Race Equality Panel

About Greater Manchester’s equality panels

The Greater Manchester Equality Panels have been established to advise, support and challenge Greater Manchester’s political leaders and policy-makers to tackle the discrimination and disadvantage that cause injustice and inequality in society, and champion Greater Manchester as an inclusive city-region. They do this by working together with the GMCA and partners to:

Provide insight into Greater Manchester’s diverse communities, enabling political leaders and public bodies to listen and engage in a more targeted and effective way
Communicate key messages to our communities as trusted sources
Codesign policies, programmes and strategies to ensure they work effectively for communities
Support an asset-based approach, highlighting new opportunities (and challenges) for positive collaboration that build on the resources and strengths within our communities

The Race Equality Panel is one of seven equality panels established and funded by the GMCA. Other equality panels include:

Aims of the Race Equality Panel

Greater Manchester’s Race Equality Panel was established in December 2020. The Panel work to promote racial equality, tackle racial discrimination and foster positive relationships between ethnically diverse communities, and embed the Public Sector Equality Duty in polices, processes, procedures, practices and people development. The aims and objectives of the Panel are to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation (and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty)
- Public agencies tackle all forms of racism and discrimination within their organisation and the structure they contribute to. Priority area:
  - Discrimination in policing and criminal justice
- Public sector bodies are proactive in their approaches to meet their Public Sector Equality Duty

Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
- Hate crime and community cohesion
- Health and wellbeing inequality
- Employment and labour market inequalities
- Educational inequalities and achievement

The Greater Manchester Strategy tackles inequality and increases equity for ethnic communities. Priority areas:
The diversity of the public service workforce, including volunteers and senior leadership, is increased. Priority area:
- Diversity in leadership, especially in the public sector and political systems
Positive role models, particularly in leadership positions, public services, civic society and with the business community are promoted

Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
- Greater Manchester’s cultural heritage and history of community inclusion and social justice is championed

The priorities for the Panel have been identified by residents through a series of listening exercises that took place in 2020. The priorities are:

Educational inequalities and achievement, including Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM)
Employment and labour market inequalities
Financial inclusion and poverty
Hate crime and preventing discrimination
Health and wellbeing inequality
Housing and homelessness, including hidden homelessness
Discrimination in policing and criminal justice
Ethnic diversity in leadership, especially in the public sector and political systems

Furthermore, it is felt that all issues are the consequences of structural racism, and this is a focus for the Panel throughout its work.

Race Equality Evidence Base

Reports by Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) and GMCA Research Team provide a comprehensive understanding of the current issues facing racially minoritised communities in Greater Manchester. The GMCA report uses the Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS) as its framework – assessing each of the indicators it contains to identify which can be disaggregated by ethnicity. It aims to draw out the key issues for racially minoritised communities across Greater Manchester. The Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) at University of Manchester highlights the broader issues relevant to race equality across the themes of education, employment, health and criminal justice.