This report summarises current opinion on diversity derived from interviews with experts and a review of current literature. It covers service delivery and employment practice. This is an extended version, with full evidence base.
An effective response to diversity is at the heart of modernising public services. A comprehensive diversity policy embraces key elements of best practice in employment and service delivery:
- addressing inequality
- recognising and valuing difference
- promoting a skilled, diverse workforce
- meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population
- acting in accordance with legislation
The diversity agenda presents enormous challenges, but also extraordinary opportunities - to tap into underused talent in the workforce and to focus on all users and their experiences in order to enhance and improve the quality and effectiveness of our public services.
What constitutes good practice in this complex area? What outcomes can be expected and how can initiatives be sustained? The Audit Commission aims to demonstrate and promote best practice in equalities and diversity, but there are limitations in terms of the knowledge, evidence base and models available to enable effective change. This area is still a field of experimentation and debate.
This report, Directions in diversity, seeks to contribute to that debate. It forms part of a body of Audit Commission work, including the recent report Equality and diversity, which examined local government's progress in implementing equalities standards. Directions in diversity is, in contrast, a 'think piece', based on a review of recent literature and interviews with a wide range of experts and key practitioners. It aims to share learning, identify barriers to diversity and drivers for change, and proposes practical suggestions for the effective implementation of the diversity agenda across the public sector.
This paper summarises the full report. It outlines the legal, socio-demographic and policy contexts and sets out the main findings from the interviews and literature. Finally, it makes some suggestions for future action and identifies key messages from the research.
Groups referred to here include those experiencing discrimination on the grounds of gender, race and ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, faith and age; the report covers employment and human resource (HR) practice and service delivery.