Equality of Opportunity Policy

Harrow Council aspires to be at the forefront of promoting equality of opportunity as an employer, service provider, procurer of goods and services and a community leader. We aim to tackle all forms of discrimination and achieve equality irrespective of ones age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and amternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Achieving this is central to delivering the council's vision, which is linked to our Corporate Plan priorities and forms a driving force within the Sustainable Community Strategy; which is key to creating a cohesive community.

We recognise that in our society, groups and individuals continue to be unlawfully discriminated against and we acknowledge our responsibilities to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations within the rich diversity of Harrow 's communities. We first issued a policy statement on equal opportunities in 1980 and have since introduced numerous programmes to promote equality of opportunity for our employees and services users.

Our Principles and Values

Our Equality of Opportunity Policy is underpinned by a number of principles and values, which are to:

Implement our equality policies to ensure that employment and service delivery policies address the needs of our diverse communities.
Ensure services are responsive and truly accessible to our customers and service users;
In partnership with the Trades Unions and workforce, plan, develop and maintain effective communication and information solutions so that the Council can deliver cost effective and accessible services in the context of an appropriate work life balance;
Ensure our workforce has the skills and competencies required to deliver a high quality service through effective recruitment, selection and development of employees;
Encourage partnership and participation in the development and application of the our policies, practices and services;
Work actively to eliminate all forms of unlawful discrimination, both direct and indirect that is prohibited under the Equality Act 2010.