Making Equality and Diversity a Reality – the challenges ahead Shahana Ramsden Engagement, Co-production and Equalities Advisor

Introduction Seeking Opportunities Finding Levers Building Champions

Milestones for Equality and Diversity 26 th November 2009, led by SCIE Partners Council – Diversity in Social Care 20 th January 2010 – Milestones for Equality and Diversity –discussions about equality and diversity across each Putting People First milestone 24 th February 2010– Mental Health Equality – a workshop for 40 people focusing on key equality and diversity challenges faced by Mental Health communities within Putting People First. Report –Disseminated through ADASS Equality and Diversity Network –Launched at NCAS as one of the Top 20 Must knows for lead members for Adult Services –Available on Putting People First/Local Government Improvement and Development websites

There has to be a ground change in culture and the way support is provided. Its a case of forcing the organisations to make the cultural changes such that they actually conform to them PPF - emphasis on Co- production, choice and control. Nature of Self Directed Support – should allow for person centred, personal services. Legal requirement – not an optional extra Mainstreaming Equality and Diversity

In a sense it is more luck whether you get a good service or not than good planning and it shouldnt be down to luck. Services should be equally accessible they should be equally good quality wherever you go and whoever it is youre going to see Acknowledging and tackling discrimination Culturally misinformed staff can make inappropriate assumptions Multiple identities and roles need to be nurtured and valued Words and commitments should be translated into practice

Large contracts or high capacity providers do not always result in more cost effective, efficient services Continued support for User led organisations Further development of the micro-providers model with a focus on marginalised communities Creating and sustaining a diverse market Provision of equal and accessible support is a right rather than a gift. One key way of making that change happen is through social care service users being seen as a high paying customer.

Only 8% of 31% of organisations who collected information on LGBT service users actually analysed the information. There continues to be a lack of appropriate and accessible information Face to face support is essential in developing understanding and trust. How can commissioners respond to needs if they are not aware of issues and gaps? Developing better information

Isolation and lack of culturally appropriate support for Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in rural areas More diverse workforce e.g. Personal Assistants Listen to self-funders and those not considered entitled to services Engaging the whole community Local Authorities need to get better at listening to, and engaging with all parts of the wider community, gaining knowledge from these discussions and acting upon what they hear.

Mainstreaming Equalities within ULOs Film (4 minutes) Latifah Bailey Race Equality Council, Leicester Eric Day, Leicester Centre for Integrated Living

A Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens 3 Core Values Freedom - shift of power from the state to people and communities. Fairness - a clear, comprehensive and modern legal framework for social care Responsibility - communities and wider civil society must be set free to run innovative local schemes and build local networks of support.

Seven principles Prevention: empowered people and strong communities will work together to maintain independence Personalisation: individuals not institutions take control of their care Partnership: care and support delivered in a partnership Plurality: the variety of peoples needs is matched by diverse service provision, with a broad market of high quality service providers Protection: sensible safeguards against the risk of abuse or neglect Productivity: greater local accountability will drive improvements and innovation to deliver higher productivity and high quality care and support services People: we can draw on a workforce who can provide care and support with skill, compassion and imagination, and who are given the freedom and support to do so.

Think Local, Act Personal Personalisation reinforced as the core direction of travel for social care development, building on learning from the past few years Efficient, effective and integrated service delivery across health and social care Greater role of service providers Importance of community expertise and organisation. The ultimate goal is to support the contribution of individuals, carers and families, in getting the best from the help they need both for those who are publicly funded and those who pay for it themselves

Building the Big Society Give communities more powers Encourage people to take an active role in their communities Transfer power from central to local government Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises Publish government data.

Issues to consider..... Community Empowerment What do we need to do to ensure that the empowerment of people and stronger communities involves the whole community – including dispersed and isolated groups of individuals? What steps can be taken to ensure that people who may have experienced discrimination in their own communities, can have a voice within Big Society programmes?

Issues to consider..... Personalisation In the context of a move to personal budgets for all by 2013, what do we need to do to ensure that communities who have traditionally found it difficult to access personal budgets are able to benefit from this drive? How do we achieve equitable choice and control for groups across all 6 equality strands?

Issues to consider... Workforce How can we ensure that the social care workforce is fully equipped to address the diverse needs of every individual? What new skills are needed to operate effectively in this changing environment?

Issues to consider..... Plurality What do we need to do to ensure that we can achieve diverse and high quality service provision which meets the needs of everyone, including minority groups or people with specialist needs?

Thank you Shahana Ramsden