Our equality commitment

What equality means to us

Equality and diversity is important to us because it means trying our best to treat people fairly and with dignity. It also means making sure that we remove barriers to equality for our colleagues, job applicants and for people using our services.

We also value the cultural diversity of all Derby people and the richness that this gives our city.

Equality, Dignity and Respect Policy and Easy Read version

Our Equality, Dignity and Respect policy - 2017 (and Equality, Dignity and Respect policy - 2017 - easy read) sets out our guiding principles on equality and diversity, which all our colleagues have to work to.

The policy also contains our Statutory Equality Objectives for 2021/2024 which are to:

• develop better engagement between the Council and communities, groups and individuals
• develop effective joint working on equality and diversity with other statutory bodies and partners
• make sure our services are fair, accessible and inclusive
• improve the quality and range of equality information held and used by us, in particular equality monitoring around our services
• improve equality in employment and procurement processes and procedures.

The equality objectives have been developed with our Equality Hubs and Forums and employee networks and have been signed off by our Corporate Leadership Team and Personnel Committee. Here is our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2021/2024. 

Interpretation and translation - Accessible Communications Protocol

We know we need to make reasonable adjustments in communication for some of our disabled employees and customers. We also need to make sure that our customers can understand important information about our services.

We have contracts with agencies to make sure we can make our information accessible. As a result, we have produced the Accessible Communication Protocol.

Tackling hate crime together

We have produced a Tackling Hate Crime Together Protocol to demonstrate our commitment to tackling hate crime in Derby and making sure support is available for victims.

The Protocol is part of a set of policies underpinning our Equality, Dignity and Respect policy - 2017. There is more information about hate crime and incidents on our external website.

Our equality achievements

We have achieved the 'excellent' level in equality after three days of testing from five assessors.

This is the highest level of the Equality Framework for Local Government.

The testing involved interviews with:

• community representatives
• our customers
• our employees
• other groups we work with.

At the time of the award, we were only the sixth council in the country to achieve this level for equality.

Read our Equality Framework Journey to Excellence - March 2011  and the detailed report, 'Equality Framework for Local Government', which the assessors produced for us. 

Disability Confident Leader

We were one of the first employers in Derbyshire to win the original Fit for Work award, and then used its replacement, 'Positive about Disabled People'.

We are now proud to be a Disability Confident Leader for all our work and commitment around recruiting and retaining disabled people.

Stonewall Workplace Equality Index - Top 100

We belonged to the Stonewall Diversity Champions between 2010 and 2014 and during this time we achieved a top 45 ranking in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index - Top 100 Employers.

We still work to the principles of the Stonewall Equality Index, despite no longer being members.