Corporate Business Plan 2014/2015
Our objectives and success measures for 2014/15
Our objectives and success measures for 2014/15
Objective
Success measures
Strategic Priority 1: To promote fairness and equality of opportunity in Britain’s future economy
1.1 Promote fair access to employment for all, by:
1.1.1 Tackling unlawful discriminatory recruitment
practices which exclude some groups of workers.
Evidence gathered and baseline established on the scale and sectoral incidence of discriminatory
adverts that target one group or nationality of workers to the exclusion of others by Q2 2014/15.
Proposals developed for improving compliance with the law in this area by Q4 2014/15.
2015/16 onwards: Implementation of agreed proposals and one-year-on review shows a reduction in
the number of discriminatory adverts reported from baseline.
1.1.2 Ensuring fair access to apprenticeships for
people from under-represented groups.
Agreement secured with the Scottish Government and relevant public authorities to the monitoring of
applications for apprenticeship programmes in Scotland and the establishment of equality targets by Q1
2014/15.
Programme of work to support implementation of equality monitoring completed by Q3 2014/15.
Contractual conditions on equality are developed and implemented for use in procurement by public
authorities for providers of apprenticeship placements by Q2 2014/15.
2015/16 onwards: Equality monitoring of applications and recruitment to apprenticeship programmes in
Scotland improved and representation increased.
Continued…
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Our objectives and success measures for 2014/15
Success measures
1.2 Ensure fair treatment of workers, by:
1.2.1 Improving compliance with equality and
human rights laws in employment practices in the
cleaning sector.
Report on assessment of compliance with equality and human rights law in employment practices in the
cleaning sector launched by Q1 2014/15 to significant positive media coverage.
Strong support from cleaning sector (including companies and trade bodies) to participate in taskforce
to identify and implement levers to improve compliance in employment practices by Q4 2014/15.
2015/16: One-year-on review assessment of sector take-up and implementation of recommendations
and compliance.
1.2.2 Improving women’s awareness of their rights
in relation to pregnancy and maternity and
improving employers’ compliance with their
responsibilities.
Scale of pregnancy and maternity discrimination and disadvantage and employers’ practice and
attitudes established, quantitative research and case studies and good practice materials published
and positively cited by Q3 2014/15.
Targeted resources and activities developed to help employers manage pregnancy and maternity
issues and to improve women’s understanding of their rights with positive feedback on their usefulness
and impact by Q2 2015/16.
2015/16 onwards: Improvement of employees’ and employers’ awareness of rights and responsibilities
from 2014/15 baseline.
1.2.3 Helping small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) make better use of talent.
Robust evidence base on SMEs’ views on recruitment and employment practices established by Q2
2014/15.
2015/16: Resources, case studies and guidance developed that meet the needs of SMEs and shows
them how to get the best out of their workforce.
1.2.4 Supporting businesses to respect human
rights.
Practical tools provided to enable target sectors to implement the United Nations Guiding Principles by
Q4 2014/15 and positive feedback on their usefulness and impact (to be reported quarterly).
2015/16 onwards: Annual increase in the number of listed companies including specific reporting with
regards to human rights in their annual report in line with the new Strategic Report guidance from the
Financial Reporting Council.
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Corporate Business Plan 2014/2015
Our objectives and success measures for 2014/15
Objective
Success measures
1.2.5 Supporting employers to understand their
responsibilities in relation to religion or belief in the
workplace, assessing the effectiveness of current
legislation and making recommendations to
Government.
Comprehensive guidance produced to ensure employers and employees understand the benefits of
religious and non-religious diversity in the workplace, and how to manage requests related to religion or
belief and positive feedback on its usefulness and impact by Q4 2014/15 (to be reported quarterly).
Legal assessment of current legislation completed by Q3 2014/15 and report by Commission on the
state of the law on religion or belief published in Q2 2015/16, with positive citations in public dialogue.
Positive engagement and participation from religion and belief stakeholders in the programme.
1.3 Tackle under-representation at senior levels, by:
1.3.1 Improving recruitment practice in FTSE 350
companies to promote diversity on FTSE boards.
Evidence gathered on recruitment practices at board level in the FTSE 350 and agreement reached
with an expert Advisory Board on key findings and recommendations by Q4 2014/15.
Guidance produced for FTSE 350 companies to support fair and transparent, lawful recruitment
practices at board level by Q4 2014/15 and well received.
Report on recruitment practices at board level in the FTSE 350 published by end of Q1 2015/16 and
agreement reached with employers and other stakeholders on implementing recommendations.
