Congleton Town Council's Finance and Policy Committee has unanimously voted to adopt a new Equality and Inclusion Policy proposed by Councillor Kay Wesley, the country's first Women's Equality Party councillor.

The new policy sets out an ambition that no-one is held back due to their specific characteristics and that the council will actively tackle inequalities.

It recognises that more diverse groups of people can help the council understand and represent the community, make better decisions, provide relevant services, and contribute to the overall success of the town.

Councillor Wesley said: "The previous policy said we will not tolerate discrimination and outlined the things we will do about it, whereas this new policy is much more positive about diversity and sets out the behaviours that we will adopt to ensure we proactively include more people of all types in the life of our town and our democracy.

"Two recent examples are the fact that our councillors have become trained as Dementia Friends, so we can reach out more actively to people living with dementia in our community, and the fact that we have sponsored Congleton Pride, which of course is itself is a celebration of tolerance and diversity.

"I am grateful to my Lib Dem Council colleague Suzy Firkin, an experienced equality consultant, for reviewing and improving the document for me and to the councillors in the meeting who voiced their enthusiastic support for it.

"The vote for the new policy was unanimous, and this will help guide our future activities and behaviours as a council."

WEP Party Leader Mandu Reid commented: "The adoption of this Equality & Inclusion Policy is the latest in a series of successes Kay has achieved since she took office last May.

advertisement

"From changing the gendered language of the council (from chairman to chair) to tackling issues such as the gender pay gap and a lack of affordable childcare in the council's business plan, to highlighting domestic abuse and violence against women and driving the project to make Congleton a White Ribbon Town, Kay's progress has shown what can be achieved when a single councillor from the Women's Equality Party is elected.

"Council colleagues from all parties have worked effectively with Kay and voted in favour of her ideas – most of what WEP is proposing does carry wide support – but these initiatives are simply not at the top of other parties' agendas.

"It takes a Women's Equality Party councillor to ensure that these vital measures are prioritised and enacted. Imagine what will happen when we have a WEP Councillor on every local authority in the country!"

In addition to the legal protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation), Councillor Wesley's new policy defines additional characteristics of being in care, having caring responsibilities and different socio-economic groups as potential causes of inequality that the council will address.

The policy states that the council and staff will 'role-model the values set out in this policy, including celebrating the diversity within our community and seeking the most constructive ways to engage with everyone in it', and that the council is committed to monitoring and measuring its performance with a view to continuous improvement on equality, diversity and inclusion.