Portsmouth City Council and our recognised trade unions UNITE, GMB and UNISON would like to state that we firmly believe that our staff and members have a right to work in safety, without threat of racial or bigoted abuse, whether that be verbal or physical. Our staff are committed to delivering a service to the public and have every right to do so without fear.
We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Portsmouth City Council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes unequivocally and believe such attitudes and actions have no place in our city. We will not allow hate to become acceptable.
Portsmouth City Council would like to reassure all people living in Portsmouth that they are valued members of our community and our service users have every right to attend our premises without fear of harm because of their ethnicity or race. We are jointly committed to a zero tolerance policy against any racial abuse and encourage all staff and service users to challenge any racial behaviour if safe to do so. Any racist behaviour should be reported as soon as possible to line managers. Any reported incidents should be referred to the police as a race hate crime and both Portsmouth City Council and our trade unions will support staff in progressing this as fully as possible.