Equality Objectives

The Council’s Equality Objectives are referenced to the current Council Plan that identifies key priorities under five broad headings, covering our economic, environmental, social and organisational responsibilities.

Corporate Plan Priority	Equality Objective	Actions
Supporting people and communities	Strengthen the understanding of our communities and workforce through collating robust equality data and utilising it to inform future decision making.	Gather and publish information on the demographics of the District, including the legally protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, to assist in the Council’s Equality Impact Assessments in order to deliver services which best meet residents’ needs and to assess the impacts of changes to services and priorities on local need, with particular regard to the protected characteristics.
Supporting people and communities		Gather and publish annual information on the Council’s workforce to demonstrate our compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Always listening, learning and improving	Deliver Council services which are accessible, equitable and meet the needs of our residents.	Continue to engage with residents, including hard to reach groups who may be disproportionately affected, to ensure they understand any potential impacts of changes in Council services and policies and encourage them to have input on decisions which may affect them e.g. formal consultations, surveys, complaints or comment process.
		Continue to provide accessible Council services to all residents who need them, offering advice in a number of formats so as not to exclude residents with specific needs.
		Recommunicate and embed the consistent use of equality impact assessments when undertaking strategies, projects and changes in service delivery. Ensure data is easily accessible for staff to enable staff to undertake these assessments.
Always listening, learning and improving	Foster and maintain an inclusive working environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying, which enables everyone regardless of their background, identity or circumstances to thrive and be at their best.	Uphold and communicate a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying within the workplace, with particular regard for protected characteristics.
		Outline and communicate the informal and formal process for dealing with breaches of the Council’s policy on discrimination, harassment and bullying. All complaints should be dealt with promptly, seriously and confidentially.
		Enhance our messaging and sharpen the focus on encouraging applications from under-represented groups for new roles advertised on the Council’s website and social media.
		Ensure the Council intranet, as part of the current redevelopment project, is updated with easy to access and relevant resources around equalities.
		Continue to ensure all staff have access to opportunities for continuing professional development and career progression, whilst actively encouraging staff from under-represented groups to consider these opportunities e.g. career changes.
		Continue to build and maintain an inclusive workplace culture with an increased focus on inclusive leadership.
		Continue to emphasise the importance of the Council’s value and behaviours framework, one of which is ‘empowering, respecting, trusting and valuing colleagues’.