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Equality Information

Equality Information

Equalities and fairness is something we are passionate about at NEDDC. We have developed equality policies and monitoring to provide structure and integrity to the way we work and serve our communities and businesses.

Video Relay Service

Did you know you can contact the Council via video relay service. You can sign to a BSL interpreter through you laptop or smartphone who will relay your message to the Council and interpret the Council’s response into BSL. More information on contacting the Council via video relay service can be found on our British Sign Language Interpreter Service page.

Equality Policy

A new joint policy has been developed to explain what the law requires from those delivering public services and to support staff in dealing with our customers.

Equality Monitoring

Equality monitoring is often not carried out because it is believed to be time-consuming, confusing, lacking in purpose or intrusive to customers. This guidance has been developed with these concerns in mind and offers best practice examples to help us get it right.

How we publish Equality Data

We publish equality information in a variety of ways:

Public Sector Equality Duties

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 came into force on 10 September 2011. Under Section 147(1) of the Act, public bodies are required to show that they meet the public sector equality duties by:

  • Setting equality objectives
  • Publishing relevant, proportionate information showing compliance with the Equality Duty

Data held by The Council

The following data is held by us and will be updated periodically. We have identified some gaps in information about our services and workforce which we are addressing, following an organisational restructure.

Disability

In the Census 2011, 21,762 people (22% of the population) in North East Derbyshire district declared that their day-to-day activities were limited due to disability or long term ill health.

Social Model of Disability

Disability relates to the way society is organised, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. If we remove barriers that restrict life choices for disabled people they can be independent and equal in society, with choice and control over their own lives.

How we're improving access and opportunities for disabled people

One of the ways in which we are removing barriers and improving opportunities for disabled people, is by making sure that we put reasonable adjustments in place. These help us to communicate with and enable disabled people using our services and help us to support our disabled staff.

Examples include:

  • Communicating in different accessible ways in line with our Joint Equality Policy 2018 (.pdf | 218kb)
  • Offering a reasonable adjustments service for disabled people so that we send written communications in the appropriate format for you.
  • Improving access and facilities for disabled people and others in the buildings we use to deliver our services
  • Providing disabled toilet facilities in our buildings, meeting the Changing Places standard on key sites
  • Making hearing loops available in our Contact Centre and our public meeting rooms
  • Supporting local advice and support services for disabled people as well as inclusive activities and events
  • Providing disabled adaptations to homes to support independent living. These are funded by grants from Derbyshire County Council
  • Providing specialist disability training for frontline staff so they can respond to individual needs
  • Signing up to Disability Confident which supports disabled people in recruitment and at work
  • Making adjustments so existing disabled employees can carry out their jobs and feel safe and supported at work
  • Supporting staff with an Occupational Health service and an Employee Assistance Programme where they can access information online on a wide variety of practical and wellbeing topics

Helpful Services

  • Cyber crime and online safety BSL videos(opens in a new window)
  • Disability Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living works to apply disabled people's ideas and experiences to developing services and public policies.
  • Action on Hearing Loss is a national charity which offers information and support to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
  • Deaf and Hearing Support is based in Chesterfield. It aims to provide the best quality service for deaf and hearing impaired people in North Derbyshire. You can test various aids at their Resource Centre where they have the latest technology on display.
  • RNIB offer practical and emotional support to those losing their sight or who are blind or partially sighted.
  • Sight Support Derbyshire is a local charity which provides services, support and advice and information for registered blind and partially sighted local people.
  • Mencap is a national charity which works to improve the lives of people with a learning disability and their families.
  • MIND is a national charity which offers support and information on mental health.

Equality Impact Assessments

What is an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)?

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) looks at a policy or procedure and sees if it discriminates or is likely to discriminate against somebody because of their:

  • Race
  • Gender
  • Disability
  • Age
  • Sexual Orientation
  • Religion
  • Belief
  • Any other likely characteristic

If it is found that a policy or procedure does discriminate against someone we will do what we can to eliminate, minimise or counterbalance the discrimination.

What are the benefits of an Equality Impact Assessment?

There are several reasons why we conduct EIAs. The benefits of impact assessment include:

  • They help to analyse our services to see if there is reflective representation from our communities
  • They assist us in considering alternative policies or measures that might address any adverse impact
  • They help us to improve the way in which we develop our policies and functions by ensuring that they reflect the current equality and diversity legislative framework
  • They help to identify direct or indirect discrimination
  • They help us to better understand the needs and aspirations of the diverse communities we serve

Equalities legalisation has now been extended so there is a statutory duty for gender and disability to conduct equality impact assessments. Our impact assessment process covers gender, disability, sexual orientation, age and religion and belief, as well as race.

Joint Strategies and Policies

Learn British Sign Language

Did you know you can contact the Council via video relay service. You can sign to a BSL interpreter through your laptop or smartphone who will relay your message to the Council and interpret the Council’s response into BSL. More information on contacting the Council via video relay service can be found on our British Sign Language Interpreter Service page.

Equality & Diversity Policy for Service Delivery

North East Derbyshire District Council has an Equality & Diversity Policy for Service Delivery which sets out what we expect from our staff, our Councillors and our partners. Our aim is to treat our customers fairly regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

We assess our policies for any equality impact on members of the LGBT community and include LGBT issues in our corporate equalities training, which is mandatory for all new employees.

Equality Monitoring

The Council uses equality monitoring to help us understand who is using our services as well as their experiences and outcomes. For example, when we undertake consultation, we collect monitoring data (when appropriate to do so) to check that any feedback on our services is representative of the people we serve.

Whenever we ask members of the public for information for equality monitoring purposes, we will take care that this is relevant and appropriate.

Our Partners

Derbyshire LGBT+ offers a range of social and specialist support services around the county:

Hate Incidents

Our Community Safety team leads on tackling hate incidents and hate crimes in the District. If you are experiencing harassment or hate incidents because of your sexuality or gender identity, please don’t hesitate to contact them.

We want our LGBT community to feel confident in reporting hate incidents they have experienced or witnessed and we have a range of ways to help:

Graffiti

It is Council policy to remove any offensive graffiti within 24 hours. If you see it, please tell us:

Domestic Abuse

If you or anyone else is in danger:

Voting

If you have changed your name to reflect your gender identity and wish to change your name on the Electoral Register, you can do so in two ways:

  1. You may re-register online, however please provide your previous name when completing the application as this helps us to identify any previous registrations you may have, ensuring that you are not registered twice and that your registration period is continuous which may help should you wish to apply for credit in your new name. If you would prefer to not be linked to records in your previous name, please contact us to discuss this, as while we can ensure that here is no continuity between your registrations there are some implications to doing this.
  2. Alternatively, you can contact the Electoral Services Team directly on 01246 217058, who will be happy to help you with the process and will deal with your request confidentially and sensitively. You may be required to provide evidence of your change of name / identity, but the team will be happy to discuss ways in which you can do this.

If you would like to have an informal, confidential conversation about registering or changing your name on the Electoral Register, please do not hesitate to contact the Electoral Services Team on 01246 217058, who can talk you through the process and your options.