Equality and Diversity

The Equality Act 2010 (the Act), which harmonised and replaced previous equalities legislation, came into force on 5 April 2011. The Act placed a general equality duty on public authorities to pay due regard to the need to:

Eliminate discrimination;
Advance equality; and
Foster good relations across the range of protected characteristics.

The general equality duty expanded the range of those protected under equality legislation to include the following protected characteristics of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. The equality duty also covers marriage and civil partnerships, with regard to eliminating unlawful discrimination in employment.

The following links and collapsible sections provide further information on how the City Council is delivering on equality duties.

Equalities Calendar

Equalities Calendar of Events 2024

As part of Dundee City Council’s Equality Outcome setting and Mainstreaming work, we have created an Equality Calendar of Events to better assist with supporting and engaging those with protected characteristics and lived experience in our work.

This calendar will not cover every Equality related day, week or month throughout the year. Agreement has been reached by the Council’s Strategic Equality & Diversity Steering Group as to the key focus areas for this year.

The Calendar will:

have direct equality related links to information & resources that can be accessed directly and promoted via the Council’s social media platforms as appropriate
Identifying specific key actions and activities that the council is/are proposing to take as part of the events promotion
be updated on an ongoing basis with key information and links to local actions and activities for the days, weeks and months highlighted.

View the equalities calendar

British Sign Language (BSL) Information

Dundee City Council’s Local BSL Plan 2024-2030

The Scottish Government published their second British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan 2023-2029 in November 2023. Within the national plan there are 45 actions which will help the Scottish Government in achieving their ten long-term goals.

The BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 requires listed public bodies in Scotland to develop and publish a local 6-year plan which demonstrates how they will work towards implementing the national plan.

This plan sets out the goals and actions for Dundee City Council from 2024-2030 and is framed around the same goals as the national plan.
A priority in this plan is to ensure that BSL users throughout the city have equal access to services that are welcoming, inclusive, fair, and focused on their needs. This plan has been developed through an extensive engagement, involving both local and national partners.

Download the BSL Local Plan 2024 to 2030 (9.66MB PDF)

Useful links can be found on the BSL Scotland website. You will see '7 tips for better access to Scottish Public Services' and a number of Frequently Asked Questions.

BSL Helpline

For Deaf BSL users: If you would like some support on councils and health, please contact us at:

Helen - Council helen.morgans-wenhold@bda.org.uk 07885 367674
James - Health james.barnes-miller@bda.org.uk 07814 67559

999 for BSL Users

The UK emergency services provides a video link to enable BSL users to access the 999 emergency services. To access information on how to use this, download the app, or to make an emergency call if required, please follow this link: https://999bsl.co.uk/

Cost of Living Crisis

Involving and Engaging with Deaf Community training

Ross Craig, the Council’s Equalities & Fairness Officer recently attended BDA’s 4th and last empowerment training session for professionals from public services across Scotland. The session, delivered by Robin Ash, BDA's BSL Equality and Rights Coordinator, had fourteen participants joining to learn about how to engage with the Deaf community in Scotland.

“This was a great opportunity to strengthen our partnership with BDA Nationally, and explore how we can work together to better engage with and support Dundee’s BSL Community at the Local Level"