Runnymede-Recommendations

Information at  http://www.runnymedetrust.org.uk/meb/Recommendations.htm


Recommendations
This chapter summarises the recommendations made in chapter 9-20.  In most
instances, it is up to a government department or agency at Cardiff,
Holyrood or Westminster to take the first initiative.  However, it is
frequently not necessary or even desirable for other bodies to wait for
government action.  All individuals and organisations can be involved in
advocating and lobbying for the implementation of the recommendations made
in this report, and can set up pilot projects and feasibility studies at
local and institutional levels.  We introduce the recommendations by
repeating the seven fundamental principles we proposed earlier.

Three central concepts: cohesion, equality and difference

People must be treated equally but also with due regard to real differences
of experience, background and perception. These concepts need to be
consistently and constantly central in government policy- and
decision-making. High-profile statements of ideals by senior politicians and
civil servants are important. They remain mere paper commitments or
rhetoric, however, if they are not fully incorporated into all mainstream
agendas and programmes. See in particular Chapter 4.

Demonstrable change at all levels

The concepts of equality and diversity must be driven through the government
machinery at national and regional levels. Responsibility for making them
real must be devolved to the local levels at which theory becomes practice,
where real change does or does not take place. Verbal and financial
commitment from the government is essential, but the test of real change is
what happens on the ground. See in particular Chapter 20.

Addressing racisms

There must be a sustained and fearless attack on all forms of racial
injustice. Such injustice threatens the very basis of citizenship. Street
racism and violent racism must be dealt with, but so also must institutional
racism. Among other things, the latter is a major factor in the climate in
which street racism and violent racism go unchecked. Due regard must be paid
to racism's different targets: anti-black racism, anti-Muslim racism,
anti-Gypsy racism, anti-Irish racism, antisemitism, and so on. See in
particular Chapter 5.

Tackling disadvantage

Street racism and violent racism arise and flourish in situations of
economic disadvantage and inequality. This is one major reason why social
exclusion must be addressed; another is the fact that it disproportionately
affects some (though not all) black, Asian and Irish communities. See in
particular Chapter 6.

Colour-blind approaches do not work

There must be a commitment to go beyond the racism- and culture-blind
strategies of social inclusion currently under way. Programmes such as the
New Deal for Communities are essential. They must, however, have an explicit
focus on race equality and cultural diversity. See in particular Chapters 6
and 9-14.

Empowering and enfranchising

There must be vigorous commitment to recognising cultural diversity through,
for example, the systematic representation of black, Asian and Irish
communities on public bodies. See in particular Chapters 16, 18 and 20.

A pluralistic culture of human rights

Human rights standards provide both an ethical and a legal basis for the
changes required.

Please press the link below to go to the corresponding set of
recommendations:

Police and policing
The wider criminal justice system
Education
Arts, media and sport
Health and welfare
Employment
Immigration and asylum
Politics and representation
Religion and belief
Government leadership
Legislation and enforcement
Organisational change

Police and policing

1          A formal declaration about principles of good policing practice
in a multi-ethnic society should be drafted and agreed in every town or
city.

2          The results of action research on improving the use of
stop-and-search should be widely published and considered, and advice sought
on what further research is needed.

3            Records categorised by ethnicity should be made of all stops
under any legislative provision, not just PACE, and these should include
'voluntary' stops.

4          Police authorities should undertake publicity campaigns to ensure
that the public knows the purpose and correct procedure of stops and is
aware of its own rights.

5            Evaluation of the use of stop-and-search powers should take the
arrest rate into account and focus on the more serious types of crime.
Crimes of a minor nature, and especially those that result from an
altercation arising from the stop itself, should be weighted lightly.

6          Local commanders should systematically examine how the power is
currently used. They should deploy officers on the street to this end, and
resulting improvements should be linked to specific objectives within the
local crime strategy.

