equality & diversity in focus

To the NSPCC National Training Centre, Beaumont Leys, for a free interactive one-day seminar for local authority practitioners entitled, "Equality & Diversity in Focus". This is sponsored by the East Midlands Improvement & Efficiency Partnership (EMIEP).

Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships were set up in each of the nine English regions, following the publication of the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy in December 2008 by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The East Midlands Improvement & Efficiency Partnership (EMIEP) exists to bring lasting improvements to the East Midlands area and has a budget of c. £34 million (2008/11) to do exactly that. The EMIEP involves 46 councils and 5 fire and rescue authorities from the region and aims to:

• Promote the achievements of East Midlands authorities;
• Identify and share best practice from other Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships;
• Commission and provide tools, training and development;
• Address individual and collective improvement priorities;
• Stimulate and promote innovation and new ways of working;
• Share opportunities to support improvement and efficiency and;
• Offer help to councils and services in difficulty.

As usual, this one of those events that I'm attending both for the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) and the Council of Faiths. There are more than 30 delegates from across the East Midlands and beyond (from Borough, City and County Councils in Blaby, Charnwood, Derbyshire, East Northamprtonshire, Gedling, Harborough, High Peak, Leicester, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough). The following sessions are being offered today:

• "Equalities Law", an expert presentation by Sarah Michaels (Partner, Employment Department) a leading solicitor from Bevan Brittan LLP, covering recent equality case law updates and a brief overview of the Equalities Bill.
• "Accessing and Presenting Equalities and Diversity Data", a specialist presentation by Raja Farooq (Account Manager, Local Government) from Experian Public Sector on how to resource and present equalities and diversity data.
• "Equality and Human Rights" (by Jay Vyas, Regional Manager, and Patrick Devine, Regional Adviser, Equality and Human Rights Commission), an update presentation on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s national and regional priorities for 2010-2011.
• "Case study presentations", a carousel-style session with examples highlighting areas of good practice from the region, presented by Dave Bennett Equalities & Diversity Policy Officer, High Peak Borough Council; Marie Chapman Community Support Officer, Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service; and Sheila Brelivet, Data Analyst, Northamptonshire Area Procurement Service.
• "Interactive workshop session on Equality Impact Assessments" facilitated by Irene Kszyk (Head of Equalities, Leicester City Council) and Lynne Woodward (Head of Diversity, Leicestershire Constabulary).

I have to say that, sitting round the table in our group, working on the task regarding Equality Impact Assessments, I had something of a lightbulb moment. This was the first time I've discussed this topic along with other practitioners and many things became clear to me that had been rather hazy and indistinct before. If I had to identify one thing I gained form attending today, this would be it: a clearer understanding of the purpose and use of Equality Impact Assessments.

In the spirit of Amplifed Leicester, I spent much of today tweeting the session titles and main points - from my personal twitter account (@GeorgeMB) then retweeting them from Leicester Council of Faiths' twitter account (@counciloffaiths), linked to updates on my Facebook. Having tweeted all day on equality, diversity and human rights with no response from anyone out there, I tweeted "coffee break!" mid-afternoon and one person posted that they liked this!

Find out more about the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership:

http://www.eastmidlandsiep.gov.uk/