1. Equality Standard Pilot Project Steering Group
The Equality Standard
A Framework for Sport
The Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport UK National Governing Bodies Self Assessment Survey
Report prepared for
Equality Standard Pilot Project Steering Group
By Chris Hudson and Maxine Barlow
Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University
tel:
April 2005

2. Slide No. Contents The Equality Standard for Sport 3 Research Aims 4
Outline of Methodology 5
Project Outputs 6
SURVEY FINDINGS 7
Section 1. Current position of NGBs
(Survey questions 1 – 7)
Section 2. Demographic Profiles
(Survey questions 8 – 10)
Section 3. Perceived benefits of gaining the Standard
(Survey question 11)
Section 4. Challenges faced and assistance required
(Survey questions 12 – 15)

3. The Equality Standard for Sport
Sports equality is about fairness in sport, equality of access,
recognising inequalities and taking steps to address them.  It is about
changing the culture and structure of sport to ensure that it becomes
equally accessible to all members of society, whatever their age, ability,
gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality or socio-economic status.
The aim of the Standard is to provide a framework for sport to achieve
equality and to assist agencies to develop structures and processes,
assess performance and ensure continuous improvement. Achieving this
aim will help to realise the vision of fair, accessible and high quality sport
and physical activity for all.
Source: Equality Standard for Sport

4. Research Aims
The purpose of the survey was to gather the thoughts of the Chief Executive or the most senior volunteer of each National Governing Body (NGB) on the current standing of their organisation with regards to equality.
The survey was designed to assess how well NGBs are placed to undertake the work necessary to achieve the Equality Standard in the coming months.
Each Chief Executive/senior volunteer provided an insight into the biggest challenges for the NGB individually and any assistance required in working towards the Standard.
Finally, the respondents were asked to consider any possible benefits their organisation might derive from achieving the Equality Standard.

5. Outline of Methodology
Most of the National Governing Bodies identified to take part in this pilot were selected through their involvement in the UK wide central one stop planning process. A small number of additional NGBs were then nominated by the home country Sports Councils. This provided a sample of 38 NGBs for the research.
The survey was undertaken by telephone with all NGBs. This was to ensure the best possible response rate from the small number of NGBs in the sample. As a result of the pro-active efforts of everyone involved a 97% response rate was achieved.
The Chief Executive/senior volunteer of each NGB was asked to take part and introduced to the project via a telephone briefing from one of the VAGA Associates team who are supporting the pilot implementation. After this they were sent a covering letter and a copy of the survey questions in advance. A researcher then contacted them by or telephone to arrange a convenient date and time to undertake the survey by telephone, which then took place on the agreed date.
SPSS was the statistical package used to code and analyse the data and produce the headline findings presented in this report.

6. Project Outputs The outputs of the survey are twofold:
This summary report of the findings provides a statement of the current position and perceptions of the 37 NGBs as reported by them.
An individual self assessment statement for each of the participating NGBs has also been produced. These will be used to ensure the support available to assist NGBs working towards the Equality Standard is tailored and targeted where most needed.
In addition, the survey results form the basis for a repeat of the same survey to be conducted in two years time (i.e. after the participating NGBs have gained the Standard). This will allow a comparison of the impact of the Equality Standard to be made.

7. Survey Findings
The findings are structured into four sections which present the following:
Section 1. The current position of NGBs
Section 2. The demographic profiles of the membership, staff and National Council/Board
Section 3. Any perceived potential effects and benefits of gaining the Equality Standard
Section 4. Challenges to overcome and assistance required
All quantitative responses were measured on a scale of 1 – 4
1 represents ‘not at all’ and 4 represents ‘greatly’

8. Section 1: The current position of National Governing Bodies regarding equality and the implementation of the Equality Standard

