Pact Diversity Roundtable with EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) - Manchester

Pact Diversity Roundtable with EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) – 13 May

This event is tailored for indies based in the North West on overcoming barriers to increased diversity in television and follows the Pact roadshow at 11.30am the Gateley’s office, Ship Canal House, 98 King Street, Manchester, M2 4WU. It is open to both members and non-members.

The event is part of a project run by a partnership between the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Pact, Creative Diversity Network and Ofcom. It’s one of a series of round tables events taking place in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow with broadcasters and producers.

The purpose of the round table is to raise awareness of the project and in particular legal guidance around actions you can take to improve diversity but also what you need to be aware of to ensure you comply with equality law.  Alongside representatives from all four organisations, there will be a lawyer from EHRC to explain the law and provide further guidance and clarification on any further issues or questions.  There will also be an opportunity to hear more about the Diamond diversity monitoring system which all the broadcasters have signed up to and which will impact on all independent producers. 

Some of the issues which have come up in other meetings include:  using databases which include people’s personal characteristics as a way increasing the diversity of your talent pool; what constitutes lawful positive action vs. unlawful positive discrimination; setting, and complying with diversity targets for on screen and off screen talent; what a genuine occupational reason might be for recruiting particular people to on or off screen roles; training and development schemes aimed at particular groups; and what constitutes reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates. 
 
More details on the guidance can be found here: 
 
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/our-work/key-projects/diversity-broadcasting

The round tables are very much a “sleeves rolled up” opportunity to discuss issues and receive helpful guidance rather than listen to a series of presentations. They are aimed at decision makers in your company who need to think about equality in their roles - so for example Heads of Production, Talent Managers, Business Affairs executives.