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Our new
Equality Strategy, effective from April 2007 to March 2010,
gives us our best chance yet to improve services for all, and to
open doors to access and participation to benefit everyone in
Kent.
The
strategy incorporates our disability, gender and race equality
schemes, and focuses primarily on these three areas. It spells out
what disability, gender and race equality mean for those who live
in, work in and visit Kent, and the priorities to be tackled in
each area. It also deals with community cohesion and the
cross-cutting issues of age, faith, and sexual orientation.
The
strategy supports a range of other key plans and strategies,
such as
Towards 2010 and the
Kent Children and Young People's Plan. It is the result of:
- listening to the views of those who live, work in and visit
Kent
- involving people from across the county in its development
- learning from reviews of services and information from
inspections
- looking at our key performance measurements so we know what we
are doing well and where we need to improve.
It shows how we aim to achieve:
- equal and inclusive services and information for all,
regardless of age, disability, gender, faith, race or sexual
orientation
- creative opportunities for participation and involvement in
service planning and decision-making
- opportunities to work with our partners to ensure the county's
most vulnerable groups feel safe and free from harassment, and can
report incidents in the knowledge that issues will be handled
sensitively and effectively
- better intelligence and monitoring systems, to ensure we can
target disadvantage in the county where action is most needed
- the strengthening of our reputation as an excellent employer,
promoting a culture where the council recruits on merit and
diversity is valued
We want to make a difference to all Kent residents and to staff
from all walks of life. We will keep listening, and will act on
what we hear. To this end, we want to continue to engage with
people over the next six months on the development of the strategy,
to take forward key actions through a series of consultation and
involvement initiatives with KCC staff and Kent residents.
To get involved in our engagement process, or to request the
strategy in an alternative format such as large print, Braille,
audio tape or EasyRead, or to request an explanation of the
strategy in your language, contact us by:
Please also contact us if you would like the original versions
of the disability, gender and race equality
schemes. |