Our commitment
South Derbyshire District Council is committed to eliminating discrimination and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, both as a provider of services and as an employer. The Council and its partners want to ensure that individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds, cultures, lifestyles and experiences can fully participate in the social, cultural and economic activities of the District.
Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is explained in our equality, diversity and inclusion policy. In particular, it addresses the needs of people with the nine protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010. These are:
- age;
- disability;
- gender reassignment;
- marriage and civil partnership;
- pregnancy and maternity;
- race;
- religion or belief;
- sex;
- sexual orientation.
The work we are doing to promote equality, diversity and inclusion can be seen in our annual plan.
Our commitment is outlined in more depth in our Draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2021-2025 which sets out our equality objectives.
Our equality objectives have been developed with resident, community and faith-based groups and businesses that live, visit and invest in South Derbyshire. For the next four years these are as follows:
- Encourage and enable a skilled and diverse workforce to build a culture of equality and inclusion in everything we do
- Demonstrate inclusive leadership, partnership and a clear organisational commitment to being a leader in equality, diversity and inclusion in the District
- Involve and enable our diverse communities to play an active role in society and put the residents’ voice at the heart of decision-making
- Deliver responsive services and customer care that is accessible and inclusive to individuals' needs and respects cultural differences
- Understand our diverse communities and embed that understanding in how we shape policy and practice across the Council
Community cohesion
Community cohesion is what brings members of different communities together. In South Derbyshire we have many examples of the strength of community spirit. We actively organise and promote events and activities designed to bring people from different backgrounds together including Area Forums, Business Breakfasts, the Festival of Leisure and Liberation Day. Examples can be seen in our Equalities Annual Report (pdf, 1.3mb).
The Council would like to continually build and develop our actions around equality, diversity and inclusion and welcomes all feedback and views.
