Nottinghamshire County Council is celebrating being named in the top 100 employers in the country for workplace equality by leading Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) rights charity, Stonewall for the second successive year.

The council is ranked the 64th best place to work in Great Britain for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans people — a rise of 30 places on last year’s index and 243 places since 2014.

The result is recognition of the wider progress being made by the council to embed the value to ‘treat people fairly’ by providing an inclusive workplace and services that meet the needs of diverse communities.

A key focus for the council thas been raising awareness of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

Coun Alan Rhodes, leader of the council, joined LGBT employees and equalities officers to raise the rainbow flag over County Hall.

“It’s fantastic that Nottinghamshire County Council is right up there amongst the best LGBT-friendly employers in the country, which speaks volumes about the organisation and the people that work here,” he said.

“I am delighted to see so many other Nottinghamshire organisations making the list too – Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue are all included, which is testament to the partnership working that exists on LGBT issues across public service providers in the county. It sends an extremely positive message about Nottinghamshire to people who live, work and visit our county.”