London Councils supports all 33 London boroughs in promoting equality and respecting diversity so that the needs of all communities in London are met. We have a Lead Member for Equalities who is part of Leaders' Committee.
In 2012 we produced a good practice guide: 'Fairness and Equality - Leading in London' as part of a wider equalities project which gives a new narrative for equality in a changing economic and political landscape.
London Councils also meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), part of the Equality Act, came into force in April 2011. The Equality Duty has three aims. It requires public bodies to have 'due regard' to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it
- Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share it.
This requirement is primarily about decision making and ensuring that the organisation pays 'due regard' to the Equality Duty when making decisions about policies and services. There is also a specific duty to:
- Publish information to demonstrate compliance with the PSED at least annually starting from 31 January 2012
- Prepare and publish equality objectives at least every four years starting from 6 April 2012.
Published information
We publish our Equal Opportunities Policy which outlines how London Councils will ensure that equality and diversity issues are positively and fully incorporated in all aspects of London Councils’ work and our expectations of our staff in regard to equalities. We also publish reports to our members committees on reviews or proposed changes to services which include, where appropriate, Equalities Impact Assessments. Further information about our services users can be found on the Services pages of our website and about the London Boroughs Grants Scheme on the Grants webpages. If you are looking for particular information and would like assistance locating it, please contact our FOI officer.
As our organisation employs less than 150 staff, we are not required to publish workforce information however we do publish summaries of our annual workforce audit. Please download our summary reports for 2011/12 to 2019/20 available on the right.
There have been changes to Replacing Lost, Stolen or Faulty Freedom Passes - for more information see the committee papers on this.
Equality objectives
We have identified a number of areas (set out in the documents listed below) where we will strive to improve what we do and we will review, where appropriate, the impact this has had on our performance and the outcomes we have achieved in e.g. improvements in our service and service delivery and on us as an organisation.
These areas include some of our policy work, communications and accessibility, both to our building and services (set out in the documents listed below).
These objectives were identified as part of our business planning process. Our Executive Member portfolio leads and our Lead Member for Equalities, our Corporate Equalities Group and staff-side were engaged and/or consulted in the development/identification of these objectives.
London Councils aims to mainstream all of its equalities work.
Feedback on this work is welcomed.
Contact : contact@londoncouncils.gov.uk