Information about your dealings with Stonewall [Extraneous material removed]

The request was successful.

Dear Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service,
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Please provide any information that you hold answering to any of the following descriptions:

1. Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall Diversity Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality Index,” including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please redact personal details if necessary.

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme.

3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2019 or 2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be entitled to withhold it).

4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind, if no further assessment was done).

5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in 2019; (ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.

Yours faithfully,

U. Winfield

Freedom of Information, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

Dear U. Winfield,

 

Freedom of Information Act Request – Reference: 1592

 

Thank you for your request for information about dealings with Stonewall.

 

Your request was received on 8^th February 2021 and we are dealing with it
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000/Data Protection Act
1998.  We will respond to you as soon as possible, but at the latest by
8^th March 2021.

 

If you do not hear from us by this date, please contact the Executive
Support Office on 01606 868403 or by email to [email address].

 

Thank you for your co-operation.

 

Kind regards,

 

Kirsty Jennings

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service,

Clemonds Hey, Oakmere Road,

Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 2UA

Tel: 07929 805 040

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Freedom of Information, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

1 Attachment

Dear U Winfield,

 

Your request, received on 8^th February 2021, Reference 1592

 

1. Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall Diversity
Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality Index,”
including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please
redact personal details if necessary.

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to
either application or programme.

3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2019 or
2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you
claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in
broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be
entitled to withhold it).

4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out
connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact
assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind,
if no further assessment was done).

5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in 2019;
(ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme
in the future, and if so which.

 

 

Our response dated 25^th February 2021

 

We can confirm that we participated in the Stonewall Diversity Champions
programme in 2019 and 2020. Concerning the application, information and
associated data is submitted to Stonewall via an online portal so we do
not have a tangible copy as such that we can provide. In relation to
attachments, we provide various key guidance documents as part of our
evidence and you can access these freely via our website
[1]www.cheshirefire.gov.uk. We also submit screenshots of social media
posts and press releases, which are freely available by visiting our
social media platforms. You can access the original sources of information
via the archives of all media organisations that covered the Services work
around LGBT inclusion in 2019 and 2020. These will give you an insight to
the variety of activities and initiatives the Service developed in 2019
and 2020. 

 

Concerning feedback, we received our communication from Stonewall via a
face-to-face meeting in 2019 and due to Covid-19; we received feedback via
telephone in 2020, so unfortunately there is nothing tangible to share. 

 

In relation to any direct communication from Stonewall, we receive regular
newsletters, information regarding diversity champion training and we
specifically communicated with former Stonewall CEO, Ruth Hunt in 2019 in
relation to her being our key note speaker at an LGBT conference that we
organised.

 

I can confirm the Service conduced a full equality analysis in 2019 and
2020. The activities related to the Services LGBT inclusion work was
included in the Equality and Inclusion Action Plan and this was
effectively monitored and reviewed by the Services Equality Steering Group
on a quarterly basis. This process included union representatives and
external police colleagues who work closely with us on EDI matters as part
of a blue light collaboration.

 

I can confirm that the Stonewall Diversity Champions cost is £2500 +VAT
each year, so £5000 +VAT if you take in account the fees for both 2019 and
2020. By definition, this payment is for a service whereby Stonewall
measure our performance against criteria.

 

As a Service, we have renewed our Stonewall Diversity Champions membership
for 2021. Concerning 2022, we review all of our equality, diversity and
inclusion activities on an annual basis, so we are unsure at this stage if
we will renew our Diversity Champion membership again in 2022/23. 

 

Response prepared by:

Benji Evans, Equality and Inclusion Officer

 

Notes

If you have any queries about this information, or, if you would like any
further assistance with this information, please contact Benji Evans on
telephone number 01606 868414, or by e-mail to
[2][email address]

If you are still dissatisfied with any aspect of our response to your
request, please contact us by email at
[3][email address] or write to the Information
Manager at the address below. We will endeavour to assist you, and then
advise you how to progress a formal review if you require.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Kirsty Jennings

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service,

Clemonds Hey, Oakmere Road,

Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 2UA

Tel: 07929 805 040

 

 

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