Stonewall gives top marks to Herts County Council for anti-bullying programmes in schools

Stonewall ranks Hertfordshire County Council and Herts for Learning Limited in the top ten local authorities in its Education Equality Index 2017.

According to the charity, Hertfordshire is ranked so highly because of extensive LGBT, bullying and anti-discrimination training.

Terry Douris, cabinet member for education, libraries and localism, said: “We are delighted that the excellent work carried out by Hertfordshire County Council and Herts for Learning has been recognised by Stonewall.

"Bullying in all its forms cannot be tolerated and we work really hard across the board to tackle bullying of all types. There is still much to achieve but we are very pleased to be recognised as one of the best local authorities for this kind of work in the country.”

Stonewall also noted that schools in Hertfordshire have been offered a calendar of pupil workshops addressing equality and diversity issues.

The youth workers running these groups have received training on supporting LGBT young people from Stonewall, Herts for Learning and the young people from the Who not Why volunteer group, the voice of LGBT young people in the county.

According to Stonewall, Hertfordshire County Council sets an example of how to best safeguard young, often vulnerable LGBT people. It praised Hertfordshire for not only providing an impressive array of online resources, but also offering vital support and guidance to schools.