Equalities and diversity in Lambeth

Lambeth retains a strong political commitment to equalities, fairness and social justice in the face of significant financial challenges. We believe the way to make a real difference is to ensure that equalities and tackling inequality is a part of everything we do. Our Lambeth 2030 Plan sets out equity and justice as our golden thread. Our vision is to be a borough with social and climate justice at its heart. 

As a public sector body, we have legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to have ‘due regard’ for advancing equality. The council must show that it has identified and considered the impact of its activities on people with ‘protected characteristics’. This applies to policies, services (including commissioned services), and the council’s employees.

For more detailed information about the Equality Duty 2010

The council uses Equity Impact Assessments (EIA) to complete this process and evidence our consideration. EIAs related to Key Decisions are considered by the council’s Equity & Justice Member Panel prior to Cabinet decision. 

Equalities information and social research

We have a robust approach to data – both qualitative and quantitative, and we have undertaken research to explore in depth, the needs, views and lives of our rich diverse communities. See our latest State of the Borough Report for further information. 

This data and insight informs our decision-making. We work with our communities, to ensure their voice is a core part of our services. Our monitoring guidance helps standardise the way we collect equalities information across the organisation.

Equalities and decision-making

Equality considerations are part of our everyday activities. At a time of drastically reducing resources we believe it is even more important to have a robust focus on potential impacts (both positive and negative) of the decisions that we make. We host meetings with our unions to consider equalities in the workplace. Our Equity & Justice Member Panel meets regularly to look at equality analysis on some of the toughest decisions the council has to take.

The Panel is co-chaired by our Cabinet Members for Healthier Communities, Cllr David Bridson and Cllr Nanda Manley-Browne. The meetings bring together elected members to review the data, consultation mechanisms and any proposed actions provided in EIAs by officers for all key decisions. This helps ensure we are all striving for the best outcomes for residents, service-users and staff.   

Alongside the protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act (2010) we also consider four additional local characteristics - socio economic, health and English as a second language and care experience as part of our EIA process. 

EIAs are published for Cabinet meetings. 

Equalities and performance

In 2024 we introduced the Lambeth 2030 Outcomes Framework which identifies and illustrates the links between our long-term vision, medium-term outcomes and performance metrics. Quarterly performance reports are presented to Cabinet to assess progress against this framework.  Lambeth was praised for its approach to equity and justice in our most recent LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Report. 

If you have any questions about our approach to equalities and diversity contact xcedequalities@lambeth.gov.uk.

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