Agenda item

[Jin Takhar,Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion,to present report]

The Chair invited Jin Takhar, Head of Equality Diversity, and Inclusion, to present the report to the panel.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the report gives an update on progress made to deliver against the Council’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and supporting action plans. The Head of Equality outlined the four key priorities of the EDI Strategy and advised that the presentation would focus on priority one - To demonstrate Visible Leadership and Strong Organisational Culture.

The Head of Equality commented on specific sections of the report to provide the panel with reassurance that EDI is key priority for the Council.

The Head of Equality highlighted the progress of the staff equality forums and the support given by SEB leads and other initiatives.

The Council has recently adopted the Governance Forums’ The Race Equality Code. The performance of the Council will be independently peer reviewed against the four principles in the Code. The Head of Equality advised the panel that the Council will receive a report detailing the strengths and recommendations for any improvements are needed. The peer review full report will be published by December 2022. The Head of Equality suggested that the report could be presented to a future meeting of the panel.

The Head of Equality commented on the work being done to tackle equalities disparities at a service level with the aim of making the Council an equitable provider of service. The Head of Equality highlighted plans to support career progression and suggested that a report could be presented to a future meeting of the panel.

The panel were invited to comment on the report.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report. The panel queried the amount of time employees spend on equality and diversity issues and wanted reassurance that this activity was not impacting on the quality and delivery of Council services to the public. The panel asked for an estimate of employee time spent on attending and supporting the different equality forums and future for holding a Wolverhampton Pride.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the members of the staff equality forums meet monthly, and the length of meetings vary from one to two hours depending on the agenda. The Head of Equality commented on work done by the equality forum members and the value of their contributions to the development of Council policies. The Head of Equality added that line managers of forum members support employees and commented the issues of equality is the responsibility of everyone in their daily work to make sure that people are respected and valued whether they are an employee or a resident. The agenda of forums are focused on the business that matters to the public.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the Council supports a future Wolverhampton Pride event in 2023.

The panel suggested that future reports should include key performance indicators to help Councillors better understand the work being done and that can also be shared with the public in meetings.

The panel welcomed the introduction of the menopause policy. The panel commented that the menopause policy does not refer to a specific period policy and the issue of period poverty. The panel commented that some Councils are offering free period products

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the issue of period poverty is a priority and that a survey of employees led by Public Health will be starting shortly as evidence of the work being done to respond to the concerns highlighted.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that future reports will include performance information and the report presented today was aimed at giving an overview of the change in leadership and organisational culture. The Head of Equality added there have been meetings to discuss the equality outcomes that services could focus on and that a set of performance indicators for EDI have been developed for each business area. The Head of Equality commented that systems have been introduced to monitor progress against the indicators and this information will be included in the future reports to the panel.

The panel queried the numbers of people who have taken part in the employee mentoring programme. The Head of Equality advised that three people have taken part and future reports will give further details about the performance of the initiative.

David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, added that a performance report was recently presented to Scrutiny Board which included data on equalities and suggested that following a more detailed analysis that the findings could also be shared with the panel at the same time as Scrutiny Board in March 2023.

The panel thanked the presenters for the report and supported the plans to present the panel with further information.

Resolved:

1.    The panel comments on the report to be on the progress being made in delivering the EDI Strategy 2022 – 2024 to be noted.

2.    The panel agreed to receive updates on actions agreed to be presented to a future meeting on progress in implementing the EDI Strategy 2022 – 2024.