Further information

What is Understanding Diversity?

Understanding Diversity or “Diversity monitoring” is the name the Council gives to personal information we collect about the people who use our services or work for us.

What information does the Council ask for on its diversity monitoring form?

The full Council diversity monitoring form asks for seven pieces of information, but they may not all be asked on every occasion. They are:

1. Gender

2. Age

3. Disability

4. Sexual Orientation

5. Religion or Belief

6. Ethnicity

7. Postcode

Why does the Council need this information?

There are a number of reasons why the Council needs personal information from you:

1. The Council has a legal and a moral duty to eliminate all forms of discrimination when employing people and when delivering services.

However it is hard to measure whether we are discriminating against a certain group of people, unless we monitor who we are employing and who uses our services.

For example, we might discover through our monitoring that we interview and employ very few gay and lesbian people. We can then encourage more people from this community to apply for jobs by thinking carefully about the way in which we recruit for certain posts, and where we advertise jobs.

2. South Norfolk Council is committed to delivering excellent services, but we can only do this if we understand who our customers are and what particular needs they have.

For example, we might discover through our monitoring that very few disabled people use our leisure centres. We can then look more closely at how the centres work and the kinds of services they offer and change things to make the centres better for disabled people to use.

Do I have to answer the questions?

No, you don’t have to answer any question if you prefer not to. However as the results will be kept confidential, and it may help us to improve our services, we would encourage you to answer as many questions as possible.

Will my personal information be kept confidential?

The information you give us will remain strictly confidential, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the information will only be used to monitor services and employment. It will not be used to identify you, and no one will contact you because of the answers you give. All the information will be stored securely in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. Your answers will only be retained for as long as is considered necessary for monitoring purposes and then it will be destroyed. If you have any queries about how we protect your information please call our Data Protection Officer, Joanna Kitchener on 01508 533602.

What will the Council do with the information?

The information will only be used to monitor services and employment. It will not be used to identify you, and no one will contact you because of the answers you give.

All the information will be stored securely in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. Your answers will only be retained for as long as is considered necessary for monitoring purposes and then they will be destroyed.

Why do you need my postcode if it’s all anonymous?

We need to monitor that people have equitable access to services regardless of where they live.

It may be that a particular Council service is generally thought to be good, but receives a few complaints. Through monitoring, we might discover that all the complaints come from people who live in a certain area. If this is the case, it makes it much easier for us to improve that service, because we can quickly pin-point the problem.

Why do you need to know what kind of disability or illness I have?

The Council, along with most other Local Authorities, has adopted the “Social Model of Disability” which means that we recognise that social barriers are what disable people, not their impairment. Sometimes, however, we will ask specifically about your impairment. This is because, in practical terms it helps us to know about our customers’ impairments so that we can design our services according to your needs, and remove as many barriers as possible.

For example, we might discover through monitoring that a lot of people with a learning disability use the swimming pool. We can then ensure that all swimming pool information is produced in easy-read or symbol versions.

How have the ethnicity categories been decided upon?

The six main ethnicity categories we have used are those used in the 2001 Census. This makes it easier for us to analyse information.

Why are there three boxes under "gender"?

On the monitoring form, gender is defined as male, female, or other. People might want to tick the “other” box if they are intersexed or transsexual.

Intersexed people are individuals born with anatomy or physiology which differs from contemporary ideals of what constitutes "normal" male and female. Transsexualism is the condition in which a person with an apparently normal sexual differentiation believes that he or she is actually a member of the opposite sex.