Read about our city vision and action plan for 2023 to 2025.
Leeds City Council has zero tolerance to all forms of discrimination.
In February 2023 Leeds City Council adopted a new vision and action plan for equality, diversity and inclusion.
What is equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
Equality
Of opportunity. Our obligation to eliminate unlawful discrimination and prejudice.
Diversity
Understanding, respecting, valuing and embracing difference and applying this to our employment and service delivery.
Inclusion
The work we do to achieve equality whilst respecting diversity. Including everyone so that they can make a positive and active contribution to life in the city.
Our city vision
We want Leeds to be a city that is fair and just, that recognises and embraces people's different needs, situations and ambitions. The barriers that limit what people can do will be removed, and everyone will be enabled to be their best. For this to happen, we all need to take responsibility for our actions and behaviours and contribute positively to change We recognise that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is something that the council has legal responsibilities around however we want to lead on this agenda because it's the right thing to do. Delivery of a successful programme around equality, diversity and inclusion is essential to support our best city ambitions.
Team Leeds is everyone coming together to play a part - people who live here, who work here, the council, its services and all partners.
It's everyone's business.
What we are doing
Our
Equality Improvement Priorities Plan 2021 to 2025 sets out the agreed approach taken to embed equality and diversity and the specific actions taken to remove barriers that prevent people from fully participating in the social, cultural, political and economic life of the city.
There has been a notable societal shift with the events during 2022 to 2023, such as the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, the increasing awareness of violence against women and girls and the inequalities exacerbated and exposed by the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis. This has raised expectations, with strong calls for bigger and faster change. We see this shift as a positive opportunity, and we are keen to step up a gear.
Our next steps
By building on the good work we already do and using the insight from a broad range of stakeholders, we aim to target our actions and resources in the right areas. The views of Leeds communities, local people, our partners, council teams and employees are crucially important to success. These views have shaped a new delivery plan, and will continue to do so in the future, with our Equality Assembly, Equality Hubs and Staff Networks playing a key role alongside the many valuable and varied engagement channels that we have in Leeds.
An action plan
We have set out three areas for action covering the council's role in an action plan.
Three areas of action
- An employer - driving the workforce agenda based on the council's values.
- A service deliverer and provider - including commissioning and contracting, based on the council's values.
- A partner - in supporting communities to thrive, based on the Best City Team Leeds approach.
More details on each of the three actions can be
found in our action plan. We set out priorities and activities, as well as governance, accountabilities, responsibilities and reporting.
Review and reporting
We will keep the action plan under regular review and make sure it stays relevant to the changing times we live in. We will reflect progress against it every year in our
equality, diversity and inclusion annual report. By working together, we can change and adjust our approach as needed.
Personal responsibility and shared accountability
EDI is embedded in everyday governance from our citizens, community leaders, all council colleagues, teams and procured services.
Leeds Best City Ambition
The Best City Ambition is our vision for the future of Leeds.
At its heart is our mission to tackle poverty and inequality and improve quality of life for everyone who calls Leeds home. It describes our shared goals through the three pillars of the Ambition.
- Health and wellbeing
- Inclusive growth
- Zero carbon
Read more about the Best City Ambition.
Working Together as Team Leeds
The Ambition outlines the Team Leeds approach which will help us to achieve our shared goals - and ensure everyone can play their part.
This includes a focus on fostering mutual respect and understanding, building community capacity, tackling systemic inequalities and being optimistic about our future.
