Dover DC has just achieved level three of the Equality Standard for Local Government. Yes, there are authorities at level four and five but these tend to be large urban authorities with significant BME populations.
So for a small, essentially, rural district with a very small BME population, this marks a significant achievement.
The investment we have put into achieving this standard recognises that we ensure everyone can access and benefit from our services, especially those from minority groups. The population is changing in common with many coastal areas. It is ageing and we are also seeing change through the impact of migration. So designing our services to be accessible not only improves them for now but also helps us plan for the changes that are occurring. However, the standard addresses all the equalities strands to make sure we put all customers at the heart of everything we do, and sends out a clear signal that we are serious about improving the lives of all Dover district residents.
The assessors commented on the energy and enthusiasm of everyone they met and were impressed by the way that people worked together within the council as well as with our community partners. This is essential in delivering on equalities. We need to believe in and make it part of everything we do; the equalities agenda doesn't work if it is seen as an afterthought.
I am particularly proud of the fact the work has been driven forward by a group of volunteers from across the organisation who form the Corporate Equalities Group. They have worked to drive service improvements utilising ‘customer access reviews' of all services. This means that in looking at designing all our services we are placing our communities and customers at the core of our thinking.
We are now ‘an achieving' council under the new Equality Framework. Our next ‘badge' could be to become ‘excellent', but this may be a challenge too far for a district with our resource base. But the badge isn't why I continue to drive our programme forward; making a real difference to all of the communities we serve is. We can only realistically achieve change by involving all of our communities from the start, making sure those who are most vulnerable have a voice in how we support them through hard times.
Nadeem Aziz is chief executive of Dover DC
