Chief Executive
Corporate
Equality Scheme
2008-11
Approved by Full Council 
5 August 2008
Building a world-class city for everyone

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Contents
Page
1. About the Scheme
3
2. Our Legal responsibilities
4-5
3. Race Equality Scheme
6-9
4. Gender Equality Scheme
10-11
5. Disability Equality Scheme
12-16
6. Age Equality
17-18
7. Sexual Orientation Equality
19-20
8. Religion or Belief Equality
21-22
9. Putting principles into practice
23-26
10. Consultation and Engagement
27
11. Mainstreaming equalities & diversity
28-30
12. Corporate Equality Action Plan 2008-11 
31-35
13. Equality Impact Assessment timetable 2008-11
36-41
14. An example of a completed initial impact assessment form
42-44
15. Profile of city residents, workers and visitors and employee profile 
45-48 
16. Complaints under this Corporate Equality Scheme 
49
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1. About this Scheme
Oxford City Council and our partners on the Oxford Strategic Partnership (OSP) have agreed a vision for
Oxford to become a world-class city for everyone. The partnership represents local government and the
health, police, universities, business, and voluntary and community sectors across Oxford. The OSP believes
that, in a competitive world, our city must continually work to build a sustainable economy and an
improving quality of life for all our citizens. The OSP also believes that the diversity of our population is our
city's greatest strength and most valuable asset.
A world-class city needs to be supported by a world-class city council. In order to be a world-class council,
equality and diversity must underpin all our strategic priorities and activities. Our strategic priorities are:
■ Stronger and more inclusive communities
■ More housing, better housing for all
■ Improve the local environment, economy and quality of life
■ Reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
■ Tackle climate change and promote environmental resource management
■ Transform Oxford City Council by improving value for money and service performance.
The council is fully committed to equality of opportunity and we believe that all individuals have an equal
right to develop and achieve their full potential. We have a legal and moral duty to lead in the promotion
of equality of opportunity and diversity. We will promote equality and challenge all forms of discrimination
through our role as a service provider, community leader and employer.
Equality of opportunity means more than disregarding differences such as gender, race, disability, religious
or political belief, sexuality, age, nationality, pregnancy, or membership or non-membership of a trade
union, gender reassignment, or HIV status. It means ensuring proactively that different people receive
services, consultation and employment opportunities in a fair and equal way. This means recognising,
accommodating and valuing diversity across the City of Oxford. The council has a duty to make enquiries for
certain occupations and will require criminal checks where appropriate.
We firmly believe that our work with local communities, and other agencies, will promote a culture that
celebrates and welcomes diversity.
In keeping with our commitment to equality and diversity for all and the requirements of the Equality Act
2006, we will ensure that no individual or group is discriminated against, or receives less favourable
treatment, by virtue of their: age; religion, belief or sexual orientation.
Purpose and Scope of this Scheme
This Scheme encompasses our statutory Race Equality Scheme, Gender Equality Scheme and Disability
Equality Scheme.
We have brought the actions to deliver these schemes together into a single action plan. This Equality
Scheme sets out how we will work towards promoting equality of opportunity across the full range of
services that we deliver. It sets out how we will ensure that discrimination is challenged and eliminated
through legislation and positive action. It also sets out the responsibilities of our elected members, staff
members and actions that we will take to ensure full compliance with this policy.
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2. Our Legal Responsibilities
We have a legal duty to ensure compliance with the various legislation and regulations including:
■ Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
■ Sex Discrimination Acts 1975, 1986, (including 2005 amendments)
■ Race Relations Act 1976, (as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000)
■ Equal Pay Act 1970, (including 1983 amendments)
■ Public Order Act 1986
■ Civil Partnership Act 2004
■ Disability Discrimination Act 1995 & Disability Discrimination Act 2005
■ Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
■ Equality Act 2006
■ Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2007
■ Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007.
Promotion of Race Equality & Race Equality Scheme 2007-2010
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 places a General duty on Oxford City Council to promote race
equality. We have a specific duty to design and publish a Race Equality Scheme setting out its plans for
meeting the requirements of the new duties.
In meeting the new duty, we have produced a three year Race Equality Scheme developed to assist us to:
■ eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
■ promote equality of opportunity, and
■ promote good relations between people of different racial groups.
Promotion of Gender Equality & Gender Equality Scheme 2007-2010
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975, 1986 and 2005 amendments combine to outlaw sex discrimination for both
women and men. The Equality Act 2006 further strengthens this legal obligation and places a new duty on
all public bodies, of which the Council is one, to promote gender equality.
In meeting the new duty we have produced a three year Gender Equality Scheme developed to assist us to:
■ eliminate unlawful gender discrimination
■ promote equality of opportunity, and
■ eliminate sexual harassment.
Promotion of Disability Equality & Disability Equality Scheme 2007-2010
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 places a new General duty on us to promote equality of opportunity
for disabled people. We also have a specific duty to produce a three-year Disability Equality Scheme.
The duty to promote disability equality came into force on 4 December 2006. This General duty requires us,
in the carrying out of its services and functions, to have due regard to the need to:
■ promote equality of opportunities between disabled persons and other persons
■ eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act
■ eliminate harassment of disabled persons that is related to their disability
■ promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons
■ encourage participation by disabled persons in public life, and
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■ take steps to take account of disabled persons’ disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled
persons more favourably than other persons.
Power of Wellbeing
In areas where there are no legal duties placed on the Council, we may exercise the Power of Wellbeing
(Local Government Act 2000) for the benefit of the local community. This can include extending the
principles of any equality legislation to cover other equality areas.
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3. Race Equality Scheme
Introduction to the Scheme
We have developed this Race Equality Scheme as part of our Corporate Equality Scheme to ensure that
black and ethnic minority groups have equality of access to all the services we provide. We will vigorously
review policies to identify, remove or modify potential barriers to meet the needs of all our residents,
councillors and members of staff and will look to plan and provide our services in a fair, inclusive and
equitable way.
The Scheme itself identifies how we intend to meet, not only the spirit of the legislation, but the general
duties and the need to have due regard for the needs of our black and minority ethnic (BME) residents and
employees.
Legislative requirements
The Race Relations Act 1976 outlaws racial discrimination in employment, training, education, housing,
public appointments and the provision of goods, facilities and services. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act
2000 has placed a general duty on Oxford City Council, in common with a wide range of other public
bodies, to promote race equality. The duty aims to make the promotion of race equality central to the way
public authorities work.
This duty means that, in everything it does, the Council must have due regard to the need to:
■ eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
■ promote equality of opportunity
■ promote good relations between people of different racial groups.
It will help the Council make steady progress in achieving race equality in its policy development and service
delivery, and in its role as an employer.
The Council also has a specific duty to publish a Race Equality Scheme setting out its plans for meeting the
requirements of the duty. This is that Scheme. It sets out how the Council proposes to assess the impact of
its functions and policies on the race equality duty.
A Race Equality Scheme shall state in particular:
■ those of its functions and policies or proposed policies which the Council has assessed as relevant to its
performance of the General duty; and the Council's arrangements for:
i.
assessing and consulting on the likely impact of its proposed policies on the promotion of race 
equality
ii.
monitoring its policies for any adverse impact on the promotion of race equality
iii.
publishing the results of such assessments, consultation and monitoring
iv.
ensuring public access to information and services which it provides
v.
training staff in connection with the duties imposed by Section 71(1) of the Race Relations Act.
■ This assessment has to be reviewed every three years
In addition to publishing a Race Equality Scheme, the Council also has, under the Acts and Regulations,
specific employment duties.
The employment duty of the Council is to monitor, by reference to racial groups, the numbers of:
i.
staff in post
ii.
applicants for employment, training and promotion
iii.
benefit or detriment as a result of appraisal and assessment procedures for minority ethnic groups
iv.
involvement in grievance and disciplinary procedures
v.
ethnic minority staff who leave the Council (exit interviews).
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Race equality in service provision and community leadership
We will:
■ Work with black and minority ethnic groups to meet their needs and reduce the inequalities between
different ethnic groups
■ Promote good relations between people of different ethnic groups
■ Enable and encourage citizens and communities from all ethnic groups to participate in community life.
We already have some activities in place to achieve these objectives, which include:
■ A Black and Minority Ethnic Housing Strategy
■ Involvement in the Multi-Agency Network to Tackle Racism and Harassment
■ Promotion of Council benefits including people from black and minority ethnic groups who have low
take-up
■ Provision of food hygiene courses in languages other than English
■ Coordinating the Oxford Mela, which celebrates the different cultural traditions in Oxford
■ Local food development work which is targeted on groups including black and minority ethnic residents,
asylum seekers and refugees
■ Training 'community champions'
■ The Asian Families Liaison and Development Worker works with Children's Centres to better engage with
women and young children from Asian families
■ Providing information in a range of formats on request, including document, telephone and face-to-face
translation
■ Training 'community champions' who can represent different minority groups in Oxford
■ Involvement in Oxfordshire Employers' Race Equality Network.
We have written an action plan which sets out what we are planning to achieve these objectives. This action
plan will be continually revised over the next three years, particularly through our programme of equality
impact assessments which assess the equality impact of all our services and policies.
Race equality in employment, training and development
We will:
■ Seek to employ a workforce which is, at all levels and across all sections, representative of the black and
minority ethnic population
■ Seek to eliminate racial harassment and discrimination through a 'zero tolerance' approach
To achieve this we will:
■ Develop systems to monitor all activities around recruitment, employment, promotion, pay, gradings,
disciplinary proceedings, staff complaints, training, probation reports, exit interviews and health and
safety by reference to ethnic group
■ Use this information to identify areas of inequality, review targets and take the necessary actions as
required
■ If monitoring shows that any one group does not succeed as well as others within the Council, as well as
reviewing our procedures and practices, we may consider whether legal positive action measures are
appropriate
■ Challenge inappropriate behaviours and attitudes and work towards a corporate set of behaviours that
we expect all council staff to follow
■ Ensure that everyone who is responsible for recruiting and managing employees receives appropriate
training and guidance on our equality and employment policies and understands their responsibilities
■ Ensure that all adverts, job descriptions and person specifications reflect a clear and realistic view of the
job and do not include any subjective or irrelevant criteria
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■ Encourage applications from under-represented groups, including using specialist press for job
advertisements where appropriate
■ Ensure that we monitor the impact of our recruitment and selection process on all jobs and use the data
to enhance future recruitment campaigns
■ If tests are used as part of the selection process, we will ensure that they administered by qualified
assessors and that the tests do not discriminate against any group
■ Ensure that all our employees have equal access to any promotion opportunities and that no one is
excluded
■ Monitor the internal and external promotions
■ Ensure a working environment in which all our employees are free from harassment and bullying 
■ Any behaviour or conduct which results in discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation or
intimidation will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedures.
The specific duty on employment requires the Council to monitor, by reference to the racial groups to which
they belong, the numbers of staff in post and applicants for employment, training and promotion. It must
also monitor by racial group those who receive training and performance assessment, who are involved in
grievance and disciplinary procedures, and who leave the authority. The results of such monitoring are to be
published annually - our workforce monitoring statistics for 2007 are attached as an appendix.
Race equality impact assessment
We have developed a process for equality impact assessment which covers all six equality strands including
race. Our approach is outlined in our Corporate Equality Scheme and our timetable of equality impact
assessments for 2008-11 is set out in chapter 13. An example of the completed initial equality impact
assessment is set out in chapter 14.
