Equality, diversity and inclusion policies and plans

How we're achieving the highest standards, including our strategies for equality, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racist practice.

We have a number of overarching policies and strategies that demonstrate the highest level of commitment to equality and diversity. These polices also help the council fulfil its legal duty under the Equality Act 2010, namely to:

eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
advance equality between all people
foster good relations between communities, tackling prejudice and promoting understanding

You can find out more about our equality objectives and read the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policy statement.

Diversity calendar

Our diversity and inclusion calendar is part of our continued work to support our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion aims.

It includes a mix of diversity and inclusion celebrations and awareness opportunities that support and help us take action and change for the better.

Diversity calendar 2024 (PDF, 1.91MB)

Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy 2023-25

Our Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2023-25 (PDF, 8.2MB) sets out a roadmap to how we will deliver on our objectives. We are committing to being an employer that values difference. Recruiting, retaining and nurturing individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds allows us to grow to understand cultural differences and how they benefit an inclusive workforce.

We will achieve this by:

making selection pools for senior roles more diverse in terms of gender, disability and ethnicity
developing a 'women in leadership' programme to increase the proportion of women in senior leadership
promoting and encouraging people with disabilities to apply for roles
identifying roles where women or men are under-represented and encouraging applications from that group
placing strategic adverts and approaching agencies who support black and minority ethnic candidates, and other under-represented groups
using our Ways of Working programme to challenge how, when and where we work, opening up opportunities for more diverse talent
reviewing our diversity and inclusion training and its effectiveness
having inclusive recruitment training in place
ensuring any talent programmes include the ability to track people's career progression
creating listening forums for senior leaders to understand the workforce's experiences

You can also read more about the results of the consultation (PDF, 191KB).