This is a summary of the review of the Department's diversity strategy.
The full reports expands on all points described below and contains annexes,
which include lists of interviewees, job descriptions, the outline structures
for diversity programme governance and a glossary of terms.
Copies of the full report are available from the corporate diversity unit, from Valerie Willer on 020 7210 8852.
The 15 recommendations are:
A strengthened corporate diversity unit should develop a formal, structured approach to ensuring DCA compliance with diversity legislation by October 2004.
The new head of corporate diversity should develop proposals for diversity impact assessments for implementation from October 2004.
At board level, the second permanent secretary/chief executive operations, assisted by the director of human resources, should formulate a programme to achieve real progress in grievance procedures, internal selection procedures, positive action training programmes, diversity skills training, engagement in recruitment fairs and schools, mentoring and sponsoring under-represented staff groups, and career management and succession planning by July 2004.
The second permanent secretary/chief executive operations and the director general legal and judicial services should mainstream into their delivery plans business objectives to ensure sufficient impact on the diversity front, covering respectively:
All the services provided by our courts, tribunals and associated offices and agencies, including access to legal aid
Recruitment, retention, training and progression of judges, magistrates and the legal profession by July 2004
The second permanent secretary/chief executive operations with the director general legal and judicial services should incorporate into their leadership steering group's work programme an identifiable project to improve the Department's managerial performance against our new diversity outcomes by July 2004.
The Department's strategy and business objectives for diversity should be defined in terms of outcomes (not processes, structures or action plans) with clear goals, timelines and measures. These objectives should be integrated into the Department's business plans (whether that be service delivery plans, policy development plans or corporate support plans).
DCA should introduce more focused, skills-based training (with defined outcomes) to equip our staff and managers with the knowledge and skills they will need to achieve diversity objectives.
A more robust approach to measurement and monitoring should be introduced. The new head of corporate diversity should hold a structured interview, based on a standard template, with all directors on a half-yearly basis, to assess progress in delivering against the diversity objectives. This would form the basis of a report to the Permanent Secretary specifically on progress against diversity.
DCA should consider setting devolved targets for directors, based on staff satisfaction levels.
A system of "mainstreaming plus" should operate in the following way:
DCA should appoint a new, senior civil service-level head of corporate diversity, with responsibility for the corporate diversity unit, who has access to ExCom at least twice a year and further as necessary. This post should be supported by a new span 8 (grade 7) post
The head of corporate diversity should establish and chair a diversity programme board to replace the current diversity steering group
Membership of the programme board should comprise the senior board members responsible for delivery of the diversity programme objectives, or their director-level representatives
ExCom members should ensure that their business plans will deliver against the diversity programme objectives in the spheres of services; policy development; leadership; and human resources
ExCom members should decide whether they need to supplement their current delivery management structures with any new diversity programme or project boards and any other supporting structures which they deem necessary
The Permanent Secretary should ultimately own responsibility for delivery of the diversity programme and enshrine this in his personal objectives
This delivery structure should be supplemented in the following ways:
ExCom should formally review progress against the diversity programme either quarterly or six-monthly and, when sitting for this purpose, should be joined by two expert external advisers on diversity
The diversity programme board should be supported by two advisory groups, an internal group (comprising senior staff, who can act as internal supporters for diversity, and the networks) and an external group of key stakeholders
The head of corporate diversity should establish time-limited project teams as necessary to address key issues (for example, inadequacy of diversity data), drawing staff from the relevant business areas
The head of corporate diversity should considerably raise the level and amount of contact the corporate diversity unit has with external bodies, including the Equality Commission, other government departments, including the Home Office's race and faith units, the women's equality unit at the Department of Trade and Industry, Cabinet Office, local authorities and health trusts, local criminal justice boards, the Law Society and the Bar Council, the senior presiding judge and the chairman of the Judicial Studies Board, etc
