This report, written annually by the HR Service provides an overview of equalities monitoring relating to employment. It reports on and analyses the data in relation to workforce composition, recruitment and selection, training and development and casework. The report helps to monitor our performance against the following Corporate Plan objectives:

The above Corporate Equalities Scheme and Action Plan is the second that has been developed to co-ordinate and support Equal Opportunities within and across Somerset County Council following completion of the previous 2002-2005 Corporate Equalities Plan and Race Equality Scheme. For the first time both the Corporate Equalites Plan and Race Equality Scheme have combined into one document and this updated version now includes the requirements of the Disability Equality Duty as well. This whole collective document is now known as the 'Corporate Equalities Scheme and Action Plan'.

Above you will find two copies of the Corporate Equalities Scheme and Action Plan. The first is the complete version. The second is a condensed version of the first focussing on the Disability Equality Scheme, containing the Disability Equality Action Plan and details on how Somerset County Council are complying with the new Disability Equality Duty. Live links have been included in both documents to make it easier to find your way through the Scheme and all its sections (these are coloured purple or blue and underlined - just hold your mouse over the link and click).

Downloadable versions of the Action Plans found within the current Scheme are available below as well - Corporate Equalites Action Plan and the Disability Equality Action Plan.

If you would like a hard copy of any of these documents please let the Customer Access and Equalities Team know by calling 01823 355460 or emailing us at equalities@somerset.gov.uk .

There have been no reported incidents in Somerset although we are aware that minority ethnic communities are experiencing a heightened sense of fear and anxiety. It is important to build supportive relationships through recognising and acknowledging that fear.

Disability Access Technical Management [ 837.4k]
(adjustments within the workplace and building management)

This Gender Profile of Somerset's Labour Market explores the relative labour market situation of women and men in Somerset, compared with the South West region and England as a whole. It focuses on how women and men in Somerset experience the labour market, both in working within it and seeking to enter it. The profile draws attention to features which are particularly important in Somerset, as well as to features which are experienced in similar ways across the country.

As part of the national Gender and Employment in Local Labour Markets Programme (GELLM) , Somerset County Council and its key partners have undertaken three research studies in close partnership with Sheffield Hallam University. The areas of research focussed on Economic Development and Regeneration, Social Care Workforce Development and Ethnic Minority Women and Access to the Labour Market. The outcomes of the studies are contained in the three reports above.

Understanding people's Ethnicity, Age, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Disability and Faith or Religion is key to understanding many current social and economic trends. Britain has a rich mix of cultures and communities and some of these reflect long-standing history and heritage, while others reflect more recent and ongoing social changes. Monitoring Equalities is essential to ensuring that it is mainstreamed throughout service delivery, employment and partnership working. It is also important when determining whether certain groups experience disadvantage in an impact assessment and how to address that disadvantage.

Defining and measuring ethnicity and national identity has never been easy, especially as what the term embraces is constantly evolving. However, it is vitally important that we gather and measure ethnicity and national identity, along with data regarding the other Equality strands, and that this data is gathered in a way that is sound, sensitive, relevant and useful.

To that end, these guidelines have been produced suggesting standards for the collection and classification of data in order to achieve comparability over time, and between data sources. The aim has been to generate standards that meet a range of user needs and which also provide comparability with the 2001 Census as far as possible.

We have included, for each option, standard data presentations and questions, taking into account differences between geographic levels and modes of collection, i.e. whether face-to-face, telephone interview, or a self-completion questionnaire method is being used.

Ethnicity in Somerset Key Figures and Analysis from the 2001 Census June 2004 [4147.8k]