Mandy Williams, Participation Cymru manager

Inclusive and meaningful engagement with diverse communities Workshop

Aims What implications do the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equalities duties have on Consultation and Involvement? Going beyond the Act – Positive action Current practice and barriers

Protected Characteristics Disability Sex (gender) Gender assignment Pregnancy & maternity Race Religion or belief Sexual orientation Age (over 18’s only)

Forms of prohibited conduct Discrimination (direct or indirect) Harassment Victimisation Those wrongly perceived to have a protected characteristic / people associated with those who share a protected characteristic.

Public Sector Equality duties Government of Wales Act ‘to promote equality of opportunity for all’ Listening exercise: duties that fit Wales

Public Sector Equality duties Priorities: - Setting equality objectives - Consultation and Involvement - Assessing impact - Reporting progress against objectives - Gender pay and job segregation - Public Sector Procurement - How inspection supports the equality agenda - Reporting by the Welsh Ministers.

Public Sector Equality duties What does this mean in terms of Consultation and Involvement? Consultation: A formal process by which those who determine policy and design and deliver services gain the views of interested groups and individuals. Involvement: An active and continuous process by which people can influence and shape policy and services.

Positive Action Going Beyond the Act….. Positive Action is achieving a greater equality in practice for members of groups that are socially or economically disadvantaged or who have been discriminated or disadvantaged in the past or present by sharing a protected characteristic.

What does this mean for consultation and involvement? Everyone has the same right to have their say about the things that matter to them. We must ensure that everyone feels able to be involved if they want to be. We must take reasonable measures to remove potential barriers to allow this happen. ‘Nothing about us without us’

What does this mean for consultation and involvement? Involvement promotes better decision-making and evidence-based approach by creating a broader evidence base for decisions. Involvement promotes better service design and efficiency gains by incorporating new sources of expertise, skills, energy and experience into the process. Involvement assists in meeting broader organisational targets by promoting a better understanding of what the key priorities for the public body are, and better evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of options for action.

Benefits for Public bodies Involvement restores trust in public services by increasing transparency, making public bodies more accountable and demonstrating to participants that their involvement is used constructively. Involvement encourages positive changes in organisational culture and performance by improving the public body’s understanding of the needs, aspirations and priorities of diverse communities and by helping them harness the full potential of their staff.

What does this mean for consultation and involvement? Involvement promotes better decision-making and evidence-based approach by creating a broader evidence base for decisions. Involvement promotes better service design and efficiency gains by incorporating new sources of expertise, skills, energy and experience into the process. Involvement assists in meeting broader organisational targets by promoting a better understanding of what the key priorities for the public body are, and better evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of options for action.

Principles of effective involvement Participants are active partners not just interested on-lookers Focused Accessible Proportionate Influential Transparent

Effective Planning Staff and service users involved structurally from the outset Identifying stakeholders in a systematic way Planning a long term approach Involvement at each stage of the process Staff training and awareness raising Senior manager with responsibility for implementation throughout the organisation. Setting clear objectives and measuring outcomes

Methods There are many different ways of involving people and organisations need to take a ‘mix and match’ approach. review groups / expert panels citizen juries focus groups on-line participatory techniques using representative groups making use of existing structures (partnership)

Exercise 2 questions: 1.Looking at the individual protected characteristics what experience do you currently have of engaging with these people? 2.What barriers have you encountered or could potential encounter?

Where to find help Helpline: Helpline Wales:

Diolch am wrando Thank you for listening Mandy Williams, Participation Cymru manager