Racism is unacceptable and has no place in our society or communities.
While Cornwall is considered to be an open and welcoming place, for many this is not always the case. We want to become an actively anti-racist place to live, work, and visit.
We know we need to do more to deal with racism and unfairness in our communities.
In 2020, after the death of George Floyd, partners in Cornwall got together to form a steering group. The steering group produced some recommendations for Cornwall's leaders to tackle racial inequality.
The Leadership Board endorsed these recommendations in September 2020. The Board made a public statement , and members provided a progress update on their work in March 2021. They also made a strong public statement during October's Hate Crime Awareness week. Board members provided a progress update in March 2021.
Leadership board recommendations
What are we doing?
As a council, it is important that we take the lead in promoting racial equality.
- Together with our partners, we are committed to delivering The Cornwall Plan. The plan's focus is to ensure that everyone can thrive in a diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist Cornwall.
- We continue to carry forward the recommendations endorsed by the Leadership Board.
- Our outcome delivery plan highlights the importance of advancing race equality: An Empowering and Enterprising Cornwall Council Outcome Delivery Plan
- We continue to review our equality, diversity and inclusion policies and recruitment practices.
- We are working with the new refugee resettlement service to support community cohesion and integration.
We have already:
- changed our equal opportunity statement in job adverts.
- introduced a pilot for anonymised recruitment.
- introduced new training modules for staff.
- focused on attracting ethnic minority graduate employees,
We recognise that we must identify racial inequality and unconscious bias in the workplace so that we can challenge it.
Race Equality Matters
In February 2021, we began working with Race Equality Matters, which is a collaboration of:
- companies
- organisations
- race networks
- experts in the field
- allies and
- employees aiming to improve workplace equality across the public, private, and charity sectors.
Race Equality Matters has solutions that help promote race equality within organisations. We are committed to putting these actions into practice.
- Black History Month 2021 - We held our first Tea Break. Tea breaks provide a safe space for staff to share their experiences of racial inequality. We now hold them regularly.
- Race Equality Week February 2022 - We promoted the #MyNameIs campaign to staff. The campaign highlights the importance of pronouncing names correctly. It encourages the use of a phonetic spelling tool in email signatures.
- Race Equality Week February 2023 - We promoted The Big Promise campaign. The campaign urges individuals and organisations to make a public commitment against racial inequality. We are pleased that many staff and senior leaders have already made their commitment.
Race Equality Matters have also launched Trailblazer Awards. These awards spotlight organisations that are committed to tackling racial inequality.
In November 2022, we received the Bronze Trailblazer award. We are dedicated to continuing our efforts to make the council an anti-racist place to work.