Our equality and diversity

What are the council's plans to increase access to its services?

Corporate Equality Policy

The council has a formal requirement to produce a Corporate Equality Policy (72.9 KB) . 

The Vale has produced a joint policy with South Oxfordshire District Council to reflect the new joint working arrangements.  The policy sets out the councils’ commitment to ensuring equality considerations are included in everything we do; it also helps to demonstrate how we will meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Corporate Equality Objectives

The council has set the following equality objectives in line with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and to support the delivery of the councils’ Corporate Plan priorities.  We have set a number of measures that we will report against annually; along with detail about actions we have achieved to demonstrate how the councils’ are meeting the general duties in the Equality Act.

• Provide equality of access to services and our employment opportunities
• Support projects to tackle hate crime and foster good relations between different groups of people in the Vale
• Seek to improve access to the town centres in the Vale for people with disabilities, carers and older people

Service level equality objectives and actions to achieve these can be found in completed equality impact assessments. 

You can view of download our Corporate Equality Action Plan 2012/13 – 2014/15 (112.0 KB) to look at the actions and measures we have set ourselves.

Equality and Diversity Scheme 2008/09 - 2010/11

Our Equality and Diversity Scheme has now expired.  The scheme was accompanied by a Corporate Equality Action Plan that has been updated annually to ensure it reflects the requirements of equalities legislation and the Equality Framework for Local Government.  You can view or download our joint Corporate Equality Action Plan for 2011/12 (44.3 KB) .

Copies of the 2008/09 – 2010/11 scheme are available on request.

Annual review of our equalities work 2010/11

Each year we produce an annual progress report relating to our equality work program, this report helps to demonstrate how the council is meeting the general duties of the Equality Act 2010.  You can view or download our progress report for 2010/11 (119.5 KB) , sending any comments you have on the progress we have made to the shared equalities officer using the contact details on the right.

The council's Accessible Information Policy

This aims to ensure that the council provides its service users, staff and councillors with clear information (written, and oral) which meets their needs in terms of:

• Formats
• Languages
• Overall readability

You can view a copy of the policy (118.6 KB) . If you've got any queries about it, please contact the Shared Equalities Officer using the contact details on the right.

The first among equals!

The Vale of White Horse District Council was the first district in Oxfordshire to reach a nationally recognised standard in its approach to equalities.

In July 2009, external assessors agreed that we reach Level Three of the Equality Standard for Local Government. This means the council is the best district council in the county in terms of promoting equality and diversity and that it is committed to providing accessible services for everyone.

EFLG logo for 'achieving'

Levels one and two of the Equality Standard for Local Government are self assessed by councils, but level three has to be validated by an external peer challenge, by councillors and officers from other councils. The council was assessed in terms of leadership and commitment, work with communities, service delivery, customer care and staff training.

Work to reach level three has included assessments of service delivery, introducing an accessible information policy and setting up groups to explore what particular communities want from the council.

The Equality Standard for Local Government has now been replaced by the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG). By securing level three of the old Standard, the Vale is now classed as an 'achieving' council under the new framework in terms of its approach to providing accessible services and jobs. For more information about the EFLG, please see the IDeA website. This link will take you to an external website...