The Social Value Act – A
Perfect Partner to the Public
Sector Equality Duty
Michelle de Oude
County Community Relations and Equality Officer
(on behalf of) the Norfolk Community Relations and
Equality Board
michelle@equalitycohesionnorfolk.net
07824 080269
Norfolk Community Relations
and Equality Board (CREB)
What? - public, voluntary, community and
third sector partners working together
What does it do? – helps everyone in
Norfolk to work together and co-ordinate
what they do on Hate Crime, Community
Tension Monitoring and Equality
Norfolk Community Relations
and Equality Board (CREB)
Who – Chaired by Jenny McKibben, Deputy
Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk
and members from public, voluntary,
community and third sector organisations –
(full list of members on website)
Why – we are all doing things but in these
difficult times we can achieve a lot more by
working together, supporting each other and
being more joined up….
How does the Act link to
Equality?
Public bodies have a legal duty to promote
equality called the Public Sector Equality Duty
It requires public sector organisations, or those
who are doing work on the behalf to comply with a
proactive duty to ‘pay due regard’ to:
• Eliminating unlawful discrimination,
harassment and victimisation
• Advancing equality of opportunity between
different groups
• Fostering good relations between different
groups
What public bodies should consider
when they buy services?
• Do current arrangements adversely affect some people or
unlawfully discriminate against them?
• Do differences in service take up or satisfaction levels
indicate that it is not being provided fairly or that there is
unlawful discrimination in the way it is delivered?
• Are there population changes that might indicate new
needs?
• Are there alternative ways of meeting your buying
requirements that could advance equality?
An example
Contract for an advice service for all residents
• The contract could specify that advisers from underrepresented groups should be recruited - posts can even
be ring-fenced - ‘positive action’ under the Equality Act
• The contract could ask the provider to capture qualitative
information about how the advice service lead to
improved life experiences for individuals
• The advice service could be asked to demonstrate how it
works with service providers to give them feedback on
their service thus leading to improvements
Some challenges and thoughts
1. We know that many services offered by the voluntary
sector already have clear added social value – but how
do we all measure this in Norfolk?
2. Do public sector contracting organisations know how their
services deliver on equality – how do they measure this?
3. What are the ‘social value’ goals that Norfolk wants to
promote?
4. How can we work together on these – CREB could be one
mechanism