Seven regional diversity officers should be established at span 8 (grade 7) level, each assisted by an EO (span 4), to support regional directors in delivering locally against the corporate diversity programme objectives. They should report to the regional director, but have quarterly meetings with the head of corporate diversity to discuss progress. In addition, they should work closely with the regional branches of the networks and meet them quarterly, to promote local diversity action plans and review progress
In addition to these changes, the roles of the networks and of the champions should be clarified, as follows:
The networks should continue to exercise their current roles of advice, staff support, and "friendly challenge" to ExCom
In addition, the networks should form part of the advisory group to the recommended diversity programme board, assisting the Department in understanding the potential impact of new policies, and of internal processes, and raising concerns where progress may be slowing
The networks should be able to play a key role in facilitating a more active engagement with the communities we serve, utilising their regional branches
Urgent consideration should be given as to whether the DCA should establish a champion and a network for women
The national network co-ordinators should continue to be appointed by internal selection boards, rather than be elected by members
The national network co-ordinators should meet with ministers half-yearly and ExCom half-yearly, to enable more access by staff to the decision makers and to facilitate a more open dialogue between staff and top management on diversity issues
The arrangements for managing the corporate staff networks should be considered further
The resourcing of the networks should be reconsidered by the head of corporate diversity (in consultation with the corporate staff networks, with a view to enhancing their contribution to departmental life. Current levels of facility time for non-core members should be reconsidered, to establish whether there is a case for increasing these levels
The role of diversity champion should be reconsidered, with a view to clarifying its purpose, and the appropriate time commitment which it should carry
The champions should meet together quarterly to share ideas and combine talents. They should consider fulfilling an external networking role
The package of recommendations should be converted into a more structured project initiation document. Responsibilities for taking issues forward should then be agreed, along with appropriate governance structures; and a report back to ExCom for formal approval; by July 2004.
The areas for early action could include the following:
DCA should introduce positive action programmes for a higher proportion of staff than have benefited so far, covering all eligible staff, involving much more structured follow-up. There should be active involvement of managers, human resources directorate and the networks in selecting staff to participate in these programmes. The training element of the programme should be off-site
DCA should conduct in-house assessment centres, to include appropriate representation of staff from minority groups, and identify a cadre of such staff who have potential to go further. These staff should then have their careers managed actively, with significant elements of job shadowing, mentoring and senior sponsorship, as well as selection for high-impact posts in policy and operations
ExCom should conduct regular "talent inventories", to review our succession plans (some way back into the organisation) and validate the quality of these plans in diversity terms. The inventories should cover all parts of the Department
DCA should institute a coherent project to improve our image with our potential staff and with our clients - including the departmental website, literature, presence at recruitment fairs and schools and engagement with communities
DCA should institute rapidly an informal resolution procedure for staff with a complaint about inappropriate behaviour or language or any other form of discriminatory or unfair behaviour
DCA should rapidly ensure that we have sufficient numbers of black and minority ethnic staff and staff with disabilities trained as selectors for our internal selection procedures, and ensure that selection panels reflect the community from which applicants will usually come
DCA should introduce more informal and easily accessible mentoring and job-shadowing schemes for our minority group staff (building on the current initiatives in these areas)
For selected staff, a director-level or above member of staff should act as a senior sponsor, overseeing their career development, progression, and positive action portfolio
The system of temporary promotion should be reconsidered to see if it can be operated with sufficient flexibility and rapidity for managers, but also with sufficient transparency to deal with widespread staff concerns about its unfairness
The system of complaints handling in all parts of the Department should be overhauled in the light of recent research which revealed very low levels of confidence by ethnic minority clients
A benchmarking study of the Department's diversity work should be carried out, using the business excellence model
Current diversity training should be reconsidered with a view to focusing on skills rather than merely awareness. The current induction training on diversity should, however, continue
A review of the DCA's ability to support flexible working should be conducted, looking at such issues as the timely provision of remote PCs and modems, lap-tops and palm tops, etc