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Equality policy and performance

Equality means everyone has the right to be treated fairly and have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Promoting equality is one of the North Ayrshire Council's core values. The principles of equality and fairness are central to all of our activities.

North Ayrshire Council Equality Outcomes

Public sector organisations set Equality Outcomes once every 4 years.

North Ayrshire Council, along with public sector partners, consulted on Equality Outcomes during 2020.

This section contains the report on the shared Equality Outcomes, and sub-outcomes and actions specific to the Council. Information is attached on the consultation process, including responses.

North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership equality outcomes

North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership is committed to ensuring that all individuals and communities in North Ayrshire are treated fairly and have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential.

Our Equality Outcomes Report 2016-2019 (PDF, 634kb) outlines how these outcomes are translated into reality.

Mainstreaming equalities and equality outcomes progress

Our Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes reports outline the progress we have made in mainstreaming equality and meeting our equality outcomes and actions within North Ayrshire Council and North Ayrshire Education Authority, with a specific focus on 2019 and 2020. 

We have also included a separate document on Employee Statistics and protected characteristics, a summary of which can be found in our Mainstreaming report.

The Council's Licensing Board is required to publish a separate report outlining the progress the Board has made in mainstreaming equality and meeting the Board's own equality outcomes.

Equal pay statement

Our Equal Pay Policy Statement (PDF, 106kb) outlines how we'll ensure that pay and conditions of employment do not discriminate unlawfully and are free from bias.

Race Equality in Employment

On 24 March 2021 at the Public Sector Leadership summit on Race Equality in Employment, the Scottish Government pledged to implement the recommendations from the Scottish Parliament's Equalities and Human Rights Committee’s Race Equality, Employment and Skills: Making Progress report. The recommendations include a range of actions to help tackle the inequalities in employment that exist for Black and Minority Ethnic people moving into and progressing in employment.

The Scottish Government urged public sector leaders across Scotland to take up the pledge to implement the recommendations.

North Ayrshire Council accepts these recommendations and pledges to progress relevant actions to take forward the commitments. These have been added to our  Equality Outcomes for 2021 – 2025. These outcomes were approved at the North Ayrshire Council Cabinet on 25 May 2021. View the cover report and appendices.

Public Sector Leadership Summit – Joint Commitment

The Committee recommends:

  • those in public authority leadership positions undertake an assessment of their organisation’s understanding of racism and the structural barriers that may exist within their organisations. Public authorities should integrate their ambitions into their next strategic plan. Their strategic goal should be underpinned by specific outcomes and supported by timely monitoring. Public authorities should be transparent about their targets and their progress in delivering their outcomes
  • public authorities should review their recruitment procedures and practice against the Scottish Government’s toolkit and make the necessary changes
  • that all public authorities subject to the Scottish specific Public Sector Equality Duty should, as a minimum, voluntarily record and publish their ethnicity pay gap and produce an action plan to deliver identified outcomes

Corporate Equality Group: driving equality forward

The council's Corporate Equality Group is responsible for directing, supporting and reviewing the arrangements for:

  • promoting equality
  • tackling discrimination
  • fostering good relations.

Equality subgroups from; Education & Skills, Corporate Services, Finance & Infrastructure and the Health and Social Care Partnership, report to the Corporate Equality Group.

The Corporate Equality Group provides support to council services in completing Equality Impact Assessments. 

Equality and Children's Rights Impact Assessment (ECRIA)

We have an internal online Equality and Children’s Rights Impact Assessment process. Children’s Rights, Human Rights, the Fairer Scotland Duty and Island proofing have all been integrated into this online tool. New or adapted policies, procedures and strategies are assessed against these tools to ensure the Council is meeting the needs of the Equality Duty. A hard copy of the equality impact assessment tools is available upon request.

The Fairer Scotland Duty

The Fairer Scotland Duty, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010, came into force in Scotland during 2018.

The duty places a legal responsibility on public bodies to actively consider (‘pay due regard to’) how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage.

This means that we must consider strategic decisions and how these relate to inequalities caused by socio-economic issues which include:

  • low income (in comparison to others)
  • low wealth
  • material deprivation
  • area deprivation

Other ‘cross-cutting’ themes are ‘communities of interest’, and ‘communities of place’.

The Fairer Scotland Duty is included in the Council’s Equality Impact Assessment process.

Island Proofing

Following the introduction of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, a section on this has been added to the Equality Impact Assessment process.

The Act recognises that island communities face different issues and challenges compared to the mainland and councils must consider this when assessing their strategies and programmes.

Generic impact assessments

Equality and Children's Rights Impact Assessment (ECRIA) - 2024 to 2025 Budget

Chief Executives

ECRIA Screening

Communities and Education

ECRIA Screening
ECRIA Full Assessments

Place

ECRIA Screening
ECRIA Full Assessments

Our ECRIA Screening and Full Assessments are currently inaccessible, please email our Policy & Performance Team on NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk if you require an accessible version.

Ayrshire Equality Partnership

The Ayrshire Equality Partnership (AEP) is made up of the 3 Ayrshire Councils, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Procurator Fiscal. 

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