Published: 2017
Contents
Purpose of Equality and Diversity Framework
Strategic context:Belfast City Council working in partnership to deliver the Community Plan
Corporate context: Belfast City Council’s corporate plan
Framework priorities
Priority A: Leadership, Partnership and Organisational Commitment
Priority B: Understanding our communities through information and consultation
Priority C: Services accessible to all
Priority D: Skilled and diverse workforce
Glossary
Purpose of Equality and Diversity Framework
This Equality and Diversity Framework runs from April 2017 until March 2021. The framework is a strategic level document outlining how we will promote equality and diversity in our ambitions to create a city in which people love to live, learn, invest, work and visit.
This framework also contributes to our compliance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Strategic context: Belfast City Council working in partnership to deliver the Community Plan
Belfast City Council is the city’s lead partner in Community Planning. The council is responsible for establishing the process of community planning and for ensuring the development and implementation of the city’s first community plan, The Belfast Agenda.
The Belfast Agenda seeks to improve the lives and wellbeing outcomes of all citizens in Belfast and to ensure the city is a place where people want to work, study, visit and invest.
The Belfast Agenda has identified five long term aspirations for the city:
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Everyone in Belfast benefits from a thriving and prosperous economy
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Belfast is a welcoming, safe, fair and inclusive city for all
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Everyone in Belfast fulfils their potential
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Everyone in Belfast experiences good health and wellbeing
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Belfast is a vibrant, attractive, connected and environmentally friendly city
The Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 and the supporting statutory community planning guidance highlight the need to promote equality of opportunity as a key objective for community plans. The Belfast Agenda explicitly identifies ‘equality and good relations’ as one of its underpinning shared values and seeks to address key inequalities across the city.
This Equality and Diversity Framework outlines actions that the council will deliver with its community planning partners as part of the Belfast Agenda, through the community planning process, and how we mainstream equality and good relations in our actions.
Corporate context: Belfast City Council's corporate plan
Belfast City Council is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all areas of the work we do. For us, addressing inequalities is about what we can do to create a fairer society and recognises that equality and good relations are issues for us all.
We don’t all start from the same place and to create a fairer, peaceful society we need to recognise the diversity in our communities. We need to continue to consider how the characteristics protected by Section 75 may have on the life chances of members of all of our communities and better understand the relationship between these characteristics and the role that socioeconomic status has in creating, or contributing to, inequalities. Good relations is also an important area of our work, as we seek to increasingly be recognised as a city that values diversity and encourages civic participation.
This Equality and Diversity Framework sets out the actions to be delivered by Belfast City Council and demonstrates how we will utilise the framework to help us to respond to new thinking on equality outcomes and the new challenges.
Framework priorities
The Equality and Diversity Framework is built around four priorities in how we will tackle inequalities and promote diversity in our city:
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Leadership, partnership and organisational commitment
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Understanding our communities through data and consultation
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Delivering services accessible to all
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Developing a skilled and diverse workforce
Each priority includes a series of actions with a timescale, strategic owner and the equality and diversity-related outcome which should be achieved.
Priority A: Leadership, partnership and organisational commitment
We know that strategic leadership – both political and managerial – is key to improving equality and good relations outcomes, and promoting diversity. This organisational commitment goes hand in hand with working in partnership to make the best use of our resources in an ever challenging environment. Fairness in how we comply with legislation, procure goods and services and communicate with our rate payers will highlight Belfast’s growth as a diverse city.
Action | Timescale | Responsibility | How this action helps promote equality and diversity | Strategic owner |
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A1 Address inequalities through the Belfast Agenda | 2017-2021 | Community Planning Partners / Responsible Chief Officers | Inequalities and barriers are addressed | BCC Community Planning Partnership |
A2 Embed Equality and Diversity in new Corporate Plan | 2017-2021 | Strategic Planning and Policy Manager / EDO | Demonstration of effective leadership in promoting equality and diversity | BCC |
A3 Develop and deliver an integrated plan to tackle health inequalities across the cit | 2017-2018 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods | Health inequalities are being addressed |
BCC |
A4 Deliver Disability Strategy (encompassing DDA and DDO measures |
2017-2021 | City Solicitor/Head of HR | Address inequalities faced by disabled people in employment, services and policies | BCC |
A5 Deliver an integrated plan to improve good relations | 2017-2021 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods/ Good Relations Manager | Promotion of good relations | BCC |
A6 Develop an Age-Friendly Action Plan 2018-21 through HASP and deliver programmes of work supporting older people and encouraging Active Ageing | 2017-2021 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods | Promote Belfast as an Age-Friendly city | BCC |
A7 Develop and deliver an integrated children and young people framework and work programme | 2017-2021 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods | Promote participation and inclusion of children and young people | BCC |
A8 Deliver LGB Action Plan | 2017-2021 | Head of HR | Address inequalities faced by LGBT people in employment, services and policies | BCC |
A9 Deliver Gender Action Plan | 2017-2021 | Head of HR | Raised awareness of gender inequalities internally, in service design and our policies | BCC |
A10 Deliver Race Action Plan | 2017-2021 | Head of HR | Raised awareness of racial inequalities internally, in service design and our policies | BCC |
A11 Deliver a city and neighbourhood community safety programme | 2017-2021 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods/ Community Safety Manage | We will work to make communities safer for all people | BCC |
A12 Develop the Equality and Diversity Network | 2018-2018 | City Solicitor/Head of HR | Co-ordinate and raise awareness of inequality-related issues across the organisation | BCC |
A13 Implementation of Equality Scheme | ongoing | City Solicitor/EDO | Compliance with the council’s Equality Scheme | BCC |
A14 Review and develop new Equality Scheme 2020-25 | 2019-2020 | City Solicitor/EDO | Compliance with Section 75 of Northern Ireland Act | BCC |
A15 Hold bi-annual meetings of Equality Consultative Forum | 2017-2021 | City Solicitor/EDO | Policies promoted through consultation and engagement with equality groups | BCC |
A16 Review the role of the council’s external Equality Consultative Forum | 2017-2018 | City Solicitor/EDO | Align Equality Consultative Forum with relevant consultation and engagement mechanisms | BCC |
A17 Scope option to develop an internal and external Equality Forum within the emerging Community Planning Partnership | 2018/2019 | Strategic Planning Manager/City Solicitor | Collaborative approach to key inequalities | CPP |
A18 Develop and deliver a communications plan to promote equality and diversity in the organisation internally and externally | 2017-2021 | Corporate Communications Manager/HR/OD/ EDO | Raised awareness and increased understanding of equality and diversity issues | BCC |
Priority B: Understanding our communities through information and consultation
Our society is becoming more diverse. Today it is impossible to assume we know the composition of our communities – we have to find that out through gathering information known as data. The prosperity and cohesion of all people and communities can be affected by age, gender, marital status; if you have, or have not, a disability or dependents, religious and/ or racial background, political opinion and different sexual orientations. It is also important to understand the different needs within communities, for examples there are many forms of disability, and like the other Section 75 characteristics, every individual straddles all of the groups in some way, with great differences, as well as similarities between socio-economic groups.