Access to information
Our approach to providing access to information includes provision of appropriate translations, and is
outlined in our Corporate Equality Scheme.
Consultation
We are fully committed to consultation with all our staff, residents and service users and actively encourage
consultation with black and minority ethnic groups as part of this. Our approach is outlined in our
Corporate Equality Scheme.
In developing this Scheme we held a race equality partnership consultation event with Oxfordshire County
Council, Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust, The
Ridgeway Partnership (Learning Disabilities Trust) and Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust. We are committed to
developing this partnership approach in order to engage with BME representatives and community groups.
Training
We will provide training on race equality as part of our corporate equality training programme which is
outlined in the Corporate Equality Scheme.
Race equality monitoring
We have retained the following Best Value Performance Indicators for race equality:
BVPI2b
The duty to promote the Communities Race Equality Checklist score.
BVPI11b
The percentage of senior management posts filled by BME groups.
BVPI17a
The percentage of local authority employees from minority ethnic communities compared with
the percentage of the economically active minority ethnic community population in the
Council's catchment area.
BVPI174
The number of racial incidents recorded by the authority per 100,000 population.
BVPI175
The percentage of racial incidents that resulted in further action.
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Publication and review
This Race Equality Scheme will be published on our website. We will also provide paper copies and other
formats upon request.
We will report annually on the progress we have made towards promoting equality, including race equality.
To help us do this effectively, we will ask our BME community and relevant stakeholder organisations for
their feedback. As part of these reviews, we will consider the information we collect on how the BME
communities are accessing our services and employment opportunities to ensure that we are making
progress.
This Race Equality Scheme will be fully revised in three years' time.
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4. Gender Equality Scheme
Introduction to the Scheme
We have developed this Gender Equality Scheme to ensure that all people have an equal opportunity to
access all the services the Council provides. We will vigorously review policies and procedures to identify,
remove or modify potential barriers to meet the needs of all our residents, councillors and members of staff
and will look to plan and provide our services in a fair, inclusive and equitable way.
Legislative requirements
The duty to promote gender equality came into force in April 2007. The duty requires that public
authorities shall, in carrying out their functions, have due regard to the need to:
■ promote gender equality
■ eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Equality Act
■ eliminate harassment which is related to a person's gender.
In addition, we will:
■ measure progress of the scheme regularly and use the results to inform future action plans
■ report annually on the scheme and revise it within three years of the date of first publication
The duty therefore requires this Council to adopt a proactive approach to mainstreaming gender equality
into all its decisions and activities.
Gender equality in service delivery and community leadership
We will:
■ Ensure that our services meet the needs of people regardless of gender
■ Seek to reduce domestic and sexual abuse, by working with our partners.
Oxford City Council has always been proud of its services which are designed to increase the quality of life
for all its residents. The Council has always endeavoured, and will continue, to improve and make changes
to its services to help make them more equitable and accessible to women who visit, live or work in the City
of Oxford. Some of these services support the carers of children and young people, who are more likely to
be women. These include:
■ The Domestic Violence Coordinator works with other organisations in Oxford to reduce domestic and
sexual abuse and increase reporting. The coordinator also develops services to respond to abuse
■ We provide single sex sessions at our swimming pools
■ The Well Being Hub aims to increase participation in physical activity in target groups including women
■ The Asian Families Liaison and Development Worker works with Children's Centres to better engage with
women and young children from Asian families
■ The Local Food Development Officer supports project to improve access to healthy food and targets
families, children and young people.
Gender equality in employment, training and development
We will:
■ Create a working environment that actively encourages parents and carers to have equal access to
employment opportunities
■ Ensure we operate an equal pay policy
■ Seek to eliminate gender-based harassment and discrimination through a 'zero tolerance' approach.
To achieve this we will:
■ Where the requirements of service delivery are not compromised, ensure that all staff have access to
flexible working and that the benefits of work-life balance are recognised
■ Challenge inappropriate behaviours and attitudes and work towards a corporate set of behaviours that
we expect all council staff to follow
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■ Ensure that everyone who is responsible for recruiting and managing employees receives appropriate
training and guidance on our equality and employment policies and understands their responsibilities
■ Use this information to identify areas of inequality, review targets and take the necessary actions as required
■ If monitoring shows that any one group does not succeed as well as others within the Council, as well as
reviewing our procedures and practices, we may consider whether legal positive action measures are
appropriate
■ We will ensure that our induction programme takes into account different working patterns and uses
varied training methods 
■ We will ensure that all adverts, job descriptions and person specifications reflect a clear and realistic view
of the job and do not include any subjective or irrelevant criteria
■ If tests are used as part of the selection process, we will ensure that they are administered by qualified
assessors and that the tests do not discriminate against any group
■ We will ensure that all our employees have equal access to any promotion opportunities and that no one
is excluded
■ We will monitor the internal and external promotions
■ We will ensure a working environment in which all our employees are free from harassment and bullying 
■ Any behaviour or conduct which results in discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation or
intimidation will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedures
■ We will ensure an equal pay structure through implementing the Single Status agreement
■ We will ensure that all future vacancies have been through the job evaluation system
■ We will conduct a regular equal pay audit and address any issues that arise from the audit.
Gender equality impact assessment
We have developed a process for equality impact assessment which covers all six equality strands including
gender. Our approach is outlined in our Corporate Equality Scheme and our timetable of equality impact
assessments for 2008-11 is set out in chapter 13.
Access to information
Our approach to providing access to information includes provision of appropriate translations, and is
outlined in our Corporate Equality Scheme.
Consultation
We are fully committed to consultation with all our staff, residents and service users and actively encourage
consultation both local and national Women's Organisations as part of this. Our approach is outlined in our
Corporate Equality Scheme.
Training
We will provide training on gender equality as part of our corporate equality training programme which is
outlined in the Corporate Equality Scheme.
Gender equality monitoring
We have retained the following Best Value Performance Indicators for gender equality:
BVPI11a
The percentage of senior management posts filled by women
Publication and review
This Gender Equality Scheme will be published on our website and on our staff intranet. We will also
provide paper copies and other formats upon request.
We will report annually on the progress we have made towards promoting equality, including gender
equality. To help us do this effectively, we will ask women and relevant stakeholder organisations for their
feedback. As part of these reviews, we will consider the information we collect on how women are
accessing our services and employment opportunities to ensure that we are making progress.
This Scheme will be fully reviewed in three years' time.
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5. Disability Equality Scheme
This Disability Equality Scheme was first published in December 2006 but is reproduced here as part of our
Corporate Equality Scheme. There have been some minor amendments to reflect the new Corporate
Equality Scheme objectives and organisational changes.
Introduction to the scheme
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005 imposes a statutory duty on local authorities to promote
equality of opportunity for disabled people. This Disability Equality Scheme will assist the Council in
meeting this duty by setting out what we should plan, deliver and how to evaluate the action plan in order
to eliminate discrimination and promote equality.
The main requirements are:
■ Consult with disabled people on their needs
■ Prepare and publish a Disability Equality Scheme
■ Implement the Scheme
■ Annually report on the progress of the Scheme.
Oxford City Council is a district Council covering 17.6 square miles. In the last census the question was asked
'do you have a long term illness or disability that limits daily activity or work?' 14% of the total City
population said yes but in wards such as Barton and Blackbird Leys the number was as high as 18-19%. In
addition on the Indices of Deprivation, one part of Carfax is in the most deprived 10% in England for health
and disability.
Oxford City Council is committed to promoting a society in which people can participate fully and equally.
We also recognise that there are legislative duties regarding access, service delivery and housing.
We recognise we have no powers in this area and that we have restrictions imposed due to budgetary
requirements and staffing levels. However we have designed the Disability Equality Scheme, as outlined in
this document, to address equality and to ensure we achieve our aims as far as possible.
For the purposes of this scheme, the following definitions apply:
Disability is defined as the lack of opportunity to take part in day- to-day activities due to physical,
attitudinal, organisational or social barriers.
Impairment is defined as an illness, injury or condition that results in a change of physical function or
psychological function.
We recognise the importance of our role:
■ As a major provider of services within Oxford
■ As a lead agent in the development of services delivered by and in partnership with other organisations
■ As a leader in promoting community initiatives
■ In encouraging tourism within Oxford and encouraging business development
■ As a major employer.
This document builds on the current Access Strategy. It sets out the framework and principles which will
enable us to deliver services in an equal and appropriate manner. It also explains how we intend to meet
our statutory duty to promote disability equality.
Legislative requirements
We recognise that rights exist under legislation, which give protection against discrimination.
■ We will not treat any person less favourably for a reason related to their disability.
■ We will always challenge and aim to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation for reasons
of disability.
The legislation relevant to this Scheme includes:
■ Disability Discrimination Act 1995
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■ Amended by Special Educational Needs
■ Disability Discrimination Act 2001
■ Disability Discrimination Act (amendment) regulations 2003
■ Disability Discrimination Act 2005.
Guidance Documents
The Scheme is supported by relevant guidance documents and the Action Plan. These documents will give
Councillors and Officers the tools and information they need to be able to meet the Scheme's requirements
and to facilitate consistent application of them.
The Action Plan will be reviewed annually and the Scheme every three years.
Aims and objectives
Our aim is to work towards Oxford being an equal and accessible society for everyone and to give people
with disabilities opportunities by:
■ Eliminating disability related harassment
■ Promoting equal opportunities
■ Eliminating unlawful discrimination
■ Promoting positive attitudes towards people with disabilities
■ Encouraging participation by disabled persons in public life.
We will seek to eliminate disability-based harassment and discrimination in services and employment
through a 'zero tolerance' approach.
We also aim to deliver services in an inclusive and accessible way. Our objectives in service provision are:
■ Create and promote equality of access to our services
■ To ensure our buildings open to the public are as accessible as possible
■ To identify all forms of discrimination and to eliminate them
■ To promote the principles of Inclusive Design within the built environment
■ To encourage participation of disabled people by engaging in meaningful consultation.
We will achieve this by:
■ Ensuring our services can be accessed with assistance if needed
■ Publicising services in a fair and equal manner
■ Ensuring effective training is provided so that no member of staff carries out a discriminatory act
■ Audit our key processes and procedures to ensure that they do not inadvertently lead to discrimination.
Corporate Commitment
As a major provider of services and information we are committed to providing a society in which everyone
can participate equally. We will do this by encouraging:
■ Community participation in all aspects of our work
■ Provision of services that are fair and accessible to all
■ Equality of access to our services.
All Members and Officers are responsible for the implementation of this Scheme. The Scheme will be
delivered by:
■ The Equalities Board which will develop a Disability Action Plan within its wider Equalities Action Plan
■ Service Area Impact Assessments will contribute to this Action Plan which will be developed and
progressed through the Annual Service Transformation Plans with the support of the Equalities Board
■ The Action Plan will mainstream disability equality into existing plans, such as the Oxford Plan (our
corporate plan).
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The progress of the Disability Equality Scheme will be reported to the Corporate Performance Board and
Executive Members regularly.
Publicity
This scheme will be available to members of the public in any recognised format requested. Staff will be
able to access the information on the intranet and will be made aware of the Scheme through induction,
disability awareness training and ongoing promotion of the work of the Equalities Board.
Complaints
Any complaints will be dealt with in an accessible format and according to our Corporate Complaints Policy.
