How will we meet the Equality Challenge?
To help us to achieve our aim the council has signed up to the Equality Standard for Local Government in Wales. This is a practical tool that encourages councils to develop good practices and improve its performance over time. We will be able to work through 5 levels of improvement that will:
Help us to meet our legal obligations
Help us to tackle different forms of discrimination
Help us to promote equality in service delivery and employment
Help us to be more responsive to the needs of residents and staff
Provide a framework for improving performance over time
While the Equality Standard provides a common approach to dealing with equality it does not mean that the different equality issues (gender, race, disability, language, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief) can be dealt with as a single issue – the barriers will vary and each issue will require separate treatment. This is why the council is required to produce statutory equality schemes covering:
Race
Welsh language
Disability
Gender
We are developing a Corporate Equality Plan that will link into these specific statutory equality schemes and will extend to cover age, sexual orientation and faith.
But we know that if we are to succeed in meeting the equality challenge we will need to work in partnership with the community we serve.
Getting started
The first step in this process is the development of a set of equality statements covering race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, faith & belief and family & caring responsibilities. It is intended that each statement will set out what the council will aim to achieve in its role as a community leader, service provider and employer.
To begin with the council has identified issues and aims that are common to all of the equality strands and these are set out in the General Equality Statement. The council has also identified issues and aims that are specific to race equality and these are set out in the Race Equality Statement. Further equality statements will follow in the coming months.
New feature: @Committee
This section will inform you when an issue relating to corporate policies is discussed at the Council’s Equalities Committee, since the Committee was established in the summer of 2006.
18 July 2007 Item 6 The development of the Corporate Equality Policy Framework
20 September 2006 Item 7 Draft Equality Policy & Plan
- Last Updated: 01/08/2007
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