The Head of Business Improvement has submitted a report to (i) present and seek approval for the publication of the annual Workforce Equality Report 2023, the Gender Pay Gap Report, Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and Disability Pay Gap Report; and (ii) share current progress on the Workforce Equalities Report and Action Plan.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.      Approve the contents of the Workforce Equality Report 2023;

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, Ethnicity Pay Gap and Disability Pay Gap reports for this year; and

4.      Delegate authority to the Head of Business Improvement to publish the Gender Pay Gap table at paragraph 14 before 30 March 2024, the Ethnicity Pay Gap table at paragraph 24 and the Disability Pay Gap table at paragraph 30 on the Council’s website.

The Head of Business Improvement had submitted a report to (i) present and seek approval for the publication of the annual Workforce Equality Report 2023, the Gender Pay Gap Report, Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and Disability Pay Gap Report; and (ii) share current progress on the Workforce Equalities Report and Action Plan.

Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies, highlighted that the report gave a full account of how the Council was performing in terms of diversifying its workforce and also included key facts in relation to the gender pay gap, ethnicity pay gap and disability pay gap. Publication of the gender pay gap information was required by law, and the Council voluntarily chose to publish its ethnicity and disability pay gap data.  Councillor Chapman highlighted a number of key points arising from the report, including a rise in the percentage of women in senior management, and slight reductions in both the gender and ethnicity pay gaps (which also remained lower than the national average pay gaps).  The disability pay gap had risen slightly, although as this related to a small group some caution was needed about interpreting any trends from the data.  Councillor Chapman outlined that areas where progress still needed to be made were the number of staff in senior management from ethnic minorities and the overall percentage of staff from ethnic minorities who worked for the Council (currently c14%), although it was noted that it was difficult to effect change quickly given the low staff turnover rate.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.        Approve the contents of the Workforce Equality Report 2023;

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, Ethnicity Pay Gap and Disability Pay Gap reports for this year; and

4.        Delegate authority to the Head of Business Improvement to publish the Gender Pay Gap table at paragraph 14 before 30 March 2024, the Ethnicity Pay Gap table at paragraph 24 and the Disability Pay Gap table at paragraph 30 on the Council’s website.