South Gloucestershire Council is committed to ensuring that it is operating fairly and equitably in all aspects of service delivery and employment. In order to put this commitment into practice, it is essential that we understand our customers and employees and their needs so that we can respond appropriately and effectively. Understanding the needs of all groups is a big step towards ensuring that our service delivery and employment practices are appropriate and effective in meeting the needs of all.
Collecting and monitoring customer and employee data will enable us to:
- Find out which customer groups are using our services and how satisfied they are with them – this will enable us to identify and make changes which enhance our services where necessary
- Ensure that our services can be easily accessed by all customer groups
- Target our services to customer groups
- Determine whether we are offering equality of opportunity, access and treatment to all groups in the provision of services and employment
- Find out if our equalities policies are effective and highlight areas where our policies need to be changed in order to offer greater equality of opportunity, access and treatment
- Use real data and evidence to make changes rather than risk relying on assumptions
- Improve our reputation as a fair provider of goods or services and employment opportunities
- Evidence that we know who our users, non users and employees are and that we have found out what their needs are.
It is important that we understand any significant differences or gaps that exist for all groups and that this understanding is used to inform our practices and the actions we take.