This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Race equality report
12/10/2001
A comprehensive 100-page report on race equality was published today, setting out recommendations and action plans for the public, private and voluntary sectors.
The Race Equality Advisory Forum (REAF) Report published today marks a "significant step forward" in the development of a comprehensive race equality strategy for Scotland, said Social Justice Minister Jackie Baillie.
Ms Baillie, who chaired the Forum and welcomed today's publication, pledged that the Executive will respond to the recommendations and issues raised within the report within three months - but added that the Scottish Executive and others had already begun to address much of what is in the Report.
Ms Baillie said that the overarching Report and eight Action Plans give "a clear insight into the key issues of concern to Scotland's minority ethnic communities".
"The Action Plans - which address sector-specific issues in Education, Enterprise & Lifelong Learning, Health & Social Care, Land Use, Housing, Social Inclusion, Voluntary Sector and Local Government - will also be invaluable as the public sector begins to prepare for the new duty to promote race equality placed on it by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000," she added.
"The Scottish Executive is committed to addressing inequality and wiping out prejudice and discrimination to ensure everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their potential. In the light of world-wide events, it has never been more vital that we continue to work towards a just and inclusive Scotland.
"I am pleased to note that the REAF Report welcomes the positive actions that the Scottish Executive has already undertaken which include:
- the commissioning of major new research into the experiences and circumstances of Scotland's minority ethnic communities;
- our commitment to openness and accountability about race equality through our annual Equality Strategy report to the Scottish Parliament;
- development work on a national anti-racism and race equality campaign
- the establishment of a multi-agency group to work towards the improved provision of translation and interpreting services so vital if members of our ethnic minority communities are to be able to access, use, and play their part in Scotland's public services.
"However, the Forum and I are in no doubt of the challenges ahead. Not least there must be an ongoing push to ensuring that racism of any sort, be it institutional racism*, racial discrimination or racial harassment, has no place in Scotland,' she added.
"Politicians, institutions, organisations and individuals will have to make a sustained commitment to delivering worthwhile, lasting change. Only in this way can race equality become a reality for all Scotland's people." she said.
In its Report, REAF states: "Our remit offered us significant opportunities to work across different sectors and to lay the foundations for future work. It will be for others in the Scottish Executive and the public, private and voluntary sectors to take forward what is presented here and to deliver the change so desperately sought.
"We believe that there is now a climate for change in race quality. Devolution has given us a context in which to pursue an agenda on race equality close to the needs of communities in Scotland. The commitment of the Scottish Parliament to equal opportunities and the new duty on the public sector in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 offer real opportunities to promote race equality."
Vijay Patel, a REAF member and consultant for the British Agency for Adoption and Fostering, said: "I welcome this report because it reflects a lot of work by people who are committed to the promotion of anti-racist policy. It is vital that it is used by the Scottish Executive as a tool to develop work that has already begun and to ensure that Scotland can truly embrace its diverse communities".
Dorothy Neoh, Project Manager of NCH San Jai Chinese Project in Glasgow, said: "I am confident that the strategic partnership work contained in the Report will be taken forward by the Scottish Executive. This Report has been the work of many stakeholders and the minority ethnic communities they work with. The desired racial equality outcomes for minority ethnic communities must be progressed so that Scotland's social justice agenda can be achieved."
Key recommendations in the REAF report include:
- mainstreaming race equality into policy making and planning, service design and delivery and evaluation and reporting
- compulsory race equality training in Scottish public sector bodies, with the accent on anti-racism, not just cultural diversity awareness
- positive action to help minority ethnic communities into public sector working and appointment to public positions
BACKGROUND
1. The Race Equality Advisory Forum was established following an announcement to that effect by Jackie Baillie, then Deputy Minister for Communities, on 20 July 1999. Its remit was to:
- advise the Scottish Executive on the preparation of a race equality strategy
- develop detailed Action Plans to tackle institutional racism* and promote race equality
- advise the Scottish Executive on consultation with and for minority ethnic communities
2. The Forum was established to work in parallel with the Steering Group set up to oversee implementation of the Scottish Executive's Action Plan in response to the Macpherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The Steering Group - chaired by Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister - included a number of REAF members. The cross membership was designed to support collaborative working and promote the effective sharing of learning and actions to tackle institutional racism*.
