The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales

Disability Equality Scheme

(Version December 2006)

Contents

Statement of Commitment

The Charity Commission is committed to making sure that equality of opportunity is an integral part of all that it does.

We want everyone in the Commission whose work affects our customers to understand and meet their responsibilities under the Disability Equality Scheme. We take seriously our duties as an employer, and the additional benefits that good diversity management brings for all our employees.

As a public body we have a duty to promote equality of opportunity for people living with a disability whether they are our customers, or staff that work for us or those who wish to participate in public life. This Disability Equality Scheme sets out how we undertake all our functions with regard to those responsibilities, in particular promoting disability equality, ensuring we do not discriminate against people with disabilities and demonstrating how we measure the impact of our policies, procedures and practices.

Although this scheme has been drawn up in consultation with a number of charities working with or for people with disabilities, we are aware that we need to consult more widely with our external customers and will be reviewing the Scheme early in 2007.

Andrew Hind Tess Woodcraft

Chief Executive Officer Board Diversity Champion

December 2006

Introduction

Legislative Background

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 has been amended by the DDA 2005 so that it now places a duty on all public bodies, when carrying out their functions to have due regard to the need to:

  • Promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people;
  • Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the DDA;
  • Eliminate harassment of disabled people that is related to their disability;
  • Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people;
  • Encourage participation in public life; and
  • Take steps to meet disabled persons needs even if this requires more favourable treatment.

In essence, it means we should put disability equality at the heart of everything we do from the outset, rather than adopt piecemeal responses to particular issues.

Stakeholder Involvement

In developing this scheme we have sought views both internally from our staff and externally from our customer network.

Internal views have been captured through the Commission’s long-established Diversity Steering Group (DSG), which includes representatives from all key business areas of the Commission, and both Commission managers and Departmental Trade Union representatives have been actively involved in developing the scheme.

Trustees from charities working with or for disabled communities who are on our Customer Service Network were also consulted in particular with regard to the services we provide to our customers with disabilities. However we recognise that this is an area we should develop further over the next twelve months and this will be a key priority for us.

Commission employees with disabilities have made a significant contribution to the development of action plans via our proactive Disability Forum. We will continue to work with all these representatives to ensure that we meet our responsibilities as well as support change and improvement in the way that we work and regulate the sector.

Monitoring

We will monitor external services to customers and assess how accessible those services are through routine work such as:

  • website usage;
  • Availability and effectiveness of specialist services for disabled customers for example audio, Braille and sign language provision; and
  • Meetings with customers

We will also monitor through our customer satisfaction surveys:

  • The demographics of the customers we are working with;
  • The experience of our service, and the satisfaction rates of those customers who have disabilities in comparison with those who do not

We will analyse the data to identify any disadvantages to customers with disabilities and draw up an action plan to address any issues that emerge. We will publish a report annually on key issues and developments on the Commission’s website in accessible format.

To monitor internal practices we already undertake data collection in respect of disability. We will continue to improve upon the collection and analysis of this data in order to identify and address disability equality

We will monitor:

  • The demographics of staff in post;
  • Applicants for jobs at each stage of the recruitment & selection process;
  • Promotion success rates for candidates with disabilities;
  • Development through our performance management and review process;
  • Training offered and take up rates
  • Numbers and types of reasonable adjustment requested and approved/disapproved;
  • Disciplinary actions outcomes;
  • Retention rates; and
  • Pay equality.

We will publish this data on our website and in accessible formats.

Action Planning

Priority action items are listed under each business area where appropriate. Progress will be monitored by the Commission’s Diversity Steering Group on an annual basis, and they will report the results to the Board.

We will publish a report on our website annually reporting on progress against action plans and the scheme will be formally reviewed and a revised edition published every 3 years.

We hope that this Disability Scheme will contribute to putting charity at the heart of society in a more meaningful way for all our stakeholders.

Function: Governance

Governance responsibilities for strategy and future direction of the Charity Commission rest with its Board. The Board comprises the Chief Commissioner and four non-executive Commissioners.

