Malvern Hills District Council is committed to supporting and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion across the district.
In Autumn 2020, the council set up a working group to ensure equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies and practices are updated and to take action with others to ensure that it is fully embedded in its services.
As part of this, EDI champions have been established to provide support to staff within the council, as well as to help implement awareness raising campaigns to residents.
The council is also adopting a name-blind recruitment process as a commitment to workplace equality, has refreshed its Equality Impact Assessments and is now formally assessing the LGA's Equality Framework for Local Government.
It is also committed to memberships with Disability Confident, Time to Change and Investors in People.
At an Executive Committee meeting yesterday (21 September), it was discussed whether the council would sign up to the Stonewall UK Workplace Equality Index.
The motion was rejected on the grounds that a further formal standard, for which full membership would cost £6,000 per year, could divert resources away from the substantial agenda set out in the council's current action plan.
Cllr Sarah Rouse, Leader of Malvern Hills District Council, said: "It was agreed by all councillors that MHDC has excellent equality, diversity and inclusion policies. I fully support equality for all in our community, including our staff, but this proposal was an unnecessary use of tax payers money. Stonewall has recently seen the equality and human rights commission, DVLA, and Ministry of Local Government and Ofgem leave their membership due to costs. What we will do at MHDC is to continue to focus on inclusion for all, something we all agreed we all do well".
