Response to the Position Paper from the Coalition of BME VCS Organisations – March 2011

Housing

1. Ensure that in line with the national planning policy framework for housing, local authorities meet the demands for suitable sites for Gypsy and Travellers community.

The Government is committed to encouraging sustainable development and it is very important that local authorities plan for the future of their communities. We want to see fair play – everyone being treated equally and even-handedly.

Local authorities are best placed to determine how to meet the right level of site provision in their area, in consultation with local communities. We will abolish regional strategies through the Localism Bill, published in December and currently before Parliament. This will make local authorities responsible for determining the right level of site provision in their area.

There will be a new national planning policy for traveller sites, which is being introduced as part of broader reforms to the planning system. We will be publishing a Consultation on the Government’s proposed new policy shortly and welcome views as part of this.

We will encourage local authorities to provide appropriate sites through the New Homes Bonus incentives scheme. This means that councils will get financial benefits for building authorised traveller sites where they are needed.

In addition, following the Spending Review, grant funding for traveller sites will resume next year. Local authorities will be able to bid for capital funding for the development of new sites and refurbishment of existing sites.

Health

2. Invest in prevention and early detection of illnesses which disproportionately affect particular sections of BME communities in order to address persistent health inequalities.

The Government is introducing a number measures to tackle illnesses and conditions that disproportionately affect sections of BME communities, including:

Proposing a duty on the NHS Commissioning Board to promote equality and reduce inequalities in access to healthcare and outcomes for disadvantaged groups in the Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS white paper;

Focusing on the major causes and impacts of health inequality in the proposed public health outcomes framework. A Health Premium will provide incentives to improve local health and reduce inequalities.

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The Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government has formed a Cross-Government Ministerial Working Group to explore ways to address inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers. The Government is particularly concerned about poor health and educational outcomes. The Group will discuss joint departmental and community-led solutions and make recommendations to the Home Affairs Committee;

The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain (ITMB) is receiving a three year funding grant starting in 2010-11 from the Department of Health for a project to improve Gypsies, Roma and Travellers' awareness of, and access to maternity services;

Race for Health, a Department of Health funded, NHS based programme driving forward improvements in health for BME groups has pledged to reduce inequality in four major conditions – diabetes, mental health, pre-natal mortality and coronary heart disease and stroke;

In February 2011, the Department of Health published No health without mental health: a cross-Government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages. The strategy includes a commitment to “tackle health inequalities and ensure equality across all protected characteristics, including race and age, in mental health services”.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health, published draft guidance in November 2010 recommending a number of local interventions and initiatives to help prevent pre-diabetes amongst high-risk groups. The final guidance is due in May 2011.

Criminal Justice

3. Create effective local accountability that can address the lower levels of confidence in policing reported by people from BME communities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that forces hold regular beat meetings so that the police can engage with their communities and – in a way that is different than before – link them to local crime information so that the public can directly hold the police in their area to account. The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill currently before Parliament makes regular meetings a statutory requirement.

The Government supports local forces using innovative ways to engage with their local communities, allowing people to express their concerns while also encouraging public involvement in the solutions. The form of beat meetings will depend on the people living in the neighbourhood – they could be held in community centres, places of worship, shopping malls, old people’s homes, or take place virtually online or on Twitter. It is about the police going to where their community is, rather than the community coming to the police.

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4. Develop targeted initiatives to address crime that people from BME communities are more likely to be victims of.

The Government fully supports the inclusion of groups other than offenders in consideration of the impact of unfairness and discrimination on outcomes. Our work has always looked across key decision points in the CJS and at a range of service user groups (suspects, defendants, offenders, victims, witnesses, CJS staff and communities). We would welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with a wider group of voluntary and community sector organisations to ensure an appropriate balance of work focused on different user groups. We have supported and funded a number of initiatives which require the involvement of the BME community and voluntary sector on a number of significant issues ranging from honour based violence and forced marriage to improving public accountability and scrutiny at the local level. The two case studies below demonstrate some of our work.

