SEStran is pleased to announce that after completing a comprehensive review we have updated our policies and procedures in three important areas; Equalities Mainstreaming, Board Diversity and Equality Outcomes.
SEStran in our projects, priorities and policies will treat all employees and stakeholders with dignity, fairness and respect. Equality and diversity are essential preconditions to all our strategic objectives for the organisation, not just to the continuous improvement in our achievement of our Public-Sector Equality Duties. Equality Mainstreaming is a corporate aim for our decision-making, we need to consider and co-design the outcomes of actions for all groups, to seek to intervene at the earliest opportunity to prevent negative outcomes and sustainably resource actions and positive outcomes.
Under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2016, listed public bodies are required to produce a Board Diversity Succession Plan. This document aims to outline the current make-up of the SEStran Partnership Board and to demonstrate ways in which SEStran will commit to making progress on improving the diversity of our Board. SEStran recognises that increasing diversity on the Board will encourage new and innovative thinking and maximise use of talent, leading to better decision making and governance.
In 2013 SEStran published its first set of equality outcomes. SEStran is only a small public body but despite small resources we are keen to make the largest possible positive impact on the transport network of South East of Scotland for those who need extra help and action. The outcomes represent the areas that we and our partners regard as priorities for action and are accompanied by actions outlined in the Outcomes report. We would welcome any continuing ideas from interested parties to help us achieve our Outcomes over and above what’s listed in the document.
The Equality Outcomes we have set for ourselves are an important way in which we meet our statutory duties to the Equality Action, public sector equality duty and Scotland specific equality duties. They are also mainstream into our Business Plan for 2017-18 as it’s good for the delivery of all our objectives as well as our statutory Equality Duties.