The National Equality Standard (NES) is an initiative created by

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

in 2013. It was developed "for business, by business" and sets clear Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) criteria against which companies are assessed. Their EDI policies and practices are reviewed, areas for improvement are identified, and recommendations for improvement are provided.

Background

The NES has been developed and sponsored by

, supported by the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the Home Office and the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...

and developed in partnership with the following UK and global companies: *

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

* Bright Ideas Trust *

BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

EDF Energy EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses through ...

Green Park Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Marylebo ...

Lawn Tennis Association The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Founded in 1888, the LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. It believes that tennis can provide "physica ...

Linklaters Linklaters LLP is a multinational law firm, headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1838, it is a member of the " Magic Circle" of elite London-headquartered law firms. It currently employs over 5,000 lawyers across 31 offices in 21 coun ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

UK * National Grid *

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

*Pearn Kandola *

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

*Roast * Royal Bank of Scotland *

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

* WPP The NES was launched in May 2013 at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Since then many businesses have signed up and the Standard has received significant media attention and news coverage.

People

Arun Batra is the CEO and founder of the NES. Prior to his position at Ernst & Young, he ran the Mayor's "Diversity Works" programme in London. He has recently been recognised as one of Britain's most influential Asians for leading the establishment of the NES. Batra is supported by Harry Gaskell, the managing partner of Ernst & Young's UK and Ireland advisory Practice and Head of D&I, and the Chair of the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI).

Sir David Bell David Bell may refer to: Academia * David Bell (university administrator) (born 1959), Scottish academic administrator and civil servant * David Bell (philosopher) (born 1947), British philosopher * David Bell (artist) (1915–1959), British curat ...

has been appointed as the Non-executive Chair of the steering committee that drives the development of the NES.

The National Equality Standard Assessment

Through the NES, companies are subjected to an EDI assessment which has been devised by the NES Board and EY. The NES Assessment provides companies with a comprehensive quality review of their EDI policies and practices, identifies areas for improvement and provides implementation recommendations. Each company that undertakes the NES undergoes assessment against a predefined set of criteria across seven standards. Trained NES Assessors review documentation, ensure legal compliance, conduct comprehensive interviews and sample staff through in-depth surveys. The outcome is detailed in a comprehensive report.

Feedback

The feedback from those undertaking assessments has been positive; Tina Southall, Director, Diversity and Inclusion at

Group Services described the assessment process in an interview: :“The assessment process was excellent. It really captured both the macro status but also important details. It consisted of an in-depth review of materials and a very professional and well structured audit. It provided thought provoking insights combined with pragmatic and actionable recommendations. The Standard has potential to drive a real change in Equality Standards.”

References

{{Reflist Equality rights Ernst & Young 2013 establishments in England