Northumbria Local Criminal Justice Board and the Angelou Centre

The Angelou Centre (AC) has developed and sustained a ground breaking support network for survivors of Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and 21st Century Domestic Slavery called the SEED project. Through working collaboratively, and within an environment of trust and mutual understanding, the AC has been successful in bringing together diverse groups of people - victims, voluntary sector and CJS professionals - to take ownership of and find solutions to difficult local issues. The project has been successful in empowering the most vulnerable and disempowered within society to rebuild their lives and restore their confidence, whilst at the same time promoting integration through raising skills.

Humberside LCJB Diversity Panel The Humberside Local Criminal Justice Board Diversity Panel is an independent group of members of the community with academic or personal experience in diversity issues. The group reports to six agencies – Humberside Police, National Probation Service – Humberside, HM Courts Service, HM Prison Service, Crown Prosecution Service and Youth Offending Teams throughout Humberside. The panel assists criminal justice agencies to increase confidence in the Criminal Justice System through promoting multi-agency working, ensuring equality for everyone, building community links and further community consultation and involvement. The panel has; Critiqued agency Diversity strategies and schemes Acted as independent observers for training exercises Reviewed letters sent to victims and witnesses Read and reported on racist incident reports Advised on recruitment and selection procedures Undertaken ‘Mystery Shopper’ exercises within the CJS.It also does ongoing assessments of compliance with equalities legislation.

The Government is also committed to putting in place more effective measures to tackle hate crime and the violence that often accompanies it. We will continue to work with the Government’s Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime. Membership includes advisors on race, religion and belief, as well as on sexual orientation, disability and gender identity issues.

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Education

5. Ensure that no school assessed as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ can have an attainment gap for Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Black African or Black Caribbean children larger than the national average, or exclude a disproportionate number of Black children from school.

While the Department for Education and Ofsted fully support the intention behind this proposal, there are fundamental difficulties with adopting the type of approach proposed. School inspection judgements are data informed, as opposed to data driven. Adopting a ‘tick box’ approach would undermine the integrity of inspection and raises questions about its value.

The Government’s Schools White Paper has made clear that narrowing the attainment gap is a priority within our school reforms. This is important for all relevant groups of pupils who experience disadvantage. The make up of such groups between individual schools will vary and the Government do not think it would be appropriate to specify particular groups and not others. Schools have a duty to promote equal opportunity and tackle discrimination. Assessing how well they do this is a key feature of the present school inspection framework and will remain so in any future revision. Inspectors identify any apparent discrepancies between the outcomes for different groups of pupils, for example by gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. They explore the reasons for underachievement by any particular group and take account of this when making their overall judgements about the school. Inspectors also receive specific equalities training to support them in their work. 

Inspectors will also evaluate the wider outcomes for different groups of pupils including attendance, behaviour and the pattern of exclusions. When considering variations in the outcomes for different groups, inspectors weigh up the size of the group and take into account the statistical significance of the variations. Data about exclusions or attainment – as with other performance data – does not determine inspection judgements, but helps inspectors to identify the key issues which they will follow up during the inspection. Final judgements about the overall effectiveness of the school are based on weighing all the evidence that inspectors gather. For example, it is possible for a school to have an attainment gap which is wider than the national average, but the rate of progress being made by all pupils and all groups of pupils, (i.e. including those who might be considered to be disadvantaged) could be well above the national average. It would be unfair to penalise such a school solely on the basis of the size of the gap.

Generally, significant attainment gaps and poorer progress for different groups of pupils are key factors in inspectors’ judgements about achievement. Where these issues are significant it is unlikely that achievement could be good. The concerns expressed by the coalition of BME VCS organisations, therefore, are already addressed in the current inspection arrangements.

If the VCS have particular knowledge or expertise which can be shared then that is something that could be discussed with Ofsted. 

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6. Use the proposed pupil premium to address ethnic penalties in education.

The Government has targeted the Pupil Premium at deprived pupils using Free School Meals as a proxy, since all the evidence and facts make it abundantly clear that poverty is the single most important factor in predicting a child’s future life chances.

