Alnwick is a community made up of many different groups and individuals. We value and celebrate that diversity and believe it essential to try to understand the different contributions, perspectives and experience that people in our community have.
We also recognise that not everyone’s experience is equal and there are many forms of discrimination affecting peoples lives. We know that some groups of people generally experience more discrimination than others.
This discrimination can be on the basis of ethnic group (race), gender, disability, sexual orientation, age or religion. We know that people can also be excluded through class, poverty and where they live; these issues are addressed through our work on social exclusion.
Public agencies and service providers have to work hard to ensure that inequality is compensated for or prevented from occurring in the first place.
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Equality and diversity lie at the heart of everything we do as a Council in our roles as an employer, a provider of services and a community leader. We realise that, for a variety of reasons, people have different needs. Therefore, we will develop and promote policies, services and actions that will contribute to making a real difference.
We will:
- Develop and provide services for all, according to need, without prejudice or bias.
- Work in partnership with all sections of the community.
- Monitor and review our policies and procedures using an equalities perspective supported by equalities impact assessments.
- Employ a workforce that represents the makeup of the District’s population
- Provide an accessible and safe working environment that values and respects the identity and culture of each individual.
- Ensure clear, meaningful information about Council services is available in alternative formats/styles/languages which best meet people’s needs.
- Work with others to provide an environment free from harassment and violence.
- Find ways to involve all parts of the community in our decision-making processes.
To support our ambition we have developed a Corporate Equality Policy and a Equality Action Plan. These were published in 2005. Click on the link entitled 'Corporate Equality Policy' to view the document. |