Falkirk Council's vision of creating strong communities where inequalities are reduced, and lives are improved is embedded throughout all Council services and functions.  Through this vision and the values in the Council Plan and Falkirk Plan, Falkirk Council aims to make sure that every individual has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or characteristics. 

The purpose of this report is to:  

• provide an update on what progress Falkirk Council has made to implement the Public Sector Equality Duties 
• report on progress with our previous Equality Outcomes 
• set out new Equality Outcomes for 2025-2029 

There are three main sections to reporting, which breaks down how we are fulfilling our this duty:  

• Mainstreaming the Equality Duties 
• Equality Outcome: Progress Report 
• Equality Outcomes: New strategies 

Falkirk Council must report on the General Equality Duty on its functions as an Education Authority, Licensing Board, a Local authority and an employer. 

The specific duties which are relevant to this progress report are: 

• report progress on mainstreaming the general equality duty 
• publish equality outcomes and report progress 
• gather, use and publish employee information 
• publish gender pay gap information 

Appendix 1: Falkirk Council Area 2022 Census information provides the breakdown of the Falkirk area population by protected characteristics based on the 2022 Census data.