Lewes District Council

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Equalities
Lewes District Council
32 High Street
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 2LX

Tel: 01273 471600
equalities@lewes.gov.uk
Minicom 01273 484488

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Equality Framework

Equality Framework for Local Government

The Equality Framework for Local Government helps us formally assess our performance on equalities every three years, and helps us ensure we are taking a comprehensive approach to dealing with equalities related issues.
 
The Council began working to the Equality Standard for Local Government from 2001, reaching Level 2 in 2008/09.  In 2009, the Equality Framework for Local Government was introduced to replace the Equality Standard, and Councils that had reached Levels 1 or 2 of the old Standard were automatically transferred to the ‘Developing’ Level of the new Framework. 

The Framework builds on and recognises the work that councils have already undertaken under the Standard, but contains many new features.  It is based on three levels of:

•        developing
•        achieving, and
•        excellent
 
Although there are three different levels of achievement, working under the framework is in fact best thought of as a process of continuous improvement. The Framework looks at performance in areas that touch on all services, internal and external, provided by the Council and also how we operate generally.  The five areas of performance that are assessed are:

•        Knowing your communities and equality mapping
•        Place shaping, leadership, partnership and organisational commitment
•        Community engagement and satisfaction
•        Responsive services and customer care
•        A modern and diverse workforce

The Equalities Officer and the Equalities Working Group, which is made up of Departmental Equality Representatives, are tasked with driving progress against the Framework.  We hope to reach the 'Achieving' level, which involves an external assessment by the Local Government Idea & Development Agency, by December 2012.

Documents

Equality Framework Report - Self Assessment August 2011
PDF Equality Framework Report - Self Assessment August 2011 (0.35mb)

Executive Summary and Action Plan
PDF Executive Summary and Action Plan (0.09mb)

Equality Framework for Local Government - Lewes District Council Position Statement
PDF Equality Framework for Local Government - Lewes District Council Position Statement (0.04mb)

Key Principles of the Equality Framework
PDF Equality Framework for Local Government (0.76mb)