Corporate decision-making that affects the day-to-day operation of the Commission is delegated to the Executive Group which is chaired by the Chief Executive and whose membership comprises the Executive Directors and other senior managers. The Chief Executive and Directors' duties include operational management of the Commission's business, implementing the programmes and policies arising from Board decisions and ensuring effective service delivery. The Chief Executive is also Accounting Officer and responsible for ensuring financial probity and the achievement of value for money.

The constitution and proceedings of the Charity Commissioners are governed by section 1 of, and the first Schedule to, the Charities Act 1993. Under the Act, the Commissioners have the general function of promoting the effective use of charitable resources by:

  • encouraging the development of better methods of administration;
  • giving charity trustees information or advice on any matter affecting the charity; and

    investigating and checking abuses.

The Board and Executive group are supported by a Governance team and Secretariat. Both these functions are deemed to have a high impact on our duty to ensure disability equality.

Action Plan

Board and Executive Group

We will:

  • Ensure that robust plans exist to meet diversity targets (including those in the Civil Service 10 point plan) and that diversity delivery plans are fully integrated into business plans. Progress will be monitored through Board approval of Corporate Plans and Board assessment of annual progress reports. We will also report our progress centrally to the Diversity Champions' Network;
  • Ensure that there is an effective communication strategy at corporate and departmental level, for clear internal and external messages, to ensure success of the 10 point plan.
  • Oversee all actions aimed at increasing understanding among managers of their role in challenging discrimination and unacceptable behaviour, and will continue to work with partners and staff networks to influence organisational culture change. The Chief Executive will chair the Commission-wide Diversity Steering Group.
  • Monitor the overall diversity impact of efficiency and relocation plans through such methods as impact assessments, to ensure that no particular group of staff (including those with disabilities) is unfairly discriminated against.
  • Actively participate in the next "Get on Board" campaign which seeks to recruit new charity trustees, aiming to double the number of applicants from disabled communities.

Secretariat / Governance Administration

We will:

  • Ensure that the recruitment of Board members complies with the 10 point plan for delivering a diverse civil service.
  • Ensure that applications from people with disabilities are encouraged via Positive Action statements when recruiting for additional Commissioners.
  • Continue to ensure that diversity issues are taken into account in all Board and Executive Group papers submitted for meetings.
  • Undertake targeted advertising of Open Board meetings and AGMs to reach out to people with disabilities, continuing to make these, and other outreach events, accessible - providing additional facilities where required to meet the needs of those attending. We will evaluate our effectiveness in this by asking delegates for feedback.

Function: Policy and Effectiveness

The Policy and Effectiveness Function consists of four business areas the first two of which have been identified as having a high impact on disability equality:

  • Bringing together and developing the Commission's policy agenda, with the aim of delivering policies which reflect charities' experience and regulatory requirements, enabling charities to work more effectively;
  • Leading the delivery of the Commission's public affairs and communications activities, including the editorial control of the Commission’s web site and publications;
  • Improving the performance of charities by helping to define best practice and capture such knowledge from our casework, by partnership working and by encourage innovation and collaborative working across the sector; and
  • Fulfilling a strategic planning role across the Commission, monitoring performance and financial spend against our targets.

Action Plan

We will:

  • Undertake impact assessments to examine whether there is a potential effect on disability equality when reviewing or developing policies;
  • Make use of the Customer Network to encourage participation of people with disabilities in consultations and workshops and to further develop methods of consultation that encourage greater participation from organisations working with or for those with disabilities;
  • Keep up to date with developments in disability equality legislation and the potential impact for charities, ensuring that the interests of disability related charities are taken into account in the modernising of equality legislation;
  • Review our website and our publications and forms to ensure they meet the standard laid out in the DRC guidance and where appropriate make further adjustments to aid accessibility;
  • Point out, when visiting charities as part of our Review Visits programme, any requirements the charity may be subject to under the Disability Discrimination Act; and
  • Develop guidance for Charities (by mid- 2008) on equality legislation to ensure that charity employees are aware of their personal responsibility to promote disability equality in the work they do and the impact of disability legislation on how charities should operate.

