Equality and diversity

The council's new Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategy shares the Council’s ambitions for Brent to become a borough that is truly inclusive; where people of all cultures and backgrounds are represented, celebrated and most importantly feel that they belong.

Our borough is a tapestry of cultures and experiences, enriching our collective experiences and identity. However, diversity alone is not enough. We must actively strive for a fair and just borough where everyone feels they are valued, respected and most importantly, they feel that they belong. We want to ensure that all members of our community have equal access to opportunities and resources, regardless of their backgrounds.

Our equality objectives 2024-2028

Brent’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy 2024 – 2028 is a commitment to tackle inequalities and support individuals and families to reach their full potential. It is at the heart of our vision to move Brent forward together and ensure no one is left behind. We engaged with people through focus groups, workshops, and staff events to capture the voices of people who live and work in Brent. The findings from these conversations have helped to prioritise the key issues and shape our three key EDI objectives:

1. Inclusion: Accessibility and Cohesion
2. Narrowing the Gap: Tackling Inequalities
3. Establishing an Inclusive Workforce

View the consultation and engagement findings. 

Through the delivery of our Strategy we will:

• provide accessible and responsive services to cater for the diverse needs of our communities
• raise awareness of equity, diversity, and inclusion, fostering a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by marginalised groups and encouraging greater levels of togetherness across our community
• continue the dialogue and engage with residents, community organisations, and stakeholders to create solutions that address barriers enabling everyone to be included and feel they belong, empowering local people to thrive
• tackle inequalities by focussing on those who are experiencing the worst outcomes and differences in life chances. This not only includes people with protected characteristics, but also those from other backgrounds experiencing disproportionate inequalities, such as carers, care leavers and people from lower socio economic backgrounds. We will do this by improving our understanding of where and why inequalities exist, by looking at data, insights and community voices. Through this targeted focus, we will establish mechanisms to monitor progress, collect feedback, and evaluate the impact of our activities, enabling us to adapt and refine our approach over time
• establish a more inclusive workforce by reviewing our policies, practices, and decision-making processes, ensuring that they reflect the needs and perspectives of all residents and staff and by providing opportunities for council staff to enhance their cultural competency and understanding of Brent’s diverse communities through our learning and development programmes.

For more information about our objectives and how we implement these, please read our Equality Strategy 2024 - 2028.

• View accessible version of the Equality Strategy 2024 - 2028
• View easy read version of the Equality Strategy 2024 - 2028

Anti-racism action plan

An important component of our EDI ambitions is our commitment to tackle racial injustice. To help realise this we are striving to become an anti-racist organisation and have developed an accompanying Corporate Anti- Racism Action Plan that describes the organisation’s anti-racism journey. With a steadfast commitment to inclusion and equity, we recognise our central role in the fight against racism in all its forms and ensuring that every individual feels safe, respected, and valued. The action plan complements our focus on inclusion, particular in relation to our workforce.

In embracing this Strategy and Action Plan, we reaffirm our commitment to creating a borough where everyone feels a sense of belonging and has the opportunity to thrive. We recognise that achieving equity, diversity, and inclusion requires sustained effort, collaboration, and accountability from all members of our community.

Note: Some documents on this page may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. To request an accessible format or a print version of the above documents, please email: equality@brent.gov.uk

The Equality Act 2010 brought together over 100 separate pieces of legislation under one act. This consolidation of legislation created a new, simpler legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and to advance equality of opportunity.

The Equality Act contains specific duties for each authority listed in the schedule to the regulations, which came into force on 9 September 2011. Under the specific duties, we were required to publish information to demonstrate compliance with the duty imposed in section 149(1) of the Act and to produce equality objectives.

We recognise that gathering and publishing a range of equality information is the first step in a journey that will help us to improve the services that we deliver and meet the needs of all of our residents and service users.

We are committed to continuing to improve the range and quality of information that we hold about different protected groups to help us to tackle some of the real equality issues such as poverty and health inequalities.

• Gender, Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap reports
• Brent Equality Policy 2016 (.pdf, 354.5kB)

Equality in our employment practices

Our annual workforce equalities reports show the demographics of our staff and the progress on meeting our workforce equality objectives.

