Keeping equality high on the FE and HE agenda Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 10:38

As part of the Government's drive to reduce the regulatory framework for public bodies, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will not be proceeding with a statutory Code of Practice for the Public Sector Equality Duty and codes for further and higher education.

Alastair Thomson, NIACE's Principal Advocacy and Policy Officer, said:

"NIACE recognises that some fear this may lead to a de-prioritisation of equality and diversity issues and believe that a statutory code offers the best protection for learners. There are others though, who see the decision as evidence of ministers' trust in the sector's ability to self-manage.

NIACE is aware of a considerable amount of good equality and diversity practice among providers of further and higher education, but is also conscious of the need to keep working on this agenda and of how much more is needed to ensure consistency.

Last year, the report of the Independent Commission on Colleges in their Communities noted that ‘almost twenty years of micromanagement has led to a culture of following rather than taking the lead'. Now that a statutory code is no longer on the agenda, NIACE will work to ensure that providers themselves do take the lead responsibility to uphold the spirit as well as the letter of the Equality Act. The EHRC plans to issue non-statutory codes and NIACE will seek to work alongside EHRC, Ofsted and others to assess how equality issues can stay high on the agenda for all colleges and higher education institutions."