What is Equality Monitoring?
The Equality Act 2010 says that we must give due regard to considering how we can eliminate unfair discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, foster good relations between different groups and deliver services that meet the needs of our diverse community in everything that we do.
“We will capture up to date, relevant equality data from our customers proportionate to delivering services to those with protected characteristics in our communities”. – Wealden District Council’s Equality Objectives 2022 – 2025
To help the Council meet its Equality Duty the personal information it collects and equalities data that it collects from its customers must be reasonable and proportionate. Monitoring who contacts us and recording their personal circumstances lets us analyse how well we are meeting our commitments to different groups of customers. By analysing the information we gather we are able to identify and consult groups that do not access our services, understand why services are not meeting some groups needs and improve delivery of services by making it possible for all groups of customers to access them.
We will use Personal Information and Equalities monitoring data to:
- help us consider equality and consultation information when making important decisions and the potential impact of any proposals we make
- see if there are any ways we can improve services
- see which people are using our services and which people aren’t
- check that no groups of people are missing out or being treated less well than others
- support effective corporate planning
Requests for equality monitoring information may include questions related to the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Duty 2010. The Council also recognises that the following can be significant barriers to equality of opportunity, Caring responsibilities, Language, Residency, Employment status and Geographical area.
There is no legal requirement to collect and use equality information, however, we need this to help us meet our duties under the Equality Act.
Personal Information and Equalities Monitoring Procedure
The Council’s Personal Information and Equalities Monitoring Procedure sets out the procedure that all council officers should follow when asking customers for personal information and equalities monitoring data. This procedure applies to all external engagement activities and all forms and electronic channels through which the Council is collecting any statistical information from customers, clients or organisations.
Monitoring Data
The list below shows the equality monitoring information that we have collated for our various service areas (where possible, this has been broken down by protected characteristics):
Please note: we will be adding more equality monitoring information for other service areas shortly.
Data Protection
Wealden District Council is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and will only use and store your personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018. We collect and use your personal data in order to provide services you have requested from us or to carry out our legal obligations to you. We will not disclose your personal data to any third parties, unless we need to do so to provide a service to you or we are legally required to do so. We may share your personal data with other Council departments in order to provide the service you have requested and to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Our Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use and securely hold your data. If you want more information on how a particular Council service uses your personal data, please view the full policy and Privacy Notices on our website using the following link Data Protection for further information.