Equalities

We promote equality and freedom from discrimination for everyone in North Somerset.

We are committed to ensuring there is equality of opportunity for our residents irrespective of their status.

To help us meet this aim we have an  Equality Scheme (pdf, Feb 2010, 351kb) which sets out how we will achieve this aim and our duties to you.

You can find the updated Equality Impact Assessments for our medium term financial plan (also known as the budget reduction proposal) on this web page. 

We are responsible for:

• adhering to the equality framework for local government which states we must consider equality issues at all levels of our policy and practice.
• giving advice on access to buildings for local businesses and private developers.
• publishing equality information.
• representing minority, excluded and disadvantaged groups working alongside the Somerset Racial Equality Council (SREC)  and offering a racial harassment case work service through the charity Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI).

We also help provide support for individuals affected by homophobia by working alongside the charity Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) which runs a freephone helpline on 0808 100 0143.

The Government is commissioning a new Equality Advisory and Support Service to provide a high-quality service helping individuals who have problems with discrimination.   It will give expert advice and support, tailored to people’s individual circumstances, with a particular focus on  providing in depth support to vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals to find early and informal solutions where possible. Everyone will be able to use the new service, whatever  their means. It will strive to meet the highest standards of accessibility for everyone – including people with disabilities and those for whom English is not their first language.

For more information contact our Equality and Diversity team.