7            Relevant authorities should specify the competencies and core
skills required in relation to race and diversity for all practitioners in
the criminal justice system, and ensure that these are systematically
considered in initial and continuing training, in recruitment and promotion
systems, and in all staff appraisals.

8          The Home Office should commission evaluation and action research
on the effectiveness of specialist training in issues of race and diversity
for practitioners in the criminal justice system, and disseminate the
findings to all interested parties and individuals.

9          All candidates for appointment to ACPO and ACPOS-status posts
should have taken an accredited training module on issues of race equality
and cultural diversity.

10        Every death in custody should be independently investigated when
it occurs; in cases where it is considered that the actions of officers and
other staff may have contributed to the death, they should be suspended from
duty pending and during investigation; legal aid should be available for
families during deaths in custody investigations; there should be full
disclosure to families of all evidence and documents in deaths in custody
investigations; information about the organisation INQUEST, which is able to
provide counselling, advice and moral support, should be provided.

11        An independent body to investigate complaints against the police
should be established.

12        In association with HMIC, the Home Office should commission an
independent audit of progress in implementing the recommendations in the
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report, and ensure that its findings are widely
disseminated.

13            HMIC's Winning the Race inspection should be continued
annually, with the involvement of local communities in each force area.



The wider criminal justice system

1            Research should be commissioned into the characteristics of
persons convicted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences under the
Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and through such research (a) the strategies
most likely to reduce the levels of racist incidents and (b) the strategies
most likely to be effective in the programmes being developed and applied by
the prison and probation services for dealing with offending behaviour
should be identified.

2          HM Chief Inspector of Prisons should carry out an urgent and
thorough thematic inspection of race equality in prisons, similar to the
inspection of the probation service completed in 1999/2000 by HM Chief
Inspector of Probation.

3          A national committee or forum should be set up on the training of
probation officers and prison officers on issues of race and diversity.

4          The government should review all procedures for dealing with
complaints about racism in the criminal justice process to ensure that:

. an independent element is included in the investigation;

. investigators have an accredited qualification in dealing with issues of
race and diversity.

5          The government should review the disciplinary procedures for
public servants working in the criminal justice system to ensure
consistently that they cannot evade responsibility for racist conduct by
means of technical or procedural devices.

6          A Judicial Appointments Commission should be established to
oversee all appointments and promotions within the magistracy and the higher
judiciary, and to Queen's Council, and it should seek to ensure that the
judiciary is more diverse in terms of community background.

7          The government, the courts and the criminal justice services:

. should extend the use of ethnic monitoring to those existing functions of
the criminal justice system not already covered, for example sentencing,
criminal appeals and the work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission;

. should ensure that ethnic monitoring is systematically applied to the new
functions and procedures introduced under recent legislation such as the
Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act
1999, the Access to Justice Act 1999, the Criminal Justice and Court
Services Act 2000, the Terrorism Act 2000;

. should make the results available for public discussion and for
independent inspection, audit and research;

. should ensure that monitoring is carried out rigorously and with
integrity, and that staff in central government and throughout the system
have the expertise to draw the correct conclusions, and apply them to the
formation of policy and the development of professional practice;

. should prepare and publish appraisals of the effects of its policies and
measures.

7            Qualitative research on perceptions of fairness in the criminal
justice system should be undertaken, with particular regard to race and
diversity issues.

8          The government should review and improve the quality of the data
included each year in Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System.

9          The criteria for appointment to all public bodies, especially
those set up under recent legislation, should include a requirement that
candidates demonstrate their ability to understand and act in the best
interests of all sections of the communities for which they have
responsibility.

10        Such organisations should be required to specify in their reports
the action they have taken to promote race equality.



Education
1            National authorities should require local authorities and
individual schools to maintain substantially more detailed and helpful
statistics on ethnicity than hitherto, and ensure that there is high-quality
training available on how such statistics are to be analysed and used.

2            Inspectors should provide detailed guidance to schools on how
they should collect, analyse and use statistical information broken down by
ethnicity.

