National Equality Standard awarded – recognising our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion

South Wales Police has become just the second UK police force to achieve National Equality Standard (NES) certification – marking it as a leader in developing inclusive workplaces.

The announcement comes on the first day of National Inclusion Week, a week dedicated to celebrating inclusion and taking action to create inclusive workplaces.

South Wales Police joins a leading group of private and public sector organisations with the NES certification, which sets clear equality, diversity, and inclusion criteria against which companies and organisations are independently assessed.

Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said:

“In November 2022 we began the journey to achieving the National Equality Standard. We sought the help of EY to provide a robust, external view of our organisation and its approach to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

“We embraced the process because we wanted to identify what we are doing well, but more importantly understand where we could do better for Team SWP and for the communities that we serve. No stone has been left unturned.

“I am really proud of this accreditation and the work it has taken to achieve it. Opening ourselves to this level of independent expert scrutiny has helped us understand how we can mainstream equality into all parts of our daily business.”

The NES accreditation requires a full assessment every three years.

The NES findings and recommendations have informed our Strategic Equality Plan, which explains our long-term vision of mainstreaming equality and transforming our culture, and which sets out our primary anti-racism and anti-misogyny equality objectives.

Mr Vaughan said:

“This standard should give us confidence we have good foundations upon which to build our ambitious EDI vision and to be more restless in achieving our aim where all members of our society feel safe and confident with South Wales Police.”