SCVO Equalities Briefing August 2002  

Background

The Macpherson report into the death of Stephen Lawrence found institutional racism to be prevalent in some public institutions. Institutional racism was defined as:

“the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes or behaviour which amounts to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people.”

 The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 was introduced as an effort to address this.

What is The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000?

The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 requires named public authorities to review their policies and procedures; to remove discrimination and the possibility of discrimination; and to actively promote race equality. It amends the Race Relations Act 1976, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origin. Nothing is taken away from the 1976 Act, but the amended duties are more enforceable and include a positive duty to promote racial equality. In other words, public authorities are required not only to address unlawful discrimination where it occurs, but also to be pro-active in preventing it from occurring.

 The Act applies to: 

• Ministers and central government departments
• Local Authorities, regional development agencies and enterprise networks
• Police authorities
• Health authorities, health boards, NHS Trusts and primary care trusts
• Education authorities, grant aided and self governing schools, Colleges and universities
• Communities Scotland
• Professional bodies
• Libraries, museums and galleries

 Compliance

Individuals or groups have the right to take legal action against unlawful discrimination by seeking judicial review. The Commission for Racial Equality has powers to conduct investigations, seek judicial review, and issue compliance orders where it believes a public body is not fulfilling either the general duty or its specific duties as regards the Act.

 New Duties imposed on Public Bodies

 The general duty has three components: Authorities have to  

1. eliminate unlawful discrimination;
2. promote equality of opportunity
3. promote good race relations between people of different racial groups. 

 Specific duties set out what a public authority must do in order to comply with the general duty. Specific duties already apply to non-devolved authorities in Scotland. Specific orders to apply to devolved bodies were laid before the Scottish Parliament in February 2002 and are likely to come into effect in November 2002.

 Employment duty

An employment duty requires authorities to monitor by reference to racial group the numbers of staff in post and applicants for employment, training and promotion.

Bodies with more than 150 full-time staff have to monitor the numbers of staff from each racial group who  

• Receive training
• Benefit or suffer detriment through performance assessment procedures
• Are involved in grievance procedures
• Are the subject of disciplinary procedures
• Cease employment 

They have to publish this data annually, use the information to see if there are differences in how racial groups are treated, investigate the reasons, and deal with any unfairness, disadvantage or possible discrimination.

 Race Equality Schemes

Public authorities are required to publish, by 30^th November 2002, a Race Equality Scheme. This public document will summarise their approach to racial equality, set out arrangements made to meet the duties, and include a detailed strategy and action plan with clear timescales. Progress must be monitored and reported on annually and the policy must be reviewed and updated every three years. Where necessary policies must be changed to meet the general duty. An authority will be accountable to the public for delivering the programme set out in its scheme.

 Guidance

A code of practice gives authorities practical guidance on tackling racial discrimination and promoting equal opportunities and good race relations. Draft guidance is designed to help Scottish Public Authorities in Scotland follow the code of practice. The code and guidance have been drawn up by the Commission for Racial Equality.

 The RRAA and Voluntary Organisations

 Services

The Race Relations Act 1976 already prevents discrimination in the provision of goods and services, including those provided by voluntary organisations.

 The Race Relations Amendment Act applies directly to public sector organisations only, but will impact on voluntary organisations if they provide services for, receive funding from, or work in partnership with public authorities. Public bodies have to review all their public functions, including services contracted out to the voluntary sector. So voluntary organisations will find that in order to continue working with the public authority, they need to ensure their contracted services are free of any possibilities of discrimination and that funding awarded to them is delivering on good race equality standards.

 Consultation

 In developing their strategies public bodies are obliged to consult with black and minority ethnic communities. As representatives of the communities, the voluntary and community sector in particular will have a role to play. This gives the sector the opportunity to be influential in ensuring that service delivery and organisational development is free from discriminatory practices. Organisations consulted will need to understand what the public authority’s legal requirements are. There is also a role for them in scrutinising the functions of the authorities and ensuring that they are complying with the requirements.

 Key Questions

 How do the specific duties relate to the general duties?

Meeting the general duty is the main objective. Specific duties are imposed to help authorities meet the general duty. Authorities are advised in tackling any specific duty to ask themselves whether they are meeting the general duty and what else they can do to help meet the general duty.

 Why did the Race Relations Act 1976 need amending?

The 1976 Act was found to be largely unenforceable and few authorities took active steps to comply. As well as being more enforceable, the Race Relations Amendment Act includes a positive duty on authorities to promote racial equality.

 What ethnic categories will be used?

The authorities are encouraged to use the same ethnic categories as those used in the 2001 census

 How effective will the new legislation really be?

There remain some ambiguities in the legislation and guidance – eg as to whether actions ‘should’ or ‘must’ be taken and public authorities are left considerable leeway in identifying which policies are relevant to the general duty and how the monitoring should be conducted. Enforcement is cumbersome and would be costly for an individual to pursue and the CRE’s compliance order can be varied by a court decision. However the new legislation is welcome and should make a considerable difference in that it requires public authorities to work in different ways, particularly in monitoring, analysing and consulting on service delivery and employment practices.

 What is the impact on Immigration and Asylum?

Those who make decisions on immigration cases are exempt from a large part of the Act. The present administration may continue to pursue restrictive policies on asylum while requiring that other public authorities set up progressive policies on racial equality. An independent monitor will review the exemption and how it is used in practice.

 Resources

 CRE 

 Voluntary Sector and Race Equality Councils contacts 

 Publications

 ‘Challenging Institutional Racism  - a toolkit for the voluntary sector’ produced by LVSC and ROTA www.actionlink.org.uk/Guides/ViewGuide.cfm?GuideID=29

 ‘Counting the Cost: Racial violence since McPherson’ 
Institute of Race Relations 2001 (tel 020 7828 7022)

 ‘The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain’,
Parekh, B., Runnymede Trust, 2000 (Profile Books, tel 020 7404 3001, www.runnymedetrust.org/)

The Race Relations Amendment Act (Race Equality Schemes) 
Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, 2002 (tel 020 7609 8870, www.runnymedetrust.org/meb) 

For further information see www.scvo.org.uk/equalities