3          A voluntary organisation, in co-operation with other
organisations, should produce a handbook for schools on issues of race
equality and cultural diversity.

4          An understanding of human rights principles, and their relevance
to everyday life, should be part of the citizenship curriculum taught in
every school, for pupils of all ages.

5          Work financed under the auspices of the EMAG grant should be
independently evaluated. Particular regard should be paid to the grant's
impact on raising the achievement of African-Caribbean pupils, and reducing
their experience of exclusion.

6          There should be a substantial programme of certificated training
for specialists in teaching English as an Additional Language.

7          In England a specific Standards Fund grant should be used for
in-service training in race equality and cultural diversity.

8          Issues of race equality and cultural diversity should be properly
covered in initial teacher training, and should be mandatory in all major
programmes of management development for head teachers and deputy heads.

9          Funding should be provided for a systematic programme of Training
the Trainers courses.

10        The government should set targets for reducing nationally the
numbers of exclusions experienced by pupils of particular community
backgrounds. The targets should refer to fixed-term exclusions as well as to
permanent exclusions. Further, we recommend that pilot schemes should be
established in certain schools. Appropriate funding should be provided and
research should identify the lessons to be learned.

11        Training for all members of governors' disciplinary committees and
appeal panels should be provided; in-service training in non-confrontational
approaches to discipline and conflict resolution should be organised for
staff; a member of the governing body should serve as an advocate for any
student facing permanent exclusion, or a student should be represented by an
advocate of their choice; and procedures should require the head teacher to
explain and justify how and why the school has failed to provide the
necessary support.

12        All inspection reports should include the heading 'Race Equality
and Cultural Diversity', and high-quality training should be provided for
all inspectors.

13        The national authorities should fund independent bodies of trained
advocates.

14        Schools and local authorities should develop closer working
relationships with local supplementary schools, parents' groups and
community organisations.

15        In each country a national working party should be set up to
examine and evaluate the impact of the inspection system on issues of race
equality and cultural diversity in schools and local authorities.

16        The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority should require that
all exam boards offer only syllabuses in which it is possible to gain at
least a C grade at each tier and that all schools monitor tier entry by
ethnicity.

17            Independent research should be commissioned to assess the
impact on issues of race equality and cultural diversity of recent
initiatives intended to benefit all pupils but which may in fact have failed
to benefit, or have actually disadvantaged, pupils from certain communities.

18        In each country a forum should be set up in which government
officials, academics, practitioners and representatives of non-governmental
organisations can jointly review developments in education which have an
impact on issues of race equality and cultural diversity.



Arts, media and sport
1          A national cultural policy should be developed through widespread
participation and consultation. It should pay particular attention to issues
of cultural inclusion and identity.

2            Organisations funded by public bodies should lose some of their
funding if they do not make changes in their staff and governance, and do
not demonstrably make their programmes and activities more inclusive.

3          Every major arts organisation should commission an independent
audit of its programmes, output, employment profile, representation of wider
society and financial investment.

4            Broadcasters and franchise-holders should be required to
provide statistics broken down by ethnicity and gender in relation to grades
and categories such as producer, editor and camera operator, and by
management level.

5            Contracts and franchises should depend on the production of
plans (a) to increase black and Asian staff at all levels and grades; (b) to
commission more work from black and Asian producers; and (c) to ensure that
a proportion of programmes tackle issues of race equality and cultural
diversity.

6          The BBC should make the employment and contracting of black and
Asian staff and producers an integral part of its latest reviews.

7            Broadcasters should seek to encourage the promotion of black
and Asian people to commissioning editor roles and management positions.

8            Broadcasters and other bodies should find and develop ways of
improving networking opportunities for black and Asian people in the
industry.

9            Broadcasters should use their websites to provide open-tender
documents.

10            Programming targets should be set similar to those which exist
for countries and regions.

11        Large established production companies should on occasion be
required to work in partnership with smaller companies that have developed
distinctive expertise in creating programmes about race and cultural
diversity.

