DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME
Quality Improvement and Assurance - Document Version Control
Review Carried out by: Principal
Approved by: Quality & Curriculum Committee
Reviewed and agreed by: College Mangement Team
Last Review Date: December 2006
Next Review Date: December 2007
BACKGROUND
What is the Disability Equality Duty and what is a Disability Equality Scheme?
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was introduced in 1995. The Disability Equality Duty extends the existing DDA requirements. All public authorities including colleges must have regard to:
- Promoting equality of opportunity between disabled people and others
- Eliminating unlawful discrimination
- Eliminating disability-related harassment
- Promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people
- Encouraging participation in public life by disabled people
- Taking account of people’s disabilities even if this means treating disabled people more favourably than others.
The Disability Equality Duty provides the framework to help the College to plan how to do this. At the heart of the Disability Equality Duty is the Disability Equality Scheme (DES) and Action Plan. This Scheme will be reviewed regularly and re-published every three years. The Scheme requires the College to impact assess all policies, procedures and practices. Impact assessment means to evaluate policies, procedures and practices in terms of their potential to disadvantage people with disabilities. Impact assessment may identify areas of discrimination both overt and hidden, may highlight potential discriminatory practice, or may highlight aspects which actively promote disability equality.
Why have a Disability Equality Scheme?
Firstly, we have to have a Disability Equality Scheme to be compliant with the Disability Equality Duty. However, we believe very strongly that the College must be a fully inclusive organisation which does not tolerate discrimination in any form, and welcomes people with disabilities. We have already made good progress in ensuring that we meet the Disability Equality Duty and the Scheme outlines the good work that has already been done. It also outlines work that we are aware needs to be undertaken as soon as possible. The action plan at the end of the scheme provides details of how we will do this. We are committed to making on-going improvements and the Disability Equality Scheme and the action plan will change as the needs of the College, and those people who use the College, change. This Scheme reflects and reinforces the College’s values, aims and objectives relating to equality and diversity, as detailed within our policy statements, annual Self Assessment Report and quality improvement and development plans.
What do we want to achieve by December 2009?
1. We want to further develop a fully inclusive culture at Ludlow College, which encourages people with disabilities to work and learn here.
2. We want to ensure, as far as possible, that all areas of the College premises are accessible to everyone.
3. We want to make sure that any remaining barriers to the admission of disabled students and the appointment of disabled staff are broken down.
4. Fully respecting confidentiality, we want to further break down any barriers to disclosure and gather robust information about the participation and success of students with disabilities and about the way in which we recruit staff and their progress while they are working with us.
5. We want to set targets regarding the above and monitor the achievement of those targets closely.
6. We want to make sure that all learning materials, assessment practices, marketing materials etc. are fully accessible to all of our students.
7. We want to promote disability equality in every aspect of our operation.
8. We want to involve disabled students and staff in the impact assessment of everything we do and in making plans for our future development.
9. We want to respond quickly to the needs of disabled students with regards to support, access, etc and, wherever possible, provide for those needs.
10. We want to work with our staff and students to develop their knowledge and understanding of disability based issues.
11. We want to monitor and review progress against the Disability Equality Scheme and action plan and ensure that it is a working document.
Actions included in the action plan at the end of the Disability Equality Scheme are specifically referenced to the above aims.
1. Introduction
Ludlow College is a popular and successful college in the centre of the market town of Ludlow (population 9000) in South Shropshire, one of the most sparsely populated rural areas in England. The College was set up to provide a general 16-18 education for all students in the Ludlow area. In recent years it has developed a significant range of adult further education programmes to meet the needs of the local community. It has established a strong local reputation and this is reflected in student recruitment. At present there are 480 full-time students and 1400 part-time students on roll. The College currently employs 120 people, including general and specialist support staff, full-time, part-time and sessional tutors.
The College is committed to working to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, as well as to encourage changes in individual behaviour and attitudes, and to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for people with and without disabilities. The current staff and student profile in relation to disabilities is as follows:
Students :
In the academic year 2005-2006 95 students declared a disability during the enrolment process, which is 5% of the total student body.
Staff :
The Governing Body includes two members who have a disclosed disability. Currently, the profile of staff who have disclosed a disability is low. We are confident that more staff have disabilities but have not yet disclosed them. In order for us to ensure equality between those who have and those who have not disclosed, it is very important that we investigate barriers to disclosure and take steps to remove barriers.
Our record of promoting disclosure of disabilities by students enrolling at the College has been more successful. The Admission Team and all teaching staff have been made aware of the rights of students to disclose a disability at any time and to any person. The need for respect for confidentiality is also highlighted – and the possible implications of requests not to pass disability information on to others who can offer support. It is recognised that staff development is required and this has been included in the action plan. As many formal opportunities to disclose disabilities as possible have been built into College procedures and processes. Students are given a specific opportunity to disclose at application and enrolment stages and as part of the tutorial process. However, it is recognised that such multiple opportunities for disclosure do not currently exist for College staff.
