The NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) values the diverse nature of its stakeholders and people and is committed to equality of opportunity for our people and prospective recruits. We respect diversity in our workforce and recognise the many benefits this brings to NHSCFA. We are committed to ensuring that we provide accessible and inclusive services to our stakeholders and opportunities for our people. We promote equality both in employment and in the delivery of our services.
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty (the equality duty) came into force in April 2011. The equality duty was created under the Equality Act 2010. All public authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, and bodies exercising public functions, must comply with obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010. Complying with obligations under equality and human rights law is not only a matter of legal compliance, but it also helps to protect the rights of our people and our stakeholders.
As a public body, NHSCFA, in the exercise of our functions, must have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
These are sometimes referred to as the three aims or arms of the general equality duty. The Act explains that having due regard for advancing equality involves:
- Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics.
- Taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.
- Encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.
Protected characteristics
The protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010 are:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
Our equality, diversity and inclusion objectives
NHSCFA's equality objectives for 2025/26 will drive and focus our EDI actions, provide an improved evidence base, and establish benchmarks for improvement where necessary against which our performance will undergo measurement and subsequent reporting.
Our objectives are:
- to improve the quality and completeness of workforce equality data
- to use workforce equality data to inform inclusive strategies and address disparities
- to raise awareness of EDI considerations across all roles in the organisation
By improving the collection and analysis of our workforce equality data we will be able to identify the areas where we need to make improvements and make evidence based decisions on actions that will address these. We will work with our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Working Group to develop these action plans. Tricia Morrison, Executive Director of Performance and Improvement is our executive lead for EDI.
In addition to carrying out equality impact assessments on policies we will build awareness, knowledge and understanding amongst our staff to equip them with the skills to make EDI considerations in carrying out their duties.