Equality, diversity and inclusion

Contents

• Introduction
• Equality Act 2010
• Equality Strategy and Policy
• Equality Reporting
• Equality of Opportunity
• Just Lincolnshire

Introduction

Our vision is to make West Lindsey a better place to live, work, invest and visit. Understanding that communities in the district have diverse needs is fundamental to our capacity to deliver services to suit everybody and we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in both employment practice and service delivery.

To discuss any issues raised on this page or associated pages please contact the Corporate Governance Officer on 01427 676676 or by email at engagement@west-lindsey.gov.uk.

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Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010. This legislation combines previous legislation such as The Equal Pay Act 1970, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975, The Race Relations Act 1976 and The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to name a few. The purpose of this Act was to simply, strengthen and harmonise the previous legislation while providing a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.

The main principles of the Act are:

• Diversity – Diversity is about the ways in which people differ; these differences should be recognised, celebrated and treated as a natural part of society
• Equality – Equality is a natural extension of diversity and is based on the idea of fairness, whilst recognising that everyone is different
• Inclusion – Inclusion means that all people, regardless of their abilities, disabilities or health care needs, have the right to be respected and appreciated as valuable members of their communities

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Equality Strategy and Policy

West Lindsey District Council are committed to promoting equality and to help bring about an inclusive society, where no one is marginalised through personal circumstances and where everyone is offered the best opportunity to realise their potential.

Read the West Lindsey District Council Equality Strategy [pdf / 370 KB] which helps us find ways to combat discrimination and thereby enable everyone, from all sections of our community, to participate in social, cultural and economic life. The action plan to the Equality Strategy [pdf / 511KB] is updated on a yearly basis. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy [pdf / 588 KB] outlines the principles we will follow.

Action plan

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Equality Reporting

As a council we are committed to valuing people’s differences, treating people fairly, being a good employer and meeting our public sector duty.

Each year we look at our progress on our work around equalities and what steps we will make in the following year. During 2023/24 we undertook the following work:

• new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy for our staff
• all councillors signed up to the Code of Conduct for Members which includes equalities
• annual Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging training was undertaken by staff
• an Equality Officer Working Group was set up
• staff communication was undertaken
• numerous Equality Impact Assessments undertaken on subjects such as Scampton legal proceedings, budget setting, lone working and hybrid mail
• accessibility wording for corporate documents was updated
• employee and resident statistics
• an audit was carried out by Lincolnshire County Council's internal audit function on Equality Impact Assessments

Work for the following year can be found in the action plan.

Objectives

Within our equality work we have four objectives. Some of the work undertaken against these objectives are as follows.

Review corporate plan and equality objectives

Objectives within the new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2024-28 will be linked to the Corporate Plan and will be clear and will be clear and evidence based.

Ensure that all our staff, elected members and volunteers are aware of our responsibilities

We raise awareness of our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty through:

• staff training
• Minerva site set up
• monthly communications on Minerva
• all Members are signed up to the Code of Conduct
• monthly awareness raising to Members in the monthly newsletter

Engage our communities

To engage our communities to participate in the determination of our priorities and decision making:

• we consult and engage undertaken in line with the Gunning Principles
• West Lindsey District Council member of Consultation Institute
• new Communication, Consultation and Engagement Strategy in development
• 1495 residents signed up to the Citizen Panel

Ensure we are transparent in decision making

We ensure transparency by:

• our council meetings are open to the public
• through the council meetings webcast
• publishing council meeting calendar, agendas and reports prior to committee meetings
• publishing council minutes
• publishing Consultation and Engagement report online

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Equality of Opportunity

Acknowledging the diversity of staff and customers and treating them with respect; ensuring there is no discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or belief, nationality, age, marital status or disability in our delivery services and employment practices.

We want to make sure that all our services are delivered fairly and therefore we collect information on our customers and staff so that we can analyse the use and experience of service delivery by diverse communities and take necessary and appropriate action to improve services for particular communities.  This data collected alone will not explain why a service is under or over used. However it will provide a starting point for asking questions and highlighting issues.

We have a process of analysis which looks at the equality impact for our policies and procedures and has been undertaken for many years. Analysis begins prior to the introduction of, or change to, any policy or procedure. Officers assess at this very early stage the impact our decisions could have on the people we serve. We look for both positive and potential negative outcomes relating to the introduction of policies. If negatives are highlighted we look to remove them if possible and mitigate their impact if they remain.

We recognise that the impact our policies and procedures have on people is not always defined because of a single protected characteristic. The need to look at a person as a whole, rather than component parts, is imperative when applying fairness to systems and decision making.

Equality Impact Assessments are taken into account throughout our committee processes by our Members to ensure that their decisions are fair and equitable for the diverse communities they have been elected to serve.

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Just Lincolnshire

JUST Lincolnshire works to make a real difference to the lives of people from all backgrounds.

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