Equality Objectives Annual Report 2023

The focus of this objective is to ensure that Council services, information, consultation and engagement opportunities remain accessible to all residents, particularly those with protected characteristics.

Areas of Activity

A) Better understanding of the nature of our customer contact

An exercise has been underway to map customer contact activity and identify trends in user activity and needs. This exercise will help us to understand both what sort of support is sought from customer contact, and potentially show us where gaps indicate others may not be getting in touch.

The findings of the mapping exercise will inform the development of our customer contact strategy. Development of this strategy began in Spring 2023, and is expected to conclude by the end of 2023/24. The development process includes a specific work stream around understanding residents and their accessibility needs, and these requirements will be considered throughout the customer contact approach developed.

This current work builds upon existing approaches to provide and maintain customer contact that is accessible to all. Whilst almost all Council information is available on our website, we recognise that not everyone is comfortable with or readily able to use online tools. We therefore also maintain an in-house customer contact team who can be contacted via the phone, and also monitor correspondence received through the post. We also have a staffed reception at the Town Hall in Reigate, which can help with guidance and signposting for those attending in person. 

B) Making sure services and information are accessible for those with protected characteristics

Communications

The council uses a wide variety of communication methods to make information and news available to as many as possible within the borough. Our regular communication channels include both digital media, such as email, social media and the Council website (see website accessibility below), along with more traditional forms, such as printed borough news magazine, flyers, posters and banners, and placement in local media. The Autumn 2022 brough magazine included information on Community Centres and new activities as well as help available for those facing cost of living pressures, helping to make this information available to non-digitally enabled residents. 

Customer contact is also supported through phone lines operated locally by Council staff, and print media is available in a range of languages and accessible formats upon request. Following the release of information from the 2021 Census, we have updated the range of translations provided on the website to reflect the languages most commonly spoken within the borough.

The lessons of the pandemic emphasised the need to ensure information is available to those who do not use digital channels, although these are increasing in popularity. This is supported by the maintenance of a network of local knowledge and connections, and working with local organisations, community development workers and champions to disseminate information and awareness. Physical sites, such as community centres, also help provide news and information for visitors. 

Consultation and engagement

Equality and diversity considerations are explicitly incorporated into the design of Council consultation and engagement projects. This includes considering the needs of participants and utilising the most appropriate methods to enable them to both access and respond to the process. This approach has carried through to the new Consultation Toolkit, and we’re continuing to look at how we do more to make sure consultations reach all parts of the borough and are accessible to everyone.

As with other areas, where we use online and electronic tools for conducting consultations, these are support by options for accessing information and responding through other channels, including papers copies, over the phone assistance, and specific language and accessibility support where required.

In line with data privacy regulation, and with participants’ consent, data such as gender, age, ethnicity, and long term health and disability is collected to monitor how well we have reached different demographics within our consultations and other engagement. This enables us to boost participation in under-represented groups where possible and, where appropriate, we can analyse responses according to these groups to provide insight into the different perceptions and experiences of sections of our community. With the availability of more recent Census data, we can compare the data we collect with that for the borough to help us better identify where those gaps in representation may be.

Website accessibility

All online material published by the Council must be compliant with national accessibility regulations. This means that all users should be able to access online services, and all new content created should be fully accessible. How our website complies with the regulations is set out in our website accessibility statement, which is published at: www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/accessibility-statement.

Work is ongoing to review historical documents published on our website (PDF, Word and Excel) for accessibility, and to ensure new content is fully compliant with all regulations. We’ve expanded training for the organisations online content editors on creating accessible content that complies with current and future regulations, and makes material easy to access and understand.

Future Focus

Our work to make sure that our services are accessible to all, and the information we provide matches the needs of local people. As we build our understanding of resident needs and preferences in accessing information, this will let us better match our offer to those needing information and support. Whilst digital media is increasing in popularity, we will ensure that news and information remains accessible to those without digital access.

The Council’s website and online services will continue to be updated to reflect accessibility objectives, and understanding of these needs will be expanded across the organisation. We are preparing for an expected update to the website accessibility regulations and will be rolling out new automated accessibility checking software to improve the website experience for everyone.

These considerations will also continue to be reflected and maintained in the wider work of the organisation, including both specific consultations and engagement and the day to day work of services. We will seek to continue to build on the lessons of recent years, and use our strengthened connections to local communities and organisations to enhance this approach.