of local government performance and enables local authorities to get quickly and effectively to the root of the problem. It is less bureaucratic than the system it replaces and is intended as an aid in preparing for the Comprehensive Area Assessment. This of course supplements the various statutory equality duties that local authorities are subject to.
So what can local authority lawyers do to drive improvements in equality and diversity? Well, whilst they have a role to play in supporting the corporate agenda, local authorities will be able to make significant inroads in tackling inequality with the assistance of two major new initiatives developed by the Law Society.
The first is the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter which was launched in July. It invites the legal profession to work with the Law Society and deliver on a shared commitment to promote equality and diversity. This includes achieving best practice in recruitment, retention and career progression, publishing the annual diversity profile of employees and placing the responsibility for meeting the Charter commitments on a named senior level individual.
The Charter is to be supported by protocols covering practical aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion. The first of these relates to legal procurement. This is a commitment by purchasers of legal services to take into account the equality, diversity and inclusion work of prospective suppliers when awarding contracts and also to review and monitor this work to ensure that suppliers continue to meet acceptable standards.
The government believes procurement is an effective tool to drive equality, and the process of raising standards within the legal profession is already underway, with several local authorities having already signed up to this Law Society initiative. Certainly from the private sector point of view we are already seeing an impact in relation to the expectations of public sector clients regarding equality standards.
The second Law Society initiative, is the launch of its Best Practice Scheme this Autumn. The aim of this scheme is to drive up the standard of equality and diversity practice across the Law Society and the wider legal profession. The scheme is a performance standard which will support the Diversity Charter. There will be a toolkit that will underpin the achievement of the performance standard and signpost other best practice guidance material.
The Scheme is based around eight themes namely:
- Leadership and Vision
- Employment and Staff Development
- Provision of Legal Services
- Engagement with Staff, Clients and Communities
- Equality Impact Assessments
- Monitoring and Review
- Procurement and Supplier Diversity
- Sharing Good Practice
There are then three practice related levels, namely; baseline, developing and good practice.
So for example, under the heading of Employment and Staff Development, at the baseline level, there is an expectation that a legal service has analysed the composition of its current workforce compared to local populations and identified any under represented groups. At the developing level, the legal service would be expected to review recruitment and progression procedures to ensure that there are no barriers to individuals from under-represented groups and that they are encouraged to apply. Finally at the good practice level, there is an expectation that a positive action programme is in place and underway to overcome barriers to individuals from under-represented groups joining and progressing, and the service can demonstrate greater equality in its workforce profile, including at a senior level.
The standards have been written so that they are relevant to in-house legal services as well as the private sector and will complement the work that in-house legal services are already carrying out under the Equality Framework for Local Government.
One local authority which has already embraced these concepts is Portsmouth City Council. One of the first local authorities to sign up to the Diversity and Inclusion Charter, Portsmouth take diversity and inclusion very seriously, recognising that the subject is not just something to be monitored on an annual basis, but it needs to be driven forward through continuous improvements. They consider that the new initiatives from the Law Society will help them to make significant progress in this area.
Local government is again playing a major role in delivering a fairer and more equal society and, with the help of the Law Society initiatives, local government lawyers are able to provide a valuable contribution towards achieving these objectives.
Further information regarding the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter can be found at http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/productsandservices/inclusioncharter.page
Linda Walker is Head of Public Law and Corporate Governance at Dickinson Dees. www.dickinson-dees.com <file://www.dickinson-dees.com> . She can be contacted via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..