Function: Legal Services

Legal Services Division provides specialist legal services to the Commission, particularly but not exclusively in the areas of charity law and practice. Its expertise supports the Commission in enabling charities to maximise their impact and in ensuring compliance with legal obligations. It provides a rational basis for the development and modernisation of charity law.

It maintains legal expertise and a centre of legal resources in charity law and practice and contributes to the development of the law and practice in a modern context. This assists charities both to be recognised and to operate in the context of changing social and economic circumstances increasing charities’ efficiency and effectiveness.

Action plan

We will:

  • Appoint a lawyer with special responsibility for identifying and cascading information regarding diversity issues.
  • Ensure that legal advice is consistent with disability equality law and practice through quality review of legal advice.
  • Ensure that legal advice given in correspondence with disability related charities is in accessible formats and takes account of the needs and sensitivities of users with disabilities.
  • Advertise jobs in Legal Services Division in relevant media to ensure maximum exposure to potential candidates with disabilities;
  • Bring an enabling and creative approach to advice on issues affecting disability related organisations.
  • Ensure that the development of law and practice takes into account diversity issues.

Function: Customer Service

This team takes a lead on customer service and quality issues across the Commission. This includes the handling of complaints and decision reviews, seeking and using internal and external feedback to continuously improve our services. This team coordinates the Customer Service Network of key customers and other stakeholders. The network includes a representative group of charities, including charities working with people with disabilities, who are consulted on key policy changes and service delivery options. All of the work which Customer Services undertakes is deemed to have a high impact on promoting disability equality.

Action Plan

Decision Reviews & Complaints

We will:

  • Revise staff operational guidance on our complaints process (OG93) to ensure consistency with duties under disability legislation;
  • Ensure disability issues are taken into consideration in the development of a single stage review process and Tribunal to ensure the accessibility of all procedures; and
  • Monitor complaints cases involving accusations of disability discrimination and make recommendations where necessary to the rest of the business.
  • Seek to modify all of our customer service-related practices to address the needs of people with disabilities where it is practicable and reasonable to do so.

Customer feedback

We will:

  • Issue standard diversity monitoring forms with feedback forms for all postal customer feedback surveys. The information contained in these diversity monitoring feedback forms will be analysed and attached as an appendix, where required, to the individual feedback reports. At the end of each financial year a report covering the Diversity Feedback received for the year will be produced by the Customer Feedback Manager, available to our Board and to the public;
  • Consult with divisions undertaking feedback surveys dealing specifically with disability equality issues on the design, layout and content of the feedback forms; and
  • Monitor customer satisfaction amongst disabled customers in regular surveys and we will use this information to develop and improve the services we offer.

Customer Network

We will:

  • Ensure good representation on the Network of disability related organisations; and
  • Evaluate participation levels of these members to determine what level of involvement they have had.

Function: Charity Services

Charity Services is a new amalgamated division that for the first time brings together our one to one services to charities. It delivers a variety of functions and coordinated services to charities to enable them to improve their effectiveness in carrying out their work in the community. All of these activities have a high impact on disability equality.

The Division is concerned with those aspects of service delivery which require a discrete, specific and identifiable engagement with charities and consists of 6 separate units:

Charity Commission Direct

Based in Liverpool, Charity Commission Direct has been established to provide a single point of entry for all enquiries and requests for services coming into the Commission either by e mail, telephone, letter, and fax. It includes the Contact Centre which handles about a quarter of a million incoming calls from customers each year.

