The weekend has seen more revelations from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Guardian and Observer reported on new resignations, a threatened resignation from Bert Massie a key Commissioner, financial irregularities, poor value for money, allegations of a culture of bullying and even claims of discrimination.
The sad fact of the matter is that I am not surprised. I had the opportunity to work for the new Commission if I'd wanted it; my job at the Disability Rights Commission would have been transfered into the EHRC's policy and strategy directorate. (The Directorate formally headed by Patrick Diamond before he quit last week.) I chose to look for other jobs and successfully found one which allowed me to leave the DRC 3 weeks before it closed and the EHRC opened.
I chose to leave for a number of reasons. I had initially been in favour of a broad equality commission, and in some what of a minority. As more details of the new Commission were revealed or not revealed as was usually the case I began to worry. I was also not thrilled by the choice of Trevor Phillips as Chair. I had worked at the GLA when Phillips was an Assembly member and I did not want to renew my acquaintance with him again in a hurry. But beyond any concerns I might have about his style of leadership, I don't want to get into any trouble here but lets just say he has a direct style and likes lots of things to be run past him. I actually thought it was a mistake to appoint anyone as chair who was too famous or known for their own views on certain issues. I think a Chair of the EHRC needs to be able to represent all groups of people and champion the voices of those who seldom get heard.
The trouble with a Chair like Trevor Phillips is that a lot of people have heard of him and already have an opinion of him. Straight away a group of key stakeholders in the Commission are switched off and not interested because they don't like Trevor. The media have opinions too and are poised to rip into any problems at the Commission so they can either play the political correctness gone mad card or lay into Phillips. Then there is the issue of political alliances. With a clash between various political interests being played out over the Commission I am very worried that some problems will be blown out of all proportion in a spin war whilst others will be swept under the carpet.
I have a lot of friends who still work at the Commission and are desperately trying to make a real difference to people's lives. All this media attention over high level officials, and political spin totally detracts from the work they are doing and the genuine problems that they are facing whilst trying to get their work done. So I really hope that something positive can come out of the "chaos" right now and that these issues being reported in the papers aren't going to be used to railroad the Commission into a very difficult position for everyone including their Chair.
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Of course we have our critics, in an area as complex as ours, where a fair and equal society is the business of everyone, we would expect nothing less. The recent announcements about the departures of Nicola Brewer, Kay Hampton and Patrick Diamond are in no way related. We're proud of what we've achieved in the last 18 months, from the grant programme distributing £10.5m to grass roots organisations; the helpline which takes thousands of calls a month; more than 90 legal actions to protect and extend rights for everyone (here’s three examples: David Allen, Sharon Coleman, Jason Smith); undertaking our duties under Section 16 of the Equality Act 2006 and a series of substantial reports (see here, here, here, here and here) aimed at providing new policy solutions to long running issues around fairness and human rights. We will always listen to what others have to say about our performance but after 18 months, we believe our record of achievement gives us the firm foundation to move Britain towards a future where everyone can be their best whatever their characteristic or background.
ReplyDeleteCEHR - thank you for your comment, you may be interested to see my earlier post http://thesalmonleaping.blogspot.com/2009/03/dangerous-love.html
ReplyDeletewhere I highlight some of the good work carried out by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. My concern is that the good work you highlight in your comment will get over shadowed by the posturing and spinning going on at a different level.
By the way, any truth in the blog entry I read that claims that the Commission will be cutting 50 staff from its call centre?
We are currently in a consultation process with the staff and Union regarding proposed changes to its Helpline. The proposed changes follow a review of the service, which we’ve been operating for 18 months. They include: extending operating hours to provide better support to those working during office hours; a new single number across England, Scotland and Wales; and revised content for our guidance and information – both verbal and written. The changes are aimed at providing a really useful service while delivering best value for money. The proposed changes include consolidating the three existing teams in England into one integrated team based in Birmingham. The Commission would continue to have teams based in Scotland and Wales. The impact of the economic downturn has been considered and the additional call volumes anticipated are included in the overall numbers. We will be working with the helpline staff and unions over the next few months to minimise any potential redundancies, through measures such as greater flexible working, job sharing and redeployment with vacant positions within the Commission.
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