In December 2010 the Government announced that the premium will be allocated to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and will be set at £430 per pupil in 2011-12.  Pupils eligible for free school meals in non-mainstream settings will also qualify for the premium, as will children looked after in both mainstream and non-mainstream settings. Funding for the premium will be £625m in 2011-12, rising each year until 2014-15 when it will be worth £2.5billion.  As at January 2010, 35.1% of pupils of Black minority ethnic origin were known to be eligible for, and claiming free school meals. This compares to 14.2% of all White British pupils. Black minority ethnic pupils are around 2.5 times more likely than White British pupils to be eligible for a free school meal.

7. Work with universities to address the poorer attainment of degree students from many BME backgrounds and their subsequent poorer results in the labour market.

Research by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has highlighted degree attainment and differences between White and BME students.  BIS commissioned two higher education sector organisations, the Higher Education Academy and the Equality Challenge Unit, to investigate the issue further. Their work produced a framework for action for individual higher education institutions (HEIs) and the sector to gain a better understanding of why attainment gaps occur and address the situation. However, they found no easy clear answers to this complex issue.  http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/detail/inclusion/Ethnicity_Degree_Attainment_project

They made some recommendations intended to help institutions in reflecting on which areas of action might be of particular relevance to them. A couple of examples of these activities include:

sustained collaboration between equality officers and education developers to ensure cross fertilisation of the two areas;

ensuring that initiatives are adequately resourced, and that take-up rates according to areas such as ethnicity are monitored on a regular basis.

On employment, evidence does show that some minority ethnic groups do not do as well as others in the labour market. There is support available for BME graduates through specialist independent third sector initiatives. BIS have also recently produced a publication called 'Moving on' bringing together all

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the employability support available for BME graduates. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/ChoicesAfterYouGraduate/DG_174816

Employment

8. Place a stronger focus on supporting people from BME communities into self-employment.

A national mentoring scheme for people of BME communities was outlined in the Coalition’s programme for Government.  The Government is working with mentoring organisations and intermediaries to raise awareness of the benefits of mentoring, improving access for mentors and mentees. The work is being taken forward in consultation with business representative organisations, major high street lenders, mentoring providers and volunteering organisations. The intention is that from June 2011, with financial support from the British Bankers' Association, there will be a single online gateway to mentoring provision. This gateway will be primarily designed to signpost individuals to existing mentoring organisations providing business mentoring, including organisations specialising in providing support to people from BME communities. In addition, the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme, announced in October 2010, will provide help to unemployed people who want to start a business. It will enable people to retain an equivalent sum to the job seekers allowance for a period of 6 months whilst they start up and also provide them with access to a mentor and small loan if they require capital to start. This will be complemented by new local Enterprise Clubs to provide practical support to people to enable them to set up and succeed in business. These were launched in January 2011 in St Helens, Merseyside before being rolled-out. A NEA pilot also started in Merseyside in January 2011 and it too will be rolled-out nationally. The independent Ethnic Minority Advisory Group’s Task and Finish Group on Enterprise is providing advice to Government in this area.

9. Ensure effective implementation of the public sector equality duty that requires public bodies to improve race equality and diversity outcomes in the procurement of public services.

The public sector Equality Duty in the Equality Act 2010 requires public authorities to have due regard to equality considerations across all their public functions, which includes public procurement functions. The new public sector Equality Duty is a vital tool that puts into practice part of the Government’s new equality strategy by ending the era of top-down targets and shifting power from Whitehall to local communities. The new approach is based on the principle of transparency and public bodies being accountable to their communities and users. The new duty replaces the three existing duties, based on race, gender and disability, extending protection to age, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

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The new Equality Duty is designed to reduce bureaucracy while helping public bodies to deliver equality outcomes, embedding equality considerations into the day-to-day work of public authorities, so that they tackle discrimination and inequality and contribute to making society fairer. The approach is one of light-touch, allowing public bodies to decide what this means for them, and where their priorities are for improving equality in their organisations and services and the people they represent. Voluntary and charitable sector organisations and members of the public will be encouraged to scrutinise this information and hold public bodies to account if they are not performing.

The Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission published draft guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty on 12 January 2011, along with a summary of responses to the consultation and revised draft regulations Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty What do I Need to Know? A Quick Start Guide for Public Sector Organisations and http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/public-sector-duties/new-public-sector-equality-duty-guidance/ . The current draft status of the regulations reflects that they are subject to usual Parliamentary clearance processes. With reference to the example you mention, a delivery model that focuses on delivering outcomes for customers has been introduced for Jobcentre plus and the Work programme. The new model offers increased autonomy and flexibility to enable Jobcentre Plus advisers to deliver more effective tailored support to those who need help the most, by taking more account of local customer needs and labour market conditions. Success will be measured using the rate of flows from benefit into work. 

10. Ensure that successful BME employment brokerage organisations in the VCS are not excluded from contracting opportunities.

The Government has recently announced the successful organisations for its Employment Related Support Services Framework and issued invitations to tender asking for bids to manage the Work Programme. In putting in their bids, providers are required to say who and how they will be working with their supply chains. This information will form part of the contract. Smaller and more specialist organisations, such as BME ones, generally have two access routes to Department of Work and Pensions contracts - either via forming consortia, or via sub-contracting to larger prime providers. Relationships are managed by the Department and the voluntary Merlin Standard that all providers are asked to sign-up to.

11. The DBIS and the National Apprenticeship Service should develop and implement equality action plans to tackle the concentration of BME individuals in low pay sectors of the economy.

As apprenticeships are jobs, they are subject to the wider market forces that operate in the economy and in particular sectors of the economy. They are open to all suitably qualified people aged 16 and over regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability or religious belief. Entry requirements

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and access are largely dictated by employers and the labour market. We can not, and should not compel employers to take on one person over another.

There are differing participation rates in apprenticeships. We understand that the proportion of IT apprentices from BME groups is relatively high and early indications suggest a further increase in the IT sector this year. However, BME groups are under-represented, particularly in traditional sectors such as construction and engineering. Completion rates are also lower for these groups. The National Apprenticeships Service (NAS) is taking action to tackle such under-representation. Increasing the number, quality and diversity of people applying for Apprenticeships is a priority for the NAS. NAS is currently finalising its negotiations to fund 16 ‘Diversity in Apprenticeships’ pilots. These will try out new approaches to attracting under-represented groups and supporting them to complete Apprenticeships successfully. It is hoped that the pilots will start early in 2011.

NAS is also working with employers, training providers and careers advice services to develop resources for schools and employers to help them understand and be more responsive to the needs of under-represented groups, and to promote Apprenticeships to people from these groups, their communities and key influencers. NAS also encourages employers to introduce mentors for Apprentices who are atypical in their workplaces, providing pastoral and practical support to individuals and gathering best practice on engagement.

The Government’s Equality Strategy outlines the Government’s intention to improve careers advice for BME groups and others who can be disadvantaged by occupational segregation, to help ensure that they are aware of the options open to them. The Government is also working with a refreshed independent Ethnic Minority Advisory Group, consisting of external experts on ethnic minority employment issues. EMAG is currently working on 4 areas: female employment; entrepreneurship; education and skills; and using the power of public sector procurement to drive forward more diverse supplier workforces. To take this forward, groups have been established and are now working to deliver their work plans.

12. Develop targeted programmes, with the help of BME VCS organisations, to promote civic and political engagement of BME communities. 13. Invest in efforts to increase political representation of BME communities in parliament and local councils.

This Government believes that politics needs a reasonable balance of people with a range of different backgrounds, skills and experiences to ensure that the decisions that are made truly represent the electorate. Representation in political life is central to making institutions more responsive to the needs of the people they serve.

The Equality Act 2010 includes a range of provisions that allow political parties to take steps to encourage involvement amongst ethnic minorities and other under-represented groups. These include:

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Extending the period during which women-only shortlists can be used until 2030. This includes BME women.

Enabling political parties to create dedicated committees, groups or other fora and broader shadowing, internship and mentoring opportunities exclusively for ethnic minorities and other under-represented groups.

