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Equality Works London

Shepherdess Walk Buildings
2 Underwood Row
London N1 7LQ
Tel: 0207 251 4939

Equality Works Manchester

10th Floor, Bridgewater House
Whitworth Street
Manchester M1 6LT
Tel: 0161 200 8540

Achieving Equalities in Partnership Conference

Equality Works were pleased to be the lead sponsor for the Local Government Chronicle Achieving Equalities in Partnership Conference in April.

The one day conference and pre conference workshop aimed to support Equality and Diversity practitioners across local government and partner agencies share good practice and practical tools in delivering equality in what are sure to be testing times.
 
The morning session provided a useful overview of the new Equality Act from both the current Governments perspective, and in terms of what we should expect if there is a Conservative win at the General Election.
 
Jane Farrell from Equality Works then presented a powerful proposition driving the work forward regardless of the political and financial climate we find ourselves in because it’s good for business and good for organisations and part of what public sector services exist to do.
 
She facilitated a highly interactive workshop session where practitioners shared some of the particular challenges they were dealing with and also shared examples of good practice. This encouraged all and demonstrated to everyone the real progress that was being made across the country in achieving equalities through some bold and innovative approaches. 
 
The afternoon sessions gave us some case studies of organisations who had clearly been successful in embedding equality as a core component of their organisational strategy.
 
Paul Richardson outlined the impressive way in which Lancashire Fire Authority have embraced equality and diversity particularly in relation to engaging with the diverse population in Lancashire. Paul highlighted how this has supported the Fire Authority in delivering on its core targets in relation to e.g. fire deaths by ensuring communication with all sections of the community.
 
Sue Holden from Sefton Equalities Partnership on Merseyside highlighted the possibilities behind public sector organisations working together to deliver improvements for all sections of the community in partnership through embedding equality and diversity in Local Strategic Partnership delivery. This was supported by effective engagement and involvement from community networks of under represented sections of the population across all the equality strands.
 
The conference concluded with a focus on the Equality Framework for Local Government and what is included in the peer assessment process in particular for level two and three. This was presented by Samantha Jones from Bath and North east Somerset Council who is herself a trained peer assessor for the new framework.
 
The conference supported a greater understanding of the scope of the work developing in the public sector and in particular Local Government to deliver effective services and positive employment experiences to all. This debate was supported well by the workshop on the first day which worked to identify ways to improve leadership opportunities for underrepresented groups.
 
The challenge was how to continue to deliver on the impressive good practice in a changing economic and political environment, and how to effectively draw in the benefits of partnership working to deliver in this area.