The Blaengwrach Community Council accepts that in society certain groups or individuals are denied equality on the grounds of race, gender, martial status, caring responsibilities, disability, gender reassignment, age, social class, sexual orientation and religion/belief or any other factor irrelevant to the purpose in view.
Blaengwrach Community Council welcomes the statutory requirements laid down in:
a) The Equal Pay Act 2010;
b) The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974;
c) The Sex Discrimination Act 1975;
d) The Race Relations Act 1976 and the Race Relations Amendment Act (February) 2000;
e) The NHS Community Care Act 1990;
f) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995;
g) The Asylum and Immigration Act 1996;
h) The Human Rights Act – November 1998;
i) The Employment (Religion or Belief) and (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003.
Blaengwrach Community Council recognises that it has moral and social responsibilities that go beyond the provisions of the above-mentioned Acts and Regulations, and that it should support and contribute to the wider process of change through all aspects of its work and practices in order to eliminate discrimination and promote equality and diversity.
This Community Council is committed to taking positive steps to ensure that:
a) All people are treated with dignity and respect, valuing the diversity of all;
b) Equality of opportunity and diversity is supported;
c) Services are accessible, appropriate and delivered fairly to all;
d) The mix of its employees, volunteers and management committees/Councillors reflects, as far as possible, the mix of the population in the community of Blaengwrach/Cwmgwrach;
e) Traditionally disadvantaged sections of the community are encouraged to participate in policy decisions about, and the management of, the services provided;
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY POLICY and PROCEDURES
This policy applies to all Community Councillors, staff, volunteers, users and the general public.
1. COMMITMENT:
Equality and diversity are central to the work of the Blaengwrach Community Council.
The Council will treat all people with dignity and respect, valuing the diversity of all. It will promote equality of opportunity and diversity. It will eliminate all forms of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, marital status, caring responsibilities, disability, gender reassignment, age, social class, sexual orientation, religion/belief, irrelevant offending background or any other factor irrelevant to the purpose in view. It will tackle social exclusion, inequality, discrimination and disadvantage.
For this policy to be successful, it is essential that everyone is committed to and involved in its delivery. The Community Council`s goal is to work towards a just society free from discrimination, harassment and prejudice. It aims to embed this in all its policies, procedures, day-to-day practices and external relationships.
2. AIMS:
This Council aims to:
a) Promote services that are accessible according to need;
b) Promote equality of opportunity and diversity in employment, volunteering and development;
c) Create effective partnerships with all parts of our community.
3. OBJECTIVES:
The Council`s objective is to realise standards by:
a) Sustaining, regularly evaluating and continually improving its services to ensure equality and diversity principles and best practice are embedded in our performance to meet the needs of individuals and groups;
b) Working together with the community to provide accessible and relevant service provision that responds to service users` needs;
c) Ensuring staff, volunteers and Community Councillors are representative of the community served and the employment policies are fair and robust;
d) Responding to volunteers and employees needs and encouraging their development to increase their contribution to effective service delivery;
e) Recognising and valuing the differences and individual contribution that all people make to the organisation;
f) Challenging discrimination;
g) Providing fair resource allocation;
h) Being accountable.
4. WHY HAVE THIS POLICY?
The Blaengwrach Community Council recognises, respects and values diversity in its employees, Community Councillors and service users.
The Community Council has this policy because it is a people-led organisation that must always ensure it meets the needs of the community through fair and appropriate employment and the development of the people who work and volunteer for the organisation.
5. PROCEDURES:
RESPONSIBLITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION:
This policy covers the behaviour of all people employed by this Council, the Community Councillors, volunteers, or users of the services provided by the Council and sets out the way they can expect to be treated in turn by the organisation. The overall responsibility for ensuring adherence to and implementation of this policy lies with the Chair of the Council.
METHOD OF IMPLEMENTATION:
The Community Council intends to implement this policy by:
a) Ensuring that it a condition of paid employment in the organisation;
b) Ensuring that Community Councillors, volunteers and users are made aware, understand, agree with, and are willing to implement, this policy. All staff and volunteers will be given a copy of this policy as part of their induction;
c) Actively encouraging staff, Community Councillors and volunteers to participate in anti-discriminatory training, and making time and resources available for such training;
d) Monitoring the services, publicity and events provided by the organisation, to ensure that they are accessible to all sections of the population and do not discriminate, and taking active steps to ensure that participation is representative.
MONITORING AND REVIEWING:
The Blaengwrach Community Council has declared its commitment to establishing, developing, implementing and reviewing a policy of equality of opportunity. Effective record keeping and monitoring, and acting on information gathered, are essential in order to measure effectiveness and plan progress.
This policy should be reviewed at least annually.
THIS POLICY WAS ADOPTED ON 13th September 2018.