Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) recognise that everyone is unique, everyone is different and everyone has value. As a service we are committed to ensuring we demonstrate fairness, sensitivity and respect in all aspects of our work and in relation to the lives of our customers and each other. Together we help to save lives, working as one team. 

Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is also demonstrated by the language we use. What we say and how we say it can have a huge impact on those around us, which is why it’s important to make sure our language includes everyone. Remembering to speak and write with respect and kindness lies at the heart of who we are.

Inclusive language takes into the account the needs and differences of everyone. 

It should be gender neutral. 

It should not be:

• patronising or stereotypical 
• discriminative
• negative 

The language we use makes it clear we embrace diversity, and demonstrate the respect and sensitivity that we show to everyone.

Further guidance

Gender neutral

This is taking the gender out of our everyday language. Being gender neutral is more inclusive. For example, rather than using 'he' or 'she', we try to use our customers' and each other's name, or refer to a person as 'they' or 'them'. We may also neutralise titles and roles as this avoids stereotyping and bias. For example, we employ firefighters not firemen, and we have a chair person not a chairman of our fire authority.   

For further information please see the A-Z guide in the 'How to communicate’ section of our Brand Guidelines

Patronising or stereotypical terms

We avoid labelling people, we listen and try not to make assumptions based on stereotypes. By treating everyone with respect and consideration, we are more inclusive. Learn more on our 'How to have conversations' section of our Brand Guidelines

Language and equality, diversity and inclusion

The language we use should take into account the protected characteristics–elements of our identity that are known to be judged by society. The Equality Act 2010 protects us all by making it illegal to discriminate against or harass someone because of these characteristics. The language we use should be both kind and inclusive.

What is positive action?

Positive action is the deliberate introduction of measures to remove or reduce the effect of discrimination in the employment market. It is a way of encouraging and increasing job applications from people who are members of under-represented groups, and is lawful under the Equality Act, 2010.

This means that if there is an imbalance in our workforce, with certain groups under-represented, the Equality Act permits us to attempt to remedy this.

Why would we do this? 

Positive action measures bring benefits to our organisation because it:

• widens the pool of talented, skilled and experienced people from which to recruit
• helps us create a dynamic and challenging workforce able to respond to changes
• gives us a better understanding of the needs of a more diverse range of customers 

What we do

As an Equal Opportunities employer, we strive to ensure our workforce represents the community in which we work, and positive action enables us to do this. We are committed to equality, including making sure our recruitment, selection and promotion process encourages applications from a wide range of people, reflecting the difference in our customers. These steps help make KFRS an approachable service for everyone. 

The Equality Act does not limit the action we can take, as long as it is a balanced means of achieving, enabling or encouraging participation. It could include: 

• participation targets in our processes 
• the provision of bursaries to obtain qualifications 
• outreach work within the community to raise awareness of job availability
• reserving a percentage of places on training courses 
• targeted networking opportunities
• mentoring 

We are committed to attracting the best candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our workforce represents the communities we serve. Because KFRS has a substantially higher proportion of white, male firefighters, positive action initiatives enable us to seek to encourage applications for operational roles from women and those from an  ethnic minority background.

Positive action - not positive discrimination 

Positive action should not be confused with positive discrimination. 

Positive discrimination is the act of favouring someone based on a ‘protected characteristic’ and is unlawful. Setting quotas or benchmarks in the recruitment process to take on a proportion of people from a protected characteristic group, or promoting a specific number of people within a minority group would be positive discrimination, We do not adopt this type of initiative, and only select the best candidates based on their performance, skills and merit. 

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) is here for everyone. We recognise that everyone belongs and everyone is different and unique. Equality, diversity and inclusion lies at the heart of who we are, and in how we treat each other and our customers. We strive to ensure everyone has equal access to our services and does not experience any discrimination or harassment because of a protected characteristic.

What is a protected characteristic?

Each one of us has one or more of the nine protected characteristics, which are set out below. These were specified in the Equality Act, 2010, which made it illegal to discriminate or harass someone because of a protected characteristic. 

The protected characteristics

Getting to know local communities, customers and employees

Local communities

We are here to help the people of Kent and Medway stay safe. 

Understanding our local communities helps us in this important work. To do this we have a team who analyse local and national data enabling us to profile community risks and ensure that we continue to provide the services that people need. We also identify emerging trends so that we can continuously develop our services for the future. 