Student profile disability statistics, along with statistics based on other equalities categories, such as race and gender, are made available to all curriculum team leaders, alongside an Equality Audit which they conduct annually and is an integral part of their Self Assessment Report.
2. Aims and Objectives
The College recognises that despite legislative attempts to achieve equality, people with disabilities in society are still subject to discrimination, lack of opportunity and social injustice. They are still disproportionately unemployed, found in lower paid employment, concentrated into a narrow range of jobs, and under-represented in management and supervisory roles.
The College recognises that many of the problems experienced by people with disabilities are due to lack of knowledge of their needs by those around them. The College undertakes to provide disability awareness training for its entire staff. This will include examination of the appropriate use of language. The College will ensure that its publications and publicity material promote positive images of people with disabilities in both language and illustration without perpetuating stereotypical images.
The College undertakes to fulfil all the legal duties placed upon it by the Disability Discrimination Act and associated Guidance and Codes of Practice, especially “The Code of Practice for the elimination of discrimination in the field of employment against disabled persons or persons who have had a disability”. This means there will be no discrimination against staff on grounds of disability in access to employment, training, working conditions, terms of employment, treatment at work, promotion or dismissal. The College undertakes to fulfil its duty to make reasonable adjustments to enable staff to do their work, and not to treat staff with a disability less favourably than those without.
The College promotes the social model of disability which regards people as being disabled by social barriers. We are able to see that sometimes it is our own inappropriate or inadequate responses that create barriers for people with disabilities. Taking a proactive approach to identifying and removing barriers is likely to result in improved services for everyone.
By promoting disability awareness across the College the benefits to the organisation will be to:
- Increase the diversity of the student body.
- Develop the quality and increase the diversity of staff.
- Increase the quality and efficient use of College facilities.
- Review all process and procedures.
- Raise awareness with staff and students of the values the College has with regard to Equality and Diversity, thus supporting change in attitudes.
- Further develop the social inclusiveness of the College environment.
The College has developed the Disability Equality Scheme to ensure that people with and without disabilities have an equal opportunity to take part in all aspects of College life. The College will endeavour to identify and remove barriers to the participation of people with a disability such as learners, staff, and visitors.
The College has identified its commitment to providing a supportive and inclusive working and learning environment for all staff and learners in documents such as the Student Planner and the Staff Handbook. In some instances this will require College services to consider carefully the needs of all their users and potential users in the future development of their services.
3. How we have actively involved people with disabilities
The College has endeavoured to involve staff, learners and stakeholders who have a disability in the development of the scheme.
This has been done in a variety of ways:
- The learner satisfaction surveys have been analysed to identify any relevant issues.
- Questionnaires have been designed and delivered to all staff and to students with disabilities.
- There are ongoing projects in progress to improve the physical access to all buildings on which the local access group has been consulted.
- The College has a named Senior Manager who supports the Equality and Diversity aspects of College provision.
- The Governing Body includes members with a strong active interest in the promotion of disability equality in the local community.
Through consultation the following barriers have been identified:
- Physical barriers.
- Financial barriers.
- Inaccessible information/lack of information about College provision.
- Flexible personal care and individual support.
- Lack of role models of people with a disability.
- Stereotypical perceptions by staff and students regarding the needs of students and colleagues with disabilities.
The College will need to continue to challenge what it does to continually improve. To do this we will encourage constructive feedback and then take action to make reasonable adjustments to the action plan. It is envisaged that the College Management Team will act as the monitoring body along with the Deputy Principal (Quality), the Quality and Standards Committee and the Quality and Curriculum Committee of the Governing Body.
4. Leadership and Management Responsibilities
Senior staff within the College are responsible for ensuring the Disability Scheme and Action Plan are appropriate, robust and functional. Termly reports to CMT will ensure compliance in terms of reporting and monitoring achievement.
To inform the setting of targets as required by the Learning & Skills Council for Equality and Diversity Impact Measures (EDIMs), and the measurement of progress in achieving them, the College will collate, monitor and analyse the following information in relation to disability:
- Profile of employees by grade/salary/scale and type of work.
- Job application, short listing and selection success rates.
- Type of contract (permanent/temporary).
- Grievance, disciplinary and capability proceedings for staff.
- Staff satisfaction surveys.
- Student profile.
- Students’ applications, enrolment and achievement.
- Students’ disciplinary, grievance and bullying procedures.
- Students’ satisfaction surveys.
- Disability profile of learners.
The College undertakes, once the results of monitoring are available, to consider targets to reduce any disadvantage suffered by employees and learners with disabilities. Such targets will be published annually in the Equality and Diversity Report. Any published information will have due regard for individual confidentiality.
Governors are recommended to ensure that the membership of the Governing Body includes people with disabilities. Governors are responsible for ensuring that:
- They are aware of the Governing Body’s statutory duties in relation to disability legislation.
- The College’s development plan includes a commitment to disability equality.
