The Head of Business Improvement has submitted a report to:

Present and seek approval for the publication of the annual Workforce Equality Report 2020, which includes the Gender Pay Gap Report and the Ethnicity Pay Gap Report; 

Share current progress on the development of the draft Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy where it relates to Workforce Equality; and

For the Cabinet to note that the actions that will fall out of the draft EDI strategy will support the Council to develop the relationships with local communities, which will assist the Council to realise its employee representation aspirations.

Recommendations: That Cabinet resolves to:

1.Approve the contents of the Workforce Equality Report 2020;

2.Delegate authority to the Head of Business Improvement to publish the Workforce Equality Report and to make any changes as may be required before publication following Cabinet discussion;

3.Approve the contents of the Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap reports for this year recognising that in the next year a methodology will be developed to undertake a “deep dive” into both datasets to understand the intersectional position, and in addition conduct a Disability Pay Gap analysis; and

4.Delegate authority to the Head of Business Improvement to publish the Gender Pay Gap table at paragraph 26 before 30 March 2021 and the Ethnicity Pay Gap table at paragraph 44 on the Council website.

The Head of Business Improvement had submitted a report to:

Present and seek approval for the publication of the annual Workforce Equality Report 2020, which includes the Gender Pay Gap Report and the Ethnicity Pay Gap Report; 

Share current progress on the development of the draft Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy where it relates to Workforce Equality; and

For the Cabinet to note that the actions that will fall out of the draft EDI strategy will support the Council to develop the relationships with local communities, which will assist the Council to realise its employee representation aspirations.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Customer Focused Services, introduced the report which reflected on the data for the year ending 31 March 2020 and was in respect of Council staff only and not Oxford Direct Services (ODS). This annual report was set, for the first time,  in the wider context of the Council’s emerging Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy. It was important for the Council to set a positive example as an employer and to be a credible advocate for equality and inclusion throughout the City. There had been two area of recent focus, increasing the number of ethnic minority employees in the City and the number of women in senior positions. In relation to the number of ethnic minority employees the position had held steady at about 13%. Exit interviews suggested that the majority left for reasons of promotion or geography. In relation to the number of women in senior positions, the data (c. 9 out of 26) suggested that more work was needed. This might include, for example, the promotion of job sharing.

The gender pay gap was about 12% (compared with a national figure of about 17%) and was a direct function of the higher proportion of women in lower paid jobs.

The ethnicity pay gap, published on a voluntary basis, was also driven by the higher proportion of those from an ethnic minority in lower paid jobs.

It was noted that the gender pay gap would be contributed to, in part, by women making positive choices about their work/life balance.

The Chair endorsed the points made and agreed that it would be good to explore opportunities for job sharing, for both men and women.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.Approvethe contents of the Workforce Equality Report 2020;

2.Delegate authority to the Head of Business Improvement to publish the Workforce Equality Report and to make any changes as may be required before publication following Cabinet discussion;

3.Approve the contents of the Gender Pay Gap and Ethnicity Pay Gap reports for this year recognising that in the next year a methodology will be developed to undertake a “deep dive” into both datasets to understand the intersectional position, and in addition conduct a Disability Pay Gap analysis; and

4.Delegate authority to the Head of Business Improvement to publish the Gender Pay Gap table at paragraph 26 before 30 March 2021 and the Ethnicity Pay Gap  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108

Cabinet, at its meeting on 09 December, will consider a report on the Workplace Equalities and Action Plan. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations thereon.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Customer Focussed Services and  Helen Bishop, Head of  Business Improvement  have been invited to attend for this item.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Customer Focussed Services, introduced the report. The report fulfilled a statutory requirement and the data within it were up until March 2020. The data only related to Council activity and did not include those for Oxford Direct Services (ODS). It was important as an employer that the Council should set a good example of practice in the matters covered by the report. It was important to note that the Council was now developing an improved Equality, Diversion & Inclusion Strategy, which extended well beyond just workplace equality matters.  As a result of the pandemic, communication with the many and varied communities within the  City had been improved and this was, in turn informing the development of that strategy. The three year workforce plan of 2018-21  had two main areas of focus, to increase the level of BAME representation in the workforce overall and to ensure that there were more women in positions of senior management.

Alongside the requirement to publish details about the gender pay gap, the Council had decided to publish details of the ethnicity pay gap, on a voluntary basis. In 2021 the Council would also publish details of the disability pay gap, also on a voluntary basis.

In relation to BAME representation, the growth of the previous year had been consolidated at about 13% at March 2020. A significant issue in relation to BAME employees was retention, with more or less equal numbers of arrivals and departures. Enquiries of the 15 most recent leavers indicated that two thirds of them had left for reasons of promotion or geography, all of which demonstrated the importance of nurturing and developing BAME employees. The number of BAME applicants was increasing year on year and it seemed likely that the Council’s activity with communities during the pandemic would increase that number still further. About 7% (c. 60 -70 employees) of staff choose not to declare their ethnicity when asked and a good number of those may be from BAME communities.

In relation to women in senior positions within the organisation the position remained more or less static with no obvious likelihood of reaching the 50% level in the foreseeable future.

The gender pay gap data is necessarily driven by the predominance of women in lower grades. The gap is unlikely to be narrowed until there are more women in more senior positions. On more positive note however, the pay gap is about 5% better than the national equivalent.

The ethnicity pay gap is, once again, driven by the distribution of employees across different roles in the Council and unlikely to be narrowed unless there is an increase in the number of BAME employees in senior positions.

More work would be done on the interrelationship of the different data sets in the following year.

The Committee noted the importance of taking account of those with a disability caused by emotional and mental illness. It was therefore important that employees were made to feel comfortable about declaring what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59