eGDCEquality and Sustainability
Commitment to equality
We believe that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) means that:
- Everybody is entitled to equal opportunity to fulfil their potential. (Equality)
- Everybody is different and that we are stronger for it. (Diversity)
- We remove barriers to ensure differences are valued and that everyone has the opportunity to contribute. (Inclusion)
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment, or victimisation.
- Advance equality of opportunity; between people who share a protected characteristic and those who don’t.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who don’t.
We remain committed to giving equality, diversity and inclusion proper consideration in all that we do, both as a regulator and as an employer. Our approach to public protection is underpinned by our belief that all individuals should be treated fairly and have access to equality of opportunity.
We encourage all dental professionals to provide their equality and diversity information, under the headings of the protected characteristics, including age; disability; gender reassignment; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation; marriage and civil partnership. In addition, we publish equality data for fitness to practise cases that are referred for assessment.
We carry out Equality Impact Assessments for all new policies and initiatives and collect equality data when we undertake any public consultations. We use this information to help us understand and segment the responses and to understand the impact on people with a range of protected characteristics.
As a member of the Diversity in Dentistry Action Group (DDAG) network, we support the Group’s core ambition for practical action to ensure that the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion are central to dental care and are part of core standards for all dental professionals.
More information on our commitment to EDI can be found in our EDI Strategy 2021 – 2023.
Sustainability
We seek to minimise our environmental impact in several practical ways. Our London office incorporates a sustainable design, energy efficiency and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) reduction, and a building management system, that allows us to be more energy efficient.
In our Birmingham office, we have worked with the landlord to recycle as many waste streams as possible. The office lighting has motion sensors and is reduced after a period of inactivity, and there are recycling points in the kitchens. We have worked alongside our landlord to improve the heating ventilation, and air conditioning system, which allows us to better manage the office temperature whilst being more energy efficient.
All staff are encouraged to use public transport and have access to the Cycle to Work scheme where we provide a bicycle purchase as part of a salary sacrifice employee benefit, which is exempt from National Insurance. Both offices have secure cycle storage facilities. Print usage is actively managed and monitored and staff are encouraged to use scanning and electronic filing. Our Committees use electronic documents instead of paper, and print usage is actively managed as part of our drive to reduce waste. All confidential waste and mixed waste is securely recycled.
We consider sustainability issues within our procurement and investment practices. Our investment advisors, who manage our financial asset portfolio, utilise Principles for Responsible Investment concepts, supported by the United Nations, in any investment decision.
Carbon footprint
We are outside the scope of mandatory reporting required by central government. Information of our carbon footprint has been calculated using data readily available for our energy usage and business travel, using the relevant requirements of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate standard and details both absolute and normalised (relative) emissions.
Our measurable carbon emissions for 2022 were 133 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). The largest source of our emissions was electricity and gas, which accounted for 114.39 tonnes of CO2. Data for our Gas usage in 2021 was not available and is therefore disclosed for the first time in 2022; this results in an increase of carbon emissions in 2022. (86.1% of the total). We saw a significant increase in business travel miles, which reflected a return to travel which is closer to that of pre-pandemic times. In addition, we saw an increase in energy costs as our offices were open for longer in 2022, compared to 2021. We do not have any direct (Scope 1*) emissions.