2015/16: Positive response from employers and other stakeholders to report on recruitment practices at
board level in the FTSE 350.
One-year-on report shows increased use of best practice measures in board recruitment practices in
the FTSE 350.
Strategic Priority 2: To promote fair access to public services, and autonomy and dignity in service delivery
2.1 Ensure services treat everyone fairly, by:
2.1.1 Tackling discriminatory practices by letting
agents.
Named letting agents made aware of their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 to treat potential
tenants fairly - with letters sent and follow-up in an agreed period.
Action plan addressing discriminatory practices supported by and agreed with key players in the sector,
and the roles of regulatory bodies in this sector clarified by Q1 2014/15.
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Our objectives and success measures for 2014/15
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Success measures
2.1.2 Improving the tourism sector’s
understanding of its equality responsibilities.
Tailored guidance co-produced with VisitEngland, VisitScotland and VisitWales to address questions
raised by the tourism industry about age discrimination and widely disseminated to members (as
measured by downloads/citations) by Q3 2014/15.
2.1.3 Increasing participation of underrepresented groups in sport.
Development and implementation of programme of work with a range of sports’ governing bodies
across Great Britain focusing on UK Sport’s Sports Equality Standard as a framework to improve
equality practice across sports’ governing bodies.
2015/16 onwards: Higher number of sporting bodies achieving the Intermediate and Advanced levels of
the Sports Equality Standard and the Standard broadened to encompass spectators.
2.1.4 Improving access to banking services for
disabled people.
Evidence gathered on the accessibility of banking services to disabled people and scoping report
completed identifying issues, and agreement reached with the banking industry and groups of and for
disabled people on recommended actions by Q3 2014/15.
2015/16 onwards: Service providers in banking industry implement agreed improvements within an
agreed timescale (measured in a one-year-on review).
2.2 Maximise the potential for key public services to close equality gaps and protect human rights, by:
2.2.1 Supporting schools to increase participation
and attainment among disabled pupils and those
with special educational needs (SEN).
New SEN Code for schools includes the Equality Act 2010 requirements for reasonable adjustments
and the Department for Education cites the Commission’s reasonable adjustments guidance in its
dissemination and implementation.
Positive feedback from schools on teacher training material based on the Commission’s reasonable
adjustments guidance by Q4 2014/15.
2.2.2 Raising levels of compliance with equality
and human rights standards in health and social
care.
Key partners demonstrate explicit commitment to raising standards and awareness of human rights and
equality in health sector practices, for example through the new Fundamental Standard being
developed by the Department of Health.
Report on evidence gathered on the extent and impact of age discrimination in Adult Social Care
assessment and commissioning completed by Q4 2014/15.
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Corporate Business Plan 2014/2015
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Success measures
2.2.3 Promoting equality and fair financial
decision-making in the 2015 Spending Reviews
(SRs).
Guidance on equality coverage of fiscal events and SRs across Government departments, which
includes cumulative equality impact assessment and signposts the Commission’s guidance/toolkit, is
developed with HM Treasury and completed by Q3 2014/15.
2015/16 onwards: SR 15 Equality Statement has more extensive equality coverage than previously and
shows how equality evidence has been used to reach fairer decisions.
2.3 Provide tools to help public bodies, by:
2.3.1 Following up the recommendations of the
independent review of the Public Sector Equality
Duty (PSED).
Better guidance on PSED compliance in relation to data collection, co-produced with the Information
Commissioner for England, published if required by Q4 2014/15.
Review Commission’s guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty and where necessary address
information gaps, produce short, bespoke guidance, with high levels of downloads and positive user
feedback by Q4 2014/15.
Evidence provided on the impact of the PSED and users’ understanding of the PSED guidance
evaluated with interim report produced by Q4 2014/15.
2.3.2 Collaborating with non-economic regulators
and inspectorates (RIOs) to embed equality and
human rights in their frameworks.
Positive feedback from RIOs on the relevance of the RIO human rights handbook to their work and the
tailored training provided by Q2 2014/15.
RIO forum membership increases and more active engagement through delivery of practice seminars.
Actions delivered in new Memorandum of Understanding with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and
equality and human rights training mainstreamed in CQC academy programme for inspectors and
clinicians by Q4 2014/15.
Work with Audit Scotland to test out approaches to improve the consideration of equality in their audit
and inspections, with areas for improvement identified and specific performance audit agreed by Q1
2014/15 and report published to promote findings to other regulators across Scotland by Q4 2014/15.
.
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Strategic Priority 3: To promote dignity and respect, and safeguard people’s safety
3.1 Tackle prejudice and reduce identity-based violence, by:
3.1.1 Strengthening public understanding of
religion and belief and its place in the public
sphere.
