SPORT ENGLAND EQUALITY SCHEME
FEBRUARY 2014
SPORT ENGLAND EQUALITY SCHEME
FEBRUARY 2014
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Objectives of the scheme
3
What the scheme covers
3
Our duties
3
Sport England
5
Our strategy
5
Our values
7
How we measure and understand success
8
Our commitment to challenging discrimination and inequality
9
Sport England as an employer
9
National Governing Bodies and County Sports Partnerships
10
Impact assessment and monitoring
10
Accessibility
11
Responsibility for the scheme
12
Publication/Reviewing the scheme
13
Suggestions for improvements/complaints
13
Appendices
1. Sport England Equality Group Terms of Reference
2. List of related Organisational Policies
2
The objectives of the scheme
1.
The scheme wil deliver:
a.
increased satisfaction with the delivery of our function irrespective
of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil
partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex
or sexual orientation;
b.
the identification of any potential and actual negative equality
impacts of our functions or policies;
c.
the removal of actual negative equality impacts of our functions or
policies;
d.
a workforce that better represents the public it serves; and
e.
a workforce that recognises Sport England is an equal opportunity
employer and an employer of choice.
What the scheme covers
2.
Sport England’s Equality Scheme provides a combined statement,
covering age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil
partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and
sexual orientation, on how we proactively value diversity and promote
equality in al that we do (as an organisation, grant maker and employer).
The Law
3.
The Equality Act 2010 is the main, overarching anti-discrimination law
which Sport England is required to fol ow to help ensure that equality of
opportunity is promoted across various groups and that diversity is at the
heart of al that we do.
4.
Unlawful Discrimination – It is unlawful for Sport England as an employer,
potential employer and in relation to any of its functions to discriminate
against persons on the basis of:
a.
age;
b.
disability;
c.
gender reassignment;
d.
marriage or civil partnership;
e.
pregnancy or maternity;
f.
race;
g.
religion or belief;
h.
sex; or
i.
sexual orientation.
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The areas listed above in a. – i. are known as ‘the Protected
Characteristics’. Groups that are made up of people with the same
Protected Characteristic are often referred to as ‘Protected Groups’.
5.
Indirect Discrimination – Not only is it unlawful for Sport England to
directly discriminate against a person on any of the above characteristics,
but must also not discriminate indirectly. For example by imposing a
condition which might make it hard for a person or a group of people to
meet. However, indirect discrimination does not arise where it can be
shown that the condition imposed is a proportionate means for achieving
a legitimate aim, for example for some jobs high English proficiency might
be essential to the proper performance of the role.
6.
Positive Action – In some cases we can treat a person from a particular
group (e.g. a woman) more favourably even where it could be argued by
other groups (e.g. men) that they have been discriminated against. For
example, the Equality Act permits employers faced with two or more
candidates of equal merit to choose a candidate from a protected group
that is underrepresented in their workforce. Another example of positive
action is where we might provide training or support sessions for persons
of Protected Characteristics where we consider that they suffer unfair
disadvantage in the sector.
7.
The Public Sector Equality Duty– The Equality Act requires that Sport
England in carrying out its functions have due regard to the need to:
a. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
b. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a
Protected Characteristic and those who do not
c. Foster good relations between people who share a Protected
Characteristic and those who do not.
This means that we must go further than merely ensuring a person in
a particular instance is not treated less favourably on the basis of their
Protected Characteristic. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires us
to consider the impact of our strategies, business plans, policies,
procedures and key decisions on equality and the removal of
discrimination in these areas. It also requires us to take steps to meet
the needs of people from protected groups where these are different
from the needs of other people and requires us to encourage people
from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities
where their participation is disproportionately low. In some cases we
may need to treat some people more favourably than others in order
to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
8.
Pay Secrecy – The Equality Act renders unenforceable contractual
clauses which require employees to keep their pay a secret if employees
seek or make a pay disclosure for the purposes of assessing (or enabling
someone else to assess) whether there is a connection between pay and
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a particular protected characteristic. Sport England itself does not
include such clauses in its contracts of employment.
Sport England
9.
The English Sports Council (known as Sport England) was established in
1996 by Royal Charter and is a Government funded arms length body
and Lottery Distributor. We work in partnership with UK Sport, which has
responsibility for elite success, and the Youth Sport Trust, which is
focused on PE and school sport. We are accountable to Parliament
through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Our Strategy
10.