The role of Charity Commission Direct is to:

  • Assess all incoming correspondence coming into the Commission;
  • Manage the allocation of that correspondence by:
  • transferring enquiries to the correct organisation on day of receipt if they are not relevant to the Commission;
  • checking for urgency, importance and steering the enquiries to the relevant section of the Commission;
  • giving advice, information and support to customers who contact the Commission with routine enquiries;
  • Manage and develop the Contact Centre; and
  • Lead in the evolution of e-business in enhancing our public e-mail management systems.

Action plan

We will

  • Monitor and review the effectiveness of different types of communication with our disabled customers as part of our routine surveying process;
  • Act on feedback and reasonable suggestions for improving our services to customers with disabilities;
  • Train our staff to be aware of issues that affect people with disabilities when dealing with all customer facing processes; and
  • Continue to monitor what is available in new technology to make it easier to access and use our services.

Registration

This team determines whether organisations are charitable and registers those organisations which fully meet the criteria. This has a high impact on disability equality. We intend to move towards a system of on-line registration, which may impact on customers with disabilities.

Action Plan

We will

  • Act on feedback and reasonable suggestions for improving our services to disabled customers
  • Train our staff to be aware of issues that affect people with disabilities when dealing with all customer facing processes

Specialist Casework Division

The Specialist Casework Division aims to help charities fulfil their charitable objectives, operate efficiently and avoid exposing themselves to undue risk. The need for advice may be identified by charities themselves or by the Commission as a result of monitoring, visits, local surgeries or whilst we are dealing with other matters. Some of this work inevitably has a high impact on disabled people, and more research needs to be done to establish our impact on the community.

Action Plan

We will:

  • Establish what proportion of the customer group is made up of charities set up for the benefit of the disabled community;
  • Analyse the information to establish if there are any common themes/needs among this group;
  • Use this information to inform our approach, at a policy level;
  • Ask for feedback via Customer Services on our services to disability groups - review the feedback and act on reasonable suggestions for improvement;
  • Train our staff to be aware of issues that affect people with disabilities when dealing with all customer facing processes

Quick Response Unit

The Quick Response unit provides regulatory advice and consents which are capable of swift resolution for charities with an income up to £5m per year. Our aim in this is to use information about our customers to measure the potential impact our work has on disabled customers.

We will:

  • Seek and act on feedback and reasonable suggestions for improving our services to customers with disabilities;
  • Analyse the information to establish if there are any common themes/needs among this group;
  • Train our staff to be aware of issues that affect people with disabilities when dealing with all customer facing processes.

Large Charities Unit

The Large Charities Unit (LCU) manages and delivers the Commission’s advice and support services to all large charities whose annual income exceeds £5million. These 1000 charities represent around 60% of the sectors annual income, and many of them are key players in the area of disability such as RNIB and Scope. Impact here is therefore high.

The LCU aims to increase the effectiveness, and maximise the impact, of these large charities by:

  • Delivering consistent, high quality and proportionate service;
  • Giving appropriate attention to high profile, complex and sensitive cases; and
  • Working to develop and maintain relationships with large charities

Action Plan

We will:

  • Establish what proportion of our customer group is made up of charities set up for the benefit of the disabled community;
  • Analyse the information to establish if there are any common themes/needs among this group;
  • We will explore whether the ratio of disability related to non-disability related charities in this income group presents any particular issues;
  • Ensure that when writing the new CC booklet about the work of the Large Charities Unit, it is inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities;
  • Ensure that any consultations undertaken are open to a representative sample and proactively encourage involvement from people with disabilities.
  • Ensure the needs of disabled people are taken into account when planning outreach events, ensuring venues are accessible and specialist services are available if required;
  • Train our staff to be aware of issues that affect people with disabilities when dealing with all customer facing processes.
  • Ensure new guidance about the work of Large Charities unit is made available in accessible formats.

Compliance and Support

Compliance and Support Division is comprised of 3 units: Assessment, Mainstream and Inquiries and Intensive casework.

All complaints and apparent causes for concern, whether from internal or external sources, are examined by the Assessment Unit. If the Assessment Unit is satisfied that the problems exist it will decide, on the basis of risk, what is the most suitable and proportionate form of intervention. In most cases trustees are willing to co-operate and work with the Commission to restore their charities to proper standards of management, without the use of legal powers. These cases are handled by the Mainstream Case team.

