Race Equality Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that arrangements are in place to enable the College to tackle racism, to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination, to promote good race relations, and to enhance equality of opportunity,

2. General Principles

1. All employees and learners will be treated with respect and dignity, and will be encouraged to achieve their potential, regardless of race, colour, nationality, or national or ethnic origins.
2. The College's working and learning environment will be free from racism (individual or institutional, overt or covert), racial discrimination (direct or indirect, intended or unintended), harassment and victimisation.
3. The College's ethos will be positive and inclusive - celebrating difference, rejecting stereotyping, challenging racial discrimination, encouraging diversity, and promoting good relations between people from different racial groups.
4. The College believes that having a workforce drawn from a variety of racial, ethnic and national backgrounds will give it wider access to the talents, skills, experience and different perspectives available in a multi-cultural society and help it to meet the needs of learners living in the twenty-first century.
5. The College will seek to work with community groups and other educational institutions in order to develop, encourage and promote good practice in achieving race equality.
6. The College will expect its partners and contractors to be able to demonstrate their commitment to equality and diversity.
7. The College will ensure that it meets its obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976 as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 -
   1. a general duty to have due regard to the need to
      • eliminate unlawful racial discrimination; and
      • promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups.
   2. specific duties to
      • prepare and maintain a written statement of its policy for promoting race equality (i.e. this Policy);
      • assess the impact of its policies (including this Policy) on employees and learners of different racial groups;
      • monitor, by reference to those racial groups, the admission and progress of learners and the recruitment and career progression of employees;
      • set out (in this Policy) its arrangements for publishing this Policy and the results of this assessment and monitoring;
      • take such steps as are reasonably practicable to publish annually the results of its monitoring.
8. The College's arrangements for putting this Policy into practice will be set out in its Race Equality Action Plan which will -
   1. focus attention on the key actions to be undertaken;
   2. detail what will be done, by whom and by when;
   3. enable race equality to be dealt with as effectively as any other management task;
   4. demonstrate the College's practical commitment to this Policy.

3. Background

1. The College is the main provider of post-16 education and training in the Derwentside district of County Durham - with its main campus in Consett and its sixth-form centre in Lanchester.
2. Derwentside district is a semi-rural area with a total population of some 85,000 - its two main centres being Consett (pop. c. 30,000) and Stanley (pop. c. 17,000) - and a high level of multiple deprivation.
3. People from minority ethnic groups account for less than one per cent of the population in Derwentside district, the proportion of both the College's learners and its employees from these groups being reflective of this local population.
4. The College is consulted (along with other organisations) by the local Learning and Skills Council in the setting of targets for equality and diversity and the formulation of measures to be used in assessing the College's progress in meeting these targets.
5. Action is taken through the learner induction programme and within tutorials to raise the ethnic and cultural awareness of learners - the great majority of whom have little or no direct experience of living in diverse communities.
6. The College's location presents particular challenges in seeking to recruit employees from a variety of racial, ethnic and national backgrounds.
7. College employees and Board members receive training on equality and diversity issues.
8. The Race Equality Action Plan which seeks to implement this Policy is monitored by the Equality and Diversity Committee (chaired by the Director of Finance and Resources) which itself is overseen by the Senior Management Team (chaired by the Principal).

