Developing a Race Equality Scheme

Overview:

Within the majority of public (and certain private) sector organisations, there is now a statutory duty (under the Race Relations Act – As Amended 2000) to positively promote race equality. In summary, this involves:

• Promoting equality of opportunity between people of different racial groups
• Eliminating unlawful discrimination or harassment on the grounds of race, nationality and ethnic origin
• Producing a plan of action (known as a Race Equality Scheme) detailing how you will meet your statutory requirements within this area.

In the first instance, developing such a scheme can prove to be daunting task and as the scheme could be the subject of future scrutiny (as part of audit and assessment and by members of the public) it is important that your scheme is developed comprehensively and meets certain requirements - both technically and legislatively. McKenzies have comprehensive experience of both developing Race Equality Schemes on behalf of our partner organisations and providing guidance for organisations wishing to develop the schemes for themselves. We can provide consultation, training and guidance in the following areas.