Race Equality Scheme

January 2008

Introduction
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) has five buildings across three sites in Edinburgh, each home to different parts of the national collection of fine art and also to special temporary exhibitions. Entry to the collection is free to the public and the galleries are open daily. Some of the collection is accessible online at www.nationalgalleries.org/collection.

We also operate an accessible art store which is open to the public by appointment at Granton, and work in partnership with Historic Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to operate Duff House in Banff, and with Paxton House near Berwick upon Tweed.

Our three sites are;
The National Gallery Complex
Situated on the Mound in the heart of Edinburgh, this complex comprises the National Gallery of Scotland, home to works from the early Renaissance to the late 19th century. It is also home to a comprehensive collection of Scottish Art. The second major part of the complex is the Royal Scottish Academy Building, the venue for exciting temporary exhibitions held by both the NGS and other exhibitors. The final part of the complex is the Weston Link, which is accessible from and interconnects both galleries, and is home to a range of visitor services, as well as state of the art spaces for a host of educational activities.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Sited on Queen Street in the city centre, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) provides a unique visual history of Scotland, told through the portraits of those who shaped it, and was the first purpose built portrait gallery in the world. It is also home to the national collection of photography and regular temporary exhibitions are held there.

Modern Art Galleries
Home to Scotland’s national collection of modern and contemporary art, the Modern Art Galleries include the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the nearby Dean Gallery. The Gallery of Modern Art shows special exhibitions and works from c.1900 to the present day, while the Dean Gallery shows works from the Gallery’s internationally renowned Dada and Surrealist collection alongside pieces by Eduardo Paolozzi, as well as major exhibitions.

The Race Equality Duty
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 states that all public bodies have a duty to promote race equality. The Act sets out the general duty, which states that public authorities must have due regard to the need to:

(1) Eliminate unlawful discrimination
(2) Promote equality of opportunity
(3) Promote good relations between persons of different racial groups.

The Race Relations Act 1976 (Statutory Duties)(Scotland) Amendment Order 2006 outlines specific duties to help identified public bodies, including National Galleries of Scotland, meet the general duties. NGS is required to produce a Race Equality Scheme by 30 November 2007.

Promoting race equality is obligatory for all public authorities listed in the Act. As one of the listed public authorities, NGS needs to promote equality of opportunity and make race equality a central part of its functions such as planning, policy development, service delivery, access to its collection and recruitment.

Aims of the Scheme
The Scheme outlines our plans to deliver improvements to access and services. It will help us achieve a number of goals:
i) Improve access to employment and services, regardless of race;
ii) Make sure that we take the needs and views of ethnic minorities into account when we design and deliver new services or develop policies;
iii) Continuously measure, monitor and improve the ways in which we deliver services to different groups;
iv) Build a positive culture, with a common understanding and approach through which we can integrate race equality issues into everyday work;

This document aims to show how, through changing attitudes, the development of partnerships and increased expertise, NGS can continue to be proactive in recognising and removing the barriers which ethnic minorities can face in accessing the NGS and its collections.

Access Strategy

• To offer the widest and most appropriate forms of access to the NGS collections, expertise, facilities and services, actively working to overcome physical, sensory, intellectual, cultural, attitudinal and financial barriers which prevent this.
• Inclusion: To work in partnership with others to help tackle social inequality, discrimination and disadvantage; empowering communities, improving the quality of people’s lives, contributing to social cohesion and acting as a catalyst for cultural and social change.
• Diversity: To embrace and reflect diversity, harnessing the potential of all stakeholders (staff, volunteers, existing and potential audiences, key partners) in the development of a truly inclusive NGS which inspires and promotes learning, creativity and participation.

NGS strives to be accessible to all regardless of age, race, sex or disability. Some of our collections and services can be accessed on-line for those who may have difficulty in attending in person.

Arrangements can be made for individuals with special needs by contacting the information desk, whether that be to attend in person or access some of our publications in large print or in different languages. A number of staff members speak different languages and can be on hand to translate if required. We are currently investigating a number of other options to offer an improved service to visitors from all racial backgrounds for whom English is not their first language.

Background Statistics
NGS Visitor Figures: 1 April 2004 – 31 March 2007

Scottish Population Figures
Scotland’s total population is around 5.1 million. It is useful to note that the total minority ethnic population in Scotland is just over 100,000, around 2% of the total population. 18% of Scotland’s minority ethnic population live in Edinburgh, where the National Galleries of Scotland is based.

How We Plan to Carry Out Our Duties
Assessing and Monitoring Policies
NGS has retrospectively carried out an impact assessment on each of its policies and functions to identify any areas which require further work to comply with the general duties. The checklist can be found at Appendix II. Impact assessments are now carried out on all new policies and functions as a matter of course. The form which is used for this purpose, and is appended to all new policies, can be found at Appendix III (see PDF format version of this document).

Impact Assessments are undertaken by the Head of Planning and Performance in conjunction with the Head of Department responsible for developing the policy. Assessments are monitored for consistency by the Chief Operating Officer. A report will be produced annually for the Senior Management Team outlining all assessments undertaken in the previous year.

Impact assessments identify:

• Likely impact on race equality
• Any adverse impact on race equality
• Consultation carried out (internal and external)
• Training requirements

A relevant group of staff will be asked to ratify each assessment. Where appropriate an external consultation group may be asked to comment and ratify assessments also.
NGS recognises three unions for the purposes of collective bargaining, consultation and information. They are:

• PCS
• Prospect
• FDA

NGS works closely with the unions on any new employment related policies and procedures being introduced and undertakes to consult with the unions over any race equality issues. NGS will continue to involve the unions in the development of new policies as part of the impact assessment process.

