Equalities Newsletter 

• Equality and Human Rights Commission Replaces Former Commissions
• Equality Strategy Adult Services
• Black Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff Network up and Running 
• Asian Carers Support Group
• Age Discrimination Regulations Now in Place
• Co-worker Scheme Now Covers 16 Languages
• French and Polish Added to Adult Services DVD
• Lina Patel Invited to Prime Ministers Launch of New National Carers Strategy
• BME Development Workers Meetings
• Forthcoming Religious Events for Your Diary 2008
• Contacts

Equality and Human Rights Commission Replaces Former Commissions

The new Equality and Human Rights Commission  (EHRC) brings together the work of the three previous equality commissions;- the Commission for Race Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. In addition, it also takes on responsibility for the other aspects of equality: age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as well as human rights. The new commission is working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, and protect rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.

Equality Strategy Adult Services

TMBC falls under the duties of a range of Equalities legislation covering the groups summarised below:-

• Race Equality Disability Discrimination
• Sex Discrimination Sexual orientation
• Religion and Belief Age Discrimination
• Carers (not through legislation but included as a minority group in Tameside Adult Services).

 In Tameside Adult Services we have developed an Equalities Strategy that will cover all the above strands. This will bring together all the good work already being done and describe it with a co-ordinated approach to Equalities, which will result in better outcomes for our service users and staff. 

Black Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff Network up and Running

Following on from some consultation with BME staff in Adult Services last year, one of the recommendations from the survey was to develop a staff network. The Network has now been approved by Adult Services Management Team, and has had two constructive meetings so far. The main focus of the network is to support BME staff in Adult Services and engage them in policy developments. The meetings are held quarterly.

Asian Carers Support Group

The Asian Carers Support group is run once a month, on the 3rd Tuesday at the Carers Centre in Ashton.

Its aim is to meet the needs of the Asian Carers to help them cope with their caring role and to alleviate some of the isolation felt by Carers. They can help you to get practical and emotional support and up to date information from a member of the carers centre team. The support group is a good opportunity for carers to meet others who are in a similar situation as themselves, exchange information and ideas but also make new friends, relax and have refreshments in a comfortable setting. 

Age Discrimination Regulations Now in Place

From 1st October 2006 the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations  make it unlawful to discriminate against workers, employees , job seekers and trainees because of their age. The regulations cover recruitment, terms and conditions, promotions, transfers, dismissals and training. At present, they do not cover the provision of goods and services. The Regulations cover direct discrimination ;indirect discrimination; harassment; victimisation; and in certain circumstances
discrimination after the working relationship has ended e.g. when giving references.

 Co-worker Scheme Now Covers 16 Languages

The co–worker scheme has recently had another cohort and now caters for approximately 16 languages. These include the main community languages of Tameside such as Urdu, Bangla , Polish and Gujarati as well as Chinese, Russian and Goran.  Social workers and Assessors have found co-workers invaluable when carrying out culturally appropriate assessments.

Here’s what some social workers said about their experiences of carrying out joint visits with co-workers

”………….She was very professional and the assessment visit went well. Thanks for your support “

“extremely impressed with efficiency, found them supportive, effective and accurate”

“..Both these co-workers were very good and had appropriate conversations and helped get to the bottom of the issues.”

French and Polish added to Adult Services DVD

A DVD explaining how to contact Adult services will soon be available in an additional two community languages; Polish and French. This is in addition to Urdu, Bangla, Gujarati and English with BSL and subtitles. The DVD is available free from all Tameside libraries and from the Public Information Team. A shorter version can be viewed on our website. 

Lina Patel Invited to Prime Ministers Launch of New National Carers Strategy

Lina has been chair for the National Black Carers Workers Network since June 2007 and was invited to 10 Downing Street at the launch of the National Carers Strategy.

BME Development Workers Meetings

Adult Services have an abundance of expertise and skills when working and developing services for BME communities. To make the most of these skills and to capture the good practice working, a BME development workers group has been set up.

The BME development workers meetings are held every three months. The focus of the meetings is for skills, knowledge and expertise to be shared which will ultimately improve access and services for BME communities in Tameside. The group are in the process of forming a good practice guideline when working with BME communities.  For further information please contact the Race Equality and Diversity Team.

Relocation Relocation…..

 The Race Equality and Diversity Team is relocating to Rydal House in August 2008.

Forthcoming Religious Events For Your Diary 2008

Islamic

Ramadan - 1st September
Eid Al Fitr - 1st October
Eid Al Adha - 7th December

Hindu

Navrati - 28th September to 9th October
Diwali - 28th October
New Year - 29th October 

Jewish

New Year - 30th September
Yom Kippur - 9th October
Chanucah - 22nd December 

Sikh

Diwali - 28th October
Birthday of Guru Nanak - 13th November 

Please remember to note these dates when arranging meetings/training.

If you would like to have a look at any older editions of the equalities newsletters please contact the Race Equality and Diversity Team.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Race Equality and Diversity Team Development and Customer Support Unit Rydal House Rydal Avenue Hyde SK14 4QB View local map
0161 366 4344
0161 366 4334
0161 366 4335