The Equality Act 2010 harmonised and replaced pre-existing equality legislation and extended statutory protection across 9 ‘protected characteristics’ which are:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
- pregnancy and maternity
- marriage and civil partnerships
We are committed to tackling unfair discrimination on these grounds and are committed to ensuring that our services are accessible and meet the ever changing needs of our community.
The Equality Act (2010) introduced the concept of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). As a public sector organisation the Council is subject to the (PSED) which means that we must take steps to actively promote equality. The PSED requires public authorities 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 and those who do not, and
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
The general equality duty is supported by specific duties which require us to publish equality objectives every four years and data about our workforce and communities which is reviewed annually including our gender pay information. We pledge to meet both our specific and general duties under the Equality Act (2010).
Our approach to equality and diversity is set out in our Equality and Diversity Policy. This is integral to our commitment to making Plymouth ‘a fairer city, where everyone does their bit’.
In the spirit of this commitment, we work to ensure we deliver services to all our diverse communities in a way that eliminates discrimination, advances equality of opportunity, and fosters good relations.