Pictured above: Colin Bell, Managing Director of
Winning Moves
With the spotlight well and truly on public sector spending -
public bodies are facing the challenge of ensuring the public purse
is spent with a focus on 'value for money'. Businesses tendering
for public sector contracts are finding themselves increasingly
challenged to stand out from the crowd by 'adding value' to their
delivery. A key 'added value' area, strengthened by new the
Equality Act, is that of equality and diversity.
The Public Sector Equality Duty came into force on 5 April and
requires public bodies to eliminate discrimination, advance
equality and give due consideration to meeting the diverse needs of
the public (their customers) in the provision of public services.
Many of these services are sub-contracted to external
companies and public bodies must ensure that their duty is still
met through these sub-contractors.
To help businesses compete for contracts and the public sector
to deliver 'value for money', Winning Moves has teamed up with
Equality Accreditation Services to deliver the Committed 2 Equality
(C2E) standard in the West Midlands. The partnership will support
organisations delivering public services (such as ALMOs - Arms
Length Management Organisations) and their suppliers by enabling
them to develop, implement and prove compliant and robust equality
practices.
Vivienne Duke, Chief Executive of Equality Accreditation
Services, who has been helping businesses turn equality into
competitive advantage for over 15 years said, '' the rapid adoption
of the C2E standard by Public Sector supply chains is a clear
indicator that a highly practical solution that allows suppliers to
demonstrate compliance whilst delivering real business benefits is
a critical tool"
Colin Bell, Managing Director of Winning Moves added, ''the
legislation has increased the focus on areas such as equality and
diversity so much so that being accredited to a standard such as
C2E is a hugely positive step when it comes to competing for
contracts. Equality and Diversity needs to be a core element of
organisational performance''.