Equality and Diversity
Where's the Welsh? Ble Mae'r Cymraeg?
Welcome to Gwent Police's Equality and Diversity pages. Here you will find details of how Gwent Police intends to meet its duties under the Equality Act 2010, as well as information that we hold in relation to equalities, and links to find out more about those areas of policing that may have an impact on people that share different characteristics.
Our General Equality Duty
In October 2010, the new Equality Act introduced a Public Sector General Equality Duty, which requires Gwent Police, in the exercise of both our internal and external functions, to have due regard to the need to...
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
Protected Characteristics
The Equality Duty applies to both Police personnel and members of our communities who share 'Protected Characteristics'. There are 9 Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act; Age, Disability, Gender Reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion or Belief, Sex and Sexual Orientation.
Specific Equality Regulations
In order to assist public bodies in delivering the General Equality Duty, the Equality Act 2010 also sets out a number of Specific Regulations, which tell us how we can work towards making sure we are compliant with the Duty. There are different Specific Regulations for England and Wales, and as Gwent Police are non-devolved, we are legally obliged to meet the English Regulations. However, as a Welsh Force working with devolved partner organisations, wherever possible, we will be seeking to also meet the Welsh Regulations. To do this, Gwent Police will be:
- Publishing annual Equality Information relating to the protected characteristics of our employees and the protected characteristics of people affected by our policies and practices
- Consulting with our staff and our communities to set a number of 4 year Equality Objectives by April 2012
- Publishing a Strategic Equality Plan by April 2012 that sets out how we will seek to ensure we meet our Equality Objectives (this plan will replace Gwent Police's current Single Equality Scheme)
- Assessing the impact of our proposed policies and practices against our General Equality Duty by continuing to use our Equality Impact Assessment process
You can find out more about the Equality Act 2010 here:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/equalities/equality-act/equality-duty/
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/equality-act/
Contact Officer: Heather Powell, Community Cohesion Team
communitycohesion@gwent.pnn.police.uk