Consultation and engagement with our communities will also help us to understand their needs better and we need to use different ways of involving communities and neighbourhoods.
Action | Timescale | Responsibility | How this action helps promote equality and diversity | Strategic owner |
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B1 Develop an appropriate system to collect information about communities’ needs and aspirations. | 2017/2018 | Strategic Planning and Policy Manager/ Statistician /EDO | Relevant, proportionate and appropriate information collected to inform decision-making | BCC |
B2 Services use relevant city data when developing policies and services | 2018/2021 | Corporate and departmental policy officers/EDO | Available data will be analysed and used to shape policies and services | BCC |
B3 Develop a city dashboard to share city data including equality-related information between community planning partners and publish to citizens | 2018/2019 | Strategic Planning Manager/ Statistician | Effective and efficient of sharing information between community planning partners | BCC |
B4 Establish an appropriate mechanism for Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) representation and facilitate participation of CVS in the community planning process | 2017/2018 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods/ City Solicitor/ Strategic Planning and Policy Manager | Effective and efficient of sharing information between community planning partners | BCC |
B4 Establish an appropriate mechanism for Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) representation and facilitate participation of CVS in the community planning process | 2017/2018 | Director of City and Neighbourhoods/ City Solicitor/ Strategic Planning and Policy Manager | Effective and inclusive consultation and engagement | CPP |
B5 Roll out corporate consultation and engagement plan | 2017/2018 | Strategic Planning and Policy Manager/Policy Officer | Effective and inclusive consultation and engagement | BCC |
Priority C: Services accessible to all
Providing services, whether provided directly, procured or commissioned, remains central to what we do and through the Equality Action Plan this priority will be central to how we do business.
Action | Timescale | Responsibility | How this helps promote equality and diversity | Strategic owner |
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C1 Demonstrated promotion of equality and diversity embedded in departmental business plans | 2017-2021 | All chief officers | Promoting equality and diversity ‘designed in’ to service delivery and the planning of policies, projects and programmes | BCC |
C2 Support departments in carrying out equality screenings of emerging policies | ongoing | City Solicitor/ EDO | Compliance with the council’s Equality Scheme | BCC |
C3 Annual reporting to the Equality Commission | annual | City Solicitor/ EDO | Compliance with the council’s Equality Scheme | BCC |
C4 Advice and guidance for services to promote participation and inclusion for underrepresented groups | ongoing | City Solicitor/ EDO | Our services are more accessible | BCC |
C5 Facilitated testing of website by people with different abilities, including online forms and transactions | 2017-2021 | Corporate Communications Manager | Increased access to information and services | BCC |
C6 Benchmarking of website by an external | 2017-2021 | Corporate Communications Manager | Good practice in providing access to information and services | BCC |
C6 Benchmarking of website by an external organisation | 2017-2019 | Corporate Communications Manager | Good practice in providing access to information and services | BCC |
C7 Scoping development of a range of inclusive communication channels to meet different needs | 2018-2019 | Corporate Communications Manager | Most appropriate methods of communications identified and supported | BCC |
Priority D: Skilled and diverse workforce
The ability to deliver responsive services to increasingly diverse communities will depend in a large part on the composition, skills, understanding and commitment of a workforce in how we build their capacity and understanding of the need to promote equality and diversity. Through the development of a workforce which is broadly representative of the communities it serves the council will deliver better outcomes for all.
Action | Timescale | Responsibility | How this action helps promote equality and diversity | Strategic owner |
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D1 Learning and development programme developed and delivered | ongoing | HR/OD, GRU, EDO / Services | Increased staff awareness of equality and diversity issues | BCC |
D2 Mechanisms to monitor the diversity of the workforce and applicants are further developed | 2017-2018 | HR/OD | Profile of workforce is broadly representative of the community it serves | BCC |
D3 Implementation of Organisational Development Strategy | 2017-2021 | HR/OD | Organisation developed to deliver responsive services to diverse communities | BCC |
Glossary
Abbreviations in tables are:
EDO: Equality and Diversity Officer
HR/OD: Human Resources and Organisational Development
GRU:Good Relations Unit