Equality Principles ‘Still Not Embedded In Frontline Social Care’ – ADSS

Forty years after the 1965 Race Relations Act departments responsible for social care within councils are still struggling to embed equality principles into their day to day business. A new study has found that most frontline staff are unaware of the equalities policies within their organisations. And that implementation of race and other equalities legislation is carried out at the margins by senior managers taking a “desk top  exercise” approach to compliance.

According to ADSS Inclusivities Group Chair Daphne Obang, “this leaves junior staff removed from understanding how to join up their caring role with what is required of them by legislation.”

The report urges council chiefs and national agencies to seek strategies which will promote good  race equality practice through targeted spending on training for front line staff  which will bring the requirements of the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 into the mainstream of the business practices of all social care agencies.

The Commission for  Social Care Inspection( CSCI), the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the Social Care Employers’ Association (SCEA) will be joining the ADSS  on Thursday October 19 at the National Children’s and Adults’ Social Care Conference to launch the report findings.

This will follow a preliminary event in London on October 2nd  at which the LGA, the Audit Commission and the TUC shared the platform with the ADSS to discuss solutions to  the issues raised by the report.

Ms Obang says “the results were disappointing though not unexpected and are in line with other recently conducted surveys. The important thing is to move on and harness  the willingness of many of our partners to work with us to see that good practice is acknowledged and shared and to make inclusivity central to the improvement agenda.