NCCPE Inclusion Advisory Group - Racial Equity - Terms of Reference

The NCCPE is committed to inclusive engagement practices, and we are keen to support the development of more effective approaches across universities and the higher education sector. 

Working with an inclusion working group , the NCCPE published a statement on inclusion detailing what we commit to as an organisation. We also recognise that we need to reflect on how our own organisation works. For this reason, we have signed up to the Race Equality Framework (REF), to assess ourselves against this framework and work hard to address opportunities and challenges highlighted from it. 

Whilst we are committed to supporting the development of inclusive public engagement practices, we recognise that this alone will not address the systemic issues that have historically excluded people. We want to help universities to engage, and involve, communities in their research in ways that are inclusive and relevant. To this end we are committed to supporting universities to embed equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across all of their activities.

NCCPE inclusion working group members:

• Lewis Hou
• Charlotte Thorley
• Carinne Piekema
• Jack Kerrigan
• Cassie Hugill
• Emma Griffin
• Sophie Duncan

The NCCPE Inclusion Advisory Group – Racial Equity (IAG-RE) is a new group, aimed at accelerating inclusion within engagement with research in the UK. The NCCPE plans to develop an Inclusion Advisory Group to support our work. In the first instance we are focusing specifically on racial equity with the NCCPE Inclusion Advisory Group – Racial Equity. The group will challenge, support and problem solve with the NCCPE as it works with others in the sector to enhance inclusive public participation in, and engagement with, research. As part of this, the group will work with the NCCPE to carry out the REF self-assessment to improve racial equity and racial competency in our context. 

The REF self-assessment defines equity as ‘giving people what they need, in order to make things fair. Thus, racial equity is about giving more to racialised groups who need it, in order to give them the same opportunities that everyone else has’. Racial competency is ‘understanding the impact of structural racism and fostering a culture of allyship that challenges organisational practices and behaviours that exclude Black African-, Asian- and Caribbean-heritage people and other racialised groups. Being racially competent means translating our statements into action to promote equity of voice and equality of opportunity’. 

The NCCPE are committed to inclusion in all aspects of our work - as detailed in our inclusion statement. As part of our commitment to inclusion the NCCPE adopted the REF, which has a focus on Black African-,Asian- and Caribbean-heritage people and other racialised groups who have been systemically excluded from research. As part of this we have recruited the IAG-RE, with a specific focus on these groups. 

The decision that the IAG-RE focus on engagement with on Black African-, Asian- and Caribbean-heritage people and other racialised groups is informed by the statistics from the last census in terms of population numbers who identify with this group; the significant data about the racism, biases, and systemic injustices these individuals face in the higher education sector today; and the recognition that we need to focus the work of the IAG-RE in order to meaningfully effect change. 

The IAG-RE recognise that many people experience discrimination, bias and inequity. We hope and endeavour for our work to also be of benefit to people from all marginalised and underrepresented groups. 

The IAG-RE acknowledges that the language and ideas which underpin this work are contextual and constantly evolving. We are committed to learning and developing, and the language of the group may change as our work progresses. 

The NCCPE is committed to recognising, celebrating and working with the unique strengths and cultural ways of knowing in different communities and actively seeks the involvement of community members who would like to contribute to the work of the NCCPE. 

The advisory group members have knowledge and experience relating to racial equality within public engagement, public participation and/or public involvement. 

The group is made of people committed to supporting the development of inclusive public engagement practice that benefits the communities and publics involved. Membership is made of community members and academic researchers with experience of public engagement with research; individuals with lived experience relating to racial inequality in research and/or public engagement; public engagement professionals; and members of the NCCPE team.

The group will:

• Support the NCCPE as it carries out the REF self-assessment, ensuring that the lessons learnt are acted on effectively, and providing critical insights and perspectives to improve our work.
• Inform the development of new NCCPE resources/programmes to enable more effective inclusive practices in engagement with research.
• Contribute to the work of the NCCPE directly and through linking to other networks and individuals.
• Participate in advisory group meetings, with four two-hour meetings scheduled per year.
• Participate in the advisory group launch meeting and one-year review meeting, each scheduled to be one-hour long.
• Identify and participate in core racial competency training, which is scheduled to take up to three hours, with opportunities to join additional training.

Membership is drawn from publics, researchers, public engagement professionals and NCCPE colleagues. As a national organisation, we actively encourage applications from across the UK. Standing membership is expected to be two years. After a year we will review the group, its aims, processes and membership to consider if and how the group continues. 