Action Plan
Service Areas will highlight potential impacts, which will inform the Action Plan. The Equality Steering
Group will use the Action Plan to check and prioritise actions. Through the Action Plan we will check our
provision and delivery of service, identify any discrimination and take action by changing any policy, practice
or procedure that discriminates.
We will provide any reasonable adjustments necessary to ensure fair and equal access to service, for
example by:
■ Providing auxiliary aids
■ Overcoming any physical barriers to service provision by removal, alteration or alternative methods of
service delivery.
Consultation and Participation
Disabled Staff Workshop
A workshop was arranged for disabled staff to discuss the DES. During the workshop a Disability Audit was
discussed and a trial sample taken. It was clear from this sample that Learning and Development was a key
focus for the scheme and that consultation was another important aspect. The results from this workshop
are available on request.
Disability Staff Audit
All staff were given the opportunity to give their views on the disability provision within the Council. The
results of this survey are available on request. The key issues were:
■ Awareness of the needs of disabled colleagues
■ Provision of support for disabled staff from the point of recruitment and also managerial support
■ Provide information on the intranet to inform and support staff in disability issues.
Public Consultation for Disability Groups
Disabled groups and individuals were consulted regarding the Disability Equality Scheme to ensure their
views are taken into account in relation to what we aim to do and how we aim to achieve it. In order to
minimise 'consultation fatigue' this has been carried out in partnership with the County Council, University
of Oxford, Brookes University and South Oxford District Council. The results of this consultation will inform
the Action Plan.
In June 2006 local disability groups/organisations were invited to Headington Hall to for a discussion and
workshop on the issues they consider relevant to the services that Oxford City provide. The results of this
day are available on request.
Consultation with members of the public
In October 2006 the public was invited to attend a consultation exercise at the Town Hall. Invitations were
sent to:
■ Access Forum
■ Talkback Panel
■ Shopmobility Members
■ Members of local disability groups
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■ Posters were sent to Doctors’ surgeries, sheltered housing etc.
The workshop was attended by 12 members of the public. Various topics were discussed. Members were
asked to raise issues and suggest possible solutions. The results of this consultation are available on request.
The information from these consultation exercises has been used to inform the Action Plan.
Consultation Strategy
We have a Consultation Strategy, which covers all aspects of consultation. In relation to disability we will:
■ Consult with people with disabilities on service provision/policies
■ Develop and maintain a corporate approach to consulting with people with disabilities so that
information is not duplicated
■ Review our consultation procedures and practices to ensure they are inclusive
■ Produce practical guidelines on accessible information, communication and consultation, ensuring that
the purpose of the exercise is clear and to the point
■ Ensure that all consultation material is available in a range of accessible formats
■ Review the Consultation Strategy regularly to ensure it is up-to-date and inclusive.
We will ensure that Service Areas develop clear and effective methods for consultation. This may be through
forums, focus groups, user groups, committees etc or through the use of questionnaires or satisfaction
surveys.
We will work to improve the process of meaningful involvement and user-led services, where appropriate,
involving people with disabilities in the democratic process.
We will include disabled service users and organisations in developing policy and decisions that effect
people with disabilities.
We will establish a forum to encourage regular involvement and dialogue between the Council and service users.
We will ensure that feedback is given on any participation or consultation.
We aim to ensure that meeting venues are accessible to all sections of the community. 
Delivering our Services
Standards and Guidance
We have adopted the social model of disability that accepts that people with impairments are further
disabled by the barriers created in society (e.g. physical, environmental, organisational, attitudinal etc). We
are committed to removing these barriers to our services wherever possible.
We will ensure that our policies, practices and procedures do not create barriers, either physical or
attitudinal, which make it difficult for people to access our services, buildings or employment.
Employment, Training and Awareness
Employment
We will proactively seek to remove barriers in recruitment, selection and development by:
■ Interviewing all applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy and consider
them on their abilities
■ Ensuring that there is a mechanism in place to discuss with disabled employees what we can do to
develop and use their abilities
■ Make reasonable adjustments to facilitate continued employment of people who are or become
disabled, where possible
■ Provide an appropriate level of disability awareness training that is open to all employees to make our
commitments work.
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■ Provide advice and support to managers of disabled employees
■ Address individual acts of discrimination through the Staff Complaints Policy and disciplinary policy
■ Regularly review our policies to identify what has been achieved and ways to improve and ensure that
our managers are equipped with the necessary knowledge of polices and procedures
■ Procedures will be put in place to gather evidence on the effects of disability equality on recruitment,
development and retention of disabled employees.
Training
We recognise that we are responsible for the actions of our employees during the course of their
employment. We will provide managers and staff with training in Disability Awareness/Equality either
through the Induction Process or individually tailored courses for specific service areas.
Disability Equality training will be based on the social model of disability and will include a section on the
duties and responsibility of the Council and employees in relation to the Disability Discrimination Act.
In addition we will ensure that staff have appropriate training in access auditing, each service areas has staff
aware of the use of auxiliary aids to meet the needs of customers and that the appraisal system is used to
identify any specialist training necessary.
Disability Equality Monitoring
We have retained the following Best Value Performance Indicators for disability equality:
BVPI11c
The percentage of senior management earners that have a disability
BVPI16a
Employees declaring a disability in accordance with the DDA
BVPI16b
The percentage of economically active people who have a disability
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Action Plan will incorporate targets and milestones as well as key actions, so will also form a monitoring
and evaluation tool. The Action Plan will form the basis of the work of the Equalities Steering Group, which
will monitor progress on a quarterly basis.
Evidence will be provided by:
■ Monitoring Form
■ Impact Assessments
■ Performance Indicators
■ Service level monitoring / up-take of services etc
■ HR Management Information System.
The results will inform future policy and procedure changes, the Corporate Plan and Service Transformation
Plans. The scheme will be reviewed annually and updated with any new legislation, guidelines etc.
Publication and review
This Gender Equality Scheme will be published on our website and on our staff intranet. We will also
provide paper copies and other alternate formats upon request.
We will report annually on the progress we have made towards promoting equality, including gender
equality. To help us do this effectively, we will ask women and relevant stakeholder organisations for their
feedback. As part of these reviews, we will consider the information we collect on how women are
accessing our services and employment opportunities to ensure that we are making progress.
This Scheme will be fully reviewed in three years' time.
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6. Age equality
Oxford City Council is fully committed to promoting equality of opportunity for older and younger people.
The Council’s normal retirement age is 65. In line with the age discrimination legislation’s exemptions, the
Council does not accept applications from people over 65 years of age or who are within 6 months of our
normal retirement age.
The Council recognises that society has negative attitudes, myths and stereotypes about aging, youth, older
and younger persons. These negative attitudes and beliefs can lead to both younger and older people being
economically and socially disadvantaged, marginalised and excluded.
Age related discrimination generally consists of unequal treatment against people based on their
chronological age. This can include unfair treatment linked to a specific age or within an age range. It can
also include categories such as 'old', 'young' or the perceived age of a person that someone may be
associated with, for example, the carer of an older person.
This Authority believes that older and younger people have the right to equality of opportunity and we
acknowledge that all people, irrespective of age, make a significant and valuable contribution to the
community that we strive to serve.
Age equality means securing equality of participation in our society for people of every age. We need to
ensure the correct balance between equal citizenship, equality of outcome, equality of opportunity and
respect for difference.
Legal Responsibilities
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations came into force on 1 October 2006. This new Regulation makes
it unlawful to discriminate against workers, employees, job seekers and trainees because of their age. The
Regulations protect everyone from direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment in
employment and vocational training on the grounds of age.
The Regulations cover recruitment, terms and conditions, promotions, transfers, dismissal and training. They
do not, however, currently cover the provision of goods and services.
The Regulations make it unlawful on the grounds of age to:
■ discriminate directly against anyone or treat them less favourably because of their age, unless this
treatment can be objectively justified
■ discriminate indirectly against anyone, that is, to apply a criterion, provision or practice which
disadvantages people of a particular age, unless it can be objectively justified
■ subject someone to harassment because of their age. Harassment is unwanted conduct that violates a
person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for
them having regard to all the circumstances, including the perception of the victim
■ victimise someone because they have made or intend to make a complaint or allegation or have given or
intend to give evidence in relation to a complaint of discrimination on the grounds of age
■ discriminate against someone, in certain circumstances, after the contractual working relationship has
ended.
Employers could be responsible for their employees who discriminate on the grounds of age. Upper age
limits on unfair dismissal and redundancy will be removed. There will be a national default retirement age
of 65, making compulsory retirement below 65 unlawful unless objectively justified. Employees will have the
right to request to work beyond 65 or any other retirement age set by the Council. The Council has a duty
to consider all such requests.
To make sure age discrimination is eliminated from the Council's workforce we will review all existing
policies to ensure that no age discrimination takes place in the following areas:
■ recruitment, selection and promotion
■ training
■ pay, benefits and other conditions
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■ bullying and harassment
■ Retirement.
The Council will consider the make-up of our workforce and whether positive action is required to tackle
any age imbalance.
Impact assessment
The impact of functions and policies on age equality will be considered as part of our three-year
programme of equality impact assessments.
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7. Sexual orientation equality
Oxford City Council is fully committed to combating the discrimination faced by lesbian women, gay men
and bisexual (LGB) people.
The Council will respect the rights of LGB individuals to be open and honest about their sexual orientation.
We will tackle homophobia, challenge stereotyping, harassment and discrimination of LGB people. We will
actively strive to improve all of our local community's knowledge about LGB communities, both internally
and in the wider community as a whole.
Oxford City Council recognises that the Civil Partnerships Act 2005 introduces new legal rights and
responsibilities for same sex couples in registered partnerships. The Council will fully respect these rights.
Many lesbian, gay and bisexual people still feel unable or unsafe to reveal their sexual orientation at work.
lesbian, gay and bisexual employees and service users now find themselves in the position where they are
protected from discrimination. Employers and service providers that fail to acknowledge, or are unaware of
their legal responsibilities may leave themselves open to legal challenge.
Lesbians, gay and bisexual people are represented throughout the district. The LGB community make a
significant economic, social and cultural contribution to Oxford and although there is no hard data on the
number of LGB people locally and nationally, as sexual orientation is not a specific category in the national
census, it is estimated that LGB people make up at least 10% of both the local and national population.
In recent decades there has been a positive improvement to the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay and
bisexual people. However, many still face open hostility, prejudice and discrimination. This Policy will outline
the Council's commitment to sexual orientation equality.
Legislative requirements
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in employment practices has been unlawful since
December 2003 in the workplace. Legal protection is given to lesbian, gay and bisexual employees through
the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. These Regulations which came into force
on 1 December 2003 make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee on the grounds
of sexual orientation.
The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 came into force on 30 April 2007 and is Part 3 of the
Equality Act 2006. It contains measures prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in
the provision of goods, services and facilities. The 2007 Regulations provide protection from sexual
orientation discrimination on par with protection already provided on the grounds of race, sex, disability,
religion or belief.
The Regulations prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person's:
■ actual sexual orientation
■ the sexual orientation he/she is thought to have and/or
■ the sexual orientation of someone with whom he or she is associated.
Sexual orientation is defined as an individual's sexual orientation towards
■ people of the same sex as him or her (Gay or Lesbian)
■ people of the opposite sex (heterosexual)
■ people of both sexes (Bisexual).
It does not include transsexuality which is related to gender and is covered by sex discrimination legislation.
