Equality and diversity policy

This is our formal statement about how we approach equality and diversity at the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Our policy

We positively welcome and aim to support the growing diversity of the community we serve and the people we employ. Our diversity is our strength and we are committed to providing services to our many different communities, by a workforce that reflects the diversity of society.

We believe that equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination are fundamental human rights. We actively oppose all forms of discrimination and are committed to the principle that no person shall face discrimination by being treated unfairly or being denied access to services or employment opportunities.

We will not discriminate (indirectly, directly or by association) on the grounds of race, sex, gender reassignment, marital or partnership status, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, HIV status, or disability (e.g. sensory and physical disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health status).

Discrimination as outlined above and harassment is unacceptable and contrary to our explicit aim of providing quality services and recruiting and retaining diverse staff.

The Council recognises its responsibilities under the following equality legislation and related Codes of Practice:

• Equality Act 2010
• Public Sector Equality Duty 2011

Equality and diversity are majority issues, which concern the whole community:

• Young people
• Older people
• Women and men
• People from black and minority ethnic backgrounds
• Faith/belief groups
• Disabled people
• Lesbians, Bisexuals and gay men
• Transgender people

Quality means equality in the services we plan and provide, and in the staff we employ to provide those services. We cannot achieve our aim of providing good quality well managed services unless we take into consideration the diverse needs of all sections of our diverse communities and aim to become an organisation with a well-developed workforce, which is able to respond to those diverse needs at all levels of the workforce. This is key to customer care and fairness for all.

We aim to be a borough which values the diversity of all its communities and enables all its residents to become full and active citizens, to feel safe, included, respected, valued and share a sense of belonging

We intend to promote equality, value diversity and prevent discrimination through our roles as

• Provider and commissioner of services
• Employer
• Community leader

We intend to progressively achieve this through a programme of audit, review, impact/needs assessment and analysis, development of equality objectives and outcomes, monitoring, consultation, scrutiny and changes to how we work.

This will be undertaken as part of a programme of continuous development and mainstreaming of equality/diversity considerations throughout the whole business of the Council.

Resident profile:

• Profile of the borough
• DataRich
• Population slicer