improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI

improving
government
service
delivery
to minority
ethnic groups
Chapter 3: Scotland Research Findings 86_87
161_Race Equality
Regulations 2003.
162_CRE (2005)
Submission to Scottish
Executive’s Review of Race
Equality work.
The requirements of the anti-discrimination legislation in relation to race
The requirements of the Race Relations Act (1976) and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 have
been discussed above. The other major piece of legislation is the Race Relations Act (1976) (Amendment)
Regulations 2003. The Regulations are a result of the EU Race Directive which stems from Article 13 of the
Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and they offer protection from discrimination in the areas of employment, training,
education, access to social security and health care and access to goods and services including health care.
The new regulations strengthen some aspects of the 1976 Act including:
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introducing a new concept of indirect discrimination which is more likely to catch “informal” discriminatory
practices as well as “formal” practices;
introducing an explicit definition of harassment (as opposed to previously having to show that the
harassment amounted to discrimination);
changing the emphasis in relation to burden of proof so that when claimants establish a prima facie case of
racial discrimination or harassment on the relevant grounds, the tribunal or court will up hold the complaint
in the absence of a satisfactory explanation; and
introducing the concept of genuine occupational requirement which allows the setting in which job takes
place to be taken into account in deciding whether or not a job should be restricted to a racial group. 161
Promoting diversity within service provision
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is a GB wide body established by the 1976 Race Relations Act. It is
an independent body funded by the Home Office and has three main aims:
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To work towards the elimination of racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity;
To encourage good relations between people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds; and
To monitor the way the Race Relations Act is working and recommend ways in which it can be improved.
Although it is not an inspectorate, it can investigate and take legal action, in some circumstances, against
companies and organisations if they are in breach of the RRA.
In Scotland its work is carried out by CRE Scotland which has an Advisory Board and there is a Commissioner
for Scotland. The CRE Scotland’s submission to the Scottish Executive as part of the Executive’s Review of
Race Equality 162 argued that progress on race equality was slower than was desirable and that the progress
was patchy. It was argued that in some departments, although there was some progress on action plans, the
plans did not necessarily meet all elements of the duty. In particular they noted that the Executive has been
slow to progress issues of monitoring service provision which is crucial to the successful roll out of the Duty.
The CRE also argued that:
“ A key barrier to the full implementation of the Duty is a lack of an effective
complementary delivery mechanism on the ground. Indeed, there is currently an
absence of national strategy – based on clear and consistent outcomes- in relation to
the funding and delivery of race equality work in Scotland.”
It is hoped that the measures to be introduced as a result of the review of the Race Equality in Scotland will go
some way to addressing those criticisms.