Council Plan Equality, diversity and inclusion

A key part of our plan sets out our ambition to create an inclusive borough where nobody is left behind.

We want Wirral to be a place in which everyone’s hopes and aspirations can be made real. But we know there are some economic, social and health inequalities in Wirral and we are committed to addressing these. We want to ensure people are not held back by poverty and that our success is shared.

Our communities are our greatest strengths with people of many different backgrounds and life experiences living side by side. Supporting all our communities to thrive is a core strand running through all the priorities in our Council Plan and fundamental to how we work as a council.

The measures we want to take can make life better for everyone. Our plan sets out how we will deliver these ambitions. It demonstrates commitment to build an inclusive culture within our workforce and a positive impact on the residents we serve. It shows how we will shape our services, grow our economy and deliver regeneration to actively address inequality and exclusion.

This plan also sets out how we are committed to promoting equality of opportunity by meeting our statutory requirements and legal duties.

We want Wirral Council to be a fair and inclusive employer and to lead a borough where diversity is celebrated, people have equal opportunities and where inequality is actively tackled. We are committed to the Public Sector Equality Duty to advance equality of opportunity. The Equality Duty requires us to have due regard to the need to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
  • advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic/those who do not
  • Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

We do this in several ways including:

Publishing workforce profiles and pay gap information

This is to help us as employers to understand the reasons for any gap and to consider whether we need to develop action plans to tackle the causes of any such gap. We aim to be an inclusive employer and will work to ensure our workforce is diverse and reflective of our community at all levels of the organisation. We will create a workplace where people feel valued, and everyone works together harmoniously and with respect for each other.

Publishing information relating to people affected by our policies and decisions

We do this in several ways, including Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs). We also collect information about how satisfied our customers are with our services and use this to review our service delivery and help us to make our services accessible in a range of different ways for people. We aim to meet our responsibilities to treat people fairly, promote equalities, address inequality, challenge discrimination, and make reasonable adjustments where needed. We will publish our equalities reports and impact assessments in an easily accessible manner and will embed equalities into decisions the council and partners make, and into our Council Plan.

Publish equality objectives for how we will further any of the aims of the general equality duty

Our Council Plan aims to promote equity, and to secure the best possible future for all our residents, communities, and businesses. The plan has thematic priorities that focus on improving outcomes for whole population groups.

We will support communities to get on well together and develop a shared understanding of each other’s needs. We value the voluntary and community and faith sector, encouraging organisations to work together and residents to become more involved in their local communities.