Newsroom Archive

Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet received an update today (Thursday 13 July) on the Council’s progress against its four-year Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) Strategy and Action plan, launched in July last year.

The strategy and action plan, which was written in consultation with a range of community groups and partners, set out the local authority’s vision for an inclusive and open council that works with local residents, partners and employees to build communities that are great place to live and work. The strategy aims to ensure diversity is celebrated and thrives throughout the organisation, and that every community can access the services and support they need.

Councillor Raj Mehta, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for inclusion, engagement, equalities and civic pride, said: “Today’s report revealed considerable progress over the last twelve months against the council’s strategy and action plan, with significant work carried out to deliver a range of actions, and demonstrates the positive steps being taken across the organisation to achieve the council’s equality, diversity and inclusion objectives and overall vision.”

The Cabinet report today highlighted that:

• Consideration for equality, diversity and inclusion has been better embedded throughout the organisation, from the latest Council Plan, service standards and recruitment processes, to support for staff-led focus groups, council employees and elected members.
• In addition to the mandatory ED&I training for all staff, a more detailed ED&I module has been introduced for the new face to face induction training that all new staff are required to attend, with additional training for people involved in recruitment and selection.
• In March this year, the council agreed to treat ‘care experience’ in the same way as other protected characteristics, giving them the same protection as other protected characteristics such as age, disability, race, religion and others, in order to prevent discrimination and stigma and provide the best possible opportunities for people with experience of living in care.
• In addition to statutory Gender Pay Gap reporting, the council now also reports annually on Equality Pay Gaps too, with actions in place to reduce gaps and balance pay.
• Over the last twelve months, the council has held a range of multicultural events, open to all, including Love Telford, Telford Carnival, Black History Month celebrations, and the marking of Stephen Lawrence Day at Southwater Library.
• The councils multicultural development team worked with local schools to deliver educational workshops aimed at combatting hate crime, to 8,740 primary and secondary schools in the borough in 2022/23.

Building on Telford & Wrekin Council’s commitment to Armed Forces personnel in the borough, the ED&I Strategy report also recommended that the council recognises previous or current service in the armed forces in the same way that it recognises previous experience of being in care.

Councillor Mehta added: “Cabinet also approved recommendations in the report that the council gives due regard and consideration to Armed Forces Personnel in the same way as other protected characteristics, as part of our obligation to reduce, limit and remove disadvantage to armed forces personnel and their families through the Armed Forces Covenant Duty 2022.

“This is something we have recently done for people in the borough who have care experience to ensure that they are treated fairly and not disadvantaged, and we want to extend the same protection and rights to our armed forces personnel too, further strengthening our commitment an Armed Forces Covenant Gold employer.”