Our equality objectives, EDI statement and action plan

Our ambition for reducing inequalities and discrimination within Westmorland and Furness. This includes our work plan for this area for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Our simple ambition is to reduce inequalities and discrimination within Westmorland and Furness. We want to be a council that understands and takes account of the varying needs and experiences of the different groups among our community. We're working hard to ensure all our residents, staff and members are included, supported and celebrated for who they are.

Phase One EDI Action Plan - March 2024 to March 2026

In March 2024, we released our first Statement on EDI (PDF , 220KB).

Our Statement included:

  • the first set of Equality Objectives for the Council
  • a two year Action Plan from April 2024 to March 2026. This plan outlined the work we're going to do, which will help us to achieve our equality objectives

In April 2025, we released an Annual Report on our EDI Action Plan for March 2024 to March 2025 (PDF 1.6KB).

This report outlined: 

  • the progress we'd made in the first 12 months of the Action Plan 
  • the ambitions we wanted to achieve by the end of March 2026

Phase Two EDI Action Plan – April 2026 to March 2028

We're now extremely proud to introduce our Phase Two EDI Update and Action Plan Plan (PDF, 1.4MB). 

This document shows our clear commitment to fairness, respect, and accessibility. The Action Plan explains that we put EDI at the centre of everything we do, and what we're going to do to continue this.   

We've also published an Easy Read version of our Phase Two EDI Update and Action Plan (PDF , 1.2MB)

Our Plan sets out: 

  • the progress we've made over phase one of the action plan
  • the next stage of our EDI work in phase two, which runs from from April 2026 to March 2028

Equality Objectives

We have three Equality Objectives: 

  • Objective 1: to set up and promote ways of working that build EDI into what we do. This is the case at all levels of our organisation
  • Objective 2: to better understand our customers and communities. This will help us to provide services that are accessible to all and reflect everyone's needs
  • Objective 3: to know more about about our staff and their experiences of working for us. This information will help us to develop a diverse workforce, where everyone can progress

You can find detailed information about our Equality Objectives in our Phase Two EDI Action Plan and Update. 

Our objectives are also supported a detailed Corporate Action Plan. You can request a copy of the Corporate Action Plan by email.