The community profiles we produce at a county and local level include statistical data across protected characteristics. We get to know our customers and communities through events, programmes and visits. We also consult with the public and colleagues, including representatives of diversity groups, through our Safety and Wellbeing Plan consultation process. 

We use this data (including equality data) to help make good decisions for our community and workplace through the use of a tool called a 'People impact assessment', also known as 'equality impact analysis'. 

The Equality Act, 2010, requires us to consider each protected characteristic in conjunction with our activity to ensure that we are: 

• eliminating discrimination and promoting inclusion
• encouraging the development, growth and maintenance of ideas and attitudes which result in good or improved relations between the individuals in different groups
• minimising or removing disadvantage experienced by people who share a protected characteristic, reducing their under-representation in particular activities and meeting their particular needs. A people impact assessment is an ideal tool to help us ensure we do this. 

Our customers 

Our equality information informs and enables us to direct our community safety activities towards people who are at greater risk including older people, those living independently with physical disabilities and mental health issues, and transient people. We are also committed to helping people live well and independently in their own homes and have worked with Public Health England and NHS to explore opportunities to do this, while our customer Safe and Well visits also help to identify health issues and provide interventions or referrals where appropriate

In addition we use incident data, debriefs and surveys to identify who uses our services, which groups of people are most or least likely to use them in the future and to obtain feedback. This information is published as part of the Corporate Plan.

Businesses in Kent 

We work with business to reduce risk and keep people safe, using equality data to ensure our approach to business safety is fair and equitable.  

Our colleagues 

Every one of us helps to save lives. We work together as one team, recognising that everyone is unique and has value. We treat everyone as equals and ensure the same opportunities are available to all, striving to build open relationships based on trust, kindness and compassion, leading to a sense of belonging. We support and encourage people to grow, thrive and be themselves which in turn enables us to understand and help our customers. 

Not only do we strive to create a great place to work, we want to ensure it is an equitable one. We monitor the composition of our workforce through analysis of equality data (protected characteristics such as age, gender, etc). Our colleagues have a voice in how we develop our policies and we hold ourselves to account by creating opportunities for colleague feedback. The Equalities Act 2010 requires us to demonstrate our compliance with the public sector equality duty and publish a gender pay gap report. This report shows the differences in average pay between men and women (Please note this is not the same as Equal Pay which is the difference between men and women who carry out the same or similar jobs or work of equal value). In addition to Gender Pay gap reporting, although it is not a legal requirement, our last report also looked at disability, ethnicity and sexual orientation pay gaps within our workforce.  

Partnerships

We have partnerships with other local authorities, agencies and community groups, including the Armed Forces Covenant. Working with these partners helps us to engage with communities and meet their diverse needs. 

Kent Fire and Rescue Service is proud to hold an Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award under the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. This means that we support the armed forces community and our values are in accordance with the Armed Forces Covenant.

What is the Armed Forces Covenant?

The Armed Forces Covenant is an ongoing ‘promise’ that the government and the nation recognise the obligation we have to those who serve or have served in the armed forces, their families, veterans and the bereaved.

It seeks to ensure that members of the armed forces, former members and their families are not disadvantaged when using public and commercial services.

It requires they are treated with fairness and respect and that special consideration is given to those who have been injured or bereaved.

Some 4,000 organisations, businesses and charities have committed to uphold the covenant including Kent Fire and Rescue Service. Find out more about the covenant.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant

As part of our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant we have embedded Kent and Medway Armed Forces Service champions throughout our organisation.

How do our champions help?

Our champions help with matters ranging from housing, health and finances to friendship visits and mental health, liaising with organisations such as The Royal British Legion, the RAFA, SSAFA and the RNRMC.

We are here to help and give advice during Safe and Well home visits, or during any emergency or non-emergency situation.

Each year Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) publishes a Gender Pay Gap Report.  A gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women, expressed relative to men's earnings. Our Gender Pay Gap Reports are available on our Publications page. 

We continuously work towards reducing inequality, not only in terms of gender pay, but ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability too. This can be evidenced by our gender pay gap (GPG) which is lower than the national figures, and our policy of reducing inequality further. 

From the moment you apply to work or volunteer with us we would like to encourage you to declare if you feel you need additional support from us.
  
We operate an open approach to reasonable adjustment for those living with disability.  We recognise that what may support one person may not be suitable for another, even if they have the same or similar conditions.

Sharing your needs with us, helps us to ensure you are not disadvantaged. It also enables you to perform to the best of your ability. 

The best way to declare your disability is to do so when you are asked for your equality data. This will prompt our resourcing team to contact you in order to explore what support we may be able to offer. 

