Equalities and Diversity

What is Equalities and Diversity?

Everybody who visits, lives or works in the borough has a right to expect excellent services from the council. However, the way we deliver these services may need to be different, depending on the customer.

For example, some people might find it hard to access information because they cannot read, write or speak English. Others may require a service to be delivered in a specific way because they are disabled.

We aim to deliver the same high quality services to everyone ('equality') while taking account of the different people ('diversity') making use of them.

We have taken an approach where the scope of equality and diversity goes beyond minority or disadvantaged groups. The needs of our customers are rarely unique to their background. At the same time, people from the same background will have different needs and expectations.

It is, however, generally accepted that people from the following groups are statistically more likely to have specific needs that must be taken into account, that they are more likely to experience discrimination, or to be a victim of hate crime:

Black and Minority Ethnic Communities
Disabled People, or people with access issues
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Groups
Young People
Elderly People
Women
People from different faith groups

If you have any questions about the work to improve services to our diverse communities, please contact the Equalities and Diversity team at the address shown.