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Memorandum submitted by Committed2Equality (E 48)
Public Procurement as a Lever
1. "I agree with many of c2e's sentiments and can assure you that I am looking at these matters closely, in particular at how we use public procurement as a race equality lever and how we can develop a more joined up strategy for tackling labour market disadvantage in our cities." Margaret Hodge, Minister for Work 2006.
Committed2Equality
2. Committed2Equality (c2e) is a not-for-profit organisation - a legacy of the business-led Race Equality Task Force. The Task Force, in which Janet Lakhani was the SME champion, was set up in 2003 by the Prime Minister to find practical ways for business, third sector organisations and government to work together on all strands of equality.
3. The c2e Diversity Assured accreditation standard is nationally recognised, it confirms that organisations meet their equality obligations in their recruitment and employment practices and verifies compliance with public sector statutory duties, it enhances relationships with suppliers, customers and the community. C2e is SFEDI accredited.
4. As well as working with companies to achieve the c2e Diversity Assured mark, c2e lobbies for change, improvement and fairness with central and local government, trade and professional organisations and employers of all sizes across all sectors.
5. C2e are contributors to the NEP, GEO and EHRC and were members of the WEU Gender Equality working group during 2007/2008 which produced the Gender Equality Tool Kit. C2e have published a number of reports including the Local Authorities Equality & Diversity Survey (2006), Estimated Cost to Organisations of Discrimination Cases at ET (2005-2008), and A Procurement guide to the proposed Equality Bill (2008). In 2007, John Hutton opened the c2e "Fair employment Conference" and in 2008 BT sponsored "Procurement and the Equality Bill" where the lead speakers were from GEO, EHRC, IDeA, CESI and EEDA.
Equality and Diversity as part of the Supply Chain
6. Simple or complicated - Local Authorities told C2E that the main reasons why public bodies have avoided implementing the statutory duty are; it is considered too complicated, too expensive, they lack resource and they have too few staff.
7. Complicated means more bureaucracy, more expense, more resistance and the need to police and enforce.
8. The opportunity clearly exists to simplify the process by making each organisation responsible for its own equality and diversity management - this will reduce cost, be more sustainable, and manageable, avoiding the perils of policing by procurement.
9. A simple system exists that enables Public Bodies to meet their duties with less cost and better outcomes.
10. This is a simple and highly effective process which provides a blueprint for the Private Sector to adopt over time.
11. Contractual conditions - Clear contract terms and conditions ensure that suppliers are aware of their contractual Equality Responsibilities and should be able to evidence their current practices through their Equality Status.
12. National Equality Register - Provides a "one stop shop" for Public Bodies to access the equality status of existing and potential suppliers.
13. Suppliers will benefit by being able to evidence their current equality practices to all Public Bodies without having to complete multiple submissions
14. The National Equality Register simplifies the task of assuring that suppliers meet their obligations for Public Sector Procurement. Each Supplier organisation would register on the National Equality Register (Already in operation).
15. Organisations who register complete an Equality Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) which qualifies them to be eligible to tender. On winning a contract/tender they are required to submit verified evidence/accreditation to confirm their current equality practices. This information provides a current Equality Status for each organisation.
16. Equality Status - Detailed equality profiles and equality status enables organisations to manage their equality practices and processes.
17. Those who fail or need help to meet their obligations can be easily identified and supported.
18. An organisation's Equality Status and Aggregated Supplier data will be available Public Bodies. This will allow the public body to monitor individual supplier's equality status and measure the equality impact of public spending and flag change and progress. This can be done automatically, with the current equality status embedded in a supplier's record (Pilot agreed with ConstructionLine).
19. Outcomes - The results from our 2007 review showed that SMEs were employing 3.9% of ethnic minorities. When reviewed one year later, accredited organisations employment of ethnic minorities had jumped to 5.1%. The employment levels for women increased from 45% to 48.3%, and the average age rose from 37.0 years to 38.3 years. The percentage of disabled employees remained the same at 3.5%. Organisations operating with good equality practice and information managed their own equality profile and equality status positively.
20. "Being able to engage with organisations who are willing to employ from a wider job pool will lead to higher levels of ethnic and disabled employees"(Roger Rees JC+, Employer Diversity Regional manager - C2E pilot programme contributor, 2005).
21. Equality Framework - There are already in place a number of Equality Standard Providers identified by GEO. These providers could have their processes independently accredited, possibly by UKAS; the content they provide mapped and be required to collectively report their activities annually to the EHRC. This would enable EHRC/GEO to track and monitor the progress of equality capacity and improvement within organisations nationwide.
22. Costs and Benefits - No cost to Public Procurement. The National Equality Register is supplier funded, with benefits calculated to exceed any costs. (CBI/CIPD/TUC and C2E) Funding is available through LSC for managers of SMEs to improve their equality skills.
23. These proposals were discussed in outline with the GEO and detailed papers presented to both GEO and the EHRC in May 09. We would like to offer to present and discuss the details and practical use of the National Equality Register and Framework with the Committee.
June 2009 |