However, where it appears that the trustees either cannot or will not co-operate, and that our powers in sections 8 or 18 of the Charities Act may need to be used, a formal inquiry may be opened so that access to the powers is available if necessary. These cases are handled by the Inquiries team.

In exceptional cases, where there are serious grounds for concern and perhaps significant media interest, the case may be referred to the Intensive Casework team. This category of work automatically includes all cases in which a Receiver and Manager has been appointed.

Compliance and support work generally has a low impact on broader disability equality issues, but in some specific cases there is potential high impact on groups of people with disabilities.

Action Plan

We will

  • Monitor feedback by disability on the conduct of intervention cases;
  • Analyse the information gathered to establish if there are any common themes/needs among this group;
  • Act on feedback and reasonable suggestions for improving our services to disabled customers.
  • Train our staff to be aware of issues that affect people with disabilities when dealing with all customer facing processes.
  • nsure that our internal guidance gives guidance on the handling of casework which involves people with disabilities to ensure equity in our services.

Charity Information and Corporate Services

Function: Charity Information

This division is concerned with the transparency and accessibility of information to the sector and the public about charities. It has a medium impact weighting.

Information Quality

As we develop ways to share and present information, our Information Quality team will focus on improving the quality and integrity of accounts and report information produced by charities by organising educational events, mapping trends and providing more targeted information to better inform the Commission about charities' income and activities. We will explore reasons behind good practice and poor levels of submission. The Division will conduct annual assessments of accounts information for all charities with income over £5m with significant sampling across all income groups. We will continue to develop systems that support our service to customers which includes internal electronic access to key charity information.

Information Compliance

The Information Compliance team ensures that charities meet, and where possible improve upon, their statutory obligations to file timely trustee reports, accounts and annual returns. The information in these documents is used to maintain our public register of charities and we make key data available both internally and to the wider public.

We are developing ways to improve charity transparency and accountability to the public by more timely submission of reports, accounts and annual returns. We will improve our advice and guidance to help charities comply with their legal obligations and encourage early filing.

The Annual Return will be reviewed to ensure that we are collecting key, appropriate information whilst minimising the regulatory burden. We will redesign the web presentation of the Register of Charities, populating it with more key data about the work and finances of charities, ensuring that it is accurate and entered promptly.

We will reorganise the way we interact with charities making individual staff or small groups of staff accountable for defined groups of charities which they will advise, support and encourage submitting promptly. For the biggest charities the aim will be to "guide" accounts and returns in on time with telephone contact being made with those approaching the deadline or earlier for those with a history of late submission.

Action Plan

We will:

  • Ensure the web presentation of the Register of Charities is reviewed for compliance against DRC guidance on accessible web.
  • Ensure that charity accounts and report sampling includes a representative sample from disability related charities and can be used to inform developing policy
  • Observe the needs of people with disabilities in our education event work; promote disability representation and disseminate feedback from these events.
  • Use Division meetings to feedback customer service information on the DES action plan
  • Ensure that we consider the customer service needs of people with disabilities as part of our development of AR07. The Annual Return form and Glossary are available in accessible formats;
  • Consider the needs of disability groups in our approach to dealing with defaulting charities. Our analysis of submission times will be used to identify trends and groups of charities that may have difficulty completing the Annual Return and meeting their legal requirements. This information can be used by case officers to improve our proactive contact with charities to understand reasons behind late submission. This information can also be shared with Information Quality Division for potential inclusion in their outreach programme.

Function: Corporate Services

Corporate Services comprises 4 business areas - Organisational Development, Human Resources, Business Enablement, and Finance & Audit all of which enable the Commission to deliver its key objectives and meet efficiency targets. All have a high impact on people with disabilities - mainly existing or potential staff.