4. Responsibilities

1. Members of the Board of the Corporation are responsible for ensuring that -
   1. Board membership reflects the diversity of the communities served by the College;
   2. they undertake appropriate training in order to keep up to date with race legislation and with best practice in combating racism;
   3. the College's Strategic Plan includes a commitment to race equality and an indication of the ways in which this commitment will be met;
   4. the College complies with its statutory responsibilities in relation to race legislation; this Policy is complied with and the Race Equality Action Plan is followed.
2. The Principal and Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring that -
   1. he or she gives a consistent and high-profile lead on race equality issues - creating a positive, inclusive ethos that challenges racist or inappropriate behaviour and promotes good relations between people from different racial groups;
   2. he or she undertakes appropriate training in order to keep up to date with race legislation and with best practice in combating racism;
   3. this Policy is promoted both inside the College and externally;
   4. the College complies with its statutory responsibilities in relation to race legislation;
   5. this Policy is complied with and the Race Equality Action Plan is put into practice.
3. All managers are responsible for ensuring that -
   1. they are aware of the College's statutory responsibilities in relation to race legislation;
   2. they undertake appropriate training in order to keep up to date with race legislation and with best practice in combating racism;
   3. the employees who report to them are aware of their own responsibilities, and receive appropriate support and training in fulfilling them;
   4. that action is taken against those who may be discriminating unlawfully or acting inappropriately because of an individual's (or a group's) race, colour, nationality, or ethnic or national origins;
   5. this Policy is complied with and the Race Equality Action Plan is put into practice.
4. Some managers have specific responsibilities for ensuring that -
   1. the effective implementation of the Race Equality Action Plan is monitored and reported (Director of Finance and Resources);
   2. the Staff Development Policy supports this implementation (Director of Curriculum and Quality);
   3. this Policy is regularly reviewed and updated (Personnel Manager);
   4. all College policies, procedures, practices and activities in the following areas are compliant with statutory obligations and with this Policy
      • quality assurance (Director of Curriculum and Quality)
      • learner access and recruitment (Director of Business Development)
      • learner support and guidance (Learning Support and Improvement Manager)
      • learner retention and achievement (Curriculum Managers)
      • teaching and learning (Curriculum Managers)
      • curriculum planning and development (Curriculum Managers)
      • employment, including recruitment and promotion (Personnel Manager)
      • partnership and community links (Director of Business Development)
      • marketing and publicity (Director of Business Development)
      • procurement and outsourcing (Facilities Manager)
   5. racial group monitoring information is collected and analysed (Data Services Manager).
5. All employees are responsible for ensuring that -
   1. they are aware of the College's statutory responsibilities and fulfil their own individual responsibilities in relation to race legislation;
   2. they report racist incidents and challenge other inappropriate behaviour;
   3. they promote equal opportunities and good race relations;
   4. they undertake appropriate training in order to keep up to date with race legislation and with best practice in combating racism;
   5. their schemes of work, lesson plans and teaching/learning resources demonstrate sensitivity to issues of cultural diversity (if they are involved in the teaching and learning process);
   6. they pay particular attention to the needs of learners - dealing with racist incidents, challenging other inappropriate behaviour, and tackling racial bias and stereotyping (if they are involved in the teaching and learning process).

5. Action

1. Management processes will be put in place to ensure the effective implementation of this Policy.
2. Existing policies and procedures will be reviewed, and new policies and procedures will be designed, to ensure compliance with this Policy.
3. Key trends and patterns in relation to the ethnic profile of employees and learners will be identified and will inform appropriate remedial action.
4. Equality of opportunity will be promoted.
5. Good relations between people from different racial groups will be promoted.

6. Publicising Progress

1. The College's commitment to race equality will be highlighted on its website, in its prospectus documents and in the Annual Report.
2. The availability of this Policy and of reports on its progress in languages other than English will be linked to the outcome of the monitoring process.
3. A summary of the results of monitoring will be published on the College's website and in the Annual Report (where this does not compromise individual confidentiality).
4. Progress against targets set out in the Race Equality Action Plan will be published in Staff News and Student News (within the College's Virtual Learning Environment).
5. Learners will receive a summary of the College's commitment to equality and diversity in the Student Handbook.
6. Employees will be able to access this Policy and the Race Equality Action Plan in the Staff Handbook.
7. The induction of new learners and new employees will highlight -
   1. the College's commitment to race equality;
   2. the action available to anyone who is affected by racism, racial discrimination, harassment, victimisation or abuse;
   3. the action that will be taken against anyone perpetrating racism, racial discrimination, harassment, victimisation or abuse.

7. Complaints

1. The College will provide a supportive environment for anyone who complains of racism, racial discrimination, harassment, victimisation or abuse -
   1. a complaint will not necessarily have to be put in writing (in which case the person receiving the oral complaint will produce a written record of its details - agreed with the complainant);
   2. depending on the particular circumstances of the complaint, and whether the complainant is a learner or an employee or a visitor, the matter will be dealt with under
      • the Customer Complaints Procedure or
      • the Staff Grievance Procedure
2. If, in the course of his or her work, a College employee suffers racism, racial discrimination, harassment, victimisation or abuse from members of the public, the College will take appropriate action against the perpetrator(s).
3. Any act of racism, racial discrimination, harassment, victimisation or abuse will be regarded as misconduct and be dealt with under the learner Discipline Code or the Staff Disciplinary Procedure, as appropriate.

8. Review and Consultation

1. This Policy will be reviewed once every three years (and more frequently where necessary) to take account of not only legislative developments but also developments in good practice.
2. This review will be undertaken by the Equality and Diversity Committee.
3. As part of the review, the Equality and Diversity Committee will seek and take account of the views of the College's stakeholders - including learners, employees, work placement providers and appropriate local equality bodies.
4. The outcome of the review will be reported to the Senior Management Team and from there to the Board of the Corporation.

24th April 2007