Agenda item

The Director of Legal and Governance Services submitted a report, which presented the Council’s Equality and Inclusion Report 2020-21 and asked the Executive Member to agree a number of actions to improve outcomes for local communities and the Council’s workforce.

The report outlined that the Equality Act 2010 placed a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) on local authorities and other bodies. The broad purpose of the PSED was to integrate consideration of equality and good relations into day-to-day business. It required equality considerations to be reflected into the design of policies (including internal policies) and the delivery of services, and for these issues to be kept under review. One way in which the Council meets this duty is that it has an impact assessment policy in place. This ensures that it considers the requirements of the PSED within its decision making processes. 

This PSED was supported by specific regulations that place additional duties upon the Council. In particular the Council is required to publish a range of data to demonstrate its compliance with the PSED and on the composition and equality of its workforce.

The Council’s Annual Equality and Inclusion Report ensures that these duties are met and that all relevant data is published, in line with statutory requirements.

The report covered at the meeting (Appendix 1) covers 2021 and:

·         describes and compares the diversity of Middlesbrough’s population and the Council’s workforce, alongside appropriate comparators;

·         sets out how the Council complies with its duties under the Equality Act 2010; and

·         summarises progress to date in actions taken to improve equality and inclusion outcomes for local communities and the Council’s workforce, and sets out further action to be taken in the next year.

The report and associated datasets would be published on the Council’s Open Data site following approval.

The report finds that:

• The town continues to be younger than national averages, with the percentage of the population under the age of 15 increasing, while it is decreasing nationally
• Middlesbrough continues to be one of the most deprived areas in England, with the highest proportion of children in the country living in income deprived households.
• The diversity of the Council’s workforce continues to be broadly equivalent to local diversity, with the exception of ethnicity.  Those from non-white backgrounds communities continue to be underrepresented and has dipped from 4.05% to 3.4% in 2021 although the diversity of applicants for vacant posts has increased.
• The Council continues to have an appropriate suite of policies in place to protect employees from discrimination, and there is no evidence of negative discrimination within the Council’s operations. 
• The Council supports staff at work to fulfil their potential.  We recognise that staff are the happiest when they are supported.  The Council has 5 networks including Disability and Wellbeing, Carers, Race, Religion and Belief including three newly introduced networks LGBT+, Gender and Menopause. The networks are a safe place for staff to voice any issues, help improve inclusivity and tackle discrimination.  The Council’s initiatives in support of its equality objectives and the wider inequalities agenda are embedded within its Strategic Plan.  This ensures that it can continue to demonstrate compliance with its legal duties in the Equality Act.

The action plan for 2022/23 at the conclusion of report responds to these findings.

 

As previously reported to the Executive, the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inequalities that exist within societies across the world, including within Middlesbrough.

OPTIONS

Other potential decisions and why these have not been recommended

The Council could choose to present the data within this report within two more separate reports (e.g. one regarding equality objectives and another on workforce data). However, this is not recommended, as bringing all data together in one report provides for coherent analysis and response and is in line with the Council’s commitment to openness and transparency.

ORDERED

That the Executive Member notes the findings and progress outlined in the Equality and Inclusion Report 2021 (Appendix 1) and approves the proposed actions set out within the report to promote continuous improvement.

REASON

The decision was supported by the following reason:

To demonstrate the Council’s compliance with the PSED and related requirements to publish related data, and to demonstrate to all stakeholders the Council’s commitment to improving equality and inclusion within Middlesbrough and within its workforce.