3. REAF membership comprised:
Jackie Baillie (chair)
Saqib Abbasi, project manager of Community Service Volunteers Ethnic Minority Health Action project in Glasgow
Rowena Arshad, Director of the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES)
Ephraim Borowski, Honorary Secretary of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and Chair of the Regional Council of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
Mick Conboy, Deputy Head of the Commission for Racial Equality in Scotland
Matthew Farrow, Head of Policy at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Scotland
Tesfu Gessesse, Project Co-ordinator of the Black Community Development Project in Edinburgh and current Chair of the Lothians and Edinburgh Racial Equality Council
Jatin Haria, Co-ordinator/Partnership Manager of the Glasgow Anti Racist Alliance (Social Inclusion Partnership)
The late Subhash Joshi, chair of Positive Action in Housing and President of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
Dharmendra Kanani, Director of the Commission for Racial Equality, Scotland, and a member of the Lawrence Steering Group
Aziza Khand, Muslim community worker
Philomena J.F. de Lima, Lecturer (Sociology) and Researcher at Inverness College and member of the Scottish Further Education Funding Council
Dr Martin MacEwen, former Head of the Scottish Ethnic Minority Research Unit and former member of the Lawrence Steering Group. Dr MacEwan has moved to South Africa to take up a new post.
Shamime Mansoori, Equal Opportunities Officer, Falkirk Council
Mukami McCrum, Chief Executive of Central Scotland Racial Equality Council and a member of the Home Secretary's Race Relations Forum
Philip Muinde, member and Vice Chair of the Grampian Racial Equality Council and member of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce
Dorothy Neoh, Project Manager for NCH San Jai Chinese Project in Glasgow
Najimee Parveen, Director of Positive Action in Housing
Vijay Patel, Black Issues Consultant in the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering.
Robina Qureshi, Director of Positive Action in Housing and a member of the Lawrence Steering Group
Selma Rahman, Director of Fife Racial Equality Council
Sofi Taylor, a community nurse for ethnicity and culture in the Community Learning Disability Team within Greater Glasgow's NHS Primary Care Trust
4. Four Working Groups were set up to look in detail at what was required across the range of devolved responsibilities and to prepare the eight sector-specific Action Plans. In addition, a series of plenary sessions, chaired by the Minister for Social Justice, were held throughout 2000 to discuss cross-cutting issues covered in the overarching Report.
5. In its Report, REAF states that it "considers the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 gives a legal framework for the mainstreaming of race quality and greater clarity for the public sector as to the essential components of such a mainstreaming approach in their work."
6. Section 1A of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 came into force on 2 nd April 2001. Its main provisions:
- outlaw race discrimination in all public functions, with certain very limited exceptions. This includes public functions being carried out by private sector bodies.
- place a general duty on specified authorities to promote race equality.
- give powers to Government to impose specific duties on public bodies to promote race quality and to the Commission for Racial Equality to enforce those specific duties.
7. A number of key Scottish public authorities including the Scottish Executive, local authorities, health services, police and education are listed within the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 as among the public authorities subject to the new duty.
Scottish Executive Ministers have the power to impose specific duties on bodies with devolved functions. Decisions on the list of bodies subject to the new duties and the details of the specific duties to be imposed on them will be made by Ministers later this year. However it is envisaged that they will include the Scottish Administration, Audit Scotland, the police, local authorities, Health Boards and Trusts, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and Scottish Further Education Council.
* Institutional racism was defined in the Macpherson Report 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 and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people."