12            Voluntary-sector organisations should seek funds to set up
media monitoring projects, in order that they may complain regularly about
coverage they find offensive. Newspapers and television companies should be
named and shamed in high-profile ways.

13        Every newspaper should publish, both in its pages and on its
website, a breakdown of its staff by gender, ethnicity and seniority. The
breakdowns should be regularly updated and should be accompanied by
statements of the paper's plans to increase the employment of black and
Asian staff.

14        The regulatory framework for digital TV should include, at least
in the short term, protection for programme suppliers who will offer
channels targeted at particular cultural interests.

15        The implications and workings of the new digital universe should
be closely monitored.

16        There should be further pooling of experience from the range of
anti-racist projects that have been implemented in football clubs, and
lessons for other major sports should be learned.

17        The administrations at Cardiff, Holyrood and Westminster should
issue policy statements on the interconnections between the arts, media and
sport in the development of Britain as a multi-ethnic society.



Health and welfare
1          There should be substantial black, Asian and Irish
representation, both professional and lay, on the Service Delivery and
Organisation Research and Delivery programme.

2            Research into the impact of racism on health should be accorded
a high priority within the health research programme.

3          Targets should be applied to other care issues, for example the
provision of interpreting services throughout the health service and
culturally specific food in hospitals and residential care homes. Targets
should not be colour-blind. For example, waiting lists should not just be
monitored, but monitored by ethnicity also.

4            Record-keeping and monitoring by ethnicity, use of the data to
set targets, and race equality audits using appropriate categories should be
established, as they are an essential part of any efficient management
system, both in health and social services. Specific results must be sought
which must be qualitative as well as quantitative.

5          More interpreters should be trained and appointed. All NHS
primary care trusts should be required to have a contract with a telephone
interpreting service.

6          Child benefit, linked to each individual child, should be
increased significantly, to give every child living in poverty, from
whatever background, a better chance in life.

7          The DoH should require social services departments to record
information about the ethnicity, religion and language of all children
receiving direct services of any kind.

8          All those employed in the health and social welfare services
should be trained in cultural awareness and sensitivity.

9          One-stop shops for health issues, including parenting education,
should be more widely established. All parenting advice should be available
to both mothers and fathers, and men should be encouraged to participate.

10        Targets should be set for co-ordinated inter-agency action to cut
the numbers of young black and Asian men held in state institutions.

11        Greater priority should be given in housing allocation to helping
members of families to live near to each other because of the benefits of
mutual support.

12        The state should recognise the advantages of extended families and
the support they can offer to the old, the young and the infirm.

13        There should be monitoring by ethnicity of short-term contracts;
external as well as internal advertisement of all DoH posts; medical
recruitment advertising in the black and Asian press; training in equalities
issues in recruitment and selection for all medical recruitment panel
members; and acceptance of the recommendations of the 'Recruitment of
Doctors' guidelines produced by the BMA in January 2000. The DoH should
undertake a thorough review and overhaul of the consultant merit award
system to ensure that issues of equity and diversity are central to its
operation, and targets should be set for black and Asian membership of the
councils of all Royal Colleges.

14        The DoH should provide guidance for candidates to medical school
in order to encourage those coming from family backgrounds other than
medicine. The DoH should use its sponsorship of student doctors to support
the anti-racist drive of the Council of Heads of Medical Schools' action
programme against discrimination in admissions.



Employment
1          As a matter of priority the government should place a statutory
duty on all employers to create and implement equity employment plans.

2            Achievement of Investors in People status should in future be
conditional on the formulation and implementation of an employment equity
plan, and equity issues should be explicitly and comprehensively covered in
the Business Excellence Model's guidance materials.

3            Guidance on public procurement and the award of subsidies for
investment, for example Regional Selective Assistance, should be revised to
stress the importance of employment equity.

