The Equality Act 2010 defines discrimination in terms of nine ‘protected characteristics’: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation.

The Public Sector Equality Duty places a requirement on all public bodies to publish one or more objective(s) that they think they should achieve in order to meet the General Duty.  The General Duty requires us to:  

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it, and
• Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it. 

Our Equality Objectives

1. Ensure a wide range of voices are reached and heard in decision making and designing and delivering services.

• Ensure all relevant groups are included in consultations, providing support as appropriate. 
• Improve the accessibility of our events, meetings, information and communications.
• Strengthen our relationship with our communities and encourage participation. 
• Ensure equality considerations are appropriately addressed within our procurement processes and contract management arrangements.

2. Reduce inequalities so Torbay and its residents thrive.

• Deliver on our Community and Corporate Plan ambition we will work to: 
  • Ensure that all children are given the best start in life and families are supported.
  • Tackle lifestyle and economic issues which lead to inequality and poor health. 
  • Ensure that older people age well and are physically, mentally and socially active.  

3. Consider and if approved implement the recommendations from the Torbay Racism Review Panel.

• Maintain a legacy of the review. 
• Strengthen engagement networks. 

4. Support the diverse needs of our workforce. 

Our staff are one of our biggest assets and our employees come from a wide range of backgrounds with a variety of skills and knowledge. We are committed to supporting our staff and enabling them to provide the best possible service to our customers. 

• Demonstrating our Core Values, we will always be approachable, calm and respectful. 
• Create an environment where we act professionally and treat everyone with respect. 
• Ensure that policies and initiatives are in place so our staff can feel safe at work and carry out their duties without feeling bullied or discriminated against.
• Support staff to continue to improve their cultural competence and confidence to improve workforce inclusivity and engage with our diverse population and communities.

Anti-Semitism

In addition to the protected characteristics, in April 2017, we adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of Anti-Semitism as follows:

“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.  Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

We continue to actively support and promote the aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty in relation to all communities living in Torbay regardless of their faith.

Equality Information

Each year we are required to demonstrate compliance with our objectives.  We do this through the publication of our Equality Information.

Read our report on Equality Information