Issue - meetings

Keira Rounsley, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Practitioner, presented the report, which was an annual requirement, for consideration. 

In response to comments that the figures being used in the report for the ethnic mix of Warwickshire were from the 2011 Census and therefore unlikely to be representative of current diversity, Keira Rounsley noted that although it would be interesting to see how the demographic changed at the next Census, it was equally important to ensure that disclosure rates were as high as possible to ensure an accurate comparison.  The disclosure rate for ethnicity currently stood at around 70% and work was ongoing to increase this.  She highlighted the impact that flexible working could have on diversity as this may draw employees from outside the County.  In response to queries about why employees left the Council, Members were advised that as part of the People Strategy, the Council had reviewed the leaver’s process in order to better develop an understanding of why employees decided to leave.  This had only been in place for a few months so there was no hard data available at the time of the meeting although the new processes would enable better data capture for the future.  

Additionally, as part of the Council’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Project, one of the high level actions was to get the infrastructure in place to measure progress and identify key issues and barriers.  An officer task and finish group had been set up to explore the avenues further, including retention of apprenticeships and an understanding of the increase in zero hours contracts to better understand these emerging patterns.

The Chair invited Barnaby Briggs, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer to comment on the work being undertaken within the Fire & Rescue Service to increase BAME recruitment.   Mr Briggs lamented the fact that Covid-19 had derailed recruitment processes.  Whilst a recruitment course had not taken place for 6 months, community engagement work continued to raise awareness and engagement with the ethnic population.  The Fire and Rescue Service also continue to highlight the benefits of a more diverse workforce to the existing workforce. 

Resolved

1.     That the Council’s Equality and Diversity Workforce and Gender Pay Gap Report at Appendix A to the report is published on the Council’s website, to meet the statutory requirement to publish annually equality information relating to employees, including gender pay gap information.

2.     That the Council’s gender pay gap figures, based on 31 March 2020, are published on the government’s gender pay gap website, as required by the gender pay gap regulations.

3.     That Staff and Pensions Committee notes the previous work undertaken and endorses the next steps outlined in section 6 of the report.