Annual Workforce Equalities Report 2010/2011

Annual Workforce Equalities Report 2010/ 2011

1. Introduction

Oxford is an ethnically and culturally diverse City, with the third highest minority ethnic population in the South East. The Council is committed to promoting community cohesion and equalities across its services and to providing equality of opportunity for all employees. This report focuses on the Council as an employer or potential employer.

The report will be used to help ensure that our people and organisational development policies and practices are in compliance with the Equality Duty across services and employment and to publish information to demonstrate this,as required by the Equality Act 2010 (covering all aspects of recruitment, retention, performance management and staff development).

The conclusions and actions moving forwardsections at the end of each section are drawn together in section 3 “Recommendations / Action Plan for 2011/12” and inform the on-going work including refreshing of the Corporate Equality Scheme.

This report will allow the Council to:

  • Identify any under represented groups and put in place an appropriate and proportionate action plan to address any disadvantage
  • Continue to assess and evaluate the fairness and consistency of its recruitment and retention policies, processes and practices
  • Demonstrate the Council’s commitment to equality of opportunity for all employees and potential employees

The Council has a stated ambition to develop a world class city for everyone, with corporate priorities covering:

  • A vibrant and sustainable community
  • Meeting housing need
  • Strong and active communities
  • Cleaner Greener Oxford
  • An efficient and effective Council

The guiding principles are:

  • Protect vulnerable communities
  • Invest in Oxford’s future
  • Improve community participation
  • Provide leadership to the city

2. Summary of Key Actions: 2010/2011

There are well established opportunitiespromotingawareness of broad issues around race/ ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion and belief or age discrimination. There are regular news items posted on the staff intranet, with a weekly “Council Matters” bulletin headlining all key issues breaking in the local press, while equality briefings will be fed back via CMT, management practice group and manager briefings to respective teams. The table overleaf summarised the highlights:

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Action / What did we do? / Outcomes and benefits
Comprehensive review of HR policies / Equality Impact Assessments were carried out on all key policies in line with the requirements of the Equality act 2010 / All updated policies and proceduresapproved by full council, are compliant with the Act and available on the staff intranet, with managers toolkits developed for some
People & Equalities restructure / A refocused equalities agenda and action planwith a view to deliver tangible outcomes(such as gaining Two Ticks accreditation) / A dedicated Equalities & Diversity Business Partner and the mainstreaming of the duties and specialist knowledge of the Access Officer to support initiatives
Development of a new Communities and Neighbourhoods team / Creation of a new structure for the strategic management and development of community engagement (external focus) / Dedicated and visible team leadership for external engagement with BME and youth groups and targeting of projects in line with Council objectives to focus on vulnerable groups within communities and to tackle the issue of skill/ job workshops aimed at increasing the employability of key groups (NEETs)
Developing the Occupational Health Advisory Service / Improved support, advice and guidance for staff and managers / More timely interventions and an improved advice and referral process. Better understanding of disability in employment
Investors in People / The Council achieved IIP accreditation in May 2011 / A key equalities link being equality of opportunity for personal development and access to training
Comprehensive management training programme / An externally commissioned Equipping Managers for Change programme covered three levels of workshop: Step On (for supervisors), Step Up (for front line managers) and Step Ahead (for service and senior managers). The OL&D team have followed this up by writing a shortened refresher programme to be delivered internally / 226 staff received a full training programme, with 51 pursuing NVQ qualifications. A full analysis of the attendees showed that 139 men and 87 women were involved, but with gaps that need to be addressed, e.g. only 7.7% of all BME staff are represented in managerial roles. There was an improving gender balance across first line management positions
Ongoing staff diversity workshops / The Garnett Foundation ran 12 