We also recognise that our ability to meet the diverse needs of the communities we serve is improved by having a diverse workforce which generally reflects the local population and which has the skills and understanding to achieve our service objectives.  We commit ourselves to valuing diversity in our workforce and to developing and training our employees to improve their ability to meet the Council's goals.  At present, the Council does not employ a truly diverse workforce.  The following table shows the composition of the Council's workforce at March 2003.  This does not provide a full picture of the profile of the organisation's employees, due to the low response rates received when trying to obtain this data.  The latest attempt reaped a response rate of around just 40%.