As a public body, we are required to publish Equality Information which demonstrates our compliance with the General Equality Duty. This report contains information about:

• The protected characteristics of our workforce
• The protected characteristics of our communities
• An overview of our equality-related activities
• Information about how protected groups are affected by our policies and practices

This report also provides a progress update on our Equality Objectives for 2011-2012, and much of the activity and areas for improvement contained within this report will form the basis of our new Equality Objectives that will be published in April 2012.