Equalities
Northumberland National Park Authority strives to be a good employer, to promote equality of opportunity, and aims in its provision of services and its enabling role to be inclusive of all members of society.
The Equality Standard
As a matter of good practice the Authority has measured itself against the Equality Standard for Local Government. As of March 2010 the Authority is at level 3 of the Standard, for which it had to demonstrate:
- That it has implemented a strategy for participation of designated community, staff and stakeholder groups in setting objectives of employment and service delivery
- That it has set equality objectives across the Authority for age, disability, gender , race, religion or belief and sexual orientation for employment, pay and service delivery based on impact assessments and participation strategy
- That equality objectives have been translated into action plans with specific targets
- That it is developing information and monitoring systems that allow it to assess progress in achieving targets
- That action on achieving targets has started
- Progress has been verified through self-assessment and scrutiny and has been validated externally through an accredited assessor
Equality and Diversity Policies
The Authority has developed a number of policies relating to Equality and Diversity. The main statement of intent is provided by its Comprehensive Equality Policy. The Comprehensive Equality Scheme, published in February 2008, develops this commitment further and show the action taken to make progress using the framework of the Equality Standard. Further policies and an equalities glossary can be viewed in the Equality and Diversity Policies section of this website.
The equalities work of the Authority
An annual report is published which highlights how issues relating to equality are considered in all aspects of work within the National Park. The Authority reviews its policies and services by means of a programme of equality impact assessments. These assessments and accompanying action plans are published on the website.
The Authority has established an equalities forum which meets regularly to monitor, scrutinise and contribute to the Authority’s equality work. New members are always welcome, and an application form can be found on the equalities forum web page.
