Background to the Race Equality Scheme
Why a Race Equality Scheme?
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 gives most public authorities a general duty to promote race equality. The duty's aims are to make race equality a central part of the way that public authorities work, by putting it at the centre of policy making, service delivery and employment practice.
The duty means that in everything public authorities do they must aim to:
- eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
- promote equality of opportunity
- promote good relations between people of different racial groups
The general duty is supported by a series of specific duties. One of the specific duties is to publish a Race Equality Scheme by 31 May 2002 and to review the scheme each year.
What is a Race Equality Scheme?
A Race Equality Scheme (RES) is a strategy and an action plan. A RES should set out how a public authority plans to carry out each part of the specific duty, which are:
- listing which of the authorities functions and policies are relevant to the general duty to promote race equality
- assessing and consulting on its functions and policies for any adverse impact on race equality
- monitoring functions and policies for any adverse impact on race equality
- publishing the results of assessments, consultation and monitoring
- ensuring public access to information and services
- training staff in connection with the general and specific duties
About this Race Equality Scheme
This document is our RES 2004-05. The content is as follows:
Sections 1 to 6: description of what we are doing to meet each part of the specific duty.
Section 7: description of what we are doing to meet the specific duty for employers.
Appendix 1: list of the functions and policies we have identified as being relevant to the duty to promote race equality.
Appendix 2: review of our race equality scheme action plan for 2003-04.
Appendix 3: our race equality scheme action plan for 2004-05.
Appendix 4: census statistics of the population of Lancashire by ethnic group.