Commission's work is positively cited in public dialogue on religion or belief issues, for example in
parliamentary debates and media coverage (to be reported quarterly).
3.1.2 Improving the reporting of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGB and T) hate crime.
Gaps in the availability of LGB and T third party hate crime reporting centres identified and new
guidance on reporting LGB and T hate crimes developed by Q4 2014/15.
2015/16: Sustainable network of LGB and T communities, criminal justice agencies and social care
agencies established.
3.1.3 Transferring our expertise and learning to
reduce the inappropriate use of police stop and
search powers.
Commission’s recommended good practice in reducing disproportionate use of stop and search powers
is embedded into the work of key bodies including the National College of Policing (with a
Memorandum of Understanding agreed by Q2 2014/15) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary (as evidenced by their 2014/15 re-inspection reflecting our recommendations).
Overall use of stop and search powers continues to decrease, including disproportionate use as
evidenced in the Ministry of Justice’s planned assessment of race disproportionality in the criminal
justice system in Autumn 2015.
3.1.4 Tackling caste discrimination and
harassment.
Work with business to ensure employers understand how to comply with proposed new legislation to
prohibit caste discrimination and harassment.
3.1.5 Reducing the incidence of identity-based
bullying and harassment in schools.
Pilot completed of improvement intervention in a Scottish school to demonstrate good practice in the
management of identity-based harassment and a reduction in the incidence by Q4 2014/15.
2015/16: Agreement with Scottish Government to collect and publish school-based data on identitybased harassment by 2015/16 to enable improvements in reducing harassment to be identified.
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3.2 Safeguard those least able to assert their own rights, by:
3.2.1 Reducing incidents of disability harassment.
Formal and informal agreements with certain public authorities in place and monitored quarterly to
improve the way they address disability harassment, in preparation for a three-year report on progress
in 2015/16.
2015/16: Three-year progress report on the implementation of the recommendations from the
Commission’s Inquiry evidences a continuous and sustainable improvement in addressing disabilityrelated harassment.
3.2.2 Contributing to action to reduce incidents of
female genital mutilation (FGM).
Support provided to community engagement programme and awareness raised about FGM and its
effects in affected communities in order to challenge traditional attitudes.
Engagement with Government to ensure a comprehensive strategy and accountability framework is in
place to tackle this issue.
3.2.3 Recommending action to reduce avoidable
deaths of adults with mental health conditions in
State detention.
Final Inquiry report published by Q4 2014/15 with clear, practical recommendations to increase
compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 and improve outcomes for those with mental health
conditions while in State detention.
Recommendations recognised by key bodies such as the Mental Health Act Commission, the
Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody, regulators and stakeholders (as evidenced in report
citations).
3.2.4 Improving the life chances of children with
mental health conditions at risk of detention.
Successful partnership arrangement established with the Children’s Commissioners and other key
partners to explore how to reduce the likelihood of children with mental health conditions being
detained by the State.
Commitments secured from the relevant bodies to recommended actions.
3.2.5 Tackling the causes of human trafficking in
Scotland and improving the treatment of victims.
Updated review of the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission’s Inquiry into human
trafficking in Scotland by Q3 2014/15.
Successful influencing of the proposals for legislative change to the Human Trafficking (Scotland) Bill
and Modern Slavery Bill to reflect the Inquiry recommendations.
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Disability work programme
Informing the UK’s forthcoming examination under
the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled
People (UNCRPD).
Disabled people and disabled people’s organisations influence and participate in the UNCRPD
examination.
Developing an engagement strategy.
Effective working partnerships in place with senior disability-related stakeholders in Government
departments, public authorities and third sector organisations, with Commission’s disability-related work
actively promoted to disabled people and their organisations.
Continuing our work on disability-related
harassment.
Evidence gathered and work undertaken with priority organisations to inform the three-year progress
report in 2015/16 to follow up our Inquiry into disability-related harassment.
Scotland work programme
Preparing for the referendum on independence
Recommendations and preferred options regarding future powers, resources and structures for the
promotion and protection of equality and human rights in Scotland based on available evidence of what
will work best.
Commitment secured from Scottish and UK decision-makers that there will be no diminution of existing
powers to promote and protect equality and human rights in Scotland, in the event of full independence
or further devolution.
Transferring our expertise to promote
understanding of the Equality Act 2010 and human
rights law.
Increase in awareness of equality and human rights obligations across the public and private sector,
with training and interactive workshops delivered to advisors, third sector and public sector
organisations by Q4 2014/15.
