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When Equality South West is established as a strategic equality organisation in the South West region it is envisaged that it will also need to maintain links with the single issue equality networks and organisations in order to reflect and to respond to the policies and remits of key agencies.

In the case of gender /sex equality, all public bodies have remits to work towards:

• Equal gender representation on their Boards and governing bodies
  
• Awareness of gender issues and setting targets in their service delivery
  
• Gender equality across all their employment practices including recruitment, selection, appraisal, promotion, redundancy, dismissal, pay, dignity at work and flexible working arrangements.
  
• In the private sector, promoting and managing equality and diversity are now seen to be the key to successful recruitment, good retention and acquisition and the retention of new customers and markets.

Corporate failure to implement good practice in gender equality in both the public and private sectors represents a large body of existing equality case law and unlimited awards for compensation to individuals

At national level the EOC and their sponsor department, the Women and Equality Unit are working to:

• Close the pay gap
  
• Achieve a balance between work and domestic life
  
• Improve childcare
  
• Increase the number of women in public life and work for gender equality across government
  
• Break free from sex stereotypes
  
• End sexual harassment at work
  
• End domestic violence
  
• Make public services relevant to the different needs of men and women
  
• Secure comprehensive equality legislation across Europe and the UK

In addition to these domestic policy drivers, WEU / FPSW is concerned about the way in which gender affects issues of social inclusion, poverty, vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and black and minority ethnic groups.

The European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities has recently produced a report on equal opportunities between men and women. Amongst other things, member states are invited to adopt a number of actions and measures to ensure mainstreaming (special measures to balance representation and systematic training for people involved in programme implementation).

Fair Play South West is particularly interested in forming a network of women’s and gender organisations in the South West region that focus on the following policy areas, identified in detail by the Women and Equality Unit (delivering on Gender equality, DTI, June 2003):

Economic participation and advancement

• Participation rates for disadvantaged groups
  
• Childcare
  
• Gender pay gap
  
• Work life balance

Women in under represented sectors

• Women entrepreneurs
  
• Women in science engineering and technology (SET)
  
• Women in information technology, electronics and communications (ITEC)
  
• Men in under-represented sectors

Social and Civic inclusion:

• Tackling poverty, homelessness and social exclusion

Civic inclusion: Women’s representation:

• Parliament
  
• Public appointments
  
• The judiciary
  
• Public service delivery

Education:

• Primary, secondary and higher education

Health:

• Primary care
  
• NHS walk in
  
• Mental health
  
• Cancer
  
• The patient's experience

Criminal justice system:

• Violence against women
  
• Women offenders
  

Transport

Public sector employment:

• Central and local government
  
• Frontline public service employees
  
• Mainstreaming gender

Other issues:

• In addition issues of rurality and the role of women in key sectors identified as the drivers for economic development are part of the gender picture in the Southwest