Policies considered to have an adverse impact on race equality will be rejected and may be revised and resubmitted for further assessment.

Consultation
An external focus group was convened in December 2007 drawn from different groups and individuals with an interest in race equality and the Galleries services. An external consultant managed the process to ensure independent feedback. A report was produced outlining the main discussion points and actions identified. A number of these actions have been incorporated into the Action Plan which can be found at Appendix I (see PDF format version of this document).

Due to the success of the group discussion, we plan to re-convene it on a regular basis to monitor improvements and feed back on policy development and visitor services issues.

We also carried out an external survey through our website to assist in identifying areas where access to the collection can be improved. The results of that survey are outlined in Appendix IV (see PDF format version of this document) and have been taken into account in the Gender Equality and Disability Equality Schemes.

A number of actions have already been identified as part of the internal impact assessment process. A consultation group, drawn from internal and external sources, will be asked to go through the particular policies and functions where assessments identified the need for improvement.

Recruitment and Employment
Internally, we are carrying out a staff survey to assist in identifying and addressing any issues staff may face in relation to equality. The survey will take place early in 2008 and the summary results will be appended to this document.
We already monitor recruitment and employment procedures and practices. We will continue to identify and monitor:

• Number of employees from different racial groups.
• Number of applicants (successful and unsuccessful) from ethnic minority groups applying for posts at NGS.
• Who receives training and achieves promotion.
• Equality of opportunity in the staff appraisal scheme.
• Numbers involved in grievance and disciplinary matters.

We will:

• publish the results of this monitoring on an annual basis.
• Undertake awareness training for all members of staff.
• Re-assess our recruitment policy and deliver equality training for all line managers involved in recruitment practices.

Examples of Recent Work Involving Culturally Diverse Groups
NGS’s mission states that it “aims to engage, inform and inspire the broadest possible public”. We recognise that we have a fundamental responsibility to protect and develop our collections and this task is intimately linked to encouraging as many people as possible to use and enjoy the national collection. In our vision NGS is a dynamic, user-friendly institution that actively seeks to engage with its diverse publics.

NGS has a good record of involving community groups from different ethnic backgrounds in gallery activities, particularly through its extensive education programme. Groups are regularly invited to join specifically tailored tours and education events. Examples of groups we have worked with include the Edinburgh Chinese Elderly Association, DOSTI and Sikh Sanjog.

Our Outreach Programme aims to take our collections to people who find it difficult to get to the galleries or who might not otherwise have come. Recent projects which have benefited ethnic minority groups include:

• Stereoscope, in partnership with Sikh Sanjog, involved a group of young Sikh women working with the artist Leena Nammari to explore their own identity within the context of the national collection.

• Still Life?, run in partnership with the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, which explored issues of aging through art with pensioners based in Thurso, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. This project involved the East of Scotland Chinese Senior Club.

• Lost Lives was an inter-denominational community initiative in Castlemilk, led by a local Church of Scotland minister, John D. Miller in 2006.

NGS takes its role in promoting and educating on Scottish history very seriously. Two recent exhibitions at the Portrait Gallery examined cultural diversity in Scotland. The first was Wish I Was Here. This exhibition examined contemporary writers in Scotland who did not write in English. Specially commissioned photographs of Urdu and Bengali writers were shown alongside photographs of other writers who worked in Gaelic, Shetlandic or Scots. Another exhibition exploring the range of ethnic groups in Scotland focussed on religion.

Keeping Faith examined the variety of religions practised in contemporary Scotland. It included Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Moslem and Jewish faith leaders, as well as many of the leaders of the various Christian faiths.

In 2007 the Portrait Gallery welcomed the return of miniature artists Amrit and Rabrindra Kaur Singh, whose workshops on contemporary Indian miniature painting illuminated traditional British practice.

We are also in discussion with the Scottish Arts Council about establishing an archive on immigration, particularly looking at asylum seekers.

Implementation of the Race Equality Scheme
An action plan has been put in place to aid delivery of the Scheme. At the core of this action plan is the staff training programme.

Actions Going Forward
A number of actions have been identified which will aid NGS in delivering equality in both its services and employment practices. In summary those actions are as follows:

• Undertake impact assessments on all new policies and functions.
• Carry out external consultation exercise to identify areas for improvement in equality matters.
• Carry out internal staff audit to monitor staff by racial group and identify areas of potential discrimination.
• Carry out staff survey on equality issues.
• Deliver training programme for staff:

• Awareness training for all staff.
• Detailed training for appropriate staff involved in policy development and visitor services.
• Equality training for staff involved in recruitment.

The plan will be monitored by Nicola Catterall, Chief Operating Officer, in conjunction with the Head of Planning and Performance, who will report progress to the NGS Management Group and Board of Trustees. A report will be produced annually to monitor progress, assess priorities and will include suggestions for the coming year. This will be published on the NGS website.

The Plan is a working document, with achievable goals being set for the first period, moving on to longer term developments over time.

The Action Plan will be monitored by the NGS Audience Development Group and external consultation group, and any visitor initiatives will consider the impact of equality issues.
The Action Plan will also feed into the NGS Learning and Access Policy.

Other monitoring will take the form of visitors’ comments, feedback from trade unions and staff, and market research.
A detailed Action Plan is attached at Appendix I (see PDF format version of this document).

Publishing and Reporting on our Scheme
This is the first Race Equality Scheme which we have produced. The action plan is expected to be a working document which it may be necessary to change over time if other needs or priorities in this area emerge.
The scheme is published on our web site www.nationalgalleries.org and is also available in hard copy format (or other format upon request) by contacting:

Elaine Anderson
Head of Planning and Performance
The Dean Gallery
73 Belford Road
Edinburgh EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200