In this issue:

• E+D in the news
• Prevent Duty
• Safeguarding
• Mental Health

Equality and diversity is so much more than just “treating everyone the same” …

Equality and diversity enhances everyday life and simple changes to normal activities can ensure all individuals are included and given equal opportunities to achieve. Our newsletter offers updates on E&D, Safeguarding, Prevent Duty, Mental Health Awareness, and Health and Safety, as either found in the news or highlighted as our topic of the month.

Equality and Diversity in the news

UK Employers are “excelling” in the field of Gender Pay Equality and “outshining” Global competition. Survey results show that 58% of UK employers take gender pay equality into consideration when making decisions about base pay compared to only 23% of global employers making the same consideration.

The report also shows:

  • 51% of UK employers recently checked to ensure they meet equal pay obligations
    • A further 29% are planning to do so
  • 93% of UK companies are planning to, or already promote flexible work arrangements
  • 47% of UK companies are reviewing recruitment processes to reduce bias
  • 87% are increasing communications activities to promote a more inclusive culture

https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/uk-employers-outshine-global-competitors-in-gender-pay-equality/

The Prevent Duty

A report commissioned in Manchester has found that some Muslim residents feel a fear of persecution due to the controversial Counter Terrorism Strategy as a result of a lack of official information. The report shows Prevent is effective in tackling all forms of radicalisation; however, poor communication has caused a potentially dangerous cycle of fear, leading to people being less likely to engage with the voluntary scheme.

The number of terror arrests in Britain is at a record level, as is the number of referrals to Prevent following the introduction of a ‘Statutory Duty’ on teachers and other public workers.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prevent-muslims-radicalisation-information-manchester-commission-cohesion-terror-extremism-attack-a8469541.html

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A new documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, watching young men in action via footage shot by Jihadis themselves, challenging the common view of fanatical ‘death to the west’ extremists. Path of Blood explores how the Saudis used counter-terrorisms methods effectively and offer rehabilitation to Jihadis that were capable of changing. Ensuring that the viewers recognised these young men as humans was and still is crucial; Aimen Dean the advisor of the film states: “If we dehumanise them, we end up like them, because they dehumanise their enemies too.”

Viewers have been encouraged to consider what has brought young men to take another life seemingly so easily, and what has led them to the point where they are willing to sacrifice their own?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/al-qaeda-jihadi-saudi-arabia-bin-laden-path-of-blood-a8441746.html

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Remember those all-important contact numbers:

Anti-Terrorism Hotline: 0800 789 321

Crime Stoppers: 0800 555 111

 

And above all, be vigilant! If in doubt report anything suspicious to 101 or 999.

Safeguarding

Ofsted’s National Director of Social Care, Yvette Stanley, has discussed the importance of a multiagency approach to safeguarding children. The best local safeguarding arrangements are developed from a shared vision and shared values, and they work well when there is a clear line of sight on both the operational and the strategic response. There are many areas that show how beneficial multiagency approaches are; for example, in Cheshire West and Chester, the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the local authority worked together to develop a set of neglect indicators, enabling them to map early help and children’s social care activity about neglect, and then assess the demand and need across the area.

This multiagency approach serves to remind us that child protection is everyone’s responsibility.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/social-care-commentary-multi-agency-safeguarding-arrangements

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The Home Office has announced that an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 will be conducted, led by Frank Field MP, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Maria Miller MP. The review aims to strengthen the UK’s ongoing response to the crime and accelerate progress from the Government and businesses in eradicating it. The Economic and Social Costs of Modern Slavery Report estimates that it costs the UK up to £4.3 billion per year and that each instance of this crime costs around £330,000. This cost includes law enforcement, support and lost earnings, but most importantly the physical and emotional harm that the victim suffers.

Maria Miller MP explained the need for this review, stating: “The Modern Slavery Act means the UK leads the world in tackling this most heinous of crimes. I welcome the opportunity to be part of this independent review because it is imperative that the law is working well in practice and can evolve as perpetrators find new ways of exploiting and harming victims.”

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is the first of its kind and has transformed the UK’s response to this crime, not only by giving Police and Law Enforcement agencies the powers they need to bring perpetrators to justice, but also enhancing the protection given to victims.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-commissions-independent-review-of-the-modern-slavery-act-2015

Health and Safety

A 120-year-old post-box is to be taken out of service after a tree has made it dangerous to collect from. The post box has been granted Grade II listing and so cannot be removed from the tree that has grown around it. Despite the growing use of email and services including Amazon Prime, conservation policies remain in place to keep the oldest and rarest letter boxes within their community, and regardless of how much they are used, Royal Mail is required to provide a post box within half a mile of 98% of addresses in the UK.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/120-year-old-post-box-14958391

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Sir David Attenborough believes that children are becoming disconnected from nature and no longer spent time outdoors. He states, “If it’s not health and safety telling you you’ve got to wear a gas mask, it’s somebody telling you it’s illegal to pick up a bird’s feather,”. He continues to say that there are some laws that are necessary for the welfare of the natural world but that interactions between humans and nature have become constrained and that is a human loss, but will ultimately become a loss to the natural world as people will no longer understand it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5980345/Sir-David-Attenborough-says-health-safety-gone-mad-stopping-UK-children-enjoy-nature-outdoors.html