The Regulations apply to all forms of goods, services and facilities and cover:
■ access to and use of a place that the public is permitted to enter
■ accommodation and establishments, such as hotels and boarding houses
■ facilities for banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit or finance
■ facilities for entertainment, recreation or refreshment
■ facilities for travel or transport
■ professional or trade services.
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Discrimination is unlawful whether or not a charge is made for the goods, facilities or services.
Discrimination against Lesbians, Gay men or Bisexuals can be both direct and indirect. The Regulations do
not change the existing legal position regarding civil partnerships. Businesses and local authorities will not
be able to discriminate between married persons and civil partners on the grounds of their sexual
orientation. Civil partners will now be able to bring a claim of discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation against a provider of goods or services who denies them access to a benefit or service being
offered to a married person in a similar situation.
The Regulations make it unlawful to adopt or maintain a discriminatory practice. Similarly the Regulations
make it unlawful to publish an advertisement for goods, facilities or services that discriminates on the
grounds of sexual orientation.
Under the Regulations, employers are liable for the action of their employees and agents, whether or not
they know about or approve of the act. It is a defence, however, for the employer to prove that they took
such steps that were reasonable and practicable to prevent discrimination taking place. Organisations will
therefore need to take steps to ensure that their employees and agents are aware of the Regulations, and
understand the implications for their employment and service delivery.
Impact assessment
The impact of functions and policies on sexual orientation equality will be considered as part of our three-
year programme of equality impact assessments.
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8. Religion or belief equality
Oxford City Council is fully committed to promoting equality of opportunity in religion or belief.
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 2 December 2003,
made discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief unlawful in employment and vocational training
in Britain. The Equality Act 2006, Part 2, has extended this duty to cover service delivery. Developing an
understanding of different faith communities, their practices and beliefs is therefore essential in meeting
the requirements of this legislation.
Religions deal with many basic questions, from how life began to what happens to us when we die. Each
religion has developed its own beliefs, rituals and ideas on these matters. Though many religions claim to
be inspired by God, we need to remember that all religions originated and developed in particular
historical, geographical and cultural situations that moulded and influenced them. Religion links together
societies and individuals who share the same range of general beliefs, values, codes of behaviour, practices
and traditions. Religion also links the present day with the customs and practices of the past.
Religion generally includes the following:
■ Faith and experience - a sense of belonging and commitment to something greater than one’s self
■ Creed and doctrine - the system of beliefs and ideas held about a God, other divinities, creation and
salvation
■ Codes and ethics - the way people behave because of their beliefs or non-beliefs
■ Ritual - all that is involved in practicing the belief
■ Community - the social aspects of a religion.
Faith communities are groupings of people who belong to the major world religions and of those who
follow other forms of religious expression, this includes those that do not have a faith or religious belief.
Public sector organisations, including Oxford City Council, will now need to address issues of faith in a more
systematic and structured approach. It is now necessary that we understand the values of faith, our
residents, customers, staff, contractors and elected members, wherever possible, demonstrating a consensus
between their faith values and those of the Council.
Many employees and customers have experienced tensions between the values that come from their beliefs
and those of the organisation. Historically, many members of staff have raised issues of faith with
sympathetic managers, but these debates have been 'informal' in nature leading to little or no action being
taken. Similarly, little has been done in the area of service delivery.
Legislative requirements
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations came into force on 2 December 2003. This
Regulation makes it unlawful to discriminate against workers, employees, job seekers and trainees because
of their religion or belief. The Regulations were further extended by Part 2 of the Equality Act 2006 to
include all aspects of service delivery. The Equality Act 2006 protects everyone from direct and indirect
discrimination, victimisation and harassment in employment, vocational training and service delivery on the
grounds of religion or belief.
The Regulations cover recruitment, terms and conditions, promotions, transfers, dismissal, training and all
practices and procedures involved in service delivery. 
The Regulations make it unlawful on the grounds of religion or belief to discriminate on the basis of:
■ A person’s actual religion or belief
■ A religion or belief they are thought to have
■ The religion or belief of someone else with whom they are associated (for instance, someone such as a
friend or member of their family)
They also prohibit discrimination against a person because they do not hold a religion or belief.
Part 2 protects people from being discriminated against because, for example:
■ They hold a particular religion
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■ They are married to a person of a particular religion
■ They appear to be of a particular religion because of the way they dress
■ They are not of a particular religion.
Part 2 also outlaws discrimination on the grounds of lack of a religion or belief. It will therefore be
unlawful to discriminate against someone on the grounds that they do not belong to a particular religion,
or any religion at all.
Part 2 of the Equality Act 2006 also prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of
religion or belief. This extends protection to cover victimisation.
The Act also provides protection against discriminatory advertisements, instructing or causing
discrimination. Employers are liable for the actions of their employees and agents, whether or not they
know about, or approve of, the Act.
Part 2 applies to all forms of goods, services and facilities and it is unlawful to discriminate in the following:
■ Access to, and use of, a place - that the public is permitted to enter
■ Accommodation - in establishments such as hotels and boarding houses
■ Facilities for banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit or finances
■ Facilities for entertaining, recreation or refreshment
■ Facilities for transport or travel
■ Professional or trade services.
Impact assessment
The impact of functions and policies on religion or belief equality will be considered as part of our three-
year programme of equality impact assessments.
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9. Putting principles into practice 
Equality in service provision and community leadership
The Council is committed as a service provider, community leader and employer to ensure that
discrimination, harrassment or victimisation does not take place within the work place, or in the way
services are delivered or functions and duties carried out.
To achieve this we will:
■ Work with our diverse communities to meet their needs
■ Enable equal participation in community life that generates confidence and trust
■ Improve community relations and reduce levels of inequality between and within communities
■ Work effectively with our partners e.g. community groups, Oxfordshire County Council and health
services, to deliver the best possible service to all communities. This includes those who provide goods
and services on our behalf.
We have written an action plan which sets out when we are planning to achieve these objectives. This
action plan will be continually revised over the next three years, particularly through our programme of
equality impact assessments which will assess the equality impact of all our services and policies.
We already have some activities in place to achieve these objectives, which include:
■ Providing information to our residents and service users in a range of different formats (see below)
■ Ensuring our buildings are as accessible as possible by making all necessary reasonable adjustments
■ Ensuring that all publicity materials present appropriate and positive images of women, disabled people
and minority groups
■ Improving the availability of leisure activities to certain groups - through our Well Being Hub in Blackbird
Leys Leisure Centre, free swimming for children, holiday play schemes and single-sex swim sessions
■ Coordinating the Oxford Mela, which celebrates the cultural diversity of Oxford
■ Providing grants to community and voluntary organisations
■ Promoting Council benefits to improve their take-up 
■ A Disability Unit which provides the Shopmobility service and provides information on access issues
■ A Social Inclusion Strategy which highlights the inequalities in Oxford and sets out our actions to reduce
these
■ Training 'community champions' who can represent different minority groups in Oxford
■ Running the concessionary bus fares service 
■ Ensuring that organisations who provide services for us meet certain equal opportunities standards.
Communication
We understand the importance of communication in regard to service delivery. We will work to ensure that
we communicate in a fair and accessible manner by:
■ Providing information in the preferred method of communication every time we are contacted. This may
be large print, Braille, audiotape, BSL, etc
■ Encouraging Plain English in our communications
■ Supporting managers and staff by providing key documents on disability access in the Disability
Information Pack for Managers.
■ Ensuring that the council has various methods of providing translations of documents relating to council
services and of telephone and face-to-face interpreting. These include telephone and face-to-face
interpreting services provided by Language Line, approved translators and staff with particular language
skills.
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Council website
Our website is constantly under review with special emphasis on accessibility standards. The website has
introduced 'Text 2 Speech' which enables persons who may find it difficult to read print, have a sight
problem, or may not have English as a first language, to hear the website read out loud. The site also has a
number of other accessibility features including access keys which enable users with mobility problems to
navigate the site. As well as continuing to improve the site to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 1.0 standards, disabled users have tested the site and provided feedback. 
In the future we are going to continue to improve the site by taking a dual approach of electronic testing
to meet WCAG standards as well as continuing user testing. In the coming 12 months we will apply for
Shaw Trust status. They use disabled users to test sites, and only award approval to sites that meet the needs
of all types of disabled users.
Corporate Identity
We will ensure that our corporate identity reflects the people we provide services to by:
■ The use of positive language/images
■ The use of consultation to find out what people want
■ The use of appropriate publicity to reflect the diversity of the City.
Customer Care
We will provide services that are efficient, cost-effective and responsive to the needs of our customers by:
■ Ensuring that our customers can access our services easily and on equal terms
■ Aiming to do things right first time
■ Working with customers and partners to improve our services.
Procurement, Partnerships and Projects
Oxford has a rich and diverse culture - a community made up of people from different races, backgrounds,
beliefs, and experiences. This diversity is reflected in the economic life of the city and it should also be
reflected in our procurement processes.
In developing a local procurement policy framework the City Council and its partners are committed to
pursuing social progress, equity, and diversity in order to build a city that all our people can be proud of.
We will: 
■ Actively encourage disability equality by ensuring our contractors consider disability equality in their
policies, practices and procedures.
■ Aim to develop a thriving economy providing jobs, housing, and services for local people while at the
same time preserving the diversity that makes Oxford uniquely attractive.
■ Aim to “encourage strength, diversity, and social inclusion across the city's economy in its broadest sense,
covering both paid and unpaid work, in workplaces, out in the community, or in the home”.
Equality in employment, training and development
As an employer we will:
■ Ensure our recruitment methods encourage applications from all groups in the community and
particularly those which are under-represented
■ Create a working environment which actively supports the development of our employees and is free
from discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation or intimidation.
To achieve this we will:
■ Monitor all activities around recruitment, employment, promotion, pay, gradings, disciplinary
proceedings, staff complaints, training, probation reports, exit interviews and health and safety
■ Use this information to identify areas of inequality, review targets and take the necessary actions as
required
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■ If monitoring shows that any one group does not succeed as well as others within the Council, as well as
reviewing our procedures and practices, we may consider whether legal positive action measures are
appropriate
■ Where the requirements of service delivery are not compromised, develop systems to be able to ensure
that all staff have access to flexible working and that the benefits of work-life balance are recognised
■ Challenge inappropriate behaviours and attitudes and work towards a corporate set of behaviours that
we expect all council staff to follow
■ Ensure that everyone who is responsible for recruiting and managing employees is offered appropriate
training and guidance on our equality and employment policies and understands their responsibilities
■ Take effective action to attract, develop and retain leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow 
■ Conduct a staff survey every two years and use the feedback to enhance our policy development
programme.
Induction
■ We will ensure that all employees have access to an induction programme and that the programme
includes an overview of the corporate equality objectives
■ We will ensure that the programme takes into account different working patterns and uses varied
training methods.
Recruitment and Selection
■ We will ensure that all adverts, job descriptions and person specifications reflect a clear and realistic view
of the job and do not include any subjective or irrelevant criteria
■ We will encourage applications from under-represented groups, including using specialist press for job
advertisements where appropriate
■ We will ensure that we monitor the impact of our recruitment and selection process and use the data to
enhance future recruitment campaigns
■ If tests are used as part of the selection process, we will ensure that they are administered by qualified
assessors and that the tests do not discriminate against any group
■ We will offer feedback to all unsuccessful candidates about their application and performance at
interview.
Performance appraisal
■ We will ensure that all staff have an annual appraisal with regular one-to-one meetings with their line
manager
■ We will ensure that all staff undertake a discussion with their line manager on their current diversity
awareness and any training needs are reflected in their development plan.
