Policies, Schemes and Reports

Policy statement

Employment

No council employee or job applicant will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, trade union activity, age, religion or belief, social or economic status, political beliefs, or will be disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be justified.

Service delivery

The Council, recognising its responsibilities as a provider of major services within the community, will ensure that its services, including the ones carried out in partnership with or on behalf of the council, are available equally to all, making sure that no one is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be justified.

The Equality and Diversity statement is Cheshire West and Chester Council’s formal commitment to delivering fairness and “removing the barriers that limit what people can do and can be”. It is a promise that the council will work hard to respond to local challenges, to tackle prejudice and improve the life chances and opportunities of those who face discrimination and disadvantage.

Specific duties

We are transparent about how we respond to the Public Sector Equality Duty, as set out in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. This involves setting one or more equality objectives and publishing information on our efforts to achieve them. Following discussion with stakeholders, the Council has agreed a single equality objective from April 2020:

• Maintain the requirements of the Excellent level of the Equality Framework for Local Government

The Equality Framework is the national measure of equality performance for local authorities, managed by the Local Government Association. It requires local authorities to demonstrate excellent performance against 28 measures under five broad themes. The achievement and maintenance of this standard provides the strategic direction for Equality and Diversity since it ensures that all Council services are included which might be missed with a limited number of objectives. It allows us to measure our performance against the highest possible standards. Our various internal equality groups will be responsible for providing evidence of progress. This will be delivered by an annual review against the requirements including action plans to address any gaps/areas for development.

Equality Framework for Local Government

The Equality Framework is the national standard that assesses a council's progress on equality and diversity. In October 2014 the Council gained the highest Excellent Level of the framework.

• Email: equalities@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01244 976008