• Be prepared to attend all meetings and core training.
• Communicate any accommodations needed to enable attendance and participation, for example digital tools, equipment or adjustments for accessibility needs.
• Work between meetings, including delivering on agreed actions, reading pre-meeting paperwork, and contributing to future agenda items, which we estimate will take one-hour per meeting.  
• Provide constructive input and advice drawing on lived experience, professional experience, knowledge and skills.
• Consider not only equality but equity (see key terms) and aim to actively address equity throughout the work of the advisory group.
• Identify creative solutions to address racial inequalities and share examples of good practice from across sectors. 
• Draw in existing research, practice, story-based evidence to share with the group.
• Follow ground rules (meeting etiquette) – drafted below, to be further developed with group members.  

The group will be supported by a Coordinator and two Co-Chairs. One Co-Chair will be selected as part of the group recruitment, and the other Co-Chair and the Coordinator will be members of the NCCPE. These roles are described below.  

• Ensure Agenda and associated papers are sent to members.
• Ensure reasonable adjustments are met to accommodate attendance and participation.
• Ensure all members have the opportunity to contribute, and contributions from all members are valued.
• Coordinate communication and briefing updates. 
• Ensure appropriate support is offered to members of the group.
• Oversee the budget for the group.

• Agree agendas and papers.
• Oversee content for racial equity training for the group.
• Participate in additional racial equity training with the wider NCCPE team.
• Ensure all members have the opportunity to contribute, and contributions from all members are valued.
• Agree actions and ensure that recommendations have a mechanism to be taken forward. 
• Monitor progress of agreed actions, and their effectiveness and impact. 

Advisory group members 

Sophie Duncan (co-chair)

Ahmina Akhtar (co-chair)

Fola Afolabi 

Katia Chornik 

Krishna Mooroogen 

Niyah Campbell 

Natalie Wall 

Sophie Evans 

Mai Musie 

Sadia Mir 

Berenice Golding

Group meetings will take place four times a year online on Zoom, and we plan for meetings to be two hours. We aim to hold an advisory group launch meeting in mid-May, our first advisory group meeting in late-May to early-June, and training in June. Exact timings will be agreed with group members after recruitment, and we will use Doodle Poll or a similar scheduling platform to find dates that work for group members. Papers will be sent two weeks in advance.

The group is made of between 8 and a maximum of 15 members, including the two Co-Chairs and members across academic and public/community perspectives. 

Our ways of working aim to create a principled space. The group agreed to the ways of working, outlined below, on Monday 25 September 2023. The most up to date ways of working are available in this living document. 

Advisory group sessions may include content that some people find distressing or upsetting. To help ensure that everyone feels supported, members can access support from several services, listed below. 

Members can also reach out to meeting facilitators who will be available at the end of meetings if anyone needs to debrief. Members are also encouraged to reach out to each other via email and the IAG-RE WhatsApp group. 

Members are reminded that it ok to leave meetings if uncomfortable and it is ok to re-join meetings if they wish. 

Support services

• GP’s can provide health and wellbeing advice and there may also be a staff wellbeing service within your organisation.
• Samaritans Telephone: 116 123, website: https://www.samaritans.org/
• NHS Telephone: 111, website: https://111.nhs.uk/
• Mind Telephone: 0300 123 3393, website: https://www.mind.org.uk/

• The Advisory Group Members shall keep confidential all information connected with the business of the NCCPE which comes to their knowledge as a result of performing their role within the group and shall not disclose it to any third party or use it other than for performance of their role. 
• We do not intend to share or process personal data as part of the group activities. In the event personal data is to be shared or processed, then the data should be kept confidential and an appropriate agreement entered into to govern the obligations in compliance with the data protection legislation.
• Terms of reference will be reviewed on a yearly basis. 

All members of the group will receive a payment for their participation within the meeting and prep time that they need to contribute to it unless these costs are already covered as part of an existing role or are part of normal responsibilities. We plan this to be £250 per meeting, including one hour of meeting preparation time. We will also offer a payment of £125 per meeting to prepare for and attend the one-hour advisory group launch and review meetings.

For members who require payment, we must set you up as a supplier in our finance system, from which we process invoices. We can discuss flexible payment options and alternatives to payment where benefits or other external factors may impact your ability to participate. The Co-Production Collective offer this Payments and Benefits Information sheet if you would like to learn more.

We are able to cover carer costs for training, one hour of meeting preparation per meeting, and meeting attendance.