The Inclusive Assembly: Diversity and Inclusion

By Holly Pembridge, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, National Assembly for Wales

This week, we are celebrating Diversity and Inclusion Week in the Assembly, which is a series of events and other awareness-raising activities to promote and celebrate us being a diverse and inclusive organisation. We will post a new blog article each day this week. As part of this week, it therefore seems an apt time to reflect on the work that has gone into nurturing an inclusive organisational culture since the Assembly was established. As we begin to develop a new Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Plan for the Fifth Assembly, we look at how we can continue to build equality, diversity and inclusion considerations into our role as an employer and as an organisation that interacts with the people of Wales.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Vision and Values

Our vision is to be an exemplar organisation in our commitment to promoting equality, valuing diversity and respecting human rights. Our values include the notion that equality of opportunity for all is a basic human right and actively oppose all forms of discrimination. We strive to create an accessible parliamentary body, which engages with and respects all of the people of Wales.

“I believe it is important that the Assembly leads the way in promoting an inclusive organisational culture and that it is a modern, accessible parliamentary body with which people from a diverse range of backgrounds can easily and meaningfully interact. It is incumbent on us as the National Assembly for Wales to lead on this and share our experiences, ensuring that the values of equality, diversity and inclusion are respected and practiced by all, ” said Elin Jones AM, LLywydd, National Assembly for Wales.

Fostering an inclusive, collaborative organisational culture

Here, we are keen to ensure that people can realise their full potential and make contributions when they can be themselves in their working environment. To this end, we organise awareness-raising information and events regularly in order to generate discussion and promote an inclusive culture where difference is celebrated and valued. One way in which the Assembly has signalled to its workforce that it is committed to doing this is by encouraging the establishment of self-managed workplace equality networks. We have networks for LGBT people and their allies; disabled people and their allies, people who identify as Black Minority Ethnic (BME) and their allies; people who identify as working parents and carers; and women and men. People who contribute to the networks do so in addition to their day jobs. It is safe to say that the existence of networks helps to promote inter-cultural insight, foster good relations and offer solutions when barriers to inclusion might arise or have the potential to arise. The concepts of peer support and providing a ‘safe space’ where people can raise issues or offer suggestions for improvement are invaluable and we have examples of where workplace policies and practices have been enhanced. For more information about the Assembly’s workplace equality networks, contact diversity@assembly.wales

Engaging with a diverse range of people inside and outside the Assembly

Having a highly visible Diversity and Inclusion team dedicated to the co-ordination of this work across the Assembly has been beneficial for two reasons in particular. Firstly, good practice and collaborative working with colleagues across the different teams can ensure that we are constantly striving as an organisation to maintain and enhance an inclusive organisational culture. Secondly, we have been able to work with teams across the Assembly and involve people from both in and outside the Assembly to optimise our accessibility to the people of Wales. Our Outreach Team works with individuals and organisations from communities across Wales, raising awareness of the work of the Assembly and encouraging people to become involved in its work.

As a Diversity and Inclusion Team, we value the opportunities we have had to share best practice and learn from others both inside and outside of the Assembly. It is crucial that organisations share where things have worked well and not so well; it saves time and energy and can help to re-focus priorities.

If you would like to help shape the Assembly’s new Diversity and Inclusion Plan, please take our very short survey or contact the Diversity Team on 0300 200 7455 or diversity@assembly.wales

 

 

Public Health (Wales) Bill: Tattooing, body modification and intimate piercing

Article by Amy Clifton, National Assembly for Wales Research Service, In Brief blog.

On Tuesday, 8 December 2015 the Assembly will debate the Public Health (Wales) Bill in Plenary. The Health and Social Care Committee, tasked with scrutinising the legislative proposal, issued a Report on the Bill last week and made a number of recommendations and suggested amendments.

At the start of the consultation, the Assembly’s Outreach team conducted a national survey to ask the people of Wales what they thought of the Welsh Government proposals relating to e-cigarettes, special procedures and intimate piercing.

Much of the attention surrounding the Public Health (Wales) Bill has focused on e-cigarettes. However another interesting area of the Bill concerns special procedures and intimate piercing (Parts 3 and 4 of the Bill).

Special procedures

The Bill as drafted would create a mandatory licensing scheme for practitioners and businesses carrying out special procedures in Wales. The special procedures currently included are acupuncture, electrolysis, body piercing and tattooing, although the Bill would also allow Welsh Ministers to amend this list through secondary legislation.

Many stakeholders indicated in their evidence to the Committee that there is currently a significant lack of quality control within the tattoo and piercing industries. The Committee heard alarming reports that many procedures are being done by people with little, if any, knowledge of anatomy, infection control or healing processes.

Stakeholders also highlighted additional procedures they believe should be included the Bill. These included body modification (scarification, dermal implants, branding and tongue splitting), injection of liquid into the body (botox or dermal fillers), and laser treatments (tattoo removal or hair removal).

The Assembly Outreach team made a short video, interviewing practitioners across Wales:

Tattoo artists in the video express particular concern about branding, scarification, ‘extreme body modification’ (such as tongue splitting and penis splitting) and dermal implants. They explain that scarification (where a section of the skin is removed to leave a scar) is often performed dangerously.

The tattooists also say that branding is being done with blowtorches and bent coat hangers, and adapted soldering irons, and describe concerns about dermal implants, such as inserting horns and stars under the skin:

Inserting foreign objects into your body is not a good thing without some sort of legislative weight behind it to say, ‘That’s unsafe’, or, ‘Is the material safe?’ or ‘Has it been checked?’; ‘Is it sterile? Have you autoclaved it before you put it in there? Where did you get it from? Has this come out of a five-penny ball machine round the corner?’

Intimate piercing

The Bill proposes to set an age restriction of 16 years old for intimate piercing. It defines the intimate body parts as the anus, breast, buttock, natal cleft, penis, perineum, pubic mound, scrotum and vulva.

Whilst there is support for the principle of an age restriction, many stakeholders believe that 18 would be a more appropriate minimum age limit for intimate areas. For example, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) believes that 18 would be a more appropriate age restriction, as this is in line with the minimum age for tattooing, and reflects the level of maturity needed to make such decisions. Stakeholders also reasoned that an individual aged 16 is still growing and therefore the risk of damage to skin is greater. It was also noted that intimate body piercings require a higher standard of aftercare than tattoos, as they are potentially more susceptible to infection.

Dr Ncube supports a higher age limit, noting that there are long term implications with genital piercing. He gave a case study example of a father with a genital piercing, who was playing with his daughter, and his daughter accidentally kicked him.

The trauma that was caused by the genital piercing resulted in the formation of gangrene in his penis. It’s a condition called Fournier’s condition. Because of that, the scarring that occurred was profound. So, genital piercing is attended with considerable risks, and it’s not just the piercing alone that is important, but it’s the long-term implications of it.

There was also a strong message from stakeholders, including Public Health Wales, that tongue piercing should be included in this part of the Bill, with witnesses describing a high risk of complications, harm and infection.

Plenary debate

You can watch the debate on the Public Health (Wales) Bill live on senedd.tv or catch-up at a later date. For more information on the work of the Committee, visit their website on www.assembly.wales/seneddhealth