4          All organisations delivering New Deal programmes should be
required to demonstrate that they are contributing positively to employment
equity. If they cannot demonstrate this their responsibilities should be
transferred to others.

5                    Organisations providing personal adviser services
should be required to ensure that persons from black and Asian backgrounds
are equitably involved in their programmes, both as managers and as
advisers.

6            Research should be commissioned on the contributions of Asian
and black firms to UK Gross National Product or UK trade balances.

7          The DTI and the Small Business Service (SBS) should commission
research into Asian and black business start-up and survival patterns, with
a view to formulating local targets and contributing to SBS national
strategies.

8          Targets should be set at SBS national council and local council
levels for increasing the take-up of support by Asian and black small
businesses.

9          The Banking Code and the Mortgage Code should include
undertakings on non-discrimination.

10        All providers of financial services should monitor and improve
their procedures and ensure that key staff receive race and diversity
training.

11        There should be monitoring by ethnicity of lending decisions by
financial institutions.

12        British Trade International and Business Links partnerships should
set targets for working more closely with the Asian and black business
sector, and for highlighting the possibility of international trade as a
mechanism for encouraging growth.

13            Business support agencies should develop their expertise in
advising and assisting the independent retail sector, and all agencies
involved in urban regeneration and business development should recognise the
value of independent retailers.



Immigration and asylum
1          The UK government should take action to bring British nationality
law into line with international human rights standards, and to deal with
the statelessness and racial and ethnic divisions that have been created by
its present policies.

2          The public funds requirement should be removed for the spouses
and children of British citizens and permanent residents, and time-limited
for all other family members. Family visits should not be dependent on
having the means to put up large sums of money in bonds.

3          Appeal rights relating to deportation should be fully restored.

4          The government should carry out and publicise research into the
economic impact, and the potential economic benefits, of immigration.

5          Urgent action should be taken to remedy defects in the systems
for determining asylum claims and supporting asylum-seekers; and to provide
better settlement services for those granted asylum.

This should involve:

. improving the initial decision-making process to ensure that
asylum-seekers have the opportunity properly to present their cases, with
appropriate legal advice, to decision-makers who are properly trained and
well informed; and providing sufficient resources to improve quality and
minimise delays;

. government support for asylum-seekers so that those whose claims are
accepted have the best chance of successful settlement: this could best be
achieved through cash support (at not less than the basic income support
level) and a choice of available housing, and must include language and
skills training and social orientation;

. a co-ordinated approach to the settlement needs of those granted asylum,
so that the Social Exclusion Unit, or a similar body, with the help of
refugee community organisations, can identify needs and develop a national
strategy for meeting them.

6          We recommend the removal of the exemption in the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act permitting discrimination on grounds of ethnic or national
origin.

7            Independent experts should examine all existing legislation,
rules, procedures, guidelines and decision-making criteria for their
compliance with the Human Rights Act.

8          The government should accept responsibility for encouraging and
leading a positive debate on asylum and immigration, through its own
publicity mechanisms, and by commissioning research and providing
information.

9          The UK should use its best efforts to promote an EU immigration
and asylum policy that is aligned with the principles and recommendations of
this report and with international human rights standards; and should
welcome EU initiatives, such as the enhancement of family reunion and third
country nationals' rights, which move towards these goals.

10                An independent commission on all aspects of immigration,
nationality and asylum should be established.



Politics and representation
1          Each political party should publish a statement showing how it
will avoid playing, or appearing to play, the race card in the next general
election. The statement should be quoted in the party manifesto, and brought
to the attention of all candidates and party workers. Each party should
conduct an audit by ethnicity of its own membership, and should draw up and
publish plans on how it proposes to ensure that more Asian and black
candidates are selected for safe and winnable seats.

2          The Appointments Commission should have a statutory duty to
ensure that the second chamber is more representative of the country in
terms of ethnicity. In any one year, during at least the next 5-10 years, at
least 15 per cent of new members should be from Asian and black community
backgrounds.