This Government is keen to tackle the barriers preventing under-represented groups from participating in political life. Collecting diversity data would give us a better insight into where we need to target our efforts. One of the recommendations of both the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women Councillors’ Taskforce and the cross-party Speaker’s Conference was that political parties should be required to publish details of their candidate selections. Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 makes it possible to require registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections at a particular election. The Act contains a power to make regulations determining which political parties and which elections this requirement will apply to, as well as the nature of the data and how and when it should be published. Such regulations will need to be the subject of consultation. The Government is considering how to take forward this provision and will make an announcement in due course.

An evaluation of the work of the cross-party Taskforce established in May 2008 to find practical ways to increase the numbers of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women councillors will be published by spring 2011. It will establish the merits of the scheme and inform political parties of best practice and lessons learnt. These can then be embedded into their own schemes to leave a lasting legacy.

The Taskforce’s work programme was designed working with a range of cross sectoral strategic partners including third sector organisations, such as Operation Black Vote, to help more Asian and minority ethnic women to become councillors.

The Government is putting in place measures to reform policing with the proposed introduction of elected Police and Crime Commissioners for each force area in England and Wales (except London) in May 2012.  The Home Office is in early discussions with the GEO to identify activities which will encourage a wide range of diverse candidates to stand for election as police and crime commissioners. We will engage with a diverse range of stakeholders, including BME organisations and communities, to ensure that we take their views on board in developing policy. It should be noted that this work is dependent on the outcome of the new Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill which should complete its passage through Parliament later this year.

The Government recognises the significant and valuable contribution that faith groups, local community groups, charities and civic organisations make to society. We will empower them to become more involved in delivering public

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services. These groups are often better at drawing in under-represented people than Government, opening up the delivery of public services to a broader range of participants. We will also give individuals themselves more choice and control over the services that they receive. Services which are designed by the people who use them are likely to be more appropriate for individuals, more responsive to their needs and more effective in delivering the outcomes we want.

14. Invest in targeted campaigns to increase the number of people with BME backgrounds in public appointments in particular in areas of health, education, employment and housing.

The Government Equalities Office and Cabinet Office are developing a cross-government action plan to support departments to achieve more diverse appointments. This will be published shortly. It will demonstrate a commitment to diversity in its broadest sense. We want to make sure all our public bodies including those in health, education, employment and housing reflect the talent and experience from across society. This work takes account of all currently under-represented groups including BME, disabled and LGBT people.

Equality Act 2010 and spending cuts

15. Support all government departments in carrying out rigorous and timely Equality Impact Assessments as required by equality law.

Government Departments have been considering and must continue to consider the equalities implications of their policies. Assessing the effects of policy decisions on different groups in society is an integral part of the drive to reduce the deficit fairly; is necessary to comply with legal obligations, and will result in policies that bring wider benefits to all parts of communities.

Throughout the spending review process, Departments looked closely at the impacts that their decisions would have on different groups in order to ensure a proportionate approach to assessing and mitigating the impact of spending decisions on people belonging to protected groups including Race.

HM Treasury also published its ‘Overview of Equalities Impacts of the Spending Review’ on 20 October 2010 alongside the Spending Review announcement. This is the first time that the Government has produced an analysis of this type for the Spending Review.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also has a role to play in ensuring that that all public bodies, including Government departments, comply with Equality Law.

16. Establish centralised monitoring frameworks and publication of results by local authorities in promoting race equality.

The new public sector equality duty reflects the Coalition Government’s clear aim of replacing top-down targets with locally determined action, based on the

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evidence. The Government’s proposals are driven by transparency and require public bodies to publish equality data, including workforce data. Citizens will be able to see for themselves how well public bodies are performing, and challenge poor performers – a move away from bureaucratic accountability to democratic accountability. Public bodies will also need to set out their own equality objectives to ensure resources are focused where they are needed, and not frittered away on box-ticking or form-filling.

The EHRC will be focusing on its function as an equality regulator, which includes ensuring that public bodies comply with their equality duties when making policy decisions and holding the Government to account for its compliance with UK and international human rights law. 

17. Ensure that the Single Equality approach does not dilute the need to tackle race inequalities, but creates better opportunities to tackle multiple discrimination.