Learning and development
■ We recognise that our employees have varying needs and a comprehensive training plan is linked to our
appraisal process
■ We are committed to our Skills for Life programme and we will ensure that equalities is embedded into
all of our external training contracts
■ We believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to reach his or her potential
■ We will ensure that there is equality of opportunity of access to development 
■ All decisions for requests for training will be based on merit.
Promotion
■ We will ensure that all our employees have equal access to any promotion opportunities and that no one
is excluded
■ We will develop systems to monitor the internal and external promotions
■ We will develop our own staff where there are identified skill shortages
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■ We will offer support from the internal coaching network.
Disciplinary, harassment, staff complaints 
■ We will ensure a working environment in which all our employees are free from harassment and bullying 
■ Any behaviour or conduct which results in discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation or
intimidation will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedures.
Health and safety
■ We will ensure that the 'Attendance Management Policy' which is being developed incorporates steps for
rehabilitation, reasonable adjustments and redeployment.
Equal Pay
■ We will ensure an equal pay structure through implementing the Single Status agreement
■ We will ensure that all future vacancies have been appropriately evaluated
■ We will conduct a regular equal pay audit and address any issues that arise from the audit.
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10. Consultation and engagement
We are committed to engaging with our residents and service users to meet their needs, and with our staff
to ensure we create a working environment which promotes equal opportunities for all.
We are currently developing a new consultation strategy that will be supported by a practical guide on
public consultation. This guide will pay particular attention to ensuring we use the most appropriate
consultation methods for the diverse range of people in the city. We will encourage the use of new
methods which increase community capacity to prioritise local services.
We use a variety of consultation methods to encourage participation from our citizens. These include online
and postal surveys, workshops, focus groups, citizens' juries, public meetings and mystery shopping
exercises. We also have a citizens' panel called Talkback that consists of 1,000 residents who regularly give
us feedback on our services. 
Consultation was carried out to inform the development of this equality scheme before it was drafted. The
consultation included:
■ A Talkback panel survey on equality in service provision
■ A survey of our elected members about service provision
■ A survey on our website about service provision
■ A staff survey about equality in the workplace
■ A partnership consultation event on race equality
■ Discussion with union representatives.
This equality scheme was also subject to a further period of consultation before it was adopted by the
Council. This included presentations to community groups, display stands at our leisure centres and
distributing summaries of the scheme with feedback forms to staff and special interest groups. This was also
available on our website.
We are committed to extending our partnership work on equality. In developing this Scheme we held
consultation events on disability equality and race equality in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council,
Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, South Oxfordshire District Council, Oxfordshire Primary Care
Trust and other NHS bodies. We recognise that we have a shared duty as public service providers to promote
equality and work in partnership.
We will carry out ongoing consultation and engagement as our programme of equality impact assessments
is conducted over the next three years. The consultation which arises from equality impact assessments will
be coordinated through our consultation officer to ensure that people are not 'over-consulted'. We will also
ensure we provide regular feedback.
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11. Mainstreaming equality and diversity
The Equality Standard
We have adopted The Equality Standard for Local Government as our driver for mainstreaming equalities
throughout the organisation.
The Equality Standard for Local Government provides a framework which local government can use to
address its legal obligations and promote best practice in equality and diversity. The five levels are:
Level 1: commitment to a comprehensive equality policy and to the concepts of equality and diversity
Level 2: engagement through assessment and consultation.
Level 3: performance setting: setting equality objectives and targets.
Level 4: performance monitoring: information systems and monitoring against targets.
Level 5: performance review: achieving and reviewing outcomes.
We have committed to demonstrating leadership and best practice in equality and diversity by reaching
Level 5 by 2011.
Equality Impact Assessment
The purpose of an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) is to improve our work by making sure it does not
discriminate and that, where possible, it promotes equality. It involves anticipating the consequences of
policies and projects on the target groups and making sure that, as far as possible, any negative
consequences are eliminated or minimised and opportunities for promoting equality are maximised. 
Our process is aimed at assessing the impact of policies, strategies, functions or projects across the six
equality groups - race, gender, disability, religion or faith, age and sexual orientation. We will look at both
negative impacts and positive impacts.
An equality impact assessment will be carried out when:
(a) Developing a new policy, service, strategy, procedure or function.
(b) Reviewing existing policies, procedures, or functions.
(c) A policy, procedure, function or strategy has been identified as requiring an EqIA by partnership
working, directorates, Executive, or elected members.
A timetable for reviewing our existing functions and policies over the next three years is set out in chapter
13. This timetable has been developed in priority order, those which are considered highest priority will be
impact assessed in the first year of this scheme. The priority order has been determined by considering:
■ Relevance: is there an opportunity to fulfil the general duties to promote race, disability or gender
equality through this function or policy?
■ Differential impact: is the function or policy likely to have a differential impact on any of the six equality
groups race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age?
■ Proportionality: how many people does this function or policy affect?
Heads of Service are responsible for incorporating equalities into their policies, procedures, functions or
strategies, and for assessing the equalities impacts. This should be a continuous cycle, starting at the very
beginning of the process. If there is any doubt as to whether a policy, strategy or function requires initial
screening, managers should contact the Diversity Co-ordinator.
The Equality Impact Assessment consists of two parts - the initial screening process and a more thorough full
assessment if the initial screening has identified an adverse / negative impact. A full assessment involves
engaging with representatives from equality groups who are likely to be affected by the policy, strategy or
project. This could include engaging with staff and members, staff networks or trade unions, other public
bodies or voluntary and community groups. Sufficient time and resources will be dedicated to the
consultation process to encourage full participation, particularly by those groups we have traditionally
failed to reach.
Full guidance and report templates are available on our intranet for staff carrying out equality impact
assessments. The results of equality impact assessments will be published on the website and made available
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in other formats on request. 
Staff equality and diversity training
We recognise that our staff are our key resource in improving our services, and that providing training on
equality and diversity is vital to meet our equality objectives. The training that we will provide over the next
three years will cover all six equality strands - race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation
and age - and will include:
■ Corporate induction programme - this includes half a day for equality & diversity, and half a day for
access & disability awareness
■ A new 90 minute "toolbox talk" type induction to be delivered from 2009 for operational staff who are
not able to attend the full corporate induction programme. This will include a customer-service focussed
equality and diversity module
■ In-depth training on equality and diversity for human resources staff and managers involved in
recruitment or policy development. Around 50 staff will be trained in 2008/09 with further top-up
training to be delivered in subsequent years
■ Additional equality impact assessment training to top-up the 30 people trained during 2007/08
■ A new programme of drama-based equality and diversity awareness training will be started in Autumn
2008, focussing initially on staff who missed their diversity induction and/or the previous equality and
diversity refresher training programmes in 2005/06. This will be a three-year cycle covering around 500
staff per year.
Responsibilities for equality and diversity
Certain individuals have additional responsibilities under this Scheme. 
■ Executive members are responsible for agreeing the policy content and monitoring its implementation
■ The Chief Executive and Executive Directors are responsible for the strategic ownership and delivery of
this Policy and associated Equality Schemes
■ Heads of Service will have responsibility for the day-to-day operation of this Policy and associated
Equality Schemes. Each Head of Service is required to set out the core objectives for the service over the
next year in an annual service transformation plan. This plan includes a commitment to deliver our
equality objectives and specific actions to achieve this. Some of these actions are reflected in the
corporate equality action plan as set out in chapter 12. They are also responsible for ensuring that all
staff are aware of their legal responsibilities under equal opportunity legislation, reviewing and
monitoring the operation of this Policy and associated Equality Schemes
■ Line managers are responsible for ensuring that their staff understand equal opportunities and that they
report all incidents of harassment and discrimination. They are also responsible for ensuring that all staff
have equality of access and resources
■ All members of staff are responsible for ensuring that equality of opportunity is promoted. They should
also ensure that on-going dialogue about equality of opportunity issues and practices take place with
partner organisations, contractors and customers/service users.
■ The Diversity Coordinator based in Policy, Performance and Communications has day-to-day responsibility
for overseeing progress on equality and diversity and facilitating the work of the Equalities Board.
Monitoring Arrangements
We have a corporate Equalities Board which meets monthly. The Board is responsible for overseeing the
implementation of the Corporate Equality Scheme including the action plan, equality training, monitoring
indicators, equality impact assessment programme and equalities communication. 
The Board is chaired by the Head of Policy, Performance and Communications and has representatives from
Service Areas across the Council. It reports to the Corporate Performance Board, which is chaired by the
Chief Executive.
We are retaining the Best Value Performance Indicators which relate to equality and diversity although they
have now been replaced by the new National Indicators. We will also develop local performance indicators
which reflect the objectives set out in this Equality Scheme. Performance information is published on our
29

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website at: www.oxford.gov.uk/council/performance.cfm
We collect a range of information across our services about service users and levels of usage, satisfaction
levels, service outcomes and complaints. Much of this information can be broken down by ethnic group,
gender, disability and age, and is a key resource for equality impact assessments. The impact assessment
process will also highlight areas where our monitoring systems are not adequate and action will be taken to
improve them where this is the case.
Equality monitoring
Local Area Agreement Priorities: We have the following local priorities for Oxfordshire
We have retained the following Best Value Performance Indicator:
NI5
Overall/general satisfaction with local area
NI140
Fair treatment by local services
BVPI2a
The level of the Commission for Racial Equality's Standard for Local Government to which 
the Council conforms.
Publication and review of the Corporate Equality Scheme
This Corporate Equality Scheme will be published on our website. We will also provide paper copies and
other formats upon request.
We will report annually on the progress we have made towards promoting disability, gender, race, age,
sexual orientation and religion or belief equality. To help us do this effectively, we will ask all members of
our community and relevant stakeholder organisations for their feedback. As part of these reviews, we will
consider the information we collect on how our community are accessing our services and employment
opportunities to ensure that we are making progress.
This Equality Scheme will be subject to on-going review and along with its action plan should be considered
a 'live' document. The Scheme will be fully revised in three years' time.
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12. Corporate Equality Action Plan 2008-11
This chapter sets out our Corporate Equality Scheme and provides a key to the delivery of our objectives.
Key to supporting objectives
For race equality we aim to:
R1: Seek to employ a workforce which is, at all levels and across all sections, representative of the black and
minority ethnic population
R2: Work with black and minority ethnic groups to meet their needs and reduce the inequalities between
different ethnic groups
R3: Promote good relations between people of different ethnic groups
R4: Enable and encourage citizens and communities from all ethnic groups to participate in community life
R5: Seek to eliminate racial harassment and discrimination through a 'zero tolerance' approach
For gender equality we aim to:
G1: Create a working environment that actively encourages parents and carers to have equal access to
employment opportunities
G2: Ensure we operate an equal pay policy
G3: Ensure that our services meet the needs of people regardless of gender
G4: Seek to reduce domestic and sexual abuse, by working with our partners
G5: Seek to eliminate gender-based harassment and discrimination through a 'zero tolerance' approach
For disability equality we aim to:
D1: Proactively seek to remove barriers in recruitment, selection and development
D2: Create and promote equality of access to our services
D3: Ensure our buildings open to the public are as accessible as possible
D4: Promote the principles of 'Inclusive Design' within the built environment
D5: Encourage participation of disabled people by engaging in consultation
D6: Seek to eliminate disability-based harassment and discrimination through a 'zero tolerance' approach
Ensure our recruitment methods encourage applications from all groups in the
community and particularly those which are under-represented. 
