SWINDON Council has achieved one of its key improvement plan targets six months early.

External auditors have confirmed that the council has put the right foundations in place to work with the new Government Standard on Equalities.

This was one of the aims following last year's critical Government audit of the council.

Inspectors also recognised that the council is putting in place better systems to deal with racial and other forms of harassment.

John Short, head of Swindon Services and lead director for equalities at Swindon Council, said: "This is a real improvement of last year's audit, but the council is setting itself even more challenging targets for next year.

"We know that there is no such person as a standard customer and the way we provide our services has to take into account of this. This is what our work on equalities is all about."

The council aims to seek residents' views on the services it provides and has coalitions covering disability, elderly people, race, sex and women's issues.

For more information call (01793) 463497.