What do we mean by equality and diversity?

Equality is about making sure that people are treated fairly and given fair opportunities. Equality is not about treating everyone in the same way, but it recognises that their needs are met in different ways.

Diversity is about valuing individual difference. Diversity challenges us to recognise and value all sorts of differences in order to make Carlisle a better place for everyone to live and work.Why is equality and diversity important?

We are committed to ensuring the delivery of excellent public services to everyone living, working, studying and visiting the area.

To do this we need to understand and meet the needs of our community more closely.

To help us with this we have developed a diversity profile for the Carlisle City Council area.

The work we are doing on equality and diversity issues will:

• provide results for local people including our employees;
• improve our services;
• provide equal access to services; and
• ensure that we continue to be a good employer and an employer of choice.