- Equality training features as a part of the College’s development and training days.
- They receive and respond to the disability monitoring information on staff.
Managers are responsible for ensuring that:
- They are aware of the College’s statutory duties in relation to disability legislation.
- All aspects of College policy and activity are sensitive to disability issues.
- They create a positive, inclusive ethos.
- The College’s publicity materials present appropriate positive and non-stereotypical messages about people with and without disabilities.
- Disability monitoring information is collected and analysed.
- Appropriate training and development is provided to support the appreciation and understanding of diversity.
Staff are responsible for ensuring that:
- They are aware of the College’s statutory duties in relation to disability legislation.
- They respond positively to the needs of people with disabilities who they come into contact with in the course of their work.
- Their schemes of work, lesson content and teaching resources demonstrate sensitivity to issues of diversity.
- They challenge prejudice and discriminatory behaviour, whether witting or unwitting, by learners, work placement providers, outside contractors or other members of staff whenever practicable.
5. Carrying out disability equality impact assessments
A procedure and schedule for the impact assessment of College policies and procedures has been incorporated in the action plan.
The purpose of impact assessments are:
- To remove any unfairness and disadvantage in the way that College services are provided.
- To ensure that equality issues are mainstreamed and relevant issues of concern are highlighted.
- To engage with students and other stakeholders and utilise their knowledge, insight and experience to inform future planning and policy development.
- To comply with legal duties.
Impact assessment must be a team approach. To minimise workload, impact assessment against all categories of equality (race, gender, disability, age) will be conducted at the same time, through the same process. All existing policies will be impact assessed within the three years of the scheme i.e. by December 2009.
Prioritisation for impact assessment will be undertaken on the basis of the potential impact of policies. All new policies must be impact assessed as an integral part of the policy development process and the outcomes of the impact assessment recorded in the appropriate section of the policy template. All proposed projects must be impact assessed and the outcomes of the impact assessment process recorded on the policy file form. All publicity materials must be impact assessed before they are finalised.
The originator(s) or ‘owner(s)’ of the policy are responsible for the conducting of impact assessment, with support from College CMT. Impact assessments must be conducted by 2 or more people and, where appropriate, must have stakeholder representation. All the impact assessed policies will be published on the College intranet and changes to policies/project plans identified.
Impact assessments have been prioritised according to potential impact on staff and students.
- Priority 1 (most urgent) policies and procedures will be impact assessed by the end of July 2007.
- Priority 2 (medium priority) policies and procedures will be impact assessed between September 2007 and July 2008.
- Priority 3 (low priority) policies and procedures will be impact assessed between September 2008 and July 2009.
During the term of the Disability Equality Scheme, impact assessments will be systematic and will include both existing policies and procedures and new ones. We will ensure that everything possible is done to eliminate potential discrimination on the grounds of disability.
6. Gathering and using information
Currently, little information is held either centrally or in teams with regard to staff disabilities. Only one opportunity is available for formal disclosure, at application stage, although staff are required periodically to check and amend personal details kept in the Personnel database. However, this does not involve a specific request for disclosure of otherwise un-disclosed disabilities.
No detailed information, outlining categories of disability with regard to staff is kept. In view of this, it is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions with regard to the recruitment, development and retention of staff with disabilities. However, the College recognises these issues and will work proactively to ensure that full records are elicited and maintained and that data is analysed and targets are set and monitored carefully. Alongside the need for effective gathering of disability related data, it should be recognised that this process must be managed very sensitively.
With regard to students, significant steps have been taken over the last three years to ensure that disability related information is gathered effectively at application and enrolment stage and that students are encouraged to disclose disabilities at any time after this and to any person. All students have to fill in the College application and enrolment forms to gather vital information and respond to the Every Child Matters strategy. However, it is recognised that further developments will be required.
The College encourages applications from students with disabilities and will ensure that all possible steps are taken to allow full access to all College courses for students with disabilities and that students with disabilities achieve their full potential. Information regarding disability equality for students is gathered by the MIS administrator and is included in the Equality and Diversity report produced on an annual basis. Along with other information with regard to other equality strands, this information is reported to curriculum teams.
The Disability Equality Scheme will be published on the College’s intranet. The scheme will be approved by the College Management Team and the Governing Body.
7. Monitoring and evaluating and making improvements to the scheme
The Disability Equality Scheme and action plan will be reviewed by the College Management Team on an annual basis and adjustments made as required. The annual Equality and Diversity Report will be published on an annual basis on the College intranet.
This report will include:
- Appointment, progression and development of staff with disabilities.
- Participation and success of students with disabilities.
- Outcomes of and issues from student satisfaction surveys.
- Outcomes and issues from impact assessments.
- Outcomes and issues from the annual Self Assessment process.
Cross-College issues, targets and actions will form part of the College’s Self Assessment Report and Quality Improvement Plan. Curriculum team based issues, targets and actions will form part of curriculum Self Assessment Report.
