Developing Inclusive Policy

Our vision is to have a fair and inclusive culture based on ambitious standards and our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) values. Our mission is to be open to people, places, methods and ideas, which means that we commit to embedding equality in all that we do. One way of integrating EDI into our working practices is to apply an equity lens at the outset of proposals to ensure that they are truly inclusive.

As a public body, we also have several statutory duties. The Public Sector Equality Duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (England, Scotland and Wales) and Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires us to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality, and foster good relations between groups of people.

Equality Impact Assessment

Equality Impact Assessment is a process to check that we are treating everyone fairly, to identify if there are any unintended consequences of what we propose to do, and to ensure that the policy or change will be effective. It is a way of bringing our EDI goals into practice and demonstrating the University’s compliance with the law. A thorough Equality Impact Assessment is vital for any proposed or amended policy, project, service, strategy, procedure or practice that may have an impact on people.

Equality Impact Assessment helps the University to:

• identify potential discrimination;
• support higher quality decision-making that meets the needs of our diverse students and staff; and
• reduce financial and reputational risks associated with a failure to meet our obligations.

View the guidance and template for completing an Equality Impact Assessment.

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