Brentwood Borough Council aims to provide equality and fairness in all its dealings with members of the community and employees and will not discriminate on grounds of: age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and marriage; and civil partnership.
We are committed to delivering excellent customer service. This includes recognising different needs of all our customers and addressing issues of potential exclusion, discrimination and disadvantage through Equality Analysis. This process includes Equality Impact Assessments which detail how we have considered the accessibility of our services.
The Council aims to provide an inclusive, respectful and discrimination-free work environment for its staff through adopting best practice in employment in accordance with legislation so that all employees feel respected and able to give their best. We would like our workforce to be representative of all sections of society.
Senior officer salaries
Brentwood Borough Council is committed to greater transparency of public information and has published the salaries paid to all staff earning salaries of £50,000 per annum or more.
Equality Act 2010
Any public sector organisation has a general duty and also a specific duty to comply with the Equality Act 2010.
The General Equality Duty
The organisation needs to have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
Equality monitoring
Brentwood Borough Council monitors the equality and diversity of its staff as part of it Brentwood Borough Council understands that people's needs change with their circumstances; whether that is due to their age, developing a disabling condition, change in caring roles, or because of someone's cultural or religious background.
We routinely monitor equality and diversity information, for example as part of forms and surveys and includes questions relating to protected groups, such as:
- Age
- Disability
- Sex
- Gender reassignment
- Sexual orientation
- Race / ethnicity
- Religion / belief
- Pregnancy / maternity
- Marriage / civil partnership
All answers are confidential and help us to continually improve our services and ensure that we get them right. We would like to encourage all residents and customers who feel affected by any such issues with regards to our services to get in touch.
Equality and Diversity Strategy
There are many facets of equality and diversity. The Council has considered it appropriate to develop a specific strategy to deal with the important issues of race, religion, beliefs, gender, family status, sexuality, disability or age.
We all help to make up the diversity within the community, not just those of us from minority groups. Equality and Diversity considerations apply to us all. Equality and Diversity is not just about responding to legislation. We need to go further than just complying with the law relating for instance, to equal opportunities or race relations. The overriding consideration must be to value an individual for who they are and who they choose to be.
Respect for equality and diversity is at the core of the Strategy, such that no matter where you come from, who you are, or what your background or ability is, you will be valued.
View the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (PDF).
Gender Pay Gap
From 2017, any organisation that has 250 or more employees must publish and report specific figures about their gender pay gap.
The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women, expressed relative to men’s earnings.
The figures are calculated using a specific reference date. For public sector organisations, this is 31 March and figures must be published within a year of this date.
Employers must both:
- Publish their gender pay gap on their public-facing website
- Report their data to government online
Each year, our results will be published on the Datashare section of our website, and on the government gender pay gap reporting service.
View results: DataShare - Gender Pay Gap and from February 2021 Brentwood Council Document Library - Transparency Act
View Brentwood Borough Council's Gender Pay Statement (PDF)
You can view the results for other organisations by visiting GOV.UK Gender Pay Gap Search
You can also view GOV.UK: Disability Rights