9. Chart 1. Desire to ensure NGB operates equitably

10. Chart 2. Necessary knowledge to ensure NGB operates equitably

11. Chart 3. Necessary human resources to ensure NGB operates equitably

12. Chart 4. Necessary financial resources to ensure NGB operates equitably

13. Chart 5. How equitable is your NGB?

14. Chart 6. To what extent is your NGB committed to equality?

15. Chart 7. Understanding issues faced by under-represented groups

16. Chart 8. Comparison of responses from Questions 1 – 7
Current position of NGBs overall 3%
11%
31%
46%
51%
44%
38%
55%
53%
81% 8%
17% 6%
36%
35%
43%
16%
14% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Desire to operate
equitably
How committed is
NGB?
Knowledge
How equitable is
Understanding
under-represented
groups
Human Resources
Financial Resources
1 Not at all 2 3
4 Greatly

17. Chart 9. Comparison of responses from Questions 1 – 7

18. Summary of current position of NGBs
Encouragingly, NGBs expressed a very high level of desire to work equitably (81%), with 51% also stating their organisation was greatly committed to achieving equality.
There are notable areas of need expressed by the NGBs if they are to realise their ambitions.
84% of NGBs have a stated need for greater knowledge on equality, with 30% of these respondents stating this as a particular requirement
Perhaps worryingly, 57% of NGBs believe they do not have the necessary human resources and 59% do not have the required finance in place in order to appropriately address this area of work
Chart 9 provides an overall comparison of the impact of the various factors NGBs were asked to score. The reported position of the NGBs can be stated as being very committed to equality, but having real needs around resourcing and information in order to achieve their goal of improving equity within their policy and practice.
It is notable that 62% of NGBs stated they are fairly (i.e. score 3) or greatly equitable at this moment in time. This contrasts with the findings regarding demographic profile in the next section.

19. Section 2: The demographic profiles of NGBs membership, staff and National Council/Board with regard to gender, ethnicity and disability

20. Chart 10. To what extent does the demographic profile of your membership reflect the population as a whole?
Significant gender representation amongst memberships - 30% = females ‘greatly’ represented, with a further 30% ‘fairly’ well represented (i.e. answered ‘3’ on scale).
Low levels of ethnicity and disability representation amongst memberships

21. Chart 11. To what extent does the Demographic profile of your National Council/Board reflect the population as a whole?
Level of gender representation varied, but 89% of NGBs have female representation to some extent
Very low disability and ethnicity representation, these groups were absent from National Councils/Board in 70% of NGBs

22. Chart 12. To what extent does the Demographic profile of your staff reflect the population as a whole?
Representation of ethnicity and disability is again low amongst NGB staff
In contrast 57% of NGBs stated that females were ‘greatly’ represented on their staff

23. Chart 13: Demographic profile in terms of disability
Overall, NGBs display a very weak profile across all three aspects

24. Chart 14: Demographic profile in terms of gender
One in three NGBs reported that females were "greatly" represented in all three aspects, that figure rises to two in three for representation amongst staff

25. Chart 15: Demographic profile in terms of ethnicity
Whilst there is some representation of ethnic minorities amongst NGB membership, these levels are minimal. By contrast, 90% have little or no ethnic minority representation on their National Council/Board and 71% no representation amongst staff

26. Demographic Profile Summary
Gender:
Significant gender representation amongst memberships (30% ‘greatly’ represented).
Females ‘greatly’ represented on the National Council/Board for one in three (35%) of NGBs.
57% of NGBs reported that females are ‘greatly’ represented on their staff with several NGBs stating that they had more female staff than male.
Disability:
16% of NGBs reported that disabled people were ‘not at all’ represented within their membership. 27% of NGBs did not have access to information regarding whether their members had a disability.
Disabled people were ‘not at all’ represented on the National Council/Board for 70% of NGBs.
54% of NGBs reported that disabled people were ‘not at all’ represented on their staff.
Ethnicity:
68% of NGBs stated that people from different ethnic groups were ‘not at all’ represented on their National Council/Board.
Similarly, 49% stated that that ethnic groups were ‘not at all’ represented on their staff.
It is notable that approximately 40% of NGBs did not have data available regarding disability and ethnicity in order to answer the question.

