Equality and diversity

The London borough of Ealing is a diverse, multicultural London borough. The council recognises and values the diversity of all people and communities in the borough and in our workforce, and is committed to meeting the needs of all of our residents and our employees.

True equality is more than simply identifying the different communities that are represented in Ealing. It is about ensuring we understand the needs of our residents from a range of diverse backgrounds and enable our diverse community to thrive. In doing this we will not only meet our legal equalities requirements; we will also meet our vision for the borough:

Ealing will be a borough of opportunity, where people enjoy living in clean, green and cohesive neighbourhoods, as part of a community where they are able to be safe, healthy and prosperous.

Fighting inequality

The council is determined to be relentless in its focus on reducing poverty and inequality for those that most need support and promoting wellbeing and safety for all.

We will do everything it possibly can to reduce crime and keep citizens safe, with a tight focus on anti-social behaviour and crimes that cause the most harm, such as domestic violence and violent crimes with injury. This includes tackling the disparity in outcomes for different groups of residents (eg gender and ethnicity) going through the criminal justice system as victims and offenders.

The unequal impact of COVID-19 on some Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities has shone a light on existing inequalities in society across the country. The Black Lives Matter campaign has done the same. Those challenges exist in Ealing, both as a community and within the council as an organisation. Dialogue with residents, community groups and staff has highlighted the need for change. Racial inequality is not the only type of disadvantage experienced by people in Ealing, indeed it often interacts with sexism, prejudice of the disabled and ageism to make it harder for some in our society to thrive than others.

Every decision taken by us will be grounded in the core goal of reducing inequality and focussing on the communities that face the biggest barriers. As part of this plan a set of revised equalities objectives for 2020-24 have been agreed. Equality objectives will help focus attention on the priority equality issues within the council in order to deliver improvements in policy making, service delivery and employment.

Our focus will be: 

Integrated Impact Assessment

This assessment highlights those who have been most affected by the direct impacts of COVID infection.

Race Equality Commission

The Commission aims to be accessible, inclusive and identifiable to everyone who wants to talk to us about their experiences and to share their views.

London Living Wage

We have been accredited as a London Living Wage (LLW) employer since 2013 and has committed to encouraging the payment of the LLW.

Council Internal Review

We are reviewing its work force practices as a local employer and institution to ensure Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is central to the Council’s culture and working practices.

Reduce the achievement gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils

We are committed to working with schools on the next cohort of ‘No Learner Left Behind’ Black Caribbean Achievement Programme on tackling unconscious bias; cultural competency and curriculum experience.

Tackling crime and reoffending

We will do everything we can to reduce crime and keep our citizens safe, focusing on anti-social behaviour and crimes that cause the most harm, such as domestic violence and violent crimes with injury.