Sport England is focused on building a sporting habit for life. The 2012-
17 Youth and Community Strategy for Sport England, entitled ‘a sporting
habit for life’ was launched in January 2012. The strategy comprises over
£1bil ion of investment, comprising lottery and exchequer awards over
the five year period.
11.
This Youth and Community strategy wil :
a.
see more people taking on and keeping a sporting habit for life;
b.
create more opportunities for young people;
c.
nurture and develop talent;
d.
provide the right facilities in the right places;
e.
support local authorities and unlock local funding; and
f.
ensure real opportunities for communities.
12.
Developing sporting opportunities for girls and women, disability sport
and reaching out to diverse communities is not an optional extra. Rather
it is a vital part of the creation of a world leading community sports
system and essential to help more young people build a sporting habit for
life.
13.
Our overall ambition is to grow participation by young people and adults
and reduce drop-off. NGBs, and others who we invest in, wil have
participation targets as part of their performance management with a
requirement to deliver one or more of the fol owing outcomes:
a.
a growth in participation in the 14-25 age range;
b.
a growth in participation across the adult population;
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c.
an excellent sporting experience for existing participants to keep
them playing sport;
d.
high quality talent development which creates a strong England
talent pathway to link with UK Sport elite programmes; or
e.
a growth in participation by people who have disabilities, including
those with talent.
14.
In addition, we have committed to delivering the fol owing outcomes.
a.
Every one of the 4,000 secondary schools in England wil be
offered a community sport club on its site with a direct link to one
or more NGBs, depending on the local clubs in its area.
b.
County sports partnerships wil be given new resources to create
effective links locally between schools and sport in the community.
c.
All secondary schools who wish to do so wil be supported to
open up, or keep open, their sports facilities for local community
use and at least a third of these wil receive additional funding to
make this happen.
d.
At least 150 further education col eges wil benefit from ful -time
sports professional who wil act as a Col ege Sport Maker.
e.
Three quarters of university students aged 18-24 wil get the
chance to take up a new sport or continue playing a sport they
played at school or col ege.
f.
A thousand of our most disadvantaged local communities wil get
a Door Step Club.
g.
Two thousand young people on the margins of society wil be
supported by the Dame Kel y Holmes Legacy Trust into sport and
to gain new life skil s.
h.
Building on the early success of Places People Play, a further
£100m wil be invested in facilities for the most popular sports, for
example new artificial pitches and upgrading local swimming pools
i.
A minimum of 30 sports wil have enhanced England Talent
Pathways to ensure young people and others fulfil their potential.
15.
Sport England’s wider role within the sporting landscape is to provide
expertise and support in the fol owing areas:
a.
Research, intel igence and tools for those delivering Sport England
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b.
Governance
c.
Local support and delivery through CSPs and local partners
d.
Sporting workforce
e.
Statutory planning
Our Values
16.
Our values define the way we, as an organisation, work and the
behaviours we appreciate and expect in our col eagues. Unique to Sport
England, our values underpin our approach to what we do and those we
work with – from col eagues and partners to customers and suppliers.
By living the values we create not only a great place to work, but an
organisation we believe in, are proud of, and which delivers results. Our
values are also designed to promote equality.
Positive – We are positive about our mission, and our people.
We take pride in doing the right thing, and being accountable
for our actions.
We nurture and celebrate the good things in our
col eagues and partners
We are prepared to be creative in what we do and how
we do it
We wil take measured risks and be accountable for our
decisions
United – We work as one organisation, with a common
purpose.
We are cooperative, col aborate and constructive
We work across sport England and have a common
purpose
We are all behind what Sport England stands for
Expert – We value expertise and seek to provide definitive
leadership in sport development.
We set high standards for the service we provide to
col eagues and partners
We want to foster innovation, to find solutions that deliver
quicker, smarter results
We invest in improving our knowledge so that we can
make sound decisions
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Focused – We have a clear direction, are outcome driven and
have the right people in the right places to deliver.
We have a clear direction and are guided by the pursuit of
our outcomes
We have a good understanding of the environment in
which we work
We are committed to succeeding and to making a
difference
How we measure and understand success
17.
Set out below are the primary tools we use to measure and understand
the delivery of our current commitments.
Adult Participation
a.
Active People Survey measures sports participation (including
volunteering in sport, club membership, involvement in
competition and those in receipt of sports tutoring or coaching).
