Developing Aberdeenshire Council Equality Outcomes 2025-2029

Aberdeenshire Council is committed to making Aberdeenshire a fairer and more equitable place for our communities through the services we deliver, as a Council, as a Licensing Board and as an Education Authority.

As a public body we are required to publish equality outcomes at least every four years. Our equality outcomes set out how we, Aberdeenshire Council, intend to meet our duties to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. Our equality outcomes also explain how we intend make a difference for citizens, specifically those who share protected characteristics, to improve in their life chances.

We need your help to develop our equality outcomes. We would like to know what the key issues are that affect you. As well as sharing this survey, we are also having conversations with people across our communities who are impacted by the services we provide.

Our equality outcomes were last reviewed in 2020 when feedback and research identified the following issues as being important –

1. Disabled people have an improved experience in accessing services that meet their needs through more regular and systematic involvement in design of service delivery across the council.
2. Service users, particularly those who face barriers through disability and language, are provided with accessible information on services provided by the council, and are supported to access these digitally where appropriate.
3. In Aberdeenshire people have opportunities to fulfil their potential throughout life.
4. Aberdeenshire Council as an employer create a fair and inclusive place to work where differences between people are celebrated and barriers are reduced for women, disabled people, minority ethnic people and young people.
5. An increased proportion of women, black and minority ethnic people, younger people, disabled people and LGBTI+ are supported to enter employment or training.
6. LGBTI+, disabled, religious, faith and black and minority ethnic people have increased confidence to report hate crime through our work with partners to; prevent hate crime, encourage people to report hate crime when it happens, and improve service responses to victims

Since then, we’ve done a lot of work to help make these things better including –

• Accessibility has been included as an item on all the Area Bus Forum agendas, providing an opportunity for disabled people and others with mobility concerns to raise and discuss any physical and other accessibility barriers to using bus services
• Procurement of Interpretation, translation and transcription services including BSL which will enhance access to information for all groups
• Accessibility Strategy developed to enhance and improve access quality education to all pupils especially those disadvantaged with disabilities.
• Training and resources available to support the mental, emotional, physical and sexual health of young LGBT+ individuals
• Our English as an Additional Language (EAL) service has helped young refugees settle into school life or have enabled them to move onto Positive Destinations
• We have been working on building stronger networks of support and bringing employees together through various projects such as the introduction of the peer support groups. The peer support groups bring together employees from different sex, ages and race to meet around a common theme, mental health for example
• Aberdeenshire now operates a fully engaged Employability Partnership, Employment CONNECT, which engages with the local communities throughout Aberdeenshire
• We have worked in partnership with Police Scotland to raise awareness of Third-Party Reporting, and we currently have two third party reporting centres
• Training has been developed, and is currently being rolled out on Third Party reporting

This is a snapshot of some of the work carried out. Further examples and case studies can be found in our progress report here.

Please help us by taking part in our short survey.

If you need a copy of this document in an alternative language or in large print or in Braille, please email equalities@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Jeśli potrzebujesz kopii tego dokumentu w innym języku, dużą czcionką lub w alfabecie Braille'a, wyślij e-mail na adres equalities@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Ja jums ir nepieciešama šī dokumenta kopija citā valodā vai lielā drukā vai Braila rakstā, lūdzu, rakstiet uz equlaities@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Если вам нужна копия этого документа на другом языке, крупным шрифтом или шрифтом Брайля, отправьте электронное письмо по адресу equalities@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Jei jums reikia šio dokumento kopijos kita kalba arba dideliu šriftu arba Brailio raštu, rašykite el. paštu equalities@aberdeenshire.gov.uk