Equality and Diversity
This web page provide a single access point where
councillors, staff and members of the public can find information
about equalities duties, our approach, monitoring and
population factors and other useful elements such as
links to find out about particular faiths or disabilities.
One Council for everyone
Our vision and commitment is to work to create the best
opportunities and quality of service, for the people of Ryedale,
caring for the local environment and driving the local economy. Our
community and their needs and aspirations are at the heart of
everything we do.
Underpinning this approach is a commitment to taking into
account peoples' views and ensuring that our vision is translated
into practice within a performance management framework.
Ryedale District Council is a Council that practises
accessibility, promotes equality and values diversity in everything
we do; in providing or commissioning services, in partnership and
as an employer.
Equality Objectives
- To strengthen the Council's approach to meeting the needs of it
diverse communities
- To improve communications and demonstrate our committment to
equality
- To strengthen the council's arrangements for partnership
working and procurement
- To maintain equality monitoring systems for information about
service take-up and satisfaction, developing an evidence base to
support effective Equality Impact Assessments.
- To strengthen the performance management of equalities across
the council and promote a culture of equality.
These objectives provide the framework for more detailed work
that will be undertaken in the next few years to continue to
improve equality for both employees of the District Council and
residents in the community.
The objectives are not stand alone, there is a clear link to the
Council Plan and other key coporate plans. The full action
plan is available under the useful links section at the bottom of
the page.
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 replaced previous anti-discrimination laws
with a single Act. The new Act supports good decision-making
by ensuring public bodies consider how different people will be
affected by their activities, helping them to deliver policies and
services which are efficient and effective, accessible to all and
which meet different people's needs. Ryedale District Council
published its Single Equality Scheme in September 2010 to reflect
these changes.
Who does the Act
protect?
the Act looks at people in terms of particular characteristics
(or 'groups'). The Act calls these "protected
characteristics". This replaces the old concept of "equality
strands".
Protected characteristics include: age; disability; gender
assignment; pregnancy and maternity (work and non-work cases);
race; religion or belief; gender; sexual orientation. In some cases
(but not the public sector duties) marriage and civil partnership
are also protected characteristics.
Conduct Prohibited by the
Equality Act 2010
Direct discrimination (including by association and
perception); indirect discrimination; pregnancy and maternity
discrimination; harassment; discrimination arising from
disability.
Public Sector Duty
The general equality
duty
The general equality duty applies to 'public authorities'.
In summary, those subject to the general equality duty must, in the
exercise of their functions, have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a
protected characteristic and those who do not.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not.
These are often referred to as the three aims of the general
equality duty.
The Equality Act explains that the second aim (advancing
equality of opportunity) involves, in particular having due regard
to the need to:
- Remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by people due to
their protected characteristics.
- Take steps to meet the needs of people with certain protected
characteristics where these are different from the needs of other
people.
- Encourage people with certain protected characteristics to
participate in public life or in other activities where their
participation is disproportionately low.
It states that meeting different needs includes (among other
things) taking steps to take account of disabled people's
disabilities. It describes fostering good relations as
tackling prejudice and promoting understanding between people from
different groups. It explains that compliance with the
general equality duty may involve treating some people more
favourably than others.
To comply with the general equality duty, a public authority
needs to have due regard to all three of its aims.
The specific duties
The specific duties were created by secondary legislation in the
form of regulations. In summary, each listed authority is
required to:
Publish information to demonstrate its compliance with the
general equality duty. This information must include in
particular, information relating to people who share a protected
characteristic who are:
- its employees
- people affected by its policies and practices.
Each listed public authority must prepare and publish one or
more objectives that it thinks it needs to achieve to further any
of the aims of the general equality duty. This must be done
no later than 6 April 2012 and at least every four years after
that. The objectives must be specific and
measurable.
Assessing the Impact
Analysis tools such as Equality Impact Assessments help assess
how particular groups of people may be affected by the way in which
we do things. Data from several sources is used, including
national, regional and local information, along with case studies,
best practice examples from other organisations and engaging with
the community to consult on any proposed changes to policy or
services.
Monitoring Data
What is Equality
Monitoring
Equality monitoring is the process of collecting and analysing
data to help prevent and if applicable help address
discrimination. It allows organisations to identify potential
inequalities, investigate possible underlying causes and remove or
mitigate those inequalities.
Equality monitoring should be part of an ongoing improvement
cycle allowing an organisation to measure current service
effectiveness, monitor any changes and inform action plans for the
future.
What to Monitor
Ryedale District Council has a corporate monitoring form which
specifies which protected characteristics are being
monitored. Equality monitoring takes place in the following
areas:
Service Provision
Monitoring and evaluating the use of services to ensure a
positive take up by all sections of the community.
- Face to face/front line services
- Customer complaints/Contact services
- Services that require an assessment as to entitlement or
priority e.g. homelessness.
- Services for which there is a national or local history of
unequal impact.
Recruitment, Selection and Employment
Monitoring equality in this area demonstrates the council's
commitment to equality and human rights through the development of
an equal and diverse workforce and allows us to assess the extent
to which equality issues are adhered to in our recruitment and
selection procedures, its pay and conditions and workforce
progression.
Useful
Links
Equality Act Guidance Downloads – Equality and Human Rights
Commission Website.
Government Equalities Office
website.
Statistics and Census Information.
Ryedale District Council
Equality Profile (PDF, 168k).
Ryedale
District Council Single Equality Scheme 2010 - 2013 (PDF,
240k).
Ryedale
District Council Equality and Diversity Action Plan 2012 (PDF,
59k).