Equality at the heart of Government

The Eighth Annual Report on Equality and Diversity sets out how people across Wales are benefiting from initiatives to ensure equality of opportunity and how the Welsh Assembly Government is meeting its statutory duties.

Initiatives across the full range of government policies from business to education and from health to the countryside are being used to enhance equality of opportunity.

The Potentia programme has provided training to business support providers to encourage disabled people into enterprise. Similarly the Want2Work initiative developed in partnership with Jobcentre Plus is proving successful in helping people on incapacity benefit to return to work.

Guidance to schools has been developed on helping pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds achieve their full potential and on teaching disability awareness as part of Personal Social Education.

Health Challenge Wales have funded a three year health awareness project for women from ethnic minority communities in Cardiff and Newport and enhanced GP services have been implemented for people with learning difficulties and long term mental health problems.

Numerous Communities First projects have focused on tackling inequalities. Projects have included tackling barriers to participation in community activities for people with sight and hearing loss and to overcome sensory barriers to using computers.

Free bus services for older and disabled people have improved mobility and the Access Programme has increased access to a range of venues including libraries, museums and swimming pools. The Welsh Assembly Government is also working with partner agencies to improve access to the countryside.

The report also outlines how the Welsh Assembly Government has delivered on key statutory commitments. Most importantly it has launched both disability and gender equality schemes which complement the race equality scheme.  The schemes set out how we plan to ensure that we develop and deliver policies that promote equality of opportunity for women and men and people with disabilities.

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