Equality Report

Working with the Community

One of the advantages of being a small authority is that we know our community on a more personal level than some of the larger authorities do, so while the use of data has its place, asking people what affects them on a face to face basis has real benefits.

In the following section are some examples of how we work with the local community, especially groups protected by the Equality Act and how we utilise data we hold to compliment this work.

• After listening to feedback from Customer Service staff we were able to ascertain that there was a need for Eastern European languages including Roma. Through our Gateway office there is a person available  who speaks Czech, Slovak and a little Russian. She helps with both interpretation and translation. National insurance statistics do back up our findings and show that the working population of foreign nationals in Dover is also predominantly Eastern European. An extract of these statistics can be found here – working population of foreign nationals.
• The 2011 census showed that 21% of Dover’s population considered themselves to have a disability or limiting long term illness. With this in mind, Vista Leisure, who run the local leisure facilities in partnership with us, have put in a personal care suite at Dover Leisure Centre for people with disabilities, including those with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their carers.
• Changes were made to our new reception area here at Whitfield, following a visit from one of the local Disability Forums. They gave some real practical advice on what worked best for them.
• Our Gateway offices in Dover provide services for residents which include a whole range of voluntary and community support services as well facilities for Public Sector Partners.
• Between 2011 and 2015 Dover’s population of pension age people is expected to rise from 21.9% to 22.4%, this 5% higher than the UK average according to the Office for National Statistics neighbourhood data . In order to address this, Dover District Council has developed aHousing Strategy for Older People for 2010 -2015 . This strategy itself also draws on a vast amount of data including:- Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for Adults in Kent, March 08,The Strategic Housing Market Assessment for the East Kent Sub-region, July 09 and the private sector stock condition survey, Dec 09
• Partnership work is on-going across the four East Kent authorities to look at issues for Eastern European nationals and how best to discharge the public sector duty. This work is being co-ordinated by the South East Strategic Partnership for Migration who has an office within the Council Offices at Whitfield.
• Local development framework - The Local Development framework can be found on the website together with all the relevant supporting data:
  • Current population trends not only indicate that the local population is going to age rapidly but also that the overall population will decline. The number of children and people of working age is expected to reduce to such an extent that they will not be able to sustain the local economy. Page 26 of DDC’s Core Strategy lists the main drivers for change in the district and one of these is the ageing population, this goes on to explain that the forecast ageing of the local population will put pressure on economic growth and increase the need for support services for the elderly. If the economy is to be supported by a sufficient local workforce, population growth will be required. The District's objectives therefore also include encouraging population growth, particularly in working age families to support growth in the local economy (page 29 of DDC’s Core Strategy).
• DDC is part of a Community Safety Partnership in which the police and other agencies work closely together with DDC to ensure that Dover remains one of the safest places in the county. The partnership acknowledges the opportunities and difficulties posed by the diversity of population within the District and works hard within the minority ethnic and indigenous community to aid integration. Diversity is seen as part of the core business of all partners comprising the Dover District Community Safety Partnership.
• In April 2011, the four councils of Dover, Canterbury, Shepway and Thanet set up East Kent Housing to manage and help improve housing services. They are reporting on their own Equality and diversity work and this can be found on their website here - East Kent Housing Equality and Diversity.
• A vast amount of data about the district was collected during the preparation of the Local Development Framework and that can be found hereLocal Development Framework Data .

Staff

We are a small local authority with approximately 250 employees. We also share some services with other East Kent authorities such as Customer Services, IT, Council Tax, Benefits, Audit, HR and Housing.

A job evaluation exercise was conducted in 2009/10 ensuring equal pay across all job grades. Equality impact assessments were carried out in conjunction with staff and unions on the job evaluation scheme and these have also been carried out on our new shared service employment policies.

During the development of the shared service programme we are installing new HR systems which will provide up to date information on the diversity of our staff. Meanwhile, we have undertaken a staff census to provide a snapshot view of our employees. This was sent to all staff, but was not compulsory so the results provided below are only representative of those who chose to answer.

All of our Staff have had Equality and Diversity Training and the evaluation report following this training can be found here - Evaluation Report .

Email: corporate.services@dover.gov.uk

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