Herefordshire Equality and Human Rights Charter

The Council, in partnership with NHS Herefordshire and Wye Valley NHS Trust (was Hereford Hospitals Trust), have signed up to the Herefordshire Equality & Human Rights Charter. In doing this, our organisations commit to:

• working towards embedding equality and human rights in all that we do
• promoting human rights and equality of opportunity, good community relations and to tackling all forms of unlawful discrimination
• working towards the Herefordshire vision
• embedding the Herefordshire values and principles of approach
• complying with our statutory requirements
• focusing on our local priorities
• delivering the actions set out in the action plan
• demonstrating progress on these actions by producing an annual report that will be publicly available

In addition, other local organisations have signed up to the Charter, including ECHO, Halo and the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Fire & Rescue Service.

We believe that this Charter demonstrates our commitment to dignity and respect and human rights in everything that we do.  It also sets out an agreed vision around equalities for the communities of Herefordshire.  Human rights are, by definition, the basic entitlements someone can expect in a civilised society.

The Charter has its own action plan that shows how we are going to undertake the work required in making us a human rights based organisation.  The Herefordshire Equality & Human Rights Charter is attached in the box to the right, in both regular and easy-read versions.

How understanding Human Rights improves service delivery

In 2010, Herefordshire Council was one of five very different councils to became part of a national project, led by the Improvement and Development Agency, now the Local Government Association (LGA), to explore how a human rights-based approach could help them address the needs and vulnerabilities of their residents.  The other councils were Hackney, Oxfordshire, Tower Hamlets and Wiltshire.  They were supported in this project by the British Institute of Human Rights.

From different geographical and political perspectives, each project explored how a human rights approach can help councils improve service delivery, local decision making and engagement with the communities they serve.

A report on this project, called "Making the Universal Local" can be found in the panel to the right.