Nottinghamshire County Council is celebrating being named in the top 100 employers in the UK for workplace equality by leading Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) rights charity, Stonewall.

The council is ranked 94th in the annual list, published last week – a rise of a staggering 213 places on the previous year’s rating.

‘Treating people fairly’ is one of the Council’s three core values in its Strategic Plan 2014-2018. The values – which also include ‘value for money’ and ‘working together’ – are engrained in all the Council’s decision-making.

A number of initiatives to promote equality, both within the County Council and through the services it provides, have been adopted withing the last 12 months, including:
a calendar of equality events aimed at employees
reviewing and updating HR policies to ensure all staff are treated equally and fairly
renovation of the multi-faith prayer room at County Hall
flying the Rainbow flag to mark Idaho Day
promoting services at the Nottinghamshire Pride event
signing-up to the British Sign Language Charter to improve services to the deaf community

Councillor Alan Rhodes, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “Treating people fairly is one of the core values, engrained in the Council’s policies and decision-making.

“The Stonewall Top 100 Employers Index nationally recognises those organisations that are doing the most to promote and embed LGB equality. To go from 307th to 94th place in one year – a rise of 213 places – is an incredible achievement, which we think must make us among the most improved organisations in the entire country.”

Claire Brown, Chair of the County Council’s LGBT Staff Network added: “It’s great news that Stonewall have announced that we’re in the top 100 LGB-friendly employers in the UK. There’s lots more we can do to further improve outcomes for LGBT staff, service users and Nottinghamshire communities. February is LGBT History Month and I’d encourage people to find out how they can celebrate the lives and achievements of the LGBT community by visiting www.lgbthistorymonth.org .”

The County Council’s ranking rise follows similar progress in the Stonewall Education Index. Nottinghamshire is now ranked 13th out of 45 local authorities for how it is tackling homophobia and homophobic bullying in local schools, an improvement of 20 places on 2013.

Pictured (left to right) are:
Claire Brown, Chair of LGBT Staff Network, Nottinghamshire County Council; Karen Moss, Equality Officer, Nottinghamshire County Council; Councillor Pauline Allan, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council; Councillor Alan Rhodes, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council; and Matthew Garrard, Policy, Performance and Research Team Manager, Nottinghamshire County Council.