Agenda item

[Jin Takhar, Head of Equality Diversity & Inclusion, to present to the Panel]

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion opened the presentation (a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes) with the purpose of updating the Panel on the progress made against the Race at Work Charter requirements.  The Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Worker Charter was launched in partnership with the Government in 2018. There were 7 “calls for action” as a part of this, and The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion spoke about progress on these.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion stated that the Council had appointed an Executive Sponsor for Race, Religion and Belief; they chose the Chief Operating Officer for the role. Since then, Executive Sponsors had been appointed from each equality forum.  She said it had made a difference and that employees felt more empowered to speak up about concerns or issues. She said there were over 60 members of senior staff who were mentors for 75 mentees, with 25 mentees being promoted. This was down to engagement with Senior Executive Board Sponsors. For the action, “Capturing Ethnicity Data and Progress”, the Council had achieved this by capturing the data and presenting it to the Panel. The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion reported increases in Ethnic Minority Background representation in the workforce. Black and Asian members of the workforce at paygrades 9 to 17 had doubled in numbers, totally at 56 members from Ethnic Minority Backgrounds. 42.1% of apprentices were from Ethnic Minority Backgrounds across 2021-2022.  Progress on committing at board level to zero-tolerance of harassment and bullying was the creation of clear policy on this matter, as well as the creation of safe spaces and ways to speak up, including through independent third-party organisation to get advice and support. Figures for 2021 to 2022 grievances totalled less than 10 cases.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion remarked that to work towards the call for action - “Supporting Equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders and managers”; actions taken included EDI being a standing item on all team meetings, each directorate had an equality plan to show the steps the Council was taking to tackle service inequality, as well as proactive messaging from Senior Executive staff members. To take actions that support ethnic minority career progression the Council offered Aspire to management training, which all colleagues could apply for, wrap around support for individuals who have been unsuccessful in an interview, opportunity to get mentorship from senior colleagues, as well as broader skills improvement opportunities.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion commented that to support race allies in the workplace the Council had a One City Allyship Approach in which the Council encouraged uptake to the role with colleagues. To support ethnical diverse-led enterprise owners in supply chains, the Council had worked with procurement teams to offer options where these businesses could be considered.  They had also worked with groups such as the Black Business Network and Asian Business Network to help develop training and support for businesses to put themselves forwards for procurement opportunities.  The creation of the EIA Assurance Board would ensure there was fair and robust discussions around the requirements of future contracts.

The Head of People Services began the combined pay gap report (a copy of the presentation is attached to the signed minutes) to summarise the findings on ethnicity, sexuality and disability. She confirmed they used the median to analyse the data.  Ethnicity data was summarised, the Council paid apprentices 10% higher wages than other companies did on average. The diversity of the workforce had increased year on year, ethnic minority success rate hiring increased from 3.7% (2020 -2021) to 6.7% (2021-2022).

The Head of People Services stated that for disability pay gap, disabled people earned on average a higher wage within the Council than their peers who hadn’t declared a disability. The median pay gap for a LGB+ employee was 9.4% more than a heterosexual employee on average, but the mean was 1.4% less. The different results for LGB+ employees was explained by the small percentage of workforce who identified as LGB+, making percentages volatile to change should staff leave or join. The transgender pay gap was not calculated due to the extremely small levels of trans employees within the Council making it not possible to present a coherent analysis. The Council was committed to further reducing pay gaps, to promoting inclusivity and encouraging data disclosure by employees to allow the Council to make more accurate policy and strategy choices.

The Vice-Chair wanted further information on the Race Allies policy, he wanted to know what it defined and the progress on it. He said he had never heard of it before.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion stated they had 12 staff allies at a senior level who supported the staff equality forums and advocated on behalf of staff. It was promoted within the Council and staff were encouraged to participate.  Specific to Race Allies, there had been little take up by staff.

A Panel member stated they thought the Race at Work Charter was fantastic. She said she would love to see it done for all protected characteristics and asked if it was possible.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion replied that it was right to want to spread more inclusive policies in the workplace for all the protected characteristics. She said they were due to embark on self-assessments in each equality group and were also going to be doing an LGBT+ assessment through the Stonewall Charity.

A Panel member stated he was pleased with the report and said the City of Wolverhampton Council always went above and beyond what was required by the Government in Equalities matters. He wanted to know if colleagues all had forums to speak on these matters to inform the Council. He stated he expected pay gaps to be larger when new employees started at the bottom of the pay ladder, such as through apprenticeships. He wanted reassurances this would close as they progressed through the system.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion said support forums went on tour. They also went to Hickman to reach the workforce on that site. They had a monthly operators’ performance management network. They were conscious a section of the workforce were not digitally included, such as front line colleagues. They were working on ways to ensure those colleagues got the communications needed, as well as information on pay.

The Chief Operating Officer stated that Equality representatives attended Senior Management meetings to present anything EDI related that is required.  He confirmed that the Council was replicating the Race at Work Charter across all protected characteristics. He also said in the past those representatives had been to scrutiny to give their views.

A Councillor urged the Panel to consider having representatives visit and speak to the Panel again in the future.

A Councillor referred to the reported increase in the workforce of employees from Black and other ethnic groups. He wanted to know if this data was able to be broken down to show the subgroups within that category.

The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion stated that they did have that data and that it was possible to do that.

A Councillor referred the Hamas attacks in Israel which occurred on October 7^th2023 and the subsequent continuation of the Israel/Palestine war. He felt that not enough had been displayed on internal Council material for Jewish staff. He wanted to know if Jewish colleagues were represented and included within the Equality forums. He wanted assurances they had the support they needed.

The Chief Operating Officer said that those issues were covered under the Race, Religion and Belief forum; the Council was inclusive of all staff. Employee support was covered by the Employee Assistance program which offered counselling. The Council was ensuring there was a joint-faith based response to these issues.

The Vice-Chair wanted to know what was meant in the presentation by “wrap around support for employees unsuccessful in interviews”. The Head of People Services responded that for colleagues and none-colleagues who were unsuccessful in a job interview, the Council offered them feedback on how they could improve their interview techniques.

A Councillor wanted to know why the take up to the Race Allies program was low. The Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion replied that they would note the request and look into it.

The Chair asked about the statistics covering the White ethnicity group, as an additional categorisation had been created with White Other, Gypsy, Roma &Traveller groups as ethnic minority groups. He wanted to know how this impacted on data changes.

The Head of People Services stated that this was following changes by the government to the National Guidelines and that these new changes did impact on the overall data, but adjustments had been made so that it worked correctly.