Working towards a stronger and cohesive community
Welcome to the equality and diversity section of Cheshire West
and Chester Council’s website.
The Council recognises its responsibility to shape values,
provide opportunities, and deliver excellent, customer centred
services. The implementation of this new unitary council is
an opportunity to build even stronger and more cohesive communities
in West Cheshire.
Cheshire West and Chester Council is committed to promoting
equality and meeting the varied needs and circumstances of
customers and employees. As a community leader, it will
embrace diversity and champion equality, setting an example of
excellence for inclusive and non discriminatory practice.
Equality and Diversity is one of the seven core priorities in
Council’s Corporate Plan, "Making it happen".
The Council's Equality pledges
- We will ensure that the design, delivery and commissioning of
services are fair, equitable and accessible
- We will enhance cohesive communities and promote equal life
chances for all
The Council’s goal is to ensure that this commitment, reinforced
by the Council’s values, is embedded in its day-to-day working
practices with customers, colleagues and partners.
To support this commitment, Cheshire West and Chester Council
adopted a policy statement for employment and
service delivery.
Cheshire West and Chester Council Equality Scheme
Our Equality Scheme and Action Plan states our
commitments and what we will do to achieve them.
Equality Impact Assessments
Diversity and Equality are central to everything the Cheshire
West and Chester Council does. We recognise that our customers are
diverse and our aim is to support independence and equality of
opportunity for all.
Impact Assessment is a process of systematically exploring the
potential for a policy or a function to have unequal impact on a
particular group or community. This includes the impact of a policy
or function on employees, existing and potential service users and
the wider community. Additionally to the six strands of diversity
(ethnicity, gender, disability, religion and belief, age, sexual
orientation), where relevant, the Council will also look at the
effect or likely impact the policies and practices have in relation
to other groups (e.g. carers, rural issues).
This page will provide information about the Council’s progress
with regard to Equality Impact Assessments. Your input and comments
are very valuable to us, please contact the Equality and Diversity
Manager for more information about the Impact Assessment
process:
Equality and Diversity Manager
County Hall, room 451
Chester, CH1 1SF
Textphone: 18001 01606 867 670
Telephone: 0300 123 8 123
e-mail: Equalities@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Documents attached:
Leading from the top
The Council leader is committed to making equality happen. The
Equality and Diversity Steering Group has the
responsibilty to develop and monitor the key actions that will
drive us forward.
Accessing Council services and information
The Council is committed to making our services and information
accessible to all. The
Accessibility Statement informs customers how to access
information in alternative formats and languages. We
have also put together some information on the "Equality
strands", areas protected by law, and a glossary of
terms (PDF 61kb) to help with the terminology
used when describing equality issues.
Reporting hate incidents
A “hate incident” is where person or community are targeted
because of race (including colour, ethnic origin, nationality or
national origins), religion or belief, gender, gender
identity or sexual orientation.
If you, or someone you know, is being targeted for abuse or you
are aware of offensive material such as leaflets or grafitti then
please report the ‘hate incident’ to Cheshire
Police. You can also report it to a Council
community
safety warden or via a recognised Community Reporting Centre.
Other useful sources of advice and information
A useful list of organisations that provide help,
support and advice.