It is always helpful for you to share any adjustments you have previously received and / or for you to think about what type of support you might look for from us.  There are various adjustments available and the solution for you may consist of more than one. A reasonable adjustment could involve making changes to:

• the workplace
• equipment or services provided (both current or new services), for example an appropriate keyboard for someone with arthritis
• the ways things are done
• making sure we provide information in an accessible format

Examples of reasonable adjustments can include:

• providing the right type of phone for those using a hearing aid
• arranging for an interview to be held on the ground floor for a user of a wheelchair
• providing desks or chairs for those with disability affecting their backs
• giving more one-to-one support to help prioritise the work for someone suffering from anxiety
• a phased return to work for those on long-term sick leave because of a disability
• allowing more frequent breaks for someone with diabetes to get the right amount of food or drink throughout the day
• giving more time,  rest breaks, use of a laptop, provision of a scribe/reader and/or software packages to support those with neurodiversity as part of the interview process

We recognise some people may be unsure if they meet the criteria for reasonable adjustment, or feel uncomfortable declaring a disability. We are here to help so if this is the case, so please contact the Resourcing team on 01622 692121 extn 2381 to discuss. 

Everyone, regardless of differences has the right to live and work without fear of abuse or discrimination. Hate crime ruins lives.

What is hate crime? Hate crime is criminal behaviour that is driven by hostility - or the demonstration of hostility- towards another person’s religion, race, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity. It can take many forms ranging from intimidation to verbal abuse and assault and can include damaging property. 

TogetherAgainstHate is a global fight to tackle online hate crime - using digital platforms to help drive change and build kindness. We recognise social media has become a vehicle for inappropriate behaviour on a societal level, and some people think that it is OK to post abusive messages including hate and discrimination. 

We don’t.

At Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) we want our social media platforms to be for everyone and to be inspiring. We strive for them to be respectful spaces for discussion and an opportunity to engage with each other to share information about how we can all live safer lives. 

We know the vast majority of our followers want that too. 

As a public service we have a duty to make sure we create safe environments where online abuse is stopped and reported. It is important to us that we remain focused on the welfare of our customers, staff and volunteers.

We have a zero-tolerance stance to online hate and abuse across all social and digital platforms. 

We also ask our followers to join us in the fight against discrimination. 

We will take the following action

• delete comments that promote hate or discrimination
• block people bringing hate to our comments sections
• report the most serious cases to the relevant authorities
• work to make our social media accounts kind and respectful places 
• keep building and sharing our safety messages and keep helping every one of our customers to live safer lives
• keep supporting all of our different customers – whoever they are
• make sure our social media profiles are a safe space for everyone

We also want your help...

If you see a reply to KFRS posts with an expression of hate on the basis of race, colour, gender, nationality, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, sex, age or class please flag the URL to the post in question by emailing - Togetheragansthate@kent.fire-uk.org 

Together we will strive to make our social media accounts a safe space for everyone. 

Together Against Hate.  

In an emergency

Where a hate crime is in progress or someone is in immediate danger – you should always call 999.

You can report a hate crime directly to the police by calling the non-emergency number 101.

Hate crimes in England can be reported to the Police online through True Vision at report-it.org.uk

You can also report hate crime to the following independent organisations that support those communities most at risk and offer an alternative way of reporting if you don’t want to report to the police, including:

Stop Hate UK (all hate crime)

Tell Mama (anti-Muslim hate crime)

Community Security Trust (anti-Semitic hate crime)

GALOP (anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime).

Women and men have the right to receive equal remuneration for work of equal value (commonly referred to as ‘equal pay’). It is good practice for organisations to review their pay and benefits structures to ensure Equal Pay.

It also assists KMFRA in complying with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty. Equal pay differs to gender pay which considers the difference between men’s and women’s average earnings.

Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority (KMFRA) last did an equal pay audit in 2017. Using a snapshot date of 31 March 2022 we reviewed equal pay again in March 2023.  This report does not include Volunteers or members. Similar to the review in 2017, this review has concluded there was no evidence of any disparity between pay and sex.  

Some disparity was noted in relation to contractual terms between colleagues working in the same department carrying out the same or a similar job. We will progressively address this disparity through the conversion of grey book roles to green book roles as people retire to assure no adverse impact on individual's pensions. This will of course take some time. 

The review document can be found on our Publications page under the 'Reports' section. (Please be aware this report is currently only available as a PDF).