Newcastle City Council has been named the most inclusive employer in the UK on Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list. They have also received special commendation as a top trans-inclusive employer.

Other local government bodies also made the list, with the Greater London Authority being the second highest performing in the sector at 22. Northumberland County Council have climbed the table, finishing at 34, rising 52 places.

The top ten employers were as follows:

• Newcastle City Council
• Gentoo Group
• Cheshire Fire and Rescue Services
• Pinsent Masons
• Ministry of Justice
• GSK
• CITI
• National Assembly for Wales
• Welsh Government
• Cardiff University

The list has been complied by the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for LGBT inclusion in the workplace, Workplace Equality Index. The organisations that enter the Index submit evidence detailing their LGBT practice across ten separate areas, policies and benefits, the employee lifecycle, LGBT employee network groups, allies and role models, senior leadership, monitoring, procurement, community engagement, clients, customers and service users and additional work.

Councillor Joyce McCarty, Deputy Leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “I’m incredibly proud that our commitment to inclusivity has been recognised with this accolade, and it is a fantastic achievement for us to be the first local authority to be named as Stonewall’s Employer of the Year.

“But this is really an award for everybody in our city who shows every day that we are all equal and that our great city accepts everyone. Newcastle is a safe and welcoming city and the North East, in general, does a great deal to champion the LGBT community. We are all eagerly anticipating the fantastic opportunity to demonstrate this by being the host city for UK Pride 2020.”

You can find the full list here.