Cumberland Council Equality Objectives 2024 to 2028

About the equality objectives

Every four years Public Bodies are required to agree one or more Equality Objectives that set out how they plan to meet the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Equality objectives provide us with an opportunity to:

• state its policy position and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• outline the approach it will take to addressing inequalities faced by people protected by the Equality Act 2010 (protected characteristics) identify specific areas of inequality for people who share a protected
• characteristic that it aims to address over the next four years

The equality objectives form the statutory Equality Act related element to the wider work that we are undertaking in relation to the delivery of the Council Plan and associated strategies and plans. It will form part of our wider approach to addressing inequalities that will link across to plans and strategies to tackle poverty and socio-economic inequalities, health inequalities and inequalities related to Cumberland’s geography, economy and infrastructure.

Our equality objectives

In April 2024 the Executive agreed the following overarching Equality Objective (2024 to 2028).

To tackle discrimination and advance equality of opportunity within Cumberland.

The delivery of this objective will be through four cross-cutting themes:

• addressing health, care and housing inequalities
• narrowing the educational attainment gap and increasing access to good jobs
• fostering good relations between communities in Cumberland
• ensuring services, employment and places are accessible and inclusive

Executive also agreed to an annual report stating progress in delivery of the equality objective.

Addressing health, housing and care inequalities

The focus of this theme is on taking action to understand and address the inequalities that relate to the wider determinants of health including the underlying social policies and systems that shape health and care outcomes. This includes a focus on:

• health disparities in relation to ethnicity, age, gender and sexual orientation in terms of access to services commissioned by Public Health, as well as our interface with the wider Health economy
• disparities experienced by the same protected characteristics in relation to the wider determinants of health (especially housing, welfare, access to food and other basic essentials)
• specific historical inequalities experienced by Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities that cut across health, education, housing and accommodation, planning, community cohesion and criminal justice
• outcome of audit review of Disabilities Facilities Grants
• embed the healthy aging approach across Cumberland
• equality and inclusion in relation to preventative support across Public Health, Children’s Services and Adult Social Care, by making sure that the lived experience of people who share a protected characteristic and people who have experienced a history of exclusion is embedded in all co-production
• ensuring that Children and Family wellbeing understands and meets the needs of diverse communities and prevents unnecessary statutory intervention
• understanding the needs of diverse communities in need of Adult Social Care
• integrating an intersectional approach to addressing the specific impacts of housing, accommodation and homelessness on different protected characteristics

Narrowing the educational attainment gap and increasing access to good jobs

The focus of this cross-cutting theme is on taking action to address inequalities related to the educational attainment gap for pupils on SEND, care experience, males and females and ethnic minority groups. This theme also focuses on gender, age and disability related disparities in the economy, and specific issues in relation to a genuinely inclusive approach to mental health, neurodivergence and complex health conditions in employment and training across Cumberland’s economy.

Fostering good relations between communities in Cumberland

The focus in this theme is to take action that supports community cohesion and good relations as set out in the Public Sector Equality Duty, by ensuring that action to meet the needs of people who share a protected characteristic at a local community level, does so in the context of addressing the wider determinants of health that effect the entire community. Specifically, this would focus on:

• groups with a protected characteristic who experience marginalisation in society and the community to have a voice in local decision making
• effective support to migrants including those who are on asylum dispersal programmes, refugee support programmes and people who chose to live and work in the UK, including but not limited to sponsorship schemes such as Homes for Ukraine and international recruits for health and care
• strong community cohesion through activities that promote inclusion and belonging and that tackle prejudice, hate crime and disinformation, while addressing the underlying societal inequalities that can exploited to create division

Ensuring services, employment and places are accessible and inclusive

The focus of this theme is to take action on inequalities in relation to:

• employment of people who share a protected characteristic, including recruitment, employee experience and outcomes from employment as well as specific legal duties in relation to equal pay (and equal pay reporting), disability and reasonable adjustments, maternity and harassment and victimisation
• developing a community hub approach to customer access to addresses the needs of diverse customers and people who share a protected characteristic when accessing any Council service
• development of property, assets and public spaces that are inclusive in design and can be accessed by all
• embedding Equality Diversity and Inclusion within the Cumberland Plan and all planning strategies and programmes