Increase in referrals to the Commission of cases which are potentially strategic, and increase in
intelligence information about potential breaches of discrimination and human rights law.
Engaging directly with business in Scotland.
Promotion of our Employer Guidance and work on rights in pregnancy and maternity.
Recommendations from the Commission’s Inquiry into the meat processing sector transferred to the
fisheries industry in Scotland.
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Improving public sector employment practice and
service delivery.
Information, including equality data, tools and guidance, provided to public authorities to help them
improve their performance on the Scottish specific duties by Q3 2014/15.
Measurable improvement by Q4 2014/15 in setting equality outcomes and in reporting employment
information amongst public authorities who performed most poorly in 2013/14.
Successful promotion and use of the web-based, integrated equality and human rights impact
assessment resource by public authorities and evidence that they have considered equality and human
rights within their impact assessment processes by Q4 2014/15.
Undertaking a detailed Census 2011 analysis.
Three information resources disseminated to audiences in public and third sector bodies by Q3
2014/15.
2015/16 onwards: Commission research and analysis cited in research, policy, media articles and in
parliamentary debates and evidence of it having a positive impact on policy development in these fora.
Work to reduce the incidence of identity-based
harassment in Scottish schools.
Pilot completed of improvement intervention in a Scottish school to demonstrate good practice in the
management of identity-based harassment and a reduction in the incidence by Q4 2014/15.
2015/16: Agreement with Scottish Government to collect and publish school-based data on identitybased harassment by 2015/16 to enable improvements in reducing harassment to be identified.
Wales work programme
Building on our Concordat with the Welsh
Government and working with the Commission on
Devolution to promote and progress the strong and
distinct equality and human rights agenda in Wales.
Concordat remains in place following six-month review in Q3 2014/15 and meetings held with Welsh
Government Ministers on next steps following second Silk Commission report.
Advising the Welsh Government, the National
Assembly for Wales and Welsh MPs.
Evidence of Commission advice and evidence provided to the Welsh Government Budget Advisory
Group on Equality and on the End Violence Against Women, Social Services and Future Generations
Bill being taken into account by Q4 2014/15.
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Success measures
Working with public services in Wales to ensure
the Public Sector Equality Duty delivers equality
improvements.
Monitoring reports on implementation of the Public Sector Equality Duty in 2013/14 by 45 public sector
organisations across 4 sectors completed and summaries submitted to Welsh Government Ministers by
Q1 2014/15.
2014/15 Public Sector Equality Duty monitoring programme completed by Q4 2014/15.
Report on evaluation of the Public Sector Equality Duty finalised and key messages shared with Welsh
Government and other key stakeholders by Q3 2014/15 and feedback that evidence has influenced
them.
Increasing access to equality and human rights
advice and improving its quality.
Two discrimination law courses and advisor sessions delivered - one in North / West Wales and
one in South Wales - by Q4 2014/15. Positive feedback received about both courses.
Improving Welsh workplaces by sharing effective
practice.
Effective practice shared through the Equality Exchange network with six events and a conference
delivered by Q4 2014/15.Evidence of positive engagement with public and private sector
employers with a minimum of two 'anchor' companies and/or employer organisations adopting
workplace policies on mental health and violence against women by Q4 2014/15.
Developing and promoting our evidence base on
equality and human rights in Wales.
Evidence base updated by Q4 2014/15 to feed into the Commission’s wider periodic review on
progress on equality and human rights, due to be published in 2015.
EHRC Wales Annual Review delivered demonstrating our impact and value by Q3 2014/15.
Sharpening the focus on equality and human rights Annual human rights lecture hosted by Q3 2014/15.
in Wales.
Evidence provided about the links between poverty and protected characteristics to the National
Assembly's Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee's Inquiry into poverty by Q4
2014/15.
Evidence of effective participation in the expert group on a socio-economic duty by Q2 2014/15.
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Our core work
4.1 Our role as a National Human Rights Institution
4.1.1 To meet our monitoring and reporting
obligations as a National Human Rights Institution
(NHRI) and protect human rights.
List of issues and shadow reports submitted for forthcoming examinations of the UK under UN human
rights treaties to deadline and in compliance with UN treaty body guidelines, with evidence of positive
feedback from UN treaty bodies during pre-sessional working groups and examinations.
The Commission influences the focus of forthcoming examinations of the UK under UN human rights
treaties with our priorities reflected in the List of Issues and the content of the concluding observations
and recommendations for the UK.
UK NHRI submissions are co-ordinated and streamlined with convergence of evidence and policy
positions.