Lead
Supporting 
Action
Timescale
service 
objectives
area
Publish a workforce monitoring report for the financial year 2007-08
July/Sep 2008
HR
R1, G1, D1
Ensure that human resources systems are able to analyse the number 
ofpeople receiving training by equality groups
Dec 2008
HR
R1, G1, D1
Reasons for leaving from exit interview questionnaires should be 
collated and analysed
Dec 2008
HR
R1, G1, D1
Review existing local labour market assessments, workforce profiling 
and equal pay reviews. Explore a joint employment equality 
assessment with other local public bodies.
Mar 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
Set employment and pay targets
Mar 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
Use the results of the workforce monitoring report to inform actions 
to improve the diversity of the Council’s employees
Mar 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
Ensure that all Human Resource policies have been assessed for 
equality impact 
April 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
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Ensure that all recruitment policies and practices provide equality of access
April 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
Regain our Two Ticks status
April 2009
HR
D1
Consider whether to collect information on employees by transgender, 
sexual orientation and religion/faith
April 2009
HR
To follow
Monitor requests for reasonable adjustments and report 
to Equalities Board
April 2009
HR
D1
Ensure equal access to the induction training on diversity
Dec 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
Operate an equal pay policy
Dec 2009
HR
G2
Monitor that opportunities for and access to learning and career 
development are provided fairly, using lawful discrimination 
(positive action) as appropriate
Dec 2009
HR
R1, G1, D1
Implement the new equality and diversity training programme for staff
Mar 2011
HR
R1, G1, D1
Create a working environment which actively supports the development of our
employees and is free from discrimination, harassment, bullying, victimisation
or intimidation. 
Continue support for the staff disability forum and involve in 
policy changes
Ongoing
CD
D1, D6
Implement the new equality and diversity training programme for staff
Mar 2011
HR
R5, G5, D6
Review existing harassment policies and ensure they cover all types 
of harassment. Communicate these to staff
Mar 2009
PPC/HR R5, G5, D6
Work with our diverse communities to meet their needs.
Collection of domestic waste – assisted & clinical collection and bulky items 2008/9
CW
D2
Collection of domestic recycling
2009/10
CW
D3
Safe and easy access to markets
2009/10
CW
D3
Install and replace tactile paving on key areas of the highway
2009/10
CW
D2
Provide signage and information in different languages and pictorially
Ongoing
CW
D2
Car Parks – ensure adequate provision of disabled, parent/carer and 
child parking spaces
2008/9
CW
D2
Address park accessibility through green flag status
Ongoing
CW
D2
Address park accessibility through Green Flag status
Ongoing
CW
D2
Work with estate managers to ensure Council tenants’ bin collection 
needs are met
October 2008
CW
D2
Provide a weekend burial service to take account of different faiths
Ongoing
CW
To follow
Provide customer service which is accessible to people with 
physical disabilities
Ongoing
CS
D2
Provide British Sign Language interpreters on an ad hoc basis
Ongoing
CS
D2
Maintain contract to provide interpretation services
Ongoing
CS
R2
Extend call centre hours
Mar 2009
CS
D2
Provide information in different formats to take account of disability
or language 
Ongoing
CS
D2, R2
Implement the new equality and diversity training programme for staff
Mar 2011
HR
R2, G3, D2
Continue our programme of Plain English training and promotion
Ongoing
HR
D2
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Provide single sex swimming sessions
Ongoing
CL
G3
Implement the 2007 Tenant and Leaseholder Compact and work 
with the Equalities Topic Panel to influence council housing services
Ongoing
OCH
R2, G3, D2
Implement the Oxford City Homes Comprehensive Service Standards
Ongoing
OCH
D2
Operate an adaptations policy for disabled people
Ongoing
OCH
D2
Remove barriers to enable access to the Choice Based Lettings scheme
Ongoing
CHCD
R2, G3, D2
Support community centres to provide activities for all members 
of the community, including people with disabilities and disability 
support groups
Ongoing
CHCD
R2, G3, D2
Establish means of communicating with Eastern European groups
Mar 2009
ED
R2
Maintain Shopmobility service
Ongoing 
CD
D2
Continued investment to ensure all council buildings offering public 
access comply with the Disability Discrimination Act
Work plan in place CD
D3
Review our alternative formats policy
Sept 2008
PPC
R2, G3, D2
Continue electronic testing of our website to meet the Web Content 
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
Ongoing
PPC
D2
Make informational videos available on the website to assist people
with disabilities or poor English
Mar 2009
PPC
D2, R2
Apply for Shaw Trust status for the website
Mar 2009
PPC
D2
Review our monitoring and information systems as part of the 
equality impact assessment process
Mar 2009
PPC
R2, G3, D2
Produce a diversity profile of Oxford’s residents, workers and visitors, 
including information about the needs of different groups in the city
Mar 2009
PPC
R2, G3, D2
Further development of website to enable online transactions and 
improved information
Ongoing
PPC/CS
D2
Complete equality impact assessments three-year timetable
Mar 2011
All
R2, G3, D2
Enable equal participation in community life that generates confidence 
and trust 
Develop a strategy for community participation in equality
Mar 2010
PPC
D5, R4
Adopt a new Consultation Strategy and Toolkit
Sep 2008
PPC
D5, R4
Continued investment in technology to ensure all members of the 
public can participate in council meetings including area committee 
meetings
Mar 2010
PFM
D5
Consultation on equalities to be incorporated into development of 
new Sustainable Community Strategies
Mar 2011
CD
D5, R4
Develop the capacity of stakeholders to scrutinise procedures, 
including the community champions and Access Forum
Mar 2010 PPC/CHCD/CD D5, R4
Ensure that appropriate language, translation and interpretation 
facilities are in place for consultation and that buildings used for 
consultation are accessible to all potential users
Ongoing
PPC/CHCD D5, R4
Improve community relations and reduce levels of inequality between and
within communities
Campaign to increase take-up of council tax benefits
Ongoing
CS
R2
Provide free swimming sessions to children and young people 
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under 17 years
Ongoing
CL
R4, G3, D2
Ensure equal access to all leisure service users, including people 
on a low income, children and young people, older people, people 
with disabilities and people from black and minority ethnic groups
Mar 2009
CL
R2, G3, D2
Review images available for use in publications, including recruitment 
literature, to ensure they are representative of different groups and 
different environments including work, leisure, education and home
Sept 2008
PPC
R3, D6
Increase engagement with socially excluded groups to increase use 
and attendance of community centres
Mar 2009
CHCD R2, R3, G3, D3
Exploit opportunities to provide social and other low cost housing in
areas of traditional BME settlement
Ongoing
CHCD
R2
Continue support for the annual Mela event
Ongoing 
CHCD
R3
Continue support for the Oxford Council of Faiths
Ongoing
CHCD
To follow
Obtain ‘regional homelessness champion’ status for the South East
Mar 2009
CHCD
To follow
Implement the Black and Minority Ethnic Housing Strategy
Dec 2009
CHCD
R2
Analyse differences in reasons for homelessness between white and 
black & minority ethnic households
Dec 2009
CHCD
R2
Implement the Elderly Persons Housing Strategy
Dec 2009
CHCD
To follow
Extend the range of support available for elderly persons’ housing 
and support including Telecare and Extra Care
Dec 2009
CHCD
To follow
Improve take-up of environmental health services by black and 
minority ethnic groups
Dec 2009
ED
R2
Develop a work programme to tackle inequalities with Oxford 
Strategic Partnership Health & Social Inclusion Group
Ongoing
CHCD/CD
R2
Look at methods of payment to ensure they are accessible to all
Mar 2009
CS/Fin
D2
Work effectively with our partners e.g. community groups, Oxfordshire County
Council and health services to deliver the best possible service to all
communities. This includes those who provide goods and services on our behalf
Encourage a healthy lifestyle and reduce crime and anti-social 
behaviour in partnership with others through providing opportunities 
for sport & leisure
Ongoing
CL
R4, G3, D2
Partnership Manager to ensure equality content of Local Area 
Agreement plans
Sept 2008
CD
R2, G3, D2
Improve domestic abuse services in the city to reduce harm and
risk to women and prevent homelessness
Dec 2009
CHCD
G4
Ensure links to partnership working to encourage healthy lifestyles 
and communities and enable access to lifestyle choices
Mar 2009
CHCD
R4, G3, D2
Carry out an equality impact assessment on the procurement tender 
process function as part of the development of a new procurement
strategy
Mar 2009
SP
R2, G3, D2
Ensure that all corporate procurement activity and supply chain 
contract management meet equalities guidance
Mar 2009
SP
R2, G3, D2
Provide training and/or guidance to the procurement team 
so that they can train all staff involved in evaluating tenders for 
equality impact
Mar 2009
SP
R2, G3, D2
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Improving our processes
Consult upon and adopt Corporate Equality Scheme
June 2008
PPC
To follow
Equalities Board to develop an equality communications plan to 
be reviewed regularly
July 2008
PPC
To follow
Establish monitoring systems and reporting processes for 
Equalities Board
July 2008
PPC
To follow
Set corporate age objectives
Mar 2009
PPC
To follow
Corporate targets set for all objectives
Mar 2009
PPC
To follow
Develop a corporate list of all policies and strategies with date of 
introduction, date of review and person responsible
Mar 2009
PPC
To follow
Review equality monitoring and information systems including 
setting up planning groups
Mar 2009
PPC
To follow
Produce a single annual equality report
April 2009
PPC
To follow
Corporate objectives and targets set for sexual orientation and religion
June 2009
PPC
To follow
Ensure that equality progress has been verified through 
self-assessment, scrutiny and audit and have been validated 
externally through an accredited assessor
Mar 2011
PPC
To follow
Establish corporate guidelines for information gathering and 
equality monitoring
Mar 2010
PPC
To follow
Include equality impact assessment in project management guidance
Mar 2009
BT
To follow
Consider including an ‘equality impact assessment’ section on the 
committee report template for executive decisions
Sept 2008
LD
To follow
Each directorate to set race, gender, age and disability 
objectives and targets
Mar 2010
All
To follow
Each directorate to set sexual orientation and religion 
objectives and targets
Mar 2011
All
To follow
Key to service areas:
BT: Business Transformation
CD: City Development
CHCD: Community Housing & Community Development
CL: City Leisure
CS: Customer Services
CW: City Works
ED: Environmental Development
Fin: Finance
HR: Human Resources
LD: Legal & Democratic Services
OCH: Oxford City Homes
PFM: Property & Facilities Management
PPC: Policy, Performance & Communications
SP: Strategic Procurement & Shared Services
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13. Equality Impact Assessment timetable 2008-11
Chief Executive - Policy, Performance and Communications
Policy/Function
Year
Consultation Strategy
2008/09
Communications Strategy (including internal communications, corporate communications 
2008/09
and branding, media relations, Council website and intranet, support for partnership websites)
Customer Contact Strategy
2008/09
Social Inclusion Strategy
2008/09
Performance management 
2009/10
Analytical and research function
Service planning
2010/11
Audit and inspection lead role
2010/11
Corporate Equality Scheme
2010/11
Corporate Plan
Annually
Chief Executive - Executive Support
Corporate Complaints Policy & implementation
2008/9
Chief Executive - Strategic Procurement & Shared Services
Procurement Strategy & implementation
2008/09
Corporate Services - Finance
Housing benefit fraud investigations
2008/9
Cashiering
2010/11
Corporate Services - Human Resources
Attendance Management
2008/09
Performance Management
2008/09
Recruitment and Selection
2008/09
Pay and Reward
2009/10
Work-Life Balance
2009/10
Learning and Development
2010/11
Health and Safety
2010/11
Payroll
2010/11
Corporate Services - Legal & Democratic Services
Elections and electoral registration
2008/09
Democratic / corporate governance
2009/10
Corporate Services – Business Transformation
Service Desk
2009/10
Data Protection
2009/10
IT advice and guidance
2009/10
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Corporate Services - Property & Facilities Management
Technical support for council meetings
2008/09
Implementation of DDA works to ensure accessibility of the Council’s public buildings
2008/09
After hours security service
2009/10
Strategic management of the Council’s properties
2010/11
Estate management and maintenance of the Council’s properties
2010/11
City Regeneration - City Development
Planning control (pre-application advice and planning applications)
2008/09
Partnerships team
2008/09
West End Area Action Plan
2008/09
Building regulations, plan checking and site approval of construction work.
