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On 10 December 2004, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report (Delivering public services to a diverse society: Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (HC 19-i and HC 19-ii 2004-2005) which is based on a survey of 131 government bodies, assessing their performance under each of the Government's six key diversity strands: disability, gender, race, religion and belief, age, and sexual orientation. In addition, the NAO used interviews with both public sector staff and stakeholder groups.
The NAO found that knowledge of customer diversity, the diversity of the workforce, and success in meeting diverse needs through service delivery, tended to go hand in hand. At the same time, the report highlights case studies of successful delivery where staff involved were not representative of the groups they were serving - but where the crucial factor was their willingness to engage with and respond to stakeholder groups and individual service users.
The report (898 KB) can be viewed on the NAO website