Our goal is for Brighton & Hove to be inclusive, accessible and fair – a place where everyone can thrive.
We will continue to listen to and work with residents, tenants, community and voluntary sector organisations, ward councillors and our partners using our refreshed Community Engagement Framework to ensure the varied needs of our diverse communities are reflected in our policy and services and best practice in engagement is shared across the organisation.
We will increase participation through digital engagement and consultation, building on the development of our new engagement platform, Your Voice, and expanding how we use it to engage communities, staff and stakeholders in innovative ways.
We will engage with our city's disabled, LGBTQ+, Black and Racially Minoritised (BRM) communities and women and girls recognising intersectionality. We’ll do this through the city’s Equality & Inclusion Partnership (EQUIP), our Disability Panel and wider Reference Group, including our Trans, Non-binary and Intersex Round Table, other partnerships and ongoing consultation and engagement with local disability and LGBTQ+, women and BRM groups. The Health Counts 2024 survey response indicates that our city has much higher numbers of Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex (TNBI) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Queer
(LGBQ+) adults than previously reported in the national Census 2021. 28% of adults identify as LGBQ+ and 5% identify as TNBI. These groups also report higher rates of poor health and disability. 68% of TNBI adults and 62% of LGBQ+ adults report having a disability compared to 37% across the city. Mental health concerns are also significantly higher. 24% of adults identify as Black and Racially Minoritised and many also report higher rates of disability and mental health concerns.
We will collaborate with our partners in city and across the wider region to drive change for the benefit of everyone in the city. This includes making the most of opportunities such as the Devolution Priority Programme, the Local Visitor Economy Partnership and the Brighton & Hove Economic Growth Board to build greater equity through inclusive economic growth.
We will refresh the purpose and priorities of our Equality and Inclusion partnership approach to deliver equality actions, initiatives and strategies in the city and lead with impact.
Through our Accessible City strategy, we will continue to embed accessibility and disability inclusion principles into how we work as an employer and service provider, to ensure our city is welcoming, inclusive and accessible for the diverse community of people who live, work or visit Brighton & Hove. We will put accessibility at the heart of how we think, work, design, and deliver our services from the very start. We will aim to support all individuals we serve to have equal access to everything our city has to offer.
We will continue to work with communities to prioritise actions in our Anti-Racist strategy, particularly in our education and learning settings, to challenge racial inequality, address racial discrimination wherever we find it and create a better, fairer and more equal city. We will develop Black and Racially Minoritised community and voluntary sector infrastructure support.
We will work with community groups to continue to build connections and community cohesion. We will increase participation in local decision making through delivery of a civic leadership programme.
We will strengthen our partnership with key third sector LGBTQ+ charities and groups to ensure council and community priorities are aligned and that community data directly informs our decisions and policy development. We remain committed to supporting new emerging LGBTQ+ community spaces and working to secure sustainable funding sources to ensure their long-term viability and community benefit.
We remain committed to trans inclusion, aligned to our response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission consultation and will work closely with Trans, Nonbinary and Intersex communities to develop trusted spaces for community engagement and councillor dialogue, with regular meetings established to assess and respond to community concerns.
We will develop a new gender inclusion toolkit for council staff as part of our broader approach to gender equity and social inclusion.
We will be working to secure our re-accreditation as a City of Sanctuary, delivering our City of Sanctuary action plan and reconfirming our commitment to offer sanctuary for people fleeing violence and persecution. This includes promoting our Libraries of Sanctuary and our adult education offer as inclusive and welcoming for all.
We will continue to work to embed equality, diversity and inclusion into all council services through our ongoing programme of Equality Impact Assessments, to ensure that decisions about changes to services and budgets consider the needs of all protected groups. We will continue to increase the diversity of our workforce at all levels to achieve proportionate representation of the city’s communities.
Our Thriving Communities Investment Fund will provide investment in the community and voluntary sector over a four-year period from 2025 to 2029, with annual funding to be agreed through the annual budget setting process. The fund recognises the role of sector as a valued partner in supporting marginalised communities to thrive and flourish. The fund is focused on delivery of the council’s four core missions and built on the principles of tackling inequality and promoting fairness.
We will continue to grow the council’s new Fairness Fund (including through third party donations) to provide financial and practical support for residents struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. The fund will support access to nutritious, low-cost food, provide help with fuel bills, and contribute to the purchase of essential items.
We will continue our work with communities in the most deprived areas of the city to reduce barriers to and increase residents’ confidence and uptake of health and well-being services. Our Community Health Inequalities Programme is being taken forward by the Healthy Communities Programme, funded until March 2026.