Gender Equality
Foreword by David Hume, Chief Executive, SBC
The Gender Equality Duty will come into force in Scotland on 06 April 2007.
The duty aims to:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex; and
- promote equality of opportunity between women and men.
Scottish Borders Council welcomes the new duty and notes that this is a powerful tool that will deliver real change and practical improvements to the lives of women and men.
Further, Scottish Borders Council accepts that it has a duty and responsibility to tackle gender inequality which remains persistent and widespread. To this end the Council will use its influence to make the public sector more effective and responsive to the realities of how we all live our lives.
The Council will do this by thinking carefully as to how it plans and delivers public services by recognising the different needs of women and men, and the different talents/expertise that women and men bring in the workforce.
This legislation is the biggest change in sex equality for 30 years and it recognises the need for service providers to rethink strategy in this field rather than waiting for individuals to challenge poor planning/unequal practices.
The duty calls for the Council to ensure that gender issues are reflected in all its functions which include policy-making, service provision, employment matters, and legal discretion as well as decision making.
In particular, the Council must promote equal opportunities between women and men acknowledging that the two groups are not starting from an equal footing and that identical treatment will not always be appropriate. Further, the Council has an obligation to eliminate discrimination and harassment towards transsexual individuals as the duty will extend to transsexual service users as well as staff in December 2007.
As a result of this Scottish Borders Council and many of its New Ways partners must produce a Gender Equality Scheme and Action Plan by 29 June 2007.
This Gender Equality Scheme and Action Plan will outline how Scottish Borders Council will meet the requirements of the duty. In order to do this the Council must consult with as many of its stakeholders as possible so that it can take into account issues raised by them in determining its Gender Equality objectives.
The purpose of this consultation exercise is to seek your views on whether:
- Council services are accessible and tailored to the different needs of women and men;
- fathers are receiving the same type of support that mothers do for childcare responsibilities in relation to Council services/as a member of staff;
- women and men consider that their input into groups, forums, etc is equally valued, and that both women and men feel that they are effectively engaged in decision and policy making on issues that have a direct effect on them;
- people using services receive appropriate support such as pushchair access to Council services, public transport, crèche facilities, etc; there are any other issues which you feel are relevant to gender equality that you wish to highlight.
In addition to the above, we seek the views of those currently employed by Scottish Borders Council on whether they consider that:
- women and men are represented at all levels within the workforce of the Council;
- transsexual people are supported in the workplace and valued as staff:
- there are barriers to recruitment and retention of male, female and trans-sexual staff;
- information regarding gender equality is easily available within the workplace;
- there are any other issues which you feel are relevant to the gender equality agenda which you consider should be addressed.
Your views are important to us as the aim of our Scheme and Action Plan is to identify how the Council will proceed over the next 3 years to achieve real change both as a service provider and employer.
Gender Equality Scheme Consultation 2007
Gender Equality Scheme Questionnaire
Gender Equality Scheme Report - May 2008
These documents are also available to read and to download from the following websites:-
- Online Borders: www.onlineborders.com
- New Ways: www.scottishbordersnewways.com
We can also provide this document on tape, in Braille, large print and various computer formats by contacting us at the address below. Lesley Crozier can also give information on other language translations as well as providing additional copies.
Policy Analyst (Equality & Diversity)
Freepost RRBU-KBCB-JBJG
Scottish Borders Council
Business Improvement Unit
Council Headquarters
Newtown St Boswells
Melrose
TD6 0SA
Telephone: Lesley Crozier on 01835 824000 x5369
Fax: 01835 825059
Electronically: via our online form
Unified Solutions.