This is our current primary tool for measuring delivery against our
ambition to achieve a year on year increase in the proportion of
people (adults and young people in particular) who play sport once
a week for at least 30 minutes. It is also used to performance
manage the NGB Whole Sport Plan delivery, as a way of
managing the grow targets for around 30 sports. The survey
identifies how participation varies sport by sport, from place to
place and between different groups in the population including
those traditionally under-represented in sport (women, BME and
those with disabilities). The sample size is 160,000 people per
year. The survey is conducted on an ongoing basis (with the
sample gathered and surveyed everyday) and results are
published bi-annually and meets Official Statistics guidance.
b.
Our measurement is used primarily in two ways. First, to measure
and assess performance against specific targets. Second, to
inform delivery by identifying gaps in service provision or take up
and how they might be addressed. By putting al of this
information in the public domain Sport England is seeking to
ensure transparency and also to encourage all partners and
potential partners to apply the best possible intel igence in
addressing the issues facing sports provision.
Young People
c. Sport England commissions a number of independent impact
studies on its programmes and areas of work targeting young
people (for example Sportivate, Satellite Clubs, School Games,
Further Education) which provide evidence on what works and
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what doesn’t. These studies reflect on how successful the
programmes are at engaging and retaining youngsters from the
groups which traditional y have been under-represented in sport.
Our commitment to challenging discrimination and inequality
18.
Equality and valuing diversity are at the heart of what we do. Sport
England is committed to proactively chal enging discrimination and
inequality in al forms and at all levels.
19.
Sport England specifically challenges NGBs, and others it funds, to
consider how they can encourage the participation of people who
traditionally do not participate in sport – girls and women, people who
have a black and ethnic minority background, people who have a
disability and those from deprived backgrounds. We work with bodies
such as the English Federation of Disability Sport, Sporting Equals and
the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation who are funded to support
the National Governing Bodies of Sport and others, to deliver increased
opportunities for these priority groups.
20.
In addition, Sport England wil identify further opportunities via it’s open
alternative investment streams – for example small grants – to support
sport participation by these priority groups. We wil seek to fund projects
which take innovative approaches to tackle the issues that prevent
disabled people, people from a BME group and women and girls from
participating in sport.
Sport England as an employer
21.
Our aim is to ensure that equality runs through everything we do as an
employer. We actively seek to ensure that our workforce reflects the
communities we serve whilst also ensuring the right people are in the
right place to deliver our strategic outcomes. Where appropriate we wil
take positive action and make reasonable adjustments. However, we are
not al owed – by law – to recruit or promote people on the basis that they
are from a certain group.
22.
We monitor and analyse a range of workforce diversity metrics – age,
disability, gender, ethnicity and disability – around recruitment, retention
and reward. A report on these metrics is provided to Sport England’s
Executive Group each quarter. All new staff are encouraged to complete
a diversity questionnaire when they first join Sport England.
23.
Bi-annually we undertake an equal pay audit across Sport England. This
audit extends across the diversity spectrum including the Protected
Characteristics.
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24.
We ensure that new col eagues across Sport England are ful y aware of
their responsibilities by delivering mandatory equality and diversity training
online.
25.
One key area of development wil be to take further steps to ensure our
workforce better reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. This
wil build on the significant steps we have taken to improve the diversity
of the Sport England Board.
National Governing Bodies/County Sports Partnerships
26.
Sport England has made it a condition of grant that National Governing
Bodies in receipt of 2013-17 funding achieve a level of the Equality
Standard. All sports which received Whole Sport Plan funding between
2009-13 hold a level of the Equality Standard. Sports new to this funding
accredited to the Foundation level as part of their self-assurance. We
actively support sports to continue to progress through the levels.
27.
Likewise, as a condition of previous grants, al County Sports
Partnerships were required and have achieved at least the Foundation
level of the Equality Standard in 2013. We encourage County Sports
Partnerships to continue to progress through the levels.
28.
In January 2013 Sport England achieved the Intermediate Level of the UK
Equality Standard. We are the only organisation in England to do so, and
one of only eleven organisations in the UK. By embedding diversity and
equality further in our organisation we wil make progress towards the
standards required for achieving the Advanced Level.
Impact assessment and monitoring
29.
Sport England monitors the impact of its actions, including proposed
policy changes, on different groups. In formulating new policies we
consider what steps can be taken to remove or prevent an adverse
impact on and persons within protected groups. Action is taken,
wherever possible, to adapt and change proposals in the light of these
assessments.
30.
We deploy a number of tools including:
a.
monitoring through stakeholder surveys who use our and our
partners services and their satisfaction with them;
b.
our Active People Survey;
c.