3          At least 30 per cent of newly appointed black and Asian peers in
any one year should be women.



Religion and belief
1          In all faith communities there should be closer connections
between anti-racism and inter-faith relations.

2            Legislation should be introduced which prohibits direct and
indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief. A statement of
general principles should be drawn up on reasonable accommodation in
relation to religious and cultural diversity in the workplace and in
schools, and case-study examples of good practice should be provided.

3          A study should be made of police responses to hate crimes
containing a religious component.

4          A commission on the role of religion in the public life of a
multi-faith society should be set up to make recommendations on legal and
constitutional matters.



Government leadership

1          The government should:

. create further co-ordinating structures;

. require the various inspection regimes to work more closely together on
issues of race equality and cultural diversity, with a view to improving
their practices;

. arrange a programme of equality and diversity inspections of its own
departments;

. commission impact assessments of all new policies that have the potential
to exert a detrimental influence on race equality and recognition of
cultural diversity;

. commission independent research on the impact of recent government
measures which may have had a detrimental effect on race equality and
recognition of cultural diversity;

. consult widely with interested and experienced persons and organisations
on the race equality performance management framework currently being
developed;

. set up for each department and also for the government as a whole an
advisory forum on race equality and cultural diversity issues.


Legislation and enforcement

1          There should be a single Equality Act in Britain. It should be
supplemented by regulations and regularly updated codes of practice on
specific subjects. Both the Act and its supporting documentation should be
written in plain language.

2          A new Equality Act in Britain should lead towards the creation of
a single Equality Commission, covering all grounds of unlawful
discrimination.

3          Existing auditing bodies should have formal responsibility for
inspection and audit of public sector equality schemes, and they should
require progress towards fair participation and fair access over a defined
period of time. The Commission for Racial Equality, or proposed Equality
Commission, should have power to issue compliance notices, and in the event
of non-compliance to apply to a court or tribunal for an order requiring the
public body to comply.

4          In addition to an Equality Commission responsible for enforcing
equality legislation, there should be a Human Rights Commission for Britain
whose functions would include the review of legislation, scrutiny of draft
legislation, the provision of advice and assistance to individuals and
guidance to public authorities, the conduct of investigations and inquiries,
and the general promotion of a human rights culture.

5          The UK government should agree to allow individuals access to the
UN complaints system if they believe that their rights under the Convention
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have been infringed. The
government should give greater priority to fulfilling its obligations under
international human rights agreements, and to making the public aware of the
commitments that have been made.

6            Officials in central, devolved and local administrations should
ensure that the procedures that they are operating on human rights issues
are harmonised with procedures on equality issues.

7          The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee should ensure that it
has a strong focus on race equality issues.

8          The UK government should formally declare that the United Kingdom
is a multicultural state, and should issue a draft declaration for
consultation.

Organisational change

1            Evaluative studies should be made of leadership styles in
relation to race and diversity issues, and good practice should be
disseminated.

2          A task force should be set up to clarify the objectives and
content of racism awareness training, and to develop guidelines and
standards on practical methodology and organisation.

3          Official guidance should be issued on monitoring by ethnicity,
and on the collection, interpretation and use of statistical data.

All voluntary organisations

Should consider the report, particularly in relation to their advocacy,
lobbying, campaigning and partnership activities with public bodies.

The Runnymede Trust

1          Should ensure that a summary of this report is sent to all public
bodies shortly after its publication and that follow-up enquiries are made
to all recipients, approximately one year after publication, in order to
ascertain how the report has been discussed and acted on.

2          Should organise a number of conferences and seminars at which
particular parts of this report are considered and debated.

3          In collaboration and partnership with other non-governmental
organisations, should adopt a watchdog role in relation to the
implementation of the recommendations in this report, and publish and
disseminate reviews and evaluations of progress. Such reviews and
evaluations should be available on a website as well as in print.



                   
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