Legislation

Over the years there have many laws about Equality starting with the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976.  These were largely about employment and had an impact on areas like recruitment and selection procedures as well as helping to change both attitudes and behaviour in the workplace.  However, unacceptable inequalities persisted.

A major change occurred as a result of the Stephen Lawrence affair where a young black boy was murdered in London but no-one was brought to justice.  After a major enquiry Sir William Macpherson produced a report which criticised the conduct of the police and introduced the concept of institutional discrimination.  He described this as being:

”the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin.

It can be seen and detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people”.

The result of this was the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 which set the template for much of the legislation that followed.  It covered not only the employment situation but also service delivery.  Public sector organisations had to pay heed to who their customers were, what their particular needs were, and how these could be accommodated.  Equality was not about treating people the same – it was about treating people fairly and appropriately and valuing diversity.

In the health sector it led to greater realisation of the differences in value systems, religions, and life experiences which affected the health profiles of different groups and consequently made it necessary to assess needs more carefully and develop care plans that were appropriate.  A more holistic approach to treatment was the answer.  This is what cultural competence is about.

Legislation on disability was passed in 1995 and 2005 and was followed by gender (and gender re-assignment), religion or belief, sexual orientation and age.  This resulted in nine major acts and numerous statutory instruments.  The Equality Act 2010 was formulated in order to simplify and harmonise equality legislation and make it easier to implement.

Statistics show the inequalities in health that exist in the incidence of disease, in life expectancy, in infant mortality, and highlight the fact that if you are a minority, for whatever reason, you are more likely to be unemployed, suffer ill health, live in a deprived area, have a poor lifestyle, be subjected to harassment and abuse and be the victim of crime.

Recent data from the Government Equalities Office provides a snapshot:

Pay: Gender Pay Gap 16.4%

Employment:
BME gap 14%
Disabled gap 27%

Public Life: 200 years before an even gender split in House of Commons

Life Chances: poor bright children are overtaken by age 6

Society:
6 out of 10 LGB children suffer homophobic bullying
1 in 5 older people reported that they can’t get travel insurance

Wealth:
Average Bangladeshi household £15,000
Average White & Indian household £200,000+

Further information about health inequalities and successful initiatives in the region will be made available on this website.