E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.4 page 18 74. Based on its advice, businesses and trade unions have designed their own equal opportunity action plans for employees who belong to ethnic minorities. 75. The Commission is based in London and has branch offices in several parts of the United Kingdom, including Leeds, Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. 76. The Commission’s work is important because it monitors the development of discriminatory practices and can encourage the Government and Parliament to make constant adjustments to legislation. It also prepares codes of good conduct for private enterprise in such areas as housing and employment. To this should be added the fact that article 47 of the Race Relations Act was complemented by article 137 of the 1988 Housing Act in order to allow the Commission to draw up codes of practice applicable to the rental sector that could be used in court. Similarly, article 189 of the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act extended the scope of article 47 to all housing categories. 77. In the field of employment, the Industrial Tribunals ensure that the law is applied, and anyone who believes he is a victim of discrimination may bring complaints before them. The functioning of these tribunals is less formal than in ordinary courts. They are presided over by a solicitor assisted by representatives of the trade unions and management. The complainant may be represented by an attorney or may plead his own case. Recently, the 1994 Race Relations Remedies Act did away with the 11,000-pound sterling ceiling that had been fixed for compensation awarded by the Tribunals in cases of racial discrimination and allowed interest to be included in the compensation. 78. As a general rule, however, most of the cases of racial discrimination that give rise to complaints are amicably settled between the parties through mediation by the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). It is noteworthy that racial discrimination is difficult to prove in court, with the result that very few victims win their cases. 79. Local communities have come up with programmes to combat racial discrimination and promote equal opportunity. They cooperate on this with the Equal Opportunities Commission within the framework of the Racial Equality Council's network. These are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) financed by municipalities (for example, Tower Hamlets, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool) to help ethnic minorities deal with the problems that may result from racial discrimination, and to enhance their social integration by devising English courses or occupational training programmes. Local communities also organize cultural activities aimed at bringing the different communities together. B. Measures to improve police behaviour towards minorities 80. In order to eliminate the mutual suspicion existing between the police and ethnic minorities, and also to put an end to the harassment and violence to which these minorities may be subjected, steps have been taken to improve the training of the police and diversify their ethnic makeup.