We are proud that Brent is one of the most diverse boroughs in the UK. To work effectively in such a diverse area, we need a good understanding of all our communities.

The equality characteristics have an important influence on the changing identities and needs of local people. We produce diversity profiles to help us understand the changing needs of our communities. These profiles provide an overview of the diversity of our service users and residents and will be used to:

• ensure best quality services that are appropriate for our local communities
• identify any gaps in service use or outcomes
• demonstrate where our services are working effectively
• check who could be affected by changes to policies or services
• measure the effects of the council’s decisions on local people.

View the Brent Open Data Portal and search 'diversity' to see the diversity profile for Brent, areas within Brent and results from surveys and the diversity of our service users.

Following the creation of Brent’s Black Community Action Plan, Brent Council commissioned the Local Government Association (LGA) to provide an independent review of racial inequalities in the borough.

This review was undertaken in January 2021. The council welcomes the findings of this review.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. 

The Disability Confident government scheme supports employers to make the most of the diverse set of abilities that people can bring to organisations.  It encourages the change of attitudes towards disabled people and provides a framework within which employers can achieve this.

In our recognition as Disability Confident Leader, we have shown we are committed to taking a leadership role in creating programmes which support disabled people into work and retaining the talent that they bring, through fair practices.  We are committed to acting as a champion in supporting other employers to becoming Disability Confident.

Disability and actions

Ensuring the Council is an inclusive and attractive employer of choice, which celebrates diversity, provides equality of opportunity and is free from discrimination, is paramount.  In line with this, we are committed to attracting and retaining people of all abilities, providing supportive actions for disabled employees and by promoting a disability friendly culture.   

How do we do this?

Actively attracting and recruiting disabled people

We do this by:

• Providing supported internships
• Working with our partners to place disabled people into work
• Providing a more inclusive and accessible recruitment process

Ensuring we provide our employees with reasonable adjustments

We do this by: 

• guidance and support for our managers
• Occupational Health support and referrals
• Our recruitment processes

Providing support for our disabled staff

We do this through:

• Our Mental Wellbeing Champions
• The Diverse Abilities Network for staff
• The Council’s Employee Assistance Programme

Promoting a disability friendly culture

We do this by:

• obtaining and acting upon feedback from disabled staff
• providing on-going learning opportunities which highlight different types of disabilities and accessibility
• publishing disability related data, such as the disability pay gap which highlights key findings and actions. 

Mental Health and Wellbeing and actions

Mental wellbeing is one of the key focuses of the council in its drive to become more inclusive. We are committed to providing an environment that supports employees and raises awareness of mental health issues, empowering managers to take action where necessary.   Of our staff who have declared that they have a disability, 3% have further declared that they have a mental health condition (as at end January 2024).  

The latest staff survey was carried out during November-December 2023 and captured the views of 1,622 staff – a 52% response rate. The survey was conducted by BMG, an independent survey contractor, on behalf of the Council. 

Findings included: 

• 88% of staff agreed* that they felt safe while at work
• 87% agreed they were able to deal with customers and clients safely
• 43% were very, or moderately, concerned about their mental health and wellbeing, 30% were a little concerned and 27% were not at all concerned. 
• 44% were very, or moderately, concerned about their physical health and wellbeing, 30% were a little concerned and 26% were not at all concerned.
• 64% agreed they were able to strike a balance between their work and home life
• 67% agreed they were aware of the support available for their wellbeing
• 34% agreed with the statement ‘I feel that the level of stress in my job has a negative impact on my work’, 33% disagreed and 34% neither agreed nor disagreed (note: figures rounded to nearest percentage point).
• 74% said they were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with their job
• 90% agreed their line manager is accessible when they need to see them
• 90% agreed they were happy to go the extra mile at work when required

* Agreed = those who said ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree‘

The work of the council on mental health and wellbeing includes:

• Information and guidance for managers on mental health and how to support employees
• Subscription to an Employee Assistance Programme, available for all staff
• Trained Mental Wellbeing Champions to provide employees with support
• Regular briefings on Mental Health and Mental Wellbeing available for all staff
• Access to a Mental Health app which provides toolkits, journals and tips for good mental health
• Mental health support and awareness raising through the Diverse Abilities Network for staff.