How do we measure up ?
The Equality Standard
Somerset County Council has signed up to The Equality Standard. The Standard provides a framework to help the Council provide fair and equal treatment through all the services it provides, and to all its employees. There are 5 different levels to work towards and specific criteria has to be met to move up a level. The 5 levels are:
Level 1: Commitment to a comprehensive equality policy
Level 2: Assessment and consultation
Level 3: Setting equality objectives and targets
Level 4: Information systems and monitoring against targets
Level 5: Achieving and reviewing outcomes
We are currently at Level 3, subject to audit in August 2006, which is a great achievement for Somerset County Council. We have to report annually on our performance against The Equality Standard as part of a Best Value Performance Indicator 2a.
What is a Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI)?
BVPI's are set nationally and help to produce valuable information on how well the council is delivering its services. They provide information for local people to make an informed assessment of the quality of the services that they receive, and are also used when the council is inspected as a whole. This inspection carried out by the Audit Commission is called the Comprehensive Performance Assessment.
To find out more about the CPA for Somerset, click here: SCC Comprehensive Performance Assessment
In addition to The Equality Standard (BVPI 2a) we also report on the other equality related indicators. Below shows a table of how well we did last year and the improvements we are aiming towards this year.
| Name |
Description |
Target 06/07 |
Actual
06/07
|
Target 07/08
|
Actual 07/08
|
| BVPI 2a |
The level reached by SCC of The Equality Standard |
3
|
3 |
3 |
3
|
| BVPI 2b |
SCC score for the 'Duty to Promote' checklist |
73.7%
|
73.7% |
74%
|
74%
|
| BVPI 11a |
The percentage of women employees in the top 5% of earners for SCC |
50%
|
47.56% |
50%
|
47.12%
|
| BVPI 11b |
The percentage of black and ethnic minority employees in the top 5% of earners that work for SCC |
1% |
0.86% |
2% |
0.79% |
| BVPI 16a |
The percentage of SCC employees who have declared a disability (compare with 16b) |
>10% |
4.42% |
4.60% |
4.87% |
| BVPI 16b |
The percentage of Somerset's working age population who have a disability (compare with 16a) |
13% |
13% |
13% |
13% |
| BVPI 17a |
The percentage SCC employees who are from an ethnic minority community (compare with 17b) |
1.4% |
0.67% |
1.12% |
0.75% |
| BVPI 17b |
The percentage of Somerset's working age population from an ethnic minority community (compare with 17a) |
1.12% |
1.12% |
- |
- |
| BVPI 156 |
The percentage of SCC buildings open to the public that are suitable for and are accessible to disabled people |
70% |
63% |
71% |
66% |
| BVPI 174 |
The number of racial incidents recorded by SCC per 100,000 of the population |
>21.50 |
22.49 |
>21.50 |
21.40 |
| BVPI 175 |
The percentage of incidents in BVPI 174 that resulted in further action being taken |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
SCC = Somerset County Council
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