COUNCIL NEWS
Fairer public services – National Award for Borough Council
9 July 2008Public Relations
Bedford Borough Council has received national recognition for their equality work at an awards ceremony in Manchester.
The Council received Equality Mark Level 3, following a recent assessment. The award was based on the council’s achievements in their policies and practices to promote fairness.
The Awards were presented by Professor Gus John, fellow of the Institute of Education, University of London and visiting faculty professor of Education at the University of Strathclyde. Gus John has had a long-term commitment to public services and has worked since 1965 campaigning for fairness and equality.
The Equality Mark is awarded to organisations following a rigorous assessment and validation process. The system involves a detailed review of the organisations policies and systems with extensive interviews with managers, staff and local organisations. The award shows that local services are making real progress in their commitment to deliver fair employment and services.
The Equality Mark was established in 2007 to provide a framework to support the development of fair practices in employment and public services. It was established to support the Equality Standard for Local Government providing a way of measuring and rewarding achievement. Although the scheme was set up to support local government organisations it is being developed to operate across public services to provide a common system for recognising achievement.
Cllr Pat Olney, Bedford Borough Council Portfolio holder for Arts, Leisure and Diversity, said: “The achievement of this award reflects our commitment to ensure equality and diversity is embedded in our policies and practices in employment and service delivery and our willingness to strive towards continuous improvement. It is the outcome of the hard work and effort towards ensuring we work in partnership with residents, officers, elected members and voluntary/community and public sector agencies to deliver the best possible outcomes through the best use of resources. We will use this benchmark to continue improving service delivery for people living and working in Bedford Borough.”
The Equality Standard for Local Government was developed by the Centre for Local Policy Studies for Employers Organisations for Local Government and the commission for Racial Equality, The Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. It was adopted as a Best Value Performance Indicator, by the Government in 2002, and has remained the Key driver for mainstreaming and improving equality practice for local government.