2008/09
Inspecting safety of sports grounds, fairs and occasional theatres
2008/09
Provision of a wheelchair and scooter loan service
2008/09
Advice and guidance on DDA issues
2008/09
Culture Strategy incl. Oxford Inspires, arts, dance and events, community recreation
2009/10
Planning Enforcement
2009/10
Tourism Strategy & development work (incl. Tourist Information Centre)
2009/10
Museum of Oxford
2009/10
Town Hall development and use
2009/10
General Advice and consultancy work in Building Control
2009/10
Working with partners to increase the accessibility of the City
2009/10
Provision of the Access Forum
2009/10
Training on DDA issues
2009/10
Economic Development Strategy & support 
2010/11
Reception, Admin/Tech Support, planning phoneline and email
2010/11
Conservation, archaeology, trees
2010/11
Planning Policy
2010/11
International Exchange
2010/11
Carfax Tower
2010/11
Issuing demolition licences and inspection sites
2010/11
Dealing with dangerous buildings and emergency call outs
2010/11
Naming of new streets and house numbering
2010/11
City Regeneration - Community Housing & Community Development
Vulnerable young people - diversionary activity and young offenders
2008/09
Oxford Community Safety Rolling Plan 2008-11 (including City Council coordination of 
Annually
CDRP and CCTV)
Oxfordshire Drug Strategy
To be agreed in partnership
Oxfordshire Alcohol Strategy (incl. Nightsafe)
To be agreed in partnership
Domestic violence coordination (including honour-based violence, 
To be agreed in partnership
sexual violence and victims with no recourse to public funds, 
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Oxfordshire Domestic Violence Strategy)
Neighbourhood policing coordination
To be agreed in partnership
Area Committees (including Area Plans, discretionary project funding, project development)
2008/09
Community Cohesion and Social Inclusion
2008/09
Housing Strategy
2008/09
Homelessness Strategy
2008/09
Allocations
2008/09
Housing Options
2008/09
Empty Homes Strategy
2008/09
CANAcT
2009/10
Street Wardens
2009/10
Administration of Grants to local Community & Voluntary sector
2009/10
Older Persons Housing Strategy
2009/10
BME Housing Strategy
2009/10
Temporary Accommodation
2009/10
Rough Sleepers
2009/10
Home Choice
2009/10
Sub-regional Choice-Based Letting
2009/10
Code of Conduct for Housing Needs
2009/10
Health and Housing Assessments
2009/10
Emergency Planning
2010/11
Neighbourhood Environmental Action Teams
2010/11
Community Centres
2010/11
Private Sector Housing Strategy
2010/11
Appeals / Reviews
2010/11
Home visits
2010/11
Affordable Housing Development Strategy
2010/11
General Service Standards (Housing Needs)
2010/11
Elderly Services – Mobile wardens
2010/11
Elderly Services – Contact centre
2010/11
City Regeneration - Environmental Development
Taxi licensing services
2008/09
NB - other environmental development functions and policies were impact assessed just before the start of
this cycle and will be included again in the next three-year cycle
City Services - Oxford City Homes
Exemption scheme/policy
2008/09
Adaptations Policy
2008/09
Handbooks Cluster 
2008/09
Tenancy Agreement
2008/09
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Tenant Compact
2008/09
Procedure for monitoring productivity and performance of Operational Staff
2008/09
28 Day visit checklist
2008/09
Annual Visit Checklist
Tenancy Update Questionnaire
Complaints Cluster
2008/09
Eviction Tenancy Services
2008/09
Eviction Void Property Officers 
Noise Nuisance
2008/09
Nuisance caused by pets
Mediation Referral
2008/09
Referral to floating support
Welfare concerns
Vulnerable Persons security measures
Domestic Violence
2008/09
Racial Harassment
Protection from abuse
Asbestos policy 
2008/09
Responsive Repairs procedures
2008/09
Repair Priorities
Right to Repair
Out of Pocket Expenses
2008/09
Customer Contact Cluster
2008/09
Decent Homes Policy 
2008/09
Visiting Customers Cluster 
2008/09
Gas Team Cluster
2008/09
Removal of items to Storage
2008/09
File Storage
Rubbish
Untidy Gardens
Abandoned Vehicles
Decants Cluster
2008/09
Subcontractor Cluster 
2008/09
Right to Buy Policy and Procedure
2008/09
Service Standards
2008/09
Equality and Diversity Statement
2008/09
Garage procedure
2008/09
Voids Cluster
2008/09
Transfer
2008/09
Mutual Exchange Checklist
Instruction to Legal Services
2008/09
Terminating Tenancies with a will
Public Trustee – Death without a will
Receipt of notice to Terminate Tenancy
Ending Tenancies – housekeeping
Death in a Property
Succession (statutory)
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Abandoned Properties
Mortgage Reference
2008/09
Gardening Scheme
2008/09
Customer Care Code of Conduct
2009/10
Annual Service Contract
2009/10 
Viewing Procedure
Rents Teams Service standards document
2009/10
Estate Officer Cluster
2009/10
Recharge policy
2009/10
Electrical Quality Team Cluster
2009/10
Phones: voice mail, telephone standards, mobile phones
2009/10
Staff Policies and Procedures Cluster 
2009/10
Procedure for applying for a possession order
2010/11
Procedure for referring a case for eviction
Procedure for attending a possession order hearing
Procedure for requesting possession action
Receipt of notice procedure
Authorised signature list
2010/11
Health and Safety Cluster
2010/11
Credit Refunds Procedure Note
2010/11
Voids Cluster (2) - remaining processes/procedures
2010/11
Security Cluster
2010/11
Transport Cluster
2010/11
Operational Guidance Manual 
2010/11
A collection of existing P & P for Operational Staff
City Services - Customer Services
Benefit Take-up/ Promotions
2008/09
Visiting Officers
2008/09
Front-line Customer Services Officers
DHPs
2008/09
Backdated benefit payments
2008/09
Benefit notification letters
2009/10
Benefit application forms
Leaflets
Complaints
2009/10
Billing/debt recovery
2009/10
LHA safeguard policy
2009/10
Appeals
2010/11
Discounts/Reductions
2010/11
Caution list
2010/11
Benefit payments
2010/11
Benefit assessment
2010/11
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City Services - City Leisure
Sport & Leisure Centres
2008/09
Slice Card
2008/09
Sports Development
2008/09
Leisure/Business Development
2009/10
Promotion & Advertising
2009/10
Aspires
2009/10
Training
2010/11
Sport Centre Maintenance
2010/11
City Services - City Works
Cemeteries/Bereavement Service
2008/09
Countryside Service
2008/09
Parks Rangers
2008/09
Parks administration
2009/10
Events
2009/10
Parks Development
2009/10
Play Areas
2009/10
Allotment Function
2010/11
Grounds Maintenance
2010/11
Trees
2010/11
City Services - Policy mapping 
Car Parks – Provision of Disabled Parking Facilities
2008/09
Car Parks – Parent/Carer and Child Parking
2008/09
Domestic Waste – Bulky Household Items and Collection of Fridges and Freezers
2008/09
Domestic Waste – Assisted Collections
2008/09
Domestic Waste – Clinical Collections
2008/09
Trade refuse and recycling – Special Collections
2009/10
Trade refuse and recycling – Purchase and Control of Containers
2009/10
Trade Refuse and Recycling – Bad Debtors and Doubtful Debts
2009/10
Domestic Recycling – Recycling 
2009/10
Street Cleansing – Maintenance of Street Furniture, Flytipping, Flyposting, Graffiti, Public Toilets, 
2009/10
Abandoned Shopping Trolleys, etc
Engineering – Sign Manufacture, Dropped Kerbs, Pot Holes, Tactile Paving
2009/10
Motor Transport – Taxi Licences, Driver Training for Cycling Awareness
2009/10
Markets – Covered, Open and Farmers Markets
2009/10
Car Parks – Enforcement
2009/10
Street Cleansing/Motor Transport – Abandoned Vehicles
2010/11
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14. An example of a completed initial
impact assessment form
Directorate:
Section:
Person responsible for 
Date of Assessment:
the assessment: 
Oxford City Homes
Tenancy Services 
18 March 2008
Jarlath Brine, Sally Short,
Jo Bullock
1.
Briefly describe the aims,
The Tenants Handbook is not a legal document but is integral to
objectives and purpose of the
the services delivered by OCH. It sets out in detail information
policy
covering the housing services provided by OCH and refers to legal
rights, e.g. tenancy agreement, rents, housing benefits, service
charges, complaints, improvements, tenant & leaseholder
involvement, customer commitment, housing services. The
handbook contains key contacts (these are regularly updated). It
backs up the sign-up process administered. 
2.  Are there any associated
1.  Support tenancy agreements.
objectives of the policy, please
2.  Support sustainable tenancies.
explain
3.  Communication to tenants of how to access services.
4.  All Councillors and key officers receive a copy of each new edition.
5.  Access to information supported by an online version that is
regularly reviewed and updated.
3.  Who is intended to benefit from
All existing and future tenants. It is a public document (also online
the policy and in what way?
from 2006) and is on display in the main OCH reception and
housing surgeries. The benefit is a full understanding of our
services. 
4.  What outcomes are wanted from
1. Setting tenants up to succeed. Up front knowledge talked
this policy?
through at the sign up stage, ref. tenancy agreement.
2. The handbook means that tenants can check information out of
office hours and is referred to by officers when we
communicate with them.
3.  Strengthen partnerships with tenant groups who were consulted
and involved with the development of the 2005 edition.
4.  Reduce customer complaints/ confusion.
5.  Opportunity to include this in future staff induction for both
office and non-office based staff.
5. What 
factors/forces 
could
Sheer amount of information could put tenants off = possible
contribute/detract from the
negative. 
outcomes?
Available in alternative formats. Introduction translated into five
key languages.
Ensure that everything is written to plain English guidelines.
6.  Who are the main stakeholders in
Current and future tenants/ leaseholders. Tenancy services/ contact
relation to the policy?
centre staff/ operational staff/community housing et al
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7.
Who implements the policy and
Cross business unit (ref. Community Housing/ Customer Services).
who is responsible for the policy?
OCH rents, tenancy services, voids, estate managers, customer
contact centre etc. 
