Diversity

Accessibility

We aim for all clients to find it easy to communicate with us.

If you have a disability, health problem or mental health issue, please let us know so we can help you by making reasonable adjustments. Please let us know as soon as possible if you need us to make adjustments for you. Kent and Surrey Family Resolution will try to find a way to remove or reduce any disadvantage.

The nature of any adjustment may depends on your individual needs:

• Allowing more time (we will tell you if we cannot extend a time limit set by law)

• Offering you an alternative to using online services, such as telephone appointments or remote video appointments.

• Allowing you to have someone accompany you

• Using your preferred way of communication: by email, telephone or in person (dependent on lockdown/government restrictions)

• Providing information in alternative formats

We will not be able to agree an adjustment that fundamentally changes our responsibilities or duties.

Increasing diversity

We comply with approved regulators, such as the SRA and Resolution, in ensuring that a comprehensive evidence base about the diversity characteristics of the legal professions is available.  We collate and submit diversity information on our firm to our regulator, the SRA, each year.

We carry out a survey, updated upon a change in personnel, collecting anonymised diversity data on Kent and Surrey Family Resolution's workforce.

Kent and Surrey Family Resolution aim to integrate diversity and inclusion into our work and our organisation’s culture as the heart of the work we do. This is in addition to statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

Our aims include:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share protected characteristics. These include: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

• Fostering good relations between people who share protected characteristics and those who do not.

• Continuing professional development and new services to reflect the needs of individual clients, such as flexible times and delivery of appointments. We recognise a diverse population of clients requires a diverse legal profession.  We report our firm's diversity information to the SRA in line with our regulatory requirements. As a small firm, we follow SRA guidance not to publish any diversity data in a way that might identify individuals.

Covid-19 pandemic

The Legal Services Board 2020 report reflected on impacts of Covid-19 and associated lockdowns. It states that the impact has included making 'existing social inequality starker'. The need for services that meet the needs of society is 'more urgent'. Kent and Surrey Family Resolution has shifted to offering videoconferencing and telephone appointments in order to widen access, although we recognise the skills and technology required are not present for all clients and continue to work for adaptable, accessible solutions.

The Legal Services Board 2020 Report