Do we actively seek to involve people from equalities groups in our service planning?
Do we know what the potential barriers to participation are and are we working to address these?
Do we know what people from equalities groups think about our services?
Do we listen to what people tell us and build it into our service planning?
Do we communicate regularly with equalities organisations or service users from particular equalities groups, and provide feedback on their involvement?
Do we use the National Standards for Community Engagement to help us with engaging with equalities groups?
If you answered:
Not at all or a little for some groups – you need to think carefully why this is the case. Is it because there are very few people from this group living in your area, for example. You should look at Section 4: Understanding Needs to find out which equalities issues might be especially important in your area – this can guide you to understanding who to prioritise in terms of engagement activities. But you should speak with colleagues and partners to consider how you can engage people from equalities groups better.
Fairly Well or Very well for some groups – you can still do better! Look at the Find Out More links for ideas on how you can improve engagement. Remember, engaging equalities groups can improve provision, and build the skills and capacity of the people being engaged.
The How Good is Our CLD self assessment framework requires CLD providers to think about: