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An unhealthy silence can take the place of open debate if staff and managers are uncomfortable about tackling race and equality issues. You cannot confront racist views, challenge stereotypes and myths or tackle ignorance if no one is prepared to talk. The fear of being accused of being a racist is in danger of preventing staff and managers exploring issues of race.

Our senior management team received anecdotal evidence that such an unhealthy silence existed in parts of the directorate. This was despite its clear policies, examples of good practice, targets covering recruitment and service delivery, a champions’ group to promote good practice and a black workers’ support group.

However, it was feedback from the black workers’ support group that provided anecdotal evidence that questioned the effectiveness of our efforts. We heard about managers being reluctant to release people to attend meetings and staff made to feel uncomfortable or that they were receiving special treatment. We heard that some people were not confident that our policies would be effective because not all managers supported them. We could not be confident that managers were promoting our policies because people were reluctant to discuss issues of race. 

As part of raising awareness we introduced a two-day race and equality training session for all staff. More than 300 have attended this course so far. After the first event, the trainer identified questions that staff had raised that he was either unable to answer or that he did not think it right for him to answer as someone from outside the organisation. So we produced a management response to these questions to be published on our intranet. As a result Lancashire Council’s social services directorate is using its internal intranet to tackle hot issues by getting the real questions out in the open. These questions have arisen out of comments made by staff in racial awareness training, feedback from members of the black workers’ support group and the direct experience of managers.

The questions reveal misunderstandings, stereotypes and myths about race and racism. We have been bold and faithfully reproduced these questions and provided challenging answers. The intranet and material on it is available to all staff with access to a computer – about two-thirds of our 4,700 staff. Managers can use these questions and answers to introduce discussion in team meetings, confident in the knowledge that there is an agreed management response. The result has been to give managers increased confidence in discussing issues of race and racism.

Some of these questions made uncomfortable reading for senior managers who thought that we had made more progress than this. Some questions were shocking both in their level of ignorance and their challenge to the directorate’s policies. But they reflect the views of many staff and the way they think (see The Intranet Debate). 

Publishing the questions and answers shifts the responsibility for explaining policy from front-line managers to senior managers. As the person leading on this bold approach, I felt I was taking a risk. What if this material was picked up and quoted out of context by the local press? What if the British National Party used this material to misrepresent the council’s position? Would I be challenged on the answers we had provided?

This experience has taught me that you should not ignore anecdotal evidence. Instead, you should find ways of establishing whether the experience of one individual is the same as the experience of many individuals. That to get a true picture of where your organisation is in relation to race and equality you need to get people to talk openly and to capture what comes out of that discussion. And you need to do something with this information. It has shown me that many managers lack the confidence to initiate discussions with staff and adequately explain the organisation’s policies when it comes to race issues.

It is important to address the issues of confidence and trust that are raised when staff experiences are different from that which senior management say they can expect. Publishing the questions and answers on the intranet site sends out a clear message about the commitment and expectations of the directorate.

The Intranet Debate
What about racial equality for whites?
Racial equality is about fairness for all sections of the community both black and white. We tend to focus on racial equality for minority ethnic groups because all the information we have tells us that they are not being fairly treated. We employ fewer people from minority ethnic communities than we would expect given the profile of the local community and fewer people from minority ethnic groups use our services than we would expect, given Lancashire’s population.


Why do people from minority ethnic groups get special treatment like a day centre specifically for Asian elders or a choice of different meals on wheels?
Equality is not about treating everybody the same. It’s about treating people fairly which involves recognising that people have different religious beliefs, values and customs. If someone’s religion means they don’t eat meat then it seems fair to provide them with a choice of meals that includes a vegetarian option. Most day centres operate to meet the needs of the majority group within the population so the food and the activities are not geared up to someone from the Chinese or other ethnic minority community. It seems only fair that we should develop day centres/services where people who share the same religion, culture and background can meet together.

Isn’t equality about treating everybody the same?
No. Equality is about treating everybody fairly.

Why are some jobs open to ethnic minorities only?
The sex discrimination and race equality employment legislation allows an employer to advertise to recruit someone specifically because of their gender or race providing they can demonstrate a genuine occupational qualification. An example of this would be seeking to recruit a female carer to provide personal intimate care to a disabled young Muslim woman. This would meet the criteria because it would be culturally unacceptable for the care to be provided by a male. Very few jobs advertised by social services are restricted to someone from an ethnic minority.

Why do we need a black workers’ support group?
Black workers are very much in the minority within the directorate. Some people can feel very isolated being the only black person in a team, a day centre or an office. In order to help people feel less isolated we offer the opportunity for them to get together with other people in a similar situation to theirs.

Why does everybody need racial equality training when some parts of the county have little or no minority ethnic population?
The challenge of providing a culturally sensitive and appropriate service is even greater where the minority ethnic population is smallest. If staff do not routinely come across people from minority ethnic communities they are less likely to be sensitive to the issues and more likely to lack confidence in dealing appropriately with people. If there is not an established minority ethnic community in the locality then there are unlikely to be ethnic minority voluntary groups or mosques and temples that an individual can be referred to. Therefore, racial equality training is even more important for these staff.

Blair McPherson  is director of organisation development for Lancashire social services department. He is passionately committed to championing the cause of ethnic minorities. He started his career as a residential worker in a children’s home and has worked in social services and housing.

Training and learning
The author has provided questions about this article to guide discussion in teams. These can be viewed at www.communitycare.co.uk/prtl and individuals’ learning from the discussion can be registered on a free, password-protected training log held on the site. This is a service from Community Care for all GSCC-registered professionals.

Abstract
This article describes the positive initiatives, including use of modern technology, which are being used to bring the subject of racism out into the open in a large local authority. Many organisations will have similar issues among their staff and using the intranet is one way to highlight the seriousness with which senior management views the issue and give managers the confidence to tackle racism head on.

Contact the author
blair.mcpherson@ssd.lancscc.gov.uk