Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – our action plan

Wakefield Council aims to serve and support all residents, businesses, and partners in the district. All while taking into account the diverse needs of our communities. We acknowledge that our district is continuously evolving, and it is crucial to ensure that all residents feel included, valued, and able to contribute to the district's success.

The Council has a number of duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), but our ambition is to go beyond these duties. We will do this by embedding a strong focus on EDI into both our future planning and all our day-to-day activities.

Our 2022-24 EDI objectives are that as a council, and in working in partnership with residents, business and the voluntary sector we will:

• show leadership and commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), with no tolerance for hate crimes in the district
• work with diverse communities to
  • foster good relations
  • eliminate discrimination
  • embed equalities in policy and practice
• make our services responsive and accessible to all, including by developing and publishing Equality Impact Assessments for major decisions
• build a skilled and diverse workforce that demonstrate inclusive behaviours and values
• recognise and ensure that EDI is everyone's responsibility – including elected members, all employees and everyone we partner with or commission

To demonstrate the progress we have made we have produced our EDI annual report 2022/2023 and it's also available in an accessible version.

The objectives are underpinned by robust internal and external development plans. Progress on the plans will be reported to the Council's Cabinet, Audit Committee and our internal EDI Board, chaired by the Chief Executive.

EDI awareness is also integral to how we:

• recruit and develop all our staff
• deliver our services to residents
• commission and procure goods and services

We will also move forward the work with external stakeholders to make these objectives a reality. We want the Wakefield district to be a place where everyone is both valued and feels valued. We will represent everyone and promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in our district.