27. Section 3: The reported potential effects and benefits of the working towards gaining the Equality Standard

28. Chart 16: Providing a framework

29. Chart 17: Ensuring democracy

30. Chart 18: Increase participation

31. Chart 19: Meet legal duties

32. Chart 20: Enhance skills & knowledge

33. Chart 21: Increase active involvement

34. Chart 22: Improve equality through monitoring/evaluation

35. Chart 23: Access funding & sponsorship

36. Chart 24: Build on good practice

37. Chart 25: Review current policy

38. Chart 26: Review equality achievements

39. Chart 27: Comparison of responses to Question 11 – Anticipating the impact of the Standard

40. Chart 28: Comparison of responses to Question 11 – Anticipating the impact of the Standard

41. Section 4: The challenges to be overcome in working towards the Equality Standard and assistance required

42. What are the major challenges that National Governing Bodies face in working towards the Standard?
The primary challenge for NGBs concerns communication and raising awareness in order to achieve real change. Specifically, some require a greater understanding and clarity about the Equality Standard itself. This will enable them to engender greater levels of ownership and commitment at all levels within their organisations, from club membership through to Directors.
The second area of difficulty is the limited availability of resources, financial and human, specifically to drive and lead equality work, particularly for the smaller NGBs. This impacts on their ability to ensure the standard becomes a priority work area amongst other initiatives within their organisations.
The third major challenge is involving under–represented groups. Many NGBs have difficulty with improving equitable representation from specific minority groups, particularly ethnicity and disability, at all levels within their organisation
Some NGBs sought to explain this by citing difficulties due to the nature of their specific sport. It was also stated by some that access to suitable facilities coupled with the location of activities may create a significant barrier to encouraging more disabled members.
Finally, the absence of good quality management information amongst nearly half of NGBs means they are unable to establish baseline figures concerning the demographic profile of their membership, National Council and staff.

43. What assistance do NGBs require in order to address the challenges?
There were many requests for the provision of dedicated resources in terms of finance and manpower (for example from the Home Country Sports Councils) if ambitions for achieving the Equality Standard are to be realised.
A need for initial training and then a programme of ongoing support both from equity specialists and from the Sports Councils. This should include;
sharing good practice across sports, possibly with the design and adoption of common methods of working e.g. model policies, publicity, or data collection methods
an emphasis on delivery and change at club level.
The generation and use of management information about the general population and individual NGB membership (e.g. in constructing and managing databases) was stated as a particular area where external assistance is needed, in order to establish baseline figures and then monitor any improvements regarding the involvement of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people, particularly within NGB membership.
Some NGBs sought assurances that there is a realistic timescale for completion of their work.

44. What are the benefits that you believe NGBs may accrue from gaining the Equality Standard?
The potential to increase participation in the sport by all parts of the population, therefore generating new additional members, possibly resulting in increased finances and stronger clubs.
Increased awareness of equality and related issues at organisational and individual levels, creating a "feel good" factor about the achievements of the NGB, thus promoting a better external image.
May open up access to new potential funding opportunities if the NGB is seen to follow equal opportunity principles.
The Standard will provide a useful mechanism for reviewing current policies and procedures and assessing work already undertaken in this area

45. Chart 29: Level of Equality Standard
32% of NGBs anticipate reaching either the Preliminary or Intermediate level of the Equality Standard by March A further 5 NGBs anticipate reaching the Foundation level, with a single NGB aiming for the Advanced level.

46. Acknowledgements
The UK wide Equality Pilot Steering Group would like to place on record their appreciation of all the National Governing Bodies who took part in this survey:
UK Athletics Football Association of Wales Trust
British Judo Association Football Association of Wales
British Canoeing Association Northern Ireland Athletics Association
British Triathlon Northern Ireland Judo Federation
Royal Yachting Association Canoe Association of Northern Ireland
England Athletics Royal Yachting Association Northern Ireland
British Gymnastics Northern Ireland Amateur Gymnastics Association
Amateur Rowing Association Scottish Equestrian Federation
British Cycling Association Scottish Swimming
British Equestrian Federation Scottish Rugby Union
Athletics Association of Wales Scottish Canoeing Association
Welsh Judo Association Scottish Triathlon
Welsh Canoeing Association Scottish Athletics
Welsh Triathlon Association RYA Scotland
Welsh Yachting Association Scottish Gymnastics
Welsh Gymnastics Association Scottish Cycling Association
Welsh Cycling Association Judo Scotland
Welsh Swimming Association Scottish Hockey Union
British Swimming/Amateur Swimming Association