Equality Objectives

Our Equality Objectives have been based on available equalities information through research, consultation and engagement and service-level Equality Impact Assessments. Our equality objectives identify specific internal and external targets that will enable the council to improve the collection of equality information, and address the most persistent areas of inequalities faced by both employees and residents.

The equality objectives illustrated below have been developed at a service level and have informed the business planning process. Although the main objective headings may not change over the next 4 years the specific actions listed beneath each objective will be reviewed annually in line with the business planning cycle to ensure they remain reflective of current developments and circumstances.

The Council has identified four equality objectives that address our main priorities for improving our understanding of and response to inequalities across all our services including our new Public Health responsibility which will shortly come into effect. All have been designed with the intention of achieving the following shared outcomes:

• Narrowing the gap between our communities
• Providing access to services for all our communities
• Understanding and reflecting the needs of all our communities
• Fostering good relations with all our communities and partners
• Ensuring our workforce broadly mirrors that of the communities it serves

Improve Data and Needs Analysis

Where possible we will collect robust data in our interactions with customers and communities to generate detailed equality information ensuring our services are well balanced and proportionate. We aim to ensure that 100% of data is collected where appropriate for the listed equality protected characteristics over the next 4 years. This will enable us to improve access to services for all as we:

• Capture protected characteristic information at service level where appropriate, which is subjected to annual customer trend analysis
• Develop a robust council wide data set, which is reviewed annually and published on Centranet and used in the Equality Impact Assessment process across the organisation
• Produce directorate equality action plans that are reviewed annually to address data gaps and issues identified in Equality Impact Assessments
• Place the needs of our customers at the heart of our service and business planning processes
• Design and implement policies and procedures that meet the needs of all our communities

To Better Reflect Our Communities through our Workforce Profile and Training

We will aim to reflect the diversity of the Borough within our workforce with the aim to improve service delivery by reflecting the needs of everyone in the Borough. We aim to achieve a 5% shift in gaps on our employment profile from 2011-2012 over the next 3 years. This will be delivered through staff and Member recruitment and development by:

• Improving workforce planning data to incorporate listed equality protected characteristic information
• Including equality awareness training in corporate staff and Member induction processes
• Introducing general equality awareness raising with all staff using an e-learning package
• Introducing targeted equality training for specific processes ie: staff recruitment and disciplinary

To Ensure Community Engagement and Consultation is Effective

Our organisation will improve its understanding of hard to reach communities within our area, and their perceptions of ourselves, partners and our services. This will be achieved through effective and meaningful consultation and engagement activities. The aim is to foster strong relations allowing customers the opportunity to influence services by:

• Building relationships that enable effective engagement and consultation to be undertaken
• Sharing resources for consultation and engagement activities with our partners and the community and voluntary sector where appropriate
• Reducing the consultation burden through targeted consultation and engagement with our hard to reach communities where appropriate
• Sharing consultation and engagement outcomes and learning between services and partners by publishing results within a shared forum
• Demonstrating how we foster good relations within our communities by achieving excellent status in the Equality Framework for Local Government

Embed Equalities throughout the Council

Equality and inclusion will be considered at all levels within the council to ensure that there is a clear and concise link between strategic thinking and service delivery. We aim to ensure we understand and address the needs of all our communities in all functions by:

• Giving due equality and inclusion consideration to all our decisions taken at both Officer and Member level
• Completing and regularly reviewing Equality Impact Assessments for all our systems, processes and policies including the business plan, service plans and corporate action plans
• Ensuring all commissioned services give equality and inclusion the same importance as the Council
• Developing a culture where staff understand their role in relation to equalities and behaviour in a way that illustrates this understanding.

Equality Impact Assessment – Review of Terms and Conditions

The Review of Terms and Conditions document (PDF, 412KB) contains the equality impact assessment of the proposal to harmonise the terms and conditions of employees of Cheshire East Council.  

This proposal was subject to consultation with the Joint Trade Unions who also undertook their own equality impact assessments.  The proposal was agreed and incorporated into a Collective Agreement that became effective in November/December 2011.