Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Our vision

Worcester City Council has an important role to play in helping to reduce inequalities in the city and safeguard the rights of people protected by the Equality Act 2010.

As a public body and a local organisation, we recognise that the Council has a special responsibility to show leadership through our actions and words on equality, diversity and inclusion. We will promote the message that equality is everyone’s business and that doing things better and more inclusively can benefit everyone. In the Council’s City Plan 2022-2027 we set out our collective vision, of a city that is prosperous, accessible, diverse and inclusive; with great opportunities for work, leisure, sport and tourism alongside a quality of life that is attractive to all.

Tackling inequality, challenging discrimination, promoting inclusion and celebrating diversity will help the Council to achieve its vision for the city. We will lead by example, work with others, invest in communities, and listen and act when people tell us how we can deliver better services.

We invite you to read our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. This document explains what actions Worcester City Council will take over the next three years to become excellent at listening to, and meeting the needs of, everyone who is protected by the Equality Act 2010.

'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' Strategy

Our Strategy is available in different formats and language. Please ask us if you need help with this.

You can contact us in any of the following ways:

• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Phone the Council’s Customer Services team on 01905 722233 and ask us to call you back.
• Visit our Customer Services team at The Guildhall, High Street Worcester. The Guildhall is accessible for visitors with disabilities. If you have any special access requirements then you may want to call to check arrangements, ahead of your visit.

The Strategy outlines our Equality Objective

To achieve excellence in our equality practice, as measured by the Equality Framework for Local Government, by 2025

The four Excellence Aims and their themes are in our Strategy are:

Understanding and working with our communities

• Collecting and sharing information
• Analysing and using data and information
• Effective community engagement
• Fostering good community relations
• Participation in public life

Leadership, partnership and organisational commitment

• Leadership
• Priorities and working in partnership
• Assessing equality impact in policy and decision taking
• Equality objectives and annual reporting
• Performance monitoring and scrutiny

Responsive services and customer care

• Commissioning and procuring services
• Integration of equality objectives into service planning
• Service delivery

Diverse and engaged workforce

• Learning and development
• Health and wellbeing
• Workforce diversity
• Inclusive strategies and policies
• Collecting, analysing and publishing workforce data.

Why do we need a Strategy?

Worcester is a vibrant city that is increasingly culturally, economically and socially diverse. The Council values this diversity and aims to support and encourage it. We also take a leading role in seeking to increase equality and inclusion in the city.

We are committed to increasing equality, providing better opportunities inside our organisation, within our services and in the wider city, recognising that diversity and inclusion can deliver better outcomes for everyone. We recognise that in many cases, inequalities can shape or even define people’s life chances.

We are committed to promoting and supporting good relations and cohesion between all communities in the city so that everyone feels welcome and safe in Worcester and can benefit from the different perspectives and experiences of different groups.

The Council has legal duties to promote equality. The Equality Act 2010 defines the following as “Protected Characteristics”:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender Reassignment
• Marriage and Civil Partnership
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Race
• Religion or Belief
• Sex
• Sexual Orientation

Achieving our objectives is everyone’s responsibility

Everyone who works for the Council has a role to play in achieving the Excellence Aims of this Strategy because all Council staff and councillors have responsibilities in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Lead responsibilities for this Strategy

The Council’s Policy and Resources Committee is responsible for setting the Council’s Equality Objective. This committee is responsible for approving the Council’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and for approving an Annual Action Plan that  will set out specific actions to help ensure the Strategy gets delivered.

The Council’s Corporate Management Team will be responsible for ensuring that equality, diversity and inclusion is part of regular service planning and monitoring. The Corporate Management Team and their team of managers and supervisors will ensure that the Equality Framework is reviewed again in order to prepare the Annual Action Plan in future years.

Please get in touch and talk to us about why Equality Diversity and Inclusion matters to you in Worcester.  We want to know what we can do better and also what is working well.

We look forward to talking to you.