8.  Are there concerns that the policy
Yes, but. Not currently translated as a key document but could
could have a differential impact
consider requests. No adapted packs currently available (diversity
on racial groups?
info. only available for the transfer of existing tenants, sometimes
from housing associations). Contact details change. Highlight the
key link with Housing Options and the need for the accuracy of
tenant information before sign up.
What existing evidence (either
Front page is to be translated (3rd edition 2008) into five key
presumed or otherwise) do you
languages. These are still appropriate although demographics are
have for this?
changing, e.g. more eastern European tenants.
9.  Are there concerns that the policy
Certainly post 2005 this should not be an issue. Might just query
could have a differential impact
whether allocations are still made with the male name on the
due to gender
offer letter. Check with Housing Allocations.
8.  Are there concerns that the policy
Yes / No
could have a differential impact
Yes, but. Not currently translated as a key document but could
on racial groups?
consider requests. No adapted packs currently available (diversity
info. only available for the transfer of existing tenants, sometimes
from housing associations). Contact details change. Highlight the
key link with Housing Options and the need for the accuracy of
tenant information before sign up.
What existing evidence (either
?
presumed or otherwise) do you
have for this?
10. Are there concerns that the policy
Yes / No
could have a differential impact
Caveat that OCH follows best practice and ensures that alternative
due to disability
formats are more readily available and wide reaching. 
Query heading of “special needs” within the TH and whether this
should be re worded. Addressing summer 2008.
11.  Are there concerns that the policy
Yes / No
could have a differential impact
on people due to sexual
orientation
What existing evidence (either
?
presumed or otherwise) do you
have for this?
12. Are there concerns that the policy
Yes / No
could have a differential impact
Refer to exemption schemes and eligibility criteria. These are cross-
on people due to their age
referenced in the TH.
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13.  Are there concerns that the policy
Yes / No
could have a differential impact
Adaptations policy is based on demonstrable need for sustainable
on people due to their religious
tenancies rather than lifestyle adaptations following on from
belief
religious belief/ faith.
What existing evidence (either
?
presumed or otherwise) do you
have for this?
14. Could the differential impact
Yes / No
identified in 8-13 amount to there
Please explain
being the potential for adverse
Tenant Survey Response Autumn 2001 = 88% easy/ very easy to
impact in this policy?
understand, 85% information useful/ very useful, 71% looked at
the TH more than three times, 84% looked at the TH at least once
or twice. 
Can also check on the hits on the website. 
Also check satisfaction via Tenant Topic Panels.
15. Can this adverse impact be
Yes / No
justified on the grounds of
Please explain for each equality heading (question 8-13) on a
promoting equality of opportunity
separate piece of paper.
for one group? Or any other
reason.
16. Should the policy proceed to a
Yes / No
partial impact assessment?
If Yes, is there enough evidence to proceed to a full EIA? Yes / No
Date on which Partial or Full
impact assessment to be
completed by
Signed (completing officer) J.Brine, S.Short, J.Bullock    
Signed (Lead Officer)
44

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15. Profile of city residents, workers and
visitors and employee profile
Profile of city residents, workers and visitors
The population of Oxford in mid-2006 was estimated to be 149,100. The population has increased since
2001 and will continue to increase to 2016. 
In marked contrast to other parts of the county, Oxford is ethnically and cultural diverse with the third
highest minority ethnic population in the South East. In 2001, the non-white population was 12.9%
compared to 8.7% in England & Wales. By mid-2004 it is estimated by National Statistics that this had
increased to 15.3%. The projected population changes to 2011 by ethnicity are shown below, as estimated
by Oxfordshire Data Observatory.
Black and minority ethnic groups in Oxford, 2001
Source: 2001 Census, National Statistics
Estimate of population by ethnic group, 2006 and 2011 for Oxford 
% change
Ethnic Group
Total people
2001-2011
2001
2006
2011
British White
103,794
103,182
102,752
-1.0
Other White
14,120
15,000
15,587
10.4
Mixed
3,306
4,043
4,881
47.7
Carribean Black
1,677
1,642
1,577
-6.0
Other Black
1,746
1,959
2,133
22.2
Indian
2,354
2,489
2,594
10.2
Pakistani
2,650
2,671
2,709
2.2
Other Asian
1,546
1,634
1,709
10.5
Chinese
2,519
3,152
3,659
45.2
Other
1,799
2,078
2,293
27.5
Grand Total
135,511
137,848
139,894
3.2
Source: Oxfordshire Data Observatory experimental statistics, www.oxfordshireobservatory.info
The ethnic diversity among young people is especially high, at 19.8% of under-16s (in 2001), compared to
3.6% of those aged 65 years and over. Oxford also has the second highest proportion of people born
outside the UK in the South East.
Due to the large student population, the city has the highest proportion of students in England and Wales.
This means that Oxford has a high proportion of 16-29 year olds; 32%, which is twice the national average.
45

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Oxford age structure
Source: 2001 Census, National Statistics
The city is home to around 3,300 businesses providing 108,000 jobs. Oxford has a high level of in-
commuting, with around half its workforce living outside its boundary. Also, there is relatively little out-
commuting, with only 25% of economically active Oxford residents working outside the city. As a result,
commuters add 26,000 to the daytime population.
Economically active population (Jul 2006-Jun 2007)
Oxford
Great Britain
Oxford (%)
South East (%)
(numbers)
(%)
Males
Economically active
39,100
79.0
86.9
83.3
In employment
35,700
72.5
83.0
78.5
Employees
31,300
64.3
67.6
64.8
Self employed
4,300
8.3
15.0
13.3
Females
Economically active
31,000
66.0
76.7
73.5
In employment
30,400
64.7
73.8
69.8
Employees
27,800
59.5
67.1
64.2
Self employed
#
#
6.2
5.1
Source: Nomis, www.nomisweb.co.uk
# Sample size too small for reliable estimate
46

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Oxford also has a large number of tourist visitors who swell the daytime population - an estimated 8.8
million every year.
There has also been a large recent migration of people from new European Union countries. In 2001, there
were around 1700 residents of Eastern European origin (including 300 Polish). During the period 2004-07,
2095 nationals of new EU countries registered to work in Oxford. Two-thirds of these were Polish nationals.
There has also been a very large increase in number of foreign nationals joining the tax system. During
2002-05 there were around 2500 foreign nationals per year registering to work in Oxford. In 2005-06 this
doubled to over 5000. However, little is known about how long these migrants stay for.
The following table sets out the levels of disability, referred to as long-term illness, in the City of Oxford,
the South East region, and England using the 2001 census data.
People with a long-term illness, 2001
Oxford City
South East
England
Population
134,248
8,000,645
49,138,831
Number of people with a long-term illness
18,495
1,237,399
8,809,194
% of people with a long-term illness
13.8%
15.5%
17.9%
Source: 2001 Census, National Statistics
The following table shows that the majority of Oxford's population identify themselves as Christian, and a
quarter state that they have no religion.
Population by religion, 2001
All people
Males
Females
Christian
60.4%
56.6%
64.1%
Buddhist
0.8%
0.8%
0.8%
Hindu
0.8%
0.8%
0.8%
Jewish
0.8%
0.9%
0.8%
Muslim
3.8%
4.1%
3.6%
Sikh
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
Any other religion
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
No religion
23.9%
27.1%
20.8%
Religion not stated
8.7%
9.0%
8.4%
Source: 2001 Census, National Statistics
47

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Employee profile - 2007 calendar year
Gender
Ethnicity
Disability
Age
Not
Up to 50
Indicator
Male
Female
White  Non-white
Disabled
51+ years
disabled
years
Looking for work with
the Council
Number of applications
1230
846
1466
325
2066
32
1592
217
for employment
Numbers selected
75
72
122
11
145
3
126
14
Percentage selected
6.1%
8.5%
8.3%
3.4%
7.0%
9.4%
7.9%
6.5%
Working for the 
Council
Numbers of staff in 
903
578
1381
93
1415
67
1054
428
post (BV16a, 17a)
As percentage of
61.0%
39.0%
93.7%
6.3%
95.5%
4.5%
71.1%
28.9%
all staff
Percentage with part-
5.9%
40.5%
18.5%
32.3%
19.0%
26.9%
19.5%
18.9%
time contracts
Percentage in top 5%
6.0%
3.8%
5.5%
0%
5.3%
1.5%
5.5%
0.2%
of earners (BV11)
Numbers receiving
Not currently available
training
Numbers receiving
23.3%
45.3%
31.1%
44.1%
31.6%
35.8%
32.4%
29.9%
appraisals
Harassment and
discrimination
A breakdown would lead to the identification of the respondents
complaints
Disciplinary decisions
1.8
0.2
1.2
0.0
1.2
0.0
1.2
0.9
per 100 employees
Leaving the authority
Numbers leaving per
13.6
21.5
15.8
29.0
16.7
16.4
19.0
11.0
100 employees
Percentage of leavers
completing exit interview
6.5%
6.5%
6.4%
7.4%
5.9%
18.2%
6.0%
8.5%
(Based on guidance from Ethnic Monitoring: a guide for public authorities (Commission for Racial Equality
questionnaires
This information should be treated with caution as it only shows headline figures which need further
investigation. Apparent differences between different demographic groups may not be statistically
significant due to the relatively small numbers involved.
Version control
0.1
Mark Fransham
Original draft
31/03/08
0.2
Mark Fransham
Redrafted text, included existing Disability Equality Scheme, new 
structure, info on existing services - 21/04/08
0.3
Mark Fransham
Added revised objectives, employer text, consultation section, equality 
impact assessment timetable and statistical appendix - 24/04/08
0.4
Melanie Faulkner-Barrett
Redrafted wording – to highlight areas where systems are currently being 
developed to monitor the Equality Strands
0.5
Melanie Faulkner-Barrett
Final draft
0.6
Melanie Faulkner-Barrett
Update
1.0
Melanie Faulkner-Barrett
Updated to include feedback from committee process
48

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16. Complaints under this 
Corporate Equality Scheme
Complaints - Employment
Oxford City Council operates a comprehensive suite of staff grievance, disciplinary and complaints policies.
This is available on request from Human Resources.
Complaints - Service Delivery
What is a Complaint?
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the standard of service provided by the Council or its
staff. A complaint can be made by anyone, either on their own behalf, or for someone else who is unable to
make their complaint themselves.
Complaints Procedure
Oxford City Council has a complaints procedure available to anyone who feels dissatisfied with the level of
service they have received from the Council or its staff. Once a complaint has been formally received by
Oxford City Council it will be acknowledged by an Officer in writing within 5 working days. An investigation
will be carried out and reported on within 20 working days. Further details of the 4 stages of complaint are
available on request.
If you wish to make a complaint please direct it to Oxford City Council's main address.
Phone: 01865 
249811 
Fax: 01865 
252256 
Email: [email address] 
Address: 
Oxford City Council
PO Box 10
Oxford
OX1 4EY 
Translations available
If you would like to receive this document in an alternative format such as Braille, large print, audio cassette
or other language then please contact us:
Policy, Performance & Communications
Oxford City Council
Town Hall
St. Aldate's
Oxford OX1 1BX 
T: 01865 252131
E: [email address] 
www.oxford.gov.uk
49

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NOTES
50

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NOTES
51

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Contact us
E [email address]
T 01865 252131
Or write to:
Melanie Faulkner-Barrett
Oxford City Council
Town Hall
Oxford OX1 1BX
If you need a translation, a larger print version or a copy of this
publication in another format, please contact us.
Building a world-class city for everyone

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