Equality and diversity

Equality

Equality is about creating a fairer society where everyone can participate and have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Legislation backs up unfair discrimination.

Equality is not about doing people favours, lowering standards, tokenism, or a numbers game.

It’s about ensuring people are treated equally. This does not mean treating everyone the same, but recognising differences in life situation or experience and ensuring there is equality of opportunity for all people, considering their needs.

This definition recognises that:

• equality is an issue for all
• we don’t all start from the same position

Therefore, in order to create a fairer society, we must recognise different needs.

Diversity

Diversity is about recognising and valuing differences between individuals, groups, and communities to create a positive and inclusive culture for the benefit of all our residents.

Society is increasingly diverse, and everyone experiences life in different ways, for many different reasons.

Differences in identity affect the prosperity and cohesion of all communities. Social mobility, migration, and other socio-economic factors affect all councils.

Diversity is also about creating a culture of working practices that recognise, respect, value, and harness differences for the benefit of the organisation and individual.

Our commitment

Tackling inequalities is critical if Central Bedfordshire is to be successful in delivering services in such a way that people whose circumstances make them vulnerable are not disadvantaged.

Narrowing the equality gap requires an awareness of the needs and interests of people who are at greater risk of lower quality of life outcomes. This includes assessing how well-matched services are to needs and the means available to people to influence decision-making and service delivery.

Tackling inequality is also about promoting the welfare of employees by keeping the workplace free from harassment, bullying, and all other forms of discrimination.

The Equality and Diversity Scheme sets out how we work to achieve these objectives.

We work with community groups and the voluntary sector through our Equalities Forum and with contractors and those working on behalf of us, to promote equality and tackle discrimination.

We undertake equality impact assessments, engage and consult with the community on how well we are performing and what we can do to improve.