Our commitment to equality

Promoting fairness and tackling inequality are at the heart of our values as an organisation.

As a council we want to provide high quality and accessible services that deliver what matters most to our diverse communities.

We also want our workforce culture to promote and embrace equality, fairness and inclusion. We are committed to supporting our workforce to develop and to deliver and commission quality services.

Our Equality Objectives 2019 to 2023

Our Equality Objectives are important to us as an organisation. They guide the work we carry out in the city and show our commitment to challenging inequality and promoting a fair and inclusive City. 

By law (Equality Act 2010) the Council is required to set at least one Equality Objective every four years.

Following a public consultation we have now published our agreed objectives.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy sets out our equality commitments to the people of Sheffield and our staff and how we will meet them.

Our Public Sector Equality Duty

The Public Sector Equality Duty  (PSED) (Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010) covers councils and other public sector organisations such as the Police, health and schools. It also applies to organisations we contract with who are carrying functions on our behalf.

The General Duty has 3 aims. It requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
  • advance equality of opportunity
  • foster good relations

Annual Equality and Workforce Employee Reports

Our Annual Equality Report gives an overview of how we are meeting our Public Sector Equality Duty. It summarises our actions and progress on improving equality, in the way we serve the people of Sheffield and how we behave as an employer.

The report includes more detailed information about some of our areas of work and highlights areas of persistent inequality.

The examples in the report are only a selection of the ways in which we work to improve equality and to meet the Equality Duty. Our partners also have a duty to report on their work around equality.

Race Equality

In 2020 Sheffield City Council supported the setting up and delivery of the Independent Race Equality Commission in Sheffield.

This was to provide an independent strategic assessment of the nature, extent, causes and impacts of racism and race inequality within the city. The Commission Reported in July 2022. Please see all the hearings and reports on the Race Equality Commission webpage.

As a Council we have responded to the commission. We have undertaken further work to support the Council in working to become an anti-racist organisation and Sheffield to be an anti-racist city.

We have described the work in reports to our Strategy and Resources Committee. Please see the reports for the detail.

Equality Impact Assessment

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is a way of systematically assessing the effects that a policy, project or proposal is likely to have on different groups people within the city. Our policies, projects and decisions will affect the communities we serve and there is the potential for our services to have unseen barriers or to effect some customers, residents, visitors or staff, even if this is not our intention.

We therefore undertake an EIA to help us make better decisions and to try to ensure that the services we provide and commission are fair and accessible to all.

EIAs are focussed on the impact on the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. These include age, disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, religion/belief, gender reassignment, pregnancy & maternity. In Sheffield, we have decided to go beyond our statutory duty under the Equality Act 2010. We also assess the impact on the Voluntary and Community and faith Sector (VCFS), poverty and financial exclusion, carers, armed forces and cohesion. We believe that this gives us a wider understanding than the statutory framework would without these additions.

We carry out an initial EIA for any proposals, policies and projects and a full EIA where we think there may be a disproportionate impact on some groups of people. We then consult with those people who are likely to be impacted by proposals, projects or changes to policies. We also carry out an EIA on our overall budget report annually and on the proposals that under pin this.

Completed Equality Impact Assessments are available so for more information or to request a completed EIA please contact us.

EIA areas assessed

We assess:

  • age
  • disability
  • gender reassignment
  • race 
  • religion or belief
  • sex - including pregnancy and maternity
  • sexual orientation
  • carers
  • other issues such as cohesion , health and wellbeing, financial inclusion and poverty

Equality information and monitoring

Equality monitoring helps us to ensure that services are accessible. Recording personal circumstances allows us to analyse how well we are meeting our commitments to different groups of customers. Research such as the Census provides a profile of the population of Sheffield that enables us to compare who requests and receives services against the data we collect. For example, we collect information on who uses our translation and interpretation.

Equality monitoring helps us to:

  • understand why our services do not meet their needs
  • improve delivery of services making it easier for all groups of customers to access services

Contact Equalities and Engagement

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