Equality and diversity

Community and council equality, diversity and inclusion support and services

St Helens Borough Council is committed to working together, with staff, partners, and the community, to ensure that our workforce and service providers deliver accessible, safe, and inclusive services.

This page contains details about our approach to advancing equality, valuing diversity, and promoting inclusion; it includes information to help you access our services, find support, and keep up to date on events and projects that celebrate our community.

St Helens Borough Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

The Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy sets out our arrangements to meet the general, specific and public sector duties of the Equality Act 2010 and other equality legislation.

St Helens Borough Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy is a council-wide programme through which we will work together with staff, partners, and community stakeholders to implement duties of equality legislation, disseminate good practice, and ensure the council's workforce and service providers are equipped to deliver accessible, safe, and inclusive services to our diverse community.

St Helens Borough Council's Equality Impact Assessment

The Equality Impact Assessment is tool used within the Council's decision making processes to demonstrate due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010).  More information can be accessed here St Helens Borough Council's Equality Impact Assessment template and published documents

St Helens Borough Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Monitoring Report 2023-24

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, requires public authorities to set measurable equality objectives and to publish information about their performance on equality annually. Our latest Annual EDI Monitoring Report for 2023-24, published in January 2025, covers the following areas: Measurable Equality Objectives, Workforce Equality Monitoring, and Service Accessibility.  It can be accessed here St Helens Borough Council's Annual Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Monitoring Reports

Working for St Helens Borough Council

St Helens Borough Council is committed to creating a more welcoming, safe, and inclusive work environment, based on the vision that everyone is included, has a voice, and is empowered to influence, through the values of trust, integrity, collaboration, innovation. Our vision and values create a culture of mutual respect, inclusion, and dignity, which is critical to ensure the organisational capability meets the needs of our increasingly diverse community. 

We are commitment to fair employment of disabled people, to the removal of systemic racism and sexism, and the valuing of individual identity (sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion and belief), and the creation of a representative and diverse workforce.

The council is a Disability Confident Leader, which means that we:

• guarantee interviews for disabled job applicants who meet all essential requirements within the job specification
• provide Supported Internship placements for people with disabilities
• use flexible working, assistive technology and other reasonable adjustments to support disabled staff
• actively promote employment of people who are disabled.

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, who share our values, our commitment to inclusion, and who will help us on our journey to transform our organisation. 

Join us and be part of the team

Service accessibility 

• The council is committed to ensuring our website is accessible in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. More details can be found in our Web Accessibility Statement
• Our Language Service provision includes our webpage language translation option, telephone interpreting, video interpretation, and the provision of information in alternative formats, which helps to ensure equality of access to services and information
• Venues and buildings used to deliver council services are assessed for accessibility, including parking, wheelchair access, accessible toilets, accessible signage, etc
• Reasonable adjustments continue to be provided for individual disabled service users and staff
• Our workforce continues to receive regular training on equality and inclusion to help them meet the needs of our diverse community.

If you need a reasonable adjustment in order to access council services or information, or have any questions about accessibility, please contact us.

Equality Advisory and Support Service - independent support and advice helpline 

The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) is the formal independent advisory body, that advises and assists individuals on issues relating to equality and human rights, across England, Scotland and Wales.  If you need independent advice or guidance about an equality, diversity, or inclusion then please call the EASS helpline.  

• EASS Freephone Telephone 0808 800 0082
• EASS Text phone 0808 800 0084