4.1.2 To promote, protect and monitor the
implementation of the UN Convention on the
Rights of People with Disabilities in Britain to fulfil
our role as a designated UK Independent
Mechanism (UKIM).
EHRC’s international reputation in relation to this work is enhanced as evidenced in successful review
of our NHRI A-rated status in 2015.
Reports submitted to deadline and in compliance with the UN Disability Committee's guidelines, with
evidence of positive feedback from the UN Disability Committee.
Commission and UKIM priorities are reflected in the UN Disability Committee's list of issues and
recommendations for the UK.
4.1.3 To fulfil our obligations under the Equality
Act 2006 and as an NHRI in relation to promotion
of and education about human rights and to
improve perceptions of human rights, particularly
among parliamentarians and the wider public,
and to safeguard the legal and practical
protections of human rights, in particular the
Human Rights Act 1998.
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Political commitment (e.g. in manifestos) not to weaken legal protections for human rights; reform
proposals do not weaken protections.
Improved perceptions potentially measured through others’ polling; reduction in unchallenged hostile
media coverage measured through media analysis.
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4.1.4 To contribute to a stronger infrastructure at
Evidence of our work and submissions visible at international and European levels.
European and international levels and further the
International levers and their implications for the UK identified and domestic impact communicated.
effectiveness of NHRIs and national equality bodies.
4.3 Research
4.3.1 To provide robust evidence on the state of
equality and human rights in Britain and fulfil our
obligations under section 12 of the Equality Act
2006 to monitor societal progress in relation to
equality and human rights.
Work commenced on next periodic review of progress on equality and human rights in Britain with a
series of events and conference held consulting on the evidence and report on proceedings published
by Q4 2014/15.
Commission well-positioned to meet September 2015 deadline to lay report on progress before
Parliament.
4.4 Legal work
4.4.1 To undertake strategic litigation and
enforcement actions that advance our strategic
objectives, prevent or stop equality and human
rights abuses or offer the opportunity to clarify
equality and human rights legislation.
New legal strategy developed and actions identified in line with our strategic objectives.
4.4.2 To fulfil our statutory duty under section 11
of the Equality Act 2006 to monitor the
effectiveness of equality and human rights law.
Commission submissions to Government consultations and briefings to parliamentarians on key
forthcoming legislation cited in debates, and issues raised in our submissions responded to.
4.4.3 To fulfil our statutory duty under section 8 of
the Equality Act 2006 to promote awareness and
understanding of rights under the equality
enactments and to encourage good practice.
Age Supplement to the Equality Act 2010 Code of Practice on services, public functions and
associations laid before Parliament and published on the Commission's website by Q2 2014/15 with
positive user feedback.
Targeted increase in the success rate of the use of our legal powers, including cases funded under
section 28 of the Equality Act 2006, interventions and own-name judicial reviews and proceedings.
Continued...
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4.4 Constitutional change
4.4.1 To ensure protection of, and institutional
support for equality and human rights in the
event of constitutional changes.
Commission delivers to Governments and the Joint Committee on Human Rights clear and timely
advice and recommendations on the potential implications for equality and human rights of proposed
constitutional changes
5.1 Communications and engagement, business support and organisational improvement
5.1 To inform the public, employers and service
providers about their rights and obligations under
equality and human rights laws.
Launch and promote new accessible, informative, up-to-date and engaging website by Q1 2014/15.
Increase number of unique visitors to the website by 20% over the course of the year (from 2.1 million
to 2.5 million), and subscribers to our e-bulletin to over 40,000 (currently around 35,000).
Achieve and maintain an AA/AAA accessibility rating for the website and improve user satisfaction from
75% to 85%.
5.2 To move towards the top quartile benchmarked efficiency in our corporate support
functions.
Finalise implementation of our estates strategy by Q1 2014/15, with a 40% reduction on our
expenditure compared with 2012/13.
Value-for-money business case completed on joining a shared service offering for finance and human
resources services in Q1 2014/15 with a decision on implementation by Q2 2014/15.
5.3 To develop a high-performing organisation
that ensures high quality delivery aligning our
work, people, structure and culture.
Design and implement a programme of work to establish a more collaborative organisational culture
with clear values and behaviours that supports delivery of our future business needs by Q2 2014/15.
5.4 To ensure compliance with the Commission’s
Welsh Language Scheme to ensure compliance
Welsh Language Act, 1993.
Report on progress against Welsh Language Scheme submitted to the Welsh Language Commissioner
by Q3 2014/15.
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Further improvements secured in staff engagement and communication with high completion rates of
staff survey maintained >70% and a 20% increase in the score on staff feeling informed by Q3 2014/15.
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