Equality and Diversity

Harrow prides itself in being one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse Boroughs in the country with people of many different backgrounds and life experiences living side by side. It is the richness of this diversity, and the positive impact that it has on the borough and our community that we believe helps make Harrow such a great place to live, work and visit.

As a council we recognise the need to ensure we do all we can to enhance the lived experience and better outcomes for all staff, service users and communities and our vision for Harrow is built on recognising the needs of every local community, promoting inclusion and cohesion, fairness and justice.

The council’s approach to Equalities, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is underpinned by three corporate objectives:

• Addressing inequality in life outcomes - As a community leader, we will continue to bring communities together. Whether they be other public partners such as the police and fire brigade, or residents who want to make a difference in their communities like the Community Champions. We're striving to achieve this vision for our borough.
• Delivering fair and equitable services to all - As a service provider, we are committed to ensuring our services are open, fair and accessible. We do this by taking into consideration the needs and requirements of our diverse community and service users. We will continue to improve our services through ensuring we adhere to the Equality Act (2010) and the Public Sector Equality Duty (2011) by assessing the impact of all service changes via the Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) process, engaging with and listening to our communities and service users. As a procurer of goods and services, we will continue to ensure our commissioning processes are fair and equitable, and that those delivering a service on our behalf share our commitment to equality and diversity.
• Creating a representative workforce - As an employer, we are committed to employing a diverse workforce, to help us to understand and relate to the community we serve. We are continually improving our processes to ensure transparency and fairness in all aspects of the recruitment process and our workforce policies. Our aim is to build on good track our record and explore further opportunities to encourage applicants from all parts of the community to consider joining our workforce.

Our work to achieve our corporate ambitions is achieved through working closely with a range of local agencies, statutory partners, and the voluntary sector. Our approach extends to all residents, service users, employees, elected members, stakeholders, and partner organisations. It is irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.