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Mainstreaming Equalities

Mainstreaming Equalities

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the legislative framework for the integration of health and social care in Scotland. It required Local Authorities and Health Boards to integrate adult health and social care services. The Integration Authority is South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board. The IJB has now produced its third Strategic Commissioning Plan which sets out its intentions for the future of communities in South Lanarkshire. The IJB reports on its performance annually.

As a listed public authority, in Schedule 19 of the Equality Act 2010 the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) must report on how it proposes to meet the equality duty and set out the equality outcomes and mainstreaming actions for the coming year.

As the South Lanarkshire IJB does not currently have any employees of its own it is not required to meet the various employee reporting regulations.  These requirements will continue to be reported through the two employing bodies, NHS Lanarkshire (NHSL) and South Lanarkshire Council (SLC).  As such the Equality Outcomes of both employing bodies should inform and compliment the Equality Outcomes established for the IJB. 

IJBs are required to publish Equality Outcomes, which will be reported every two years.  Guidelines from the Equality and Human Rights Commission states that IJB’s must do the following in developing their outcomes:

  • consider relevant evidence
  • if the set of outcomes do not cover the three parts of the public sector duty, the IJB must publish reasons for this

The General Equality Duty

The general equality duty requires public authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to:

  1. eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
  2. advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
  3. foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The public sector equality duty covers the following protected characteristics:

  1. age
  2. disability
  3. gender (sex)
  4. gender identity (reassignment)
  5. marriage and civil partnership
  6. pregnancy and maternity
  7. race
  8. religion or belief
  9. sexual orientation

Mainstreaming Equality

Mainstreaming the equality duty means a move away from seeing equality issues as an additional responsibility to being an integral part of the way we think and function.  This will be a progressive journey for the Integration Joint Board building on previous partnership work on equalities.  The Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland outline the benefits of “mainstreaming the equality duty” as follows:

  • Equality becomes part of the structures, behaviours and culture of the authority
  • An Authority knows and can demonstrate how, in carrying out its functions, it is promoting equality
  • Mainstreaming equality contributes to continuous improvement and better performance

 

Read South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board’s Mainstreaming Equalities Report 1 April 2023- 31 March 2025 

The Integration Joint Board Equality Impact Assessments are also available  to read on the council website.

You can view South Lanarkshire Council’s Mainstreaming Equalities Report 2021-2025.

You can view NHS Lanarkshire’s Mainstreaming Equalities Report.