Understanding our Town

Equality monitoring

We build our understanding by gathering information on the profile of people using national and local data, by collecting profile information from people who take part in consultation or use our services and by asking our staff to provide this information when they begin employment with us and when taking part in surveys.

What information do we need from you?

The information we request and use usually includes your age, gender, marital status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, if you are a transsexual person and if you feel you have a disability. When we analyse this information collectively we do not use any personal information such as your name and address.

Why is this important?

We review and monitor equality information so that we can tailor our services effectively. This helps us to ensure we are offering equality of opportunity to everyone and can help us to make changes based on facts rather than assumptions.

We also have a legal duty to ensure that we promote equality of opportunity in our service delivery, employment practices and other activities. Without equality monitoring, we would not know whether our policies and actions are working.

In what ways will this information be used?

Information will be used and analysed to:

• Find out which groups use our services and regularly participate in consultation and activities
• Ensure we are including and treating everyone fairly and are aware of their different needs
• Determine whether the plans and policies we make on equality and diversity are working
• Determine if our workforce reflects the diversity of our community.

Confidentiality

Any details you provide will be treated confidentially and used anonymously. We have a legal duty to comply with the Data Protection Act.