- Conference
- 2006 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 24 February 2006
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that the Public Sector duties on gender will come into force in April 2007 as part of the wider equalities legislation. The Gender Equality Duty will require service providers and public sector employers to design employment and services with the different needs of women and men in mind. This will be a significant piece of work for local authorities.
Conference believes that although employers will have the right to set their own gender equality goals, there will need to be considerable guidance from specialist organisations such as the EOC.
Conference notes that local authorities will have to address questions relating to how they deliver services to both women and men to make sure that the needs of both genders are being met. It is likely that the duty will have a particularly significant impact on services such as housing and social care where there are easily and clearly identified differing gender needs.
This will undoubtedly have implications on the way that services are delivered and the roles of members employed within local government.
UNISON has lobbied for the duty to be extended to the private and voluntary sector, to prevent the potential use of privatisation as a means of avoiding the gender equality duty. If this change is not enacted, any guidance must include procurement to ensure that both the procurer and the contractor are clear of their role and responsibilities in delivering the duty.
Therefore Conference calls on the SGE to work with the National Women’s Committee to provide a briefing for local government branches on the public sector duty on gender covering examples of best practice in time for the duty coming into effect in April 2007.