Bristol City Council adopted a corporate Equalities Policy in 1996, which was revised and reissued in 2003, and provides a basis from which all departments develop action plans on how to address equalities issues.
In 2003, the then Education department published its own “Equalities and Educational Inclusion Policy and Framework”, which was initially accompanied by an annual detailed action plan, Equalities Action Plan. However, from 2006 there will not be a specific CYPS Equalities Action Plan, but the Service will feed into the corporate equalities schemes and work towards Level 4 of the Equality Standard.
Bristol LA adopted an Inclusive Education Policy in 1998 based on disability equality principles relating to the inclusion of Disabled and disaffected learners. This has subsequently been reviewed to be more in line with the Equalities Framework and to link with the Bristol Inclusion Standard criteria (see link to new Policy).
The Service has also, since the 1980s, expected schools and other education providers, to have in place their own Equal Opportunities Policy, and other policies that flow from it, such as anti-bullying policies, SEN policies etc.
The Equalities and Educational Inclusion Policy and Framework provides an outline and checklist for all teams in the LA to use for the development of their policies and services. It also provides a clear statement of the intentions of the Service in relation to Equalities and Inclusion issues and criteria for evaluating their effectiveness. This complements the guidance for schools, “Developing Equalities and Inclusion Policies”.