Third of public bodies fail race equality standard, says CRE

Nearly one third of Britain's public bodies have stumbled at the first hurdle on new race equality duties, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has said following the publication of its survey today.

The survey, 'Towards Racial Equality', was carried out to assess progress of the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) which requires public bodies - including all local authorities, government departments, health trusts, police forces, education bodies and schools - to make improvements on race equality across their activities.

The CRE survey found that while one third of Britain's public bodies are leading the way with focused action, just under a third have given weak 'off-the peg' responses to the new duties. Also, a "significant number" had not done anything to comply with the law when the research was carried out.

Trevor Phillips, Chair of the CRE, said: "The race equality duty is a world first - a unique tool to tackle inequality and promote good race relations. The fact that most public bodies are taking this matter seriously shows that the lever of this new law is working.

"The fact that a significant minority appears to be sitting on its hands means that if we are to reduce inequality we have to turn up the heat on some of the slow coaches. Good intentions are no longer enough. We need to see change."

Commenting on the findings, Fiona Mactaggart, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Race Equality, Home Office, said: "More than two-thirds of organisations who responded to this survey agree that the duty to promote race equality has produced positive benefits. Some of these organisations are using the duty to promote race equality to improve public services and employment practices."

The survey also found that: 70% said the race equality duty had produced positive benefits; between 83% and 99% of bodies had produced a Race Equality Scheme or policy at the time of the survey; 70% have identified some outcomes to achieve - however, around 30% have yet to identify outcomes

However, 30% of public authorities were found to have not set standards, and some public bodies gave limited attention to promoting good race relations.

(GMcG)