The Government takes the issue of tackling race inequalities very seriously. The Minister for Race Equality works with his ministerial colleagues to ensure all departments are well coordinated in tackling race inequalities. The Inter Ministerial Group on Equalities aims to help tackle the barriers that disadvantaged people face and drive the delivery of the Equality strategy.

The Equality Act 2010 provides a new cross-cutting legislative framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all; to update, simplify and strengthen the previous legislation; and to deliver a simple, modern and accessible framework of discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society. The Equality Act 2010 is a major simplification of discrimination legislation that makes the law easier to understand and comply.

18. Monitor the impact of spending cuts on BME communities, recognising that geographical differences may lead to differential impacts.

The Coalition Government is clear that reducing the deficit and continuing to ensure economic recovery is the most urgent issue facing Britain. All government departments are responsible for assessing the impact on gender, race and disability of our economic policies, as required by the equality legislation. Government will continue to monitor the effects of the Spending Review on equality groups as policy decisions are developed and implemented.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working on developing the economic business case for equality and diversity with support from the Government Equalities Office.  The emerging evidence is fairly complex and requires significant analysis. For example, the evidence on impact is fragmented and not clear-cut and measuring tangible benefits may be problematic.  In terms of geographical differences, the equalities implications of the English Local Economic Partnerships' (LEPs) activities and spending (including of the Regional Growth Fund, designed to especially benefit areas

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experiencing the largest public sector cuts) will be monitored by the LEPs themselves. LEP activities will be expected to be sensitive to the local level economic realities and needs of their communities.

Supporting BME VCS organisations

19. Recognise the importance of BME VCS organisations in tackling race inequalities.This Government gives great importance to race equality and developing meaningful interaction between people from different groups. The Government is actively helping to create the Big Society, promoting greater involvement of communities in decision making. The Big Society is encouraging higher levels of social responsibility in local communities, allowing people to come together to solve problems and improve life for their communities. Everybody has a role to play in making communities stronger and we will be looking at how we can help the Voluntary and Community sector to support this.The Coalition Government announced on 30 November the £100 million Transition Fund for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises affected by the public spending reductions. This was part of wider plans to support these organisations during the next four years and help them make the transition to becoming providers of services, to work with us to build a Big Society and make the most of the opportunities that will bring for them.DCLG, as lead department on race equality across Government, aims to work with communities to identify the issues holding them back and to develop solutions; and to continue to work with race equality organisations to better understand the issues facing minority ethnic communities to ensure that their views are known and well understood within Whitehall.

Government departments are already working closely with BME VCS organisations, For example the Ministry of Justice are working with Voice for Change UK to bring together BME voluntary and community sector stakeholders on criminal justice issues. DCLG have also worked closely with 26 organisations through the Tackling Race Inequalities Fund (TRIF).

20. Recognise that race matters and that action to tackle race inequality must be a part of building a fairer society for all.

Equality is at the heart of this Coalition Government. It is fundamental to building a strong economy and a fair society; and in these difficult economic times equality is even more important. As we rebuild our economy it is essential that we make sure we benefit from the talents of everyone in the UK. As we take the difficult decisions necessary to tackle the UK’s deficit we are determined to do so fairly, protecting the most vulnerable and prioritising equal opportunities for all.

The Government’s new approach to tackling inequality, as set out in the Equality Strategy, moves away from treating people as groups or ‘equality strands’ who get special treatment. Instead it develops frameworks that help create fairness and opportunities for everyone. Government will act as a

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catalyst and advocate for change, working with businesses, the voluntary sector and wider civil society to create equal opportunities. The new Equality Strategy will apply across the Coalition Government and will focus on:

equal treatment and equal opportunity; changing attitudes rather than using bureaucracy which means all

citizens have to be responsible; changing culture through promoting good practice, transparency and

accountability; and recognising people as individuals rather than members of specific

identity groups.

In drafting the Equality Strategy, DCLG in its role as lead department for race equality, ensured that tackling race inequalities was a key element. The Inter Ministerial Group on Equalities was also set up to ensure that we continue to drive forward work to support this strategy across government, working closely with all those involved.

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