Round 2 applications for members of the Dorset Council Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Reference Group is now open. We are seeking voluntary and community sector organisations representing the protected characteristics from the Equality Act 2010, who are not currently members of the group.
These are:
- faith and belief
- disability-sensory
- disability -physical
- mental health
- carers
Our vision for the Reference Group is that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is actively promoted, communicated and managed, both throughout the county and within our internal workforce. Members of the group will have the chance to help shape strategic policy and contribute to how services are delivered in the future.
The EDI Reference Group will:
- Act as a critical friend to the council
- Assist in the delivery of the council’s EDI Strategy
- Support, identify and deliver training in partnership with council officers to develop the knowledge and skills of the workforce
- Provide valuable feedback and insight on wide ranging Council consultations, strategies and service development
- Promote inclusion, equality and diversity across Dorset
- Help develop and deliver identified Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity awareness events
This is a paid opportunity and members of the group are asked to commit to 100 hours across twelve months. For more details and to apply, please visit our webpage.
Please do share with your networks as the closing date for applications is 25 June 2022.
I note that you are recruiting representatives of the various characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010, plus various others you consider may be disadvantaged in Dorset, to help shape the strategic policy of the Council. When I then clicked on the page giving further details, I was surprised to find that you were not seeking any group to represent the protected characteristic of sex. Instead, you listed only ‘gender equality’.
I also note, on a further page – Meeting our Equality Duties – that as well as listing the nine protected characteristics, you also list gender identity and gender expression.
Can I take it from this that Dorset Council has already recruited a group to advise on sex-based rights? Or is it the case that you are not interested in hearing from those of us who wish to maintain our rights to privacy, dignity and safety in women-only spaces such as changing and shower rooms, toilets and domestic violence refuges?