The Assistant Director, Office of the Chief Executive will submit a report (Document “O”) which asked Members to consider and comment on the draft plan prior to it being finalised before it is presented to Executive Committee for approval in December.

Recommended –

That members provide their comments and feedback on the refreshed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2022-25.

(Khalida Ashrafi)

The Assistant Director, Office of the Chief Executive submitted a report (Document “O”) which asked Members to consider and comment on the draft plan, prior to it being finalised, and before it is presented to Executive for approval in December.

In November of 2021, the Council invited the Local Government Association (LGA) to peer review the work and approaches to equality. Their external scrutiny recommended areas of development for the Council. One of the recommendations was to refresh the Equalities Objectives and Equality Plan.

In taking this opportunity to refresh the Equalities Objectives and Equality Plan, the recommendations of the review have been considered, and a comprehensive consultation process with our staff had been carried out, as well as with internal teams and external stakeholders in the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and the public sector.

The refreshed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Plan 2022-25, is more reflective of the wider protected characteristics and low income groups, has synergy with our Council Plan, and states our approach to meeting our legal duties under the Equality Act 2010.

During the discussion, a Member questioned how the wider equalities plan would be delivered and why quarterly reports to this Committee had not been submitted for scrutiny. In response it was stated that further information would be shared with this Committee in due course.

A Member stated that issues around disability, such as how we manage employees with Epilepsy was not detailed here, and furthermore what training and education is provided to employees to deal with colleagues with such a condition. In response it was acknowledged that these were the type of issues that needed further work to be developed around.

A Member stressed that it was important to create a safe space to allow individuals to ask frank questions around equalities.  In response it was stated that in asking questions, respect had to be maintained at all times as not to cause offence.

In response to a question around how you develop the equalities agenda fairly across the board, it was stated that the updated equalities plan being considered by this Committee in due course will contain further details.

In response to a question on benchmarking, it was stated that some benchmarking was being undertaken, however further was required to roll this out across the piece.

The Chair stated that the concerns and information asked for by this Committee should be followed up in the subsequent report.

In response to a question regarding monitoring of the equalities data, it was stated that the data was produced monthly and shared with the Portfolio Holder and the Leader, as well as with the Council’s Equalities Group and across Council departments.

A Member stated that this information also needed to be shared with this Committee, so that the relevant data can be scrutinised accordingly.

In response to a question on how staff were allowed to voice their concerns, it was stated that staff feedback was crucial in developing the plan, and to this end, the advocated programme and the staff survey were important vehicles to garner staff opinion.

Resolved –

The Committee requests that the progress against the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2022-25, be presented to this Committee, at its meeting in March 2023.

ACTION:  Strategic Director, Corporate Resources