Organisational Development

The Organisational Development team ensures the Commission has the right organisational structure to meet its objectives by: developing and implementing initiatives targeted at effective change management and improving organisational performance; driving quality and continuous improvement initiatives; and delivering effective training, development and communications programmes to support cultural change.

We will

  • Monitor applications for training and development opportunities to ensure equality of access, and take appropriate action if issues emerge.
  • Research and consider a tailored positive action programme in 2007, (in liaison with the Disability Forum) for staff with disabilities which focuses on their personal and career development needs.
  • Ensure that all relevant management and leadership courses cover the issue of disability equality and raise awareness amongst staff and managers throughout the Commission
  • Provide better training on disability discrimination for all staff. This will involve incorporating coverage of DDA and diversity issues into training and learning and development activities as appropriate e.g. covering discrimination and diversity issues in recruitment and selection training, covering specific work-based diversity issues in technical training for caseworkers.
  • Consider using e learning/ blended learning methods to train staff on the disability "duty".
  • Use the data obtained from previous and future employee surveys to monitor the relationship between disability and stress issues.
  • Encourage managers to use team meetings to inform staff of our DES goals and remind them of their role and responsibilities in working towards this corporate objective.
  • Regularly remind managers and staff of the relevance and importance of equality and diversity when drafting job descriptions and work objectives

Human Resources

The Human Resources (HR) team provides strategic and operational services which enable the achievement of the corporate goals by: delivering relevant, pragmatic and innovative 'people' solutions which facilitate the effective recruitment, retention and reward of a diverse workforce; equipping managers with high quality tools and advice to maximise performance and productive time; and ensuring effective employee relations.

HR is also currently responsible for the employment monitoring duty under the DDA.

We will

  • Screen all new and revised policies and procedures for disability equality relevance. It will be the responsibility of the Diversity Manager (new post) to coordinate and report on impact assessments;
  • Monitor and publish relevant statistics on disability in accessible formats, as required under the DDA Code of Practice, and take action where necessary;
  • Continue to take positive action in our recruitment activities to increase applications from people with disabilities
  • Implement a secondment programme by March 2008 to provide opportunities for staff to work with Disability Charities ;
  • Ensure that reasonable adjustment requirements, including the provision of specialist equipment, are effectively met;
  • Review our recruitment and selection processes to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are fully considered e.g. when designing or running selection tests; and
  • Increase the diversity mix of recruitment panels, including using external panel members with disabilities.

Business Enablement Division

Business Enablement provides a stable information technology infrastructure and realisation of benefits from investment in e-services; delivers a flexible and safe office environment; and innovative and compliant procurement processes that ensure value for money.

All of the activities have a high impact on disabled people.

Action plan

We will:

  • Ensure that the systems and services provided by Business Enablement reflect best practice in meeting the accessibility and usability needs of our customers.
  • Ensure that delivery of our website services adhere wherever possible to best practice and as a minimum we will ensure that our provision of web-related services will adhere to the double-A conformance level as defined in the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
  • Continue to ensure that the office accommodation in use is fully DDA compliant and when undertaking changes will consider the needs of people with disabilities, wherever possible involving those people in the decision-making.
  • Review and revise as necessary our procurement arrangements for the selection and management of contractors to ensure that these suppliers have a disability equality policy and have due regard for disability equality in their work.
  • Assess compliance of all new products against recognised accessibility standards and, prior to implementation, conduct detailed assessment against the needs of disabled users.
  • Ensure that all standard templates and electronic forms are accessible to people with disabilities.

Finance & Audit

The Finance & Audit team provides robust financial management and management accounting systems to support effective planning and budget monitoring; delivers appropriate advice and financial guidance; actively supports the Commission's Audit Committee; and delivers timely and accurate management information to enable effective decision making.

These activities have a low impact on people with disabilities.

Action Plan

We will:

  • Ensure our published finance and audit information is accessible to those with disabilities
  • Ensure our internal audit plans include consideration of diversity issues where appropriate