Dear Prime Minister
Your announcement that you are going to abolish equality impact assessments is a very powerful illustration of the mantra “we don’t know what we don’t know!"
The education of my experience with BOTH the private and public sectors is that impact assessments AND single equality schemes (the other part of the horse and carriage) have 1. Been very useful for practical business purposes, 2. raised awareness about rights and responsibilities, 3. Been reconciled/integrated with existing RISK ASSESSMENT frameworks, 4. Created new and creative ways of working and 5. Developed consultative and collegial mechanisms assisting with recruitment AND retention of staff & customers as well striking appropriate protocols with contractors and other stakeholders.
This is why Prime Minister, based on the practical utility of equality impact assessments, I could now take you to:-
1. A Housing Association using "shower cap" like covers for boots of builders to respect protocols around shoes in the house without colliding with Personal Protective Equipment. An idea by the way which has an immediate improvement not just for obvious members of the community but every householder who won’t now have mud dragged on to their carpets!
2. A Mosque in Old Trafford where there is now a Dog Kennel in order that the Assistance/Guide Dog of a blind worshipper can be left in the outer precincts of the building with the shoe racks so that the saliva of the animal does not go near hallowed ground
3. A realisation that in terms of communicating and involving people, you will learn different forms of communication in the world’s (and UKs) growing and very diverse cultural demographic mix. For example, thumbs up in Manchester to you Mr Cameron means OK, in parts of Brazil it is a rude gesture. A smile in Vietnam, a nod of the head in Bulgaria, use of Business cards in Japan, eye contact in China will all be very different. Don’t you want Britain to be aware of the potential for culture clash in hard headed economic terms?
4. A factory in the West Midlands where the hard hat has been modified to incorporate the Sikh turban as a result of an impact assessment.
5. A Fire Brigade who came to realise that in situations of conflict with visiting Roma community it is the women who are the mediators in this culture
6. Police Forces where little bootees have been made for police dogs. Roma people never take their working dogs in their home but if homes have to be searched, the bootees go on. It’s called Molika.
7. An examination body which modified its requirements for dyslexic candidates. Multiple choice questions on white paper were put on appropriate coloured paper AND a reader employed. But in order not to water down the qualification standard, the reader came from outside the discipline being examined so there could be no inference/inflection in the voice about the answers which should be chosen.
Your rather rash and cavalier approach to the Equality Act simply forgets or brushes to one side these sort of advances. You forget that the mantra "What is reasonable, practical and proportionate" is taken very seriously by County Courts and Employment Tribunals. And if I may say so, by those carrying out high quality EQUALITY IMPACT assessments. That’s because invariably the outcome from these assessments are threaded through to key corporate policies on Governance arrangements/Human Resources/Access to Services/Service User Involvement/Partners, Contractors and Stakeholders/Bullying and Harassment. Joined up thinking!
Very happy Mr Cameron to send you a free copy of my new short publication "Rainbow Currency" which in your terms will help illustrate the economic benefits of getting impact assessments right. Oh and I will give you a free place on my next course! Actually, I run seven different courses under the E/D banner! We tick boxes all day -doing nothing in particular but doing it very well. But House of Lords reform is another matter!!!!
