National diversity accreditation sign up – a first for the UK nuclear sector

The Programme and Project Partners at Sellafield are proud to announce they have signed up to undertake the Investors in Diversity accreditation from the National Centre for Diversity (NCD).

The partnership is the first in the nuclear sector to pursue the diversity award and hopes to set a precedent for many others to follow.

The accreditation is recognised as the national equality standard providing organisations with a bespoke approach to embedding equality, diversity, inclusion and fairness in all that it does.

The programme focuses on the NCD’s FREDIE principles – fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement.

The Programme and Project Partners currently have a team of around 1,400 people drawn from the partner organisations and is 3 years into a 20-year contract. The team is set to increase to 1,900 people over the next year.

Programme and Project Partners managing director, Duncan Elliott said:

We’re almost 3 years into our partnership and recognise we can do more to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across our team.

The Investors in Diversity accreditation will provide us with a framework to create an environment where all our employees can thrive and one which attracts the talent we need to deliver some of the UK’s most challenging infrastructure projects.

We cannot reach our full potential without maximising the talents of all and we’re 100% committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion across the programme. This is a positive step forward for our partnership, our employees, the talent we will attract and the wider nuclear sector.

The partners first step in working towards the accreditation will be to conduct a workforce wide cultural audit to establish where it is right now in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion, and then, where it wants to be.

Solat Chaudhry, chief executive of the National Centre for Diversity, said:

For us the most critical element of diversity is not where businesses are on your journey, it’s where they want to be.

By undertaking the accreditation, the partners are demonstrating their commitment to improving levels of fairness, respect, equity, diversity, inclusion and engagement.

Working towards the accreditation award is a visible internal and external sign that the partners are committed to achieving sustainable, meaningful positive action. We look forward to working together.

More information

The Programme and Project Partners is a long-term partnership between:

KBR
Jacobs
Morgan Sindall Infrastructure
Doosan Babcock

Sellafield Ltd is the 5th partner.

The partnership was formed in 2019 to deliver major infrastructure projects at the Sellafield site over the next 20 years.

National Centre for Diversity

Diversity accreditation

UN Human Rights Council 49: UK statement for the enhanced interactive dialogue on the Democratic Republic of Congo

World news story

The UK delivered this statement during the enhanced interactive dialogue on the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The United Kingdom thanks the High Commissioner and the Team of Independent Experts for this update.

We welcome President Tshisekedi’s ongoing commitment to strengthening democracy and tackling insecurity; however, we remain deeply concerned by the ongoing human rights situation, and by continued reports of human rights violations and abuses, including acts of sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and extrajudicial killings. We are especially concerned about the significant risk to civilians posed by the ongoing activities of armed groups in eastern DRC, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and CODECO, who are threatening the safety and livelihoods of people living in these areas. They must be held accountable.

We strongly encourage DRC to re-double its efforts to improve the human rights situation. There needs to be a clear, time-limited exit strategy from the state of siege, improved coordination with partners to protect civilians, and a commitment to protecting political space while building institutional support and accountability for human rights.

We will continue to support the President’s focus on stability, and efforts to build a lasting peace, and call on his government to do so while fully respecting the rights and freedoms of all Congolese people, particularly over the forthcoming electoral period.

High Commissioner,

How can the international community help to ensure the protection of civilians in Ituri and North Kivu, in response to the growing violence and instability in these regions?

Thank you.

Published 29 March 2022

Accessible transport: reference wheelchair report

The government is committed to ensuring disabled passengers have the same access to transport as everyone else, with assistance if physical infrastructure remains a barrier. We want disabled people to be able to travel confidently, easily and without extra cost.

Today (29 March 2022), the government is taking an important step to help fulfil its commitment in the Inclusive Transport Strategy to review its use of the reference wheelchair standard.

The ISO reference wheelchair standard is the reference point for a range of vehicle and infrastructure designs used across the transport sector and referred to directly and indirectly in accessibility standards for public transport vehicles and infrastructure.

In 2021, the government commissioned an assessment of the prevalence, dimensions, and uses of wheeled mobility-aids in the United Kingdom in relation to the use of the reference wheelchair standard on land-based transport modes.

The findings of this assessment estimate that the current reference wheelchair standard accommodates 60% of wheelchairs and 54% of wheeled mobility aids.

However, this does not necessarily mean that the current standards are inadequate and there will be trade-offs between making transport more inclusive for all passengers by setting more stringent standards that accommodate larger wheelchairs and the practicalities for transport operators to accommodate larger and more diverse mobility aids within conventionally sized public transport vehicles.

However, these findings will be used to help form the broader evidence base to determine the design of future vehicles and transport infrastructure to meet mobility aid users’ needs.

In particular, we intend to use these findings to inform the forthcoming review of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, which we expect to conclude by the end of 2023.

The Chief Inspector holds the second of his new Migration Forums which focused on Strategic Migration Partnerships

News story

The new forum joins the other ICIBI stakeholder groups that advise on specific areas such as maritime, aviation, adults at risk, and refugee and asylum issues.

Following the first Migration Forum which focussed on the education sector, the Chief Inspector held a second forum on 10 March with representatives from each of the UK Strategic Migration Partnerships. The forum provided an opportunity for the Chief Inspector to hear first-hand about their experience of the immigration system.

Following the forum the Chief Inspector said,

I am really grateful to those who attended the first meeting of this forum and provided helpful contributions to the discussions. The group have assisted me in understanding the challenges faced in supporting refugee resettlement and related migration topics and this has informed and influenced my future inspection programme.

Published 29 March 2022

Eryl Besse appointed as new Wales EHRC Commissioner

Press release

Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, has appointed Eryl Besse as the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s new Welsh Commissioner.

Minister for Women and Equalities appoints Eryl Besse as the EHRC’s Wales Commissioner
Wales Commissioner will chair the Commission’s Wales committee, forge good relationships with the Welsh government and develop knowledge of the equalities landscape specific to Wales
Besse was previously a Senior Adviser to the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on UK Victims of Qadhafi sponsored IRA Terrorism and a member of the Board of the Charity Commission.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, has today (Tuesday 29 March) appointed Eryl Besse as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s new Welsh Commissioner.

The appointment further boosts the skills and knowledge of the EHRC board following the appointment of Akua Reindorf in December.

Besse is a native Welsh speaker. She recently worked as Senior Adviser to the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on UK Victims of Qadhafi sponsored IRA Terrorism. Prior to this, Besse was a Board member (2013 to 2018) and Deputy Chairman (2016 to 2018) of the Charity Commission for England and Wales; during her term, she was the Board member for Wales and acted as an ambassador for the Charity Commission in Wales. Besse is a lawyer by training (1981 to 2012) and was a Partner at both Linklaters and Debevoise & Plimpton.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, said:

“I’m delighted that Eryl has accepted this important role, her expertise and passion will be a huge asset to the EHRC and Welsh equality.”

The role of Wales Commissioner includes liaising between the EHRC and the Welsh government on all aspects of the Commission’s work.

The appointment follows a full public recruitment process that was carried out in line with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. Besse will serve as a Commissioner for a term of 4 years.

Further Information

The appointment of the EHRC’s Wales Commissioner is made with the consent of Welsh ministers.

The role of a Commissioner includes supporting the Chair by forging good relationships with the private, public and voluntary sectors, enabling a wide range of views to be taken into account in Board decisions. In addition, in partnership with the Chief Executive, the Chair and Commissioners set the overall direction, policy and plans of the EHRC.

Published 29 March 2022