Valuing Diversity

The Councils recognise that they have the power to reduce disadvantaged experiences by people in our local areas by making its services more responsive to different community and individual needs. The Councils value the diversity of the local population. We want our services, facilities and resources to be accessible and useful to every citizen regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, religious belief, impairment, marital status, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic which may unfairly affect a person's opportunities in life.

We also recognise that our abilities to meet these diverse needs is improved by having a diverse workforce which generally reflects the local population and which has the skills and understanding to achieve our service objectives. We commit ourselves to valuing diversity in our workforce and to developing and training our employees to improve their ability to meet the Council's goals.

We will strive to become an organisation that:

• Accepts that everyone has a right to their distinctive and diverse identities
• Has a workforce generally reflecting the population we serve
• Understand how valuing diversity can improve our ability to deliver better services, and so reduce disadvantage
• Provides services which are responsive to the diverse needs of different individuals and communities
• Provides all employees with the training and development they need to enable them to achieve the Council's goals
• Provides a supportive, open environment where all employees have the opportunity to reach their highest potential.

We believe that both our customers and our employees have important parts to play in making this happen. We undertake to listen to our customers and to involve them in the development of services which recognise and value their diversity.

We require every Councillor and employee to recognise and discharge her or his own responsibility for contributing to the success of this policy.