An inclusive employer

As an employer, we are committed to ensuring our staff have access to equal opportunities and are valued and heard. We will continue to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve to help us ensure that our services meet the needs of our residents.

Disability confident employer

We are a disability confident employer and as such are committed to being fully inclusive and accessible, whether through our recruitment processes, working environment or development opportunities.

We pride ourselves on a positive organisational culture which focuses on enabling and supporting all our staff to achieve their potential.

Race at Work Charter

As a council we have reinforced our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion by signing the Race at Work Charter. As part of this, we have committed to:

having an increasingly diverse workforce that reflects the borough’s working population
supporting employees and councillors to understand their duty to support equality in the workplace
working with communities to understand barriers they may face to ensure jobs and services the council provides are accessible for everyone
publishing progress towards equality targets
taking a zero tolerance approach to harassment and bullying, treating staff fairly and supporting ethnic minority career progression

Defence Employer Recognition Scheme

We are part of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme which supports the Armed Forces Covenant and supports veterans in the period of transition from the armed forces to a new career.

As well as supporting veterans to access our services, they can apply for vacancies at the council through the Career Transition Partnership.

Council groups

To support our work to ensure we are a diverse and inclusive employer and council, we have a number of staff groups that come together to discuss areas such as equality and diversity, wellbeing and more in order to improve the services we provide to residents.

Council events

As an organisation we have an ongoing programme of events to enable us to positively explore a range of aspects of diversity and what makes us who we are. These include opportunities for staff to share their lived experience to broaden and deepen understanding across the organisation.