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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Tackling discrimination, injustice and inequality by embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in everything we do

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Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion

Fairness is at the heart of the Combined Authority’s work and is a guiding principle in everything it does to improve the lives of the city region’s 1.6 million residents.

  • We will prioritise those left behind, disadvantaged, or experiencing discrimination, and reduce inequality by changing how public services are delivered.

  • The authority is pursuing a range of actions to underpin this commitment with significant progress made over the last twelve months to embed equality and diversity into all activities and decision making, while reducing injustice and disadvantage, to deliver a fairer city region.

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  • Our vision

    Our vision for equality, is for a City Region that:

    • Achieves equity by doing more for those facing greatest disadvantage.
    • Promotes equality, diversity, and inclusion in all that we do.
    • Values and celebrates human diversity, and treats everyone with dignity and respect.
    • Champions social justice and challenges discrimination and prejudice.
    • Involves people in decision making, develops solutions with them and removes barriers to participation in civic life.
    • Promotes inclusive organisations with a culture that recognises the benefits and opportunities of diverse workforces.
    • Has accessibility at the heart of all that we provide.
  • We will do this because nobody’s life chances should be determined by where they were born, the colour of their skin, what they believe, who they love, their gender, chosen or otherwise, or whether they have a disability.

  • In addition, the Equality Act 2010 places a ‘Public Sector Equality Duty’ on public authorities like the Combined Authority to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunities and foster good relations between people.

  • Our Corporate Plan for 2021-24 commits the Combined Authority to taking proactive action to tackle inequality, remove barriers and provide opportunities for all of our residents, increase the range of support available to people experiencing poverty, exclusion and inequality; and to improve equality outcomes across all protected characteristics.

  • Equality Impact Assessments (EqIA)

    We consider the equality impact of any new project or service that we’re planning to introduce, and any significant change in existing projects and services. We assess impacts early in the process of change in order to build in equality from the start.

  • We analyse a wide range of information relating to local residents, their communities, and our employees. This includes information we collect, where requesting and holding the data is justified and proportionate in line with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) principles. In some instances, for example where the numbers of individuals sharing a protected characteristic is low, we do not publish the data to prevent identification of individuals.

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    Equality Strategy

    Our Equality Strategy for 2022-26 sets out our equality objectives and details the high-level delivery plan describing the actions that will be taken to achieve them, and how we will measure success.

    Download Document

    Equality Panels

    Our Equality and Diversity Panels which are made up of members with lived experiences across disability, gender, race, and sexuality, were launched in 2023, to help tackle discrimination, injustice, and inequalities, in order to improve outcomes for everyone.

  • EDI Panel

    Further information

    The links below will take you to various resources and publications that support our compliance with the Equality Act 2010.


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    Race Equality programme

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    Workforce equality data report

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    Gender pay gap report

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