Equality Impact Assessments (undertaken before new policies or
programmes are introduced or where major changes are made);
d.
research (including desk-based analysis);
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e.
focus groups; and
f.
work with our recognised union (PCS1).
31.
Equality Impact Assessments – is a process by which an organisation
can work out the impact of its policies and practices on equality. It is
designed in particular to spotlight any negative impacts and to deal with
these, while identifying ways to proactively promote equality. Sport
England is working to ensure that col eagues are supported to undertake
assessments of these policies and processes, they have lead
responsibility for, in line with good practice. This aids Sport England in
our objective to ensure that groups are not disadvantaged by any of our
decisions or activities, and that equality of opportunity is promoted within
our work.
32.
Sport England wil continue to ensure that any significant changes within
our organisation, its policies, practices and funding streams are assessed
for their impact on equality. .
Accessibility
33.
Our offices are accessible to wheelchair users and others with mobility
impairments. This includes car parks, toilets, entrances and all meeting
rooms. The exception is Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, a grade
A listed building, where some office areas are not accessible to
wheelchair users.
34.
We also only book conference or event venues which offer a similar level
of accessibility. We take any reasonable steps – for example providing a
communication support worker – to facilitate the individual needs of our
guests.
35.
Key support workers or carers are able to attend meetings and events as
and when requested. We also take all reasonable steps to support our
employees who have a disability or impairment for example through the
deployment of key support workers.
36.
All documents and information we publish – digitally or in print - can be
provided in alternative languages, or formats such as large print, Brail e,
tape and on disc upon request. We strive to ensure our website
continual y meets the Level AA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 2.0
1 Public and Commercial Services Union
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Responsibility for the scheme
37.
The ultimate responsibility for ensuring the equality scheme is
successful y implemented lies with Rona Chester our Chief Operating
Officer. Implementation is overseen by Sport England Equality Group.
The group is made up of col eagues drawn from across the organisation
and our recognised trade union (PCS). The membership of the group is
set out at appendix 1. The group wil normally meets at least four times a
year.
38.
The group wil draw up an annual action plan, a summary of which wil be
published on the Sport England website. The action plan for wil be
published and wil include taking steps to:
a.
gain a better picture of the diversity of our workforce;
b.
review recruitment processes to encourage more applicants and
as a consequence more col eagues from BME groups to better
reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.
39.
At an operational level every member of staff – including contractors,
secondees, volunteers and agency staff working at our offices – is
involved and responsible for helping to implement the equality scheme.
40.
The Chair of the Sport England Equality Group wil work in partnership
with Hanif Malik who a non-executive member of the Sport England
Board. Hanif has been asked to oversee equality issues on behalf of the
Board.
Publication/Reviewing the scheme
41.
Sport England’s current Equality Scheme wil be published on our
website. We wil review our Equality Scheme every year but undertake a
formal and more detailed review every three years. The next formal
review wil take place in 2017 and wil tie in with the review of the 2012-
2017 Strategy.
Suggestions for improvements/complaints
42.
We welcome suggestions from our employees, partners and members of
the public on how Sport England’s Equality Scheme, and its
implementation can be improved.
43.
Suggestions, comments and complaints should be send to:
Rona Chester
Chief Operating Officer
Sport England
Victoria House (Third Floor)
12
Bloomsbury Square
London
WC1B 4SE
or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
SPORT ENGLAND
FEBRUARY 2014
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APPENDIX 1 – SPORT ENGLAND EQUALITY GROUP TERMS OF REFERENCE
Purpose of Group
The group is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation and
review of Sport England’s Equality Scheme.
The group provides advice and reports to the Sport England Executive Group
on the formulation and operation of Sport England’s Equality Scheme.
Membership
Rona Chester
Chairperson and Chief Operating
Officer
Mike Diaper
Youth and Communities
Cathy Hughes
NGB and Sport
Tanya Joseph
Business Partnerships
Nicola Gray
Human Resources and Development
Chip Hamer
PCS
Charles Johnston
Facilities and Property
Others attend at the invitation of the Chairperson.
Frequency of Meetings
The group wil meet at least four times a year.
Reporting
The Chairperson wil provide a report to Hanif Malik (a non-executive member of
the Sport England Board) and the Executive Group after each meeting.
Papers
Papers wil be circulated at least 5 working days ahead of the group meeting.
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APPENDIX 2 – RELATED SPORT ENGLAND POLICIES
Code of Conduct
Dignity at Work Policy
Family Friendly Policy
Disciplinary and Grievance Policies
Mediation Policy
IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy
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