CII launches equality strategy

The Chartered Insurance Insitute has launched an equality strategy as part of its strategy to be a diversity-aware and inclusive professional body.

It said the aims of the new strategy are to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, to advance equal opportunities between those with a so-called protected characteristic and those without, and to foster good relations between those with a protected characteristic and those without.

Under the Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Public sector duty

The new scheme is designed to align the CII with the public sector equality duty, which was introduced in 2011 as part of the Equality Act 2010.

The CII said that although it is not a public body, it does have a public interest function. This is in line with the objective of the CII’s royal charter to “secure and justify the confidence of the public” by guiding the insurance profession.

CII vice-president and chair of the CII’s Diversity Action Group Liz Coyle said: “The equality strategy is one of the marks of a professional and diverse organisation, prepared to take a good look at its operations, and in my view clearly demonstrates the CII’s ambition in its move to be a ‘best practice’ organisation.

“Respecting equality and diversity is key to the CII enabling its students, members and prospective members to access all the benefits the CII has to offer.”