Equality duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), set out in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, requires us to have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
- Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share it.
The PSED covers 8 of the 9 protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Marriage and civil partnership are protected characteristics, but they are not relevant ones. This means you must consider it only in relation to the first aim of the duty.
As a public authority, we are also subject to the specific duties under the Equality Act (2010). This means we are required to publish information demonstrating how we comply with the three aims of the Duty outlined above.
This includes information relating to people who share relevant protected characteristics and who:
- are affected by our policies and practices, and
- work for us
We aim to collect only relevant information and use what we learn to make a real difference.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is central to how we do business at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, both in how we deliver services to our communities and in how we recruit, develop, retain, and employ our staff.
As signatories of the British Sign Language Charter, Inclusive Employer Award nominees, and holders of Disability Confident status, we are constantly striving to improve our performance across a range of areas.
As an employer, we continue to focus on recruiting a diverse workforce, but we also want to ensure we are equipped to serve an increasingly diverse community in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. As part of this commitment, a range of training and awareness-raising activities are delivered.
The Service is committed to being an employer of choice and has developed employee networks, robust policies, and a range of training to maintain an inclusive work environment.
The Service's current equality objective is to implement its Inclusion Plan. Actions include: • Employee Training - involving a program of EDI training for all staff covering protected characteristics, ensuring awareness of current best practices and communities.
- Consultation and involvement with ethnic minority communities and businesses - to maintain an inclusive service.
- Recruitment and workforce diversity build: We strive to reach a workforce that reflects our community.
- Planned Services and visits - that we target our resources and reach the communities most at risk
Further information on our commitment to people and culture can be found in the following documents:
For equality analysis information on workforce diversity, please see our equality monitoring reports published on the HR Committee reports page.