Westminster is a City of huge contrasts with a rich and diverse cultural heritage.  There are some long established communities and also many new communities.  The huge turnover of the population in Westminster (over 25% of residents arrive or leave each year) means that the nature of communities may change considerably year on year.

The latest population estimates indicate that 51 per cent of residents were born outside of the United Kingdom.  This is a 16 per cent rise in non-UK born residents from the 2001 Census figure.  White British residents make up half of the total population (now estimated at 234,000). The proportion of BME residents has increased by 26% since the 2001 census.

Westminster City Council is committed to ensuring that it meets the needs of its diverse community and to fulfilling its duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and race equality in everything we do.

The Act requires all public bodies, including local authorities, to publish a Race Equality Scheme. The scheme is more than just a way of satisfying our legal responsibilities under the Act. It is the framework of standards and principles that will be applied across the council to ensure that we deliver quality public services in a manner which is fair for all sectors of the community, that our people are treated fairly and that our workforce is representative of the communities we serve.                                                                                                                         

The Council's third Race Equality Scheme 2009-12 is now available. This builds on the Council's previous Race Equality Schemes for the periods 2005-08 and 2002-05.