Cost of Living? – A Hidden Helper the Government keep Hidden!

In these hard times, it may seem a bit vague or indeed jargon laden to start a blog about living costs by referring to Section One of the Equality Act 2010 which the UK government has still not brought into force. It can be done quickly under Ministerial order. I bang on about this in the courses I deliver and through my voluntary work.

Section One offers the hope and perhaps the prospect of helping people with living costs.

Section One in short requires public authorities to consider the ways in which their decisions increase or decrease inequalities that result from socio-economic disadvantage. This is almost identical to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) already in force but with different application. The PSED ?requires public bodies to consider inequalities resulting from ‘protected characteristics’ such as age, disability, sex ?and race. But why the delay in addressing socio economic impacts? The cost?

But the cost of NOT enforcing the duty is there for all to see.

And if you want to see the hard headed tangible benefits that can arise from socio-economic impact assessments, take a look at the examples below from public bodies who have chosen voluntarily to enforce them locally. John Stuart Mill once wrote “it will avail the state nothing if it permits no experiments but its own”. Well, in the face of state inaction some local public bodies are leading the socio-economic field with positive experiments!

·????????In Hackney, an impact assessment of why people were not accessing critical information about national and local welfare benefits as well as job training and opportunities, put a focus on digital exclusion due to limited access to hardware and broadband. New financial awareness campaigns in local hubs and doorstep conversations about how to access food on a regular basis were introduced – utilising a volunteer army.

?·????????In Leicestershire, Harborough Council took things a stage further by developing a Financial First Aid toolkit bringing together a network of charities and community organisations offering grants and funding to create and sustain a network of support for local people.

?·????????Merseyside Fire Service(MFS) undertook a socio-economic impact assessment of a requirement in their recruitment policies that fire fighter candidates must ?first possess a full driving licence as an essential requirement. It’s still essential but it emerged from the local assessment that women, people from ethnic minority groups, and people from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, were less likely to have driving licences. The Fire Service ?realised that the driving license requirement for firefighter roles was thus ?presenting a barrier to prospective applicants. ?So, they introduced a Driving Licence Bursary scheme for 20 successful applicants from 20 deprived areas of Liverpool with driving lessons offered in their training school and the costs of tests and fees met by the authority. This has led to an additional 195 applications in 2022, 48 per cent of which came from the 10 per cent most deprived areas of Merseyside.

?·????????But it did not end there. ?The MFS ?looked at their existing Home Visit Fire Risk Assessment arrangements which go beyond smoke alarms and safety advice. The focus of a visit is more holistic recognising that other safety risks emerge such as fuel poverty, alcohol dependence, isolation and loneliness. ?Working with other agencies the newly named “Safe and Well Visits” now also focus on public health priorities including delivering kits for bowel cancer screening and supporting 'healthy hearts' by taking people’s blood pressure. Safe & Well Visits through this joined up approach tackle the inequalities of outcome that result from socio-economic disadvantage – seeking not only to reduce inequalities of fire risk, but also inequalities of health and isolation. In its own micro economic way this proactive approach towards ill heath prevention is surely valuable.?

·????????In the North East of England, emulating the Liverpool recruitment changes, the?North Tyneside Combined Authority(NCTA) has revamped the age-old practice of simply asking for high-level qualifications or skills at all levels of employment, many of which not strictly necessary anyway for the role. This was discouraging individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds to apply, in part because individuals who experience socio-economic disadvantage are less likely to have a degree. NTCA has therefore reviewed the way that person specifications in job adverts are written and have removed the requirement for a degree from as many roles as possible. If degree-level experience is required, NTCA?also welcome ‘equivalent experience’ as an alternative. And most recently, NTCA has received the ‘Great Place to Work’ award. 100% of staff who took part in a survey reported that they believe they are treated fairly regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation or socio-economic background.

• ???????Salford City Council through a socio-economic focus has put its money into the mouths of those who need it!?A school meals price freeze has been in operation for all of 2022 and will be reviewed later this year.?Within the design of the freeze?framework, the new arrangements ?include informing headteachers of the proposed changes 5 months in advance and communicating to schools all other available mechanisms by which families struggling to afford school meals can still access them.

?·????????At the time of writing, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has announced it will work to embed the voices of ?people with lived experience of socio-economic disadvantage into strategy design. They are currently in the process of engaging with a poverty reference group on a new customer charter, a collection of commitments which underpins Greater Manchester’s new integrated transport network, the Bee Network.

?Frustrating!

It is very frustrating that the socio-economic tool has been left dormant by successive UK governments since 2010. It is encouraging that some local public bodies despite their own challenges have tried to pick up the tab (literally).

But how much better would it be if the UK Government enforced Section One of the Equality Act now – 13 years later!

What is crying out for a socio-economic equality impact assessment in your area?

Further information about the socio-economic duty

Briefing on the current scale of the socio-economic duty in England (GMPA, 2022)

Short briefing on the scale of voluntary socio-economic duty adoption as of 2021. Available here:

https://www.gmpovertyaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/SED-findings-briefing-FINAL-DRAFT002.pdf

Tackling inequality: the Socio-economic Duty (Just Fair, 2022)

Short briefing offering the social and legal case for implementing the socio-economic duty. Available here: https://justfair.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/UPR-Briefing-1-1.pdf

Fairer Scotland Duty: guidance for public bodies (Scottish Government, 2022)

Guidance from the Scottish Government on the Fairer Scotland Duty. The resources section includes five additional case studies illustrating how the socio-economic duty can be used in practice. Available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-duty-guidance-public-bodies/documents/

A More Equal Wales ?(Welsh Government, 2021)

Statutory Guidance from the Welsh Government on the socio-economic duty. Available here: https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2021-03/a-more-equal-wales.pdfEvaluating the socio-economic duty in Scotland and Wales (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2021)

Research into how 24 public bodies in Scotland and Wales are implementing, or preparing to implement, the socio-economic duty. Available here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publicationdownload/evaluating-socio-economic-duty-scotland-and-wales

Maximising opportunities for health and wellbeing for people and communities experiencing socio-economic disadvantage (Public Health Wales, 2023)

Practical guide to using the socio-economic duty in policy and practice in Wales. Available here: https://phwwhocc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/PHW-SED-Guidance-Eng-06_06_23-5.pdf

A Practical Guide for Local Authority Implementation of the Socio-Economic Duty in

England (GMPA and Just Fair, 2021)

Publication detailing key steps to ensure meaningful implementation of the socio-economic duty. Available here: https://justfair.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Socio-Economic-Duty-Guide-Final.pdf

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