Meeting our equality duty

The public sector duty of the Equality Act 2010 requires that we, as a local authority, must consider all individuals when carrying out our day-to-day work.

This includes:

• shaping policy
• delivering services
• how we treat our employees.

More broadly, under the Equality Act, we must ensure that we are taking steps to:

• eliminate discrimination
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations between different people when carrying out our activities.

In meeting these duties, we must have regard for the equal treatment of people based on the Equality Act’s nine protected characteristics:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity status
• marriage and civil partnership
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation

Putting equality and diversity at the heart of everything we do

Barking and Dagenham is a vibrant, dynamic, and culturally rich community, and we believe this is something to be proud of and celebrate. However, we know that celebrating diversity alone is not enough. We must also acknowledge and do more to address the disparities and inequalities that exist within our communities.

To do this, we need to go beyond the responsibilities set out in the Equality Act 2010. We will ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion remain central to everything we do, from the money we spend and the people we employ, to the services we provide.

That is why, we have embedded our Equality Objectives into the new Corporate Plan 2023-26, placing equality and diversity at the heart of our vision and embedded into plans for the next three years. 

Read the Corporate Plan 2023-26 here. 

Equality Objectives

As a public sector organisation, we are required to publish our Equality Objectives at least every four years. These objectives have been developed as part of the development of the Corporate Plan 2023-26.

• Addressing structural inequality: activity aimed at addressing inequalities related to the wider determinants of health and wellbeing, including unemployment, debt, and safety.

• Providing leadership in the community: activity related to community leadership, including faith, cohesion, and integration: building awareness within the community through a programme of equalities events.

• Fair and transparent services: activity aimed at addressing workforce matters related to leadership, recruitment, retention, and staff experience; organisational policies and processes including use of Equality Impact Assessments, commissioning practices and approach to social value.

Specific areas of focus will be identified under each objective, through service planning to demonstrate impacts being made. These will be kept under review, and we will monitor and report on progress through the corporate performance processes.