Cabinet, at its meeting on 13 December 2023, will consider a report from the Head of Business Improvement seeking approval for the publication of the annual Workforce Equality Report 2023, Gender Pay Gap Report, Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and Disability Pay Gap Report; and setting out progress on the Workforce Equalities Report and Action Plan. Cllr Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies, Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement and Gail Malkin, Head of People, have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Cllr Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies, presented the report which sought Cabinet approval for the publication of the annual Workforce Equality Report 2023, Gender Pay Gap Report, Ethnicity Pay Gap Report and Disability Pay Gap Report, and set out the progress on the Workforce Equalities Report and Action Plan.  He further highlighted that over half the workforce were women (59.7%), which was above that of the population of Oxford at 48.2%, and the proportion of women in senior roles had decreased by 1%, and now made up 49% of roles at grade 11 and above.  He recognised that there had been a decrease in representation of minority ethnic groups in the workforce over the reporting period to 14.2%, however had remained close to the Council’s target of 15% by 2024.

Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement, provided context to the report, and noted that whilst the report focused on the Council’s workforce, it was important that it was recognised in the wider context of the Council’s equalities work and how workforce equalities fit within the Council’s strategic framework.

Gail Malkin, Head of People, informed the Committee of the three main areas of focus which were, improving the diversity of the workforce, inclusive leadership practices and understanding the workforce in terms of data and employee experience; and outlined the actions taken and progress made against these.

Cllr Nigel Chapman, Helen Bishop and Gail Malkin answered questions as follows:

·       The Council’s target figure of 15% for representation of minority ethnic groups in the workforce would be reviewed in light of the 2021 Census information which had seen an increase in members of minority ethnic communities that were economically active rise from 20% to 27.7%.

·       Whilst there had been an increase in the number of applicants from minority ethnic groups to the Council, these had not been shown in the data as translated into job offers.  However, this could be in part due to personal data not being shared by new starters as this data was only requested on new starter forms, and not at application stage, and was an area identified for improvement.

·       A more diverse make up of Panel members had been prioritised at both interview and stakeholder stage, particularly around the more senior positions, and additional training had been developed to support all staff involved in the recruitment process.

·       New questions had been introduced into the staff survey on whether people felt they belonged in the organisation as a measure of inclusion.  Survey results showed no differences between groups defined by personal characteristics and their levels of satisfaction.

·       Lunch and learn sessions had been developed to increase awareness and build inclusion and a sense of belonging for all groups.  It was hoped that they would also lead to improved awareness and inclusion and a decrease in the bias that might affect groups.  They were mostly recorded, and slides were available for all staff following the sessions.

·       New data collected now included trans and non-binary status and would be reported against in future reports.

·       The Council did not currently benchmark against other local authorities; however, this could be investigated for future reports.

·       The Council had not surveyed unsuccessful applicants; however, this could be considered as a piece of qualitative work, dependent on staff capacity.

The Committee resolved to make the following recommendations on the report for Cabinet:

1.     That the Council surveys unsuccessful job applicants relating to equalities issues and surveys appointing managers as to why unsuccessful applicants were not recruited in order to improve the Council’s data and insight into workforce equalities issues at the recruitment stage.

2.     That the Council sets a higher, more ambitious target for the representation of minority ethnic groups within the workforce to increase the pace of improving representation.

3.     That the Council explores the reasons for under-representation of Muslim staff within the workforce and works to identify and address barriers to the recruitment and retention of Muslim staff.

4.     That the Council expands the gender identity options within its application forms and workforce monitoring to include options for Trans Man and Trans Woman.

5.     That the Council routinely collects Equality, Diversity and Inclusion data from all job applicants, regardless of the application route they take (e.g. CV or online application form).

6.     That the Council anonymises job application forms during the shortlisting process for all applications going forward.

7.     That the Council maps the career trajectory over time for individuals within the workforce with a protected characteristic; to include information such as length of service, pay grade, age and protected characteristic.