Local democracy

Agenda item

PROPOSED CONSULTATION TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF BRADFORD COUNCIL'S EQUALITY OBJECTIVES AND EQUALITY PLAN

It is essential that equality and social justice must be at the heart of everything the Council does. It is important that we seek to operate as an Authority and in our District leadership role in a way where everyone has opportunities to achieve their full potential regardless of who they are or where they live.

 

Our Equality Objectives and Equality Plan and our other plans that sit alongside them are there to help ensure equality is mainstreamed throughout the organisation.  By law, we need to review the Council Equality Objectives every four years. Over the summer, we have been doing this through engagement with employees and Elected Members. This has included focus groups with the Council Management Team and our staff including individuals with particular protected characteristics.

 

Through this process, we have recognised the need to do more and enhance our organisation’s commitment to this agenda. The proposed draft Equality Objectives and Equality Plan to deliver these is included as Appendix 2 to this report.

 

The report of the Chief Executive (Document “CE”) seeks the approval of Executive to consult on the draft Equality Objectives, and Equality Plan together with the draft Council Plan, for a period of six weeks from the 7 October to the 17 November 2020.

 

Recommended –

 

The Executive is recommended to:

 

(1)          Approve the proposal to consult on the draft Equality Objectives and Equality Plan for a period of six weeks from the 7 October to the 17 November 2020 as outlined in Appendix 3 to Document “CE”.

 

(2)          Approve that one consultation process is undertaken that covers the wider consultation on the draft Equality Objectives and Equality Plan and on the draft Council Plan with the aim of ensuring the Objectives and Plan remain aligned.

 

(3)          That the Workforce Development Strategy to be presented to Executive in December 2020 should contain Key Performance Indicators and targets for staff with particular protected characteristics in senior management posts, and be aligned with the workforce KPIs and targets within the finalised Equality Plan, along with a plan for how to achieve this.

 

(4)          Request that the Health and Wellbeing Board, in recognition of the link between inequality and health inequalities, consider creating a District equality group including the full set of partners such as the NHS, the Police, the Fire Service and the Voluntary and Community Sector.

                                                                        (Phil Witcherley – 01274 431241)

 

Minutes:

It is essential that equality and social justice was at the heart of everything the Council does. It is important that we seek to operate as an Authority and in our District leadership role in a way where everyone has opportunities to achieve their full potential regardless of who they are or where they live.

 

Our Equality Objectives and Equality Plan and our other plans that sit alongside them are there to help ensure equality is mainstreamed throughout the organisation.  By law, there is a need to review the Council Equality Objectives every four years. Over the summer, we have been doing this through engagement with employees and Elected Members. This has included focus groups with the Council Management Team and our staff including individuals with particular protected characteristics.

 

Through this process, we have recognised the need to do more and enhance our organisation’s commitment to this agenda. The proposed draft Equality Objectives and Equality Plan to deliver these was included as Appendix 2 to the report

 

The report of the Chief Executive (Document “CE”) sought the approval of Executive to consult on the draft Equality Objectives, and Equality Plan together with the draft Council Plan, for a period of six weeks from the 7 October to the 17 November 2020.

 

The Leader emphasised that that equality objectives were at the heart of everything we do as an organisation and that the contribution of all is welcomed, however the Council was just one of many public sector organisations, and  therefore this piece of work had to be an instrumental part of the work of all our partners.

 

The Chief Executive highlighted that although some exemplary work was going on, there was an acknowledgement that our workforce was not representative of the communities that we served.  In the context of the current pandemic and the in the context of the Black Lives Matters movement, there was now a great emphasis and impetus to address underrepresentation and make a cultural shift, which the Plan aimed to achieve.

 

The Leader stressed the importance of tackling structural racism, as well as attracting talent from within our different communities and ensure that there was a level playing field.

 

The Human Resources Director stated that as an organisation it was acknowledged that more needed to be done. To this end staff engagement had been done over the summer months.  That there was a strong commitment from Corporate Management Team to ensure that this piece of work was taken forward and that staff engagement and contribution  was central to ensuring we got things right going forward.

 

The Neighbourhoods and Community Safety Portfolio Holder in welcoming the proposal to consult on the Plan, highlighted the need to ensure that the targets were sufficiently challenging and robust.

In response to a question regarding positive discrimination, it was stressed by the Leader, that as an organisation we had to work within the confines of the law, however the objectives would encourage and enable applicants to apply for jobs and ensure that there was a level playing field, and that those barriers inherent  in society were removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resolved –

 

(1)          That the draft Equality Objectives and Equality Plan be consulted on for a period of six weeks from the 7 October to the 17 November 2020 as outlined in Appendix 3 to Document “CE”.

 

(2)          That one consultation process be undertaken that covers the wider consultation on the draft Equality Objectives and Equality Plan and on the draft Council Plan, with the aim of ensuring the Objectives and Plan remain aligned.

 

(3)          That the Workforce Development Strategy to be presented to Executive in December 2020 should contain Key Performance Indicators and targets for staff with particular protected characteristics in senior management posts, and be aligned with the workforce KPIs and targets within the finalised Equality Plan, along with a plan for how to achieve this.

 

(4)          Request that the Health and Wellbeing Board, in recognition of the link between inequality and health inequalities, consider creating a District equality group including the full set of partners such as the NHS, the Police, the Fire Service and the Voluntary and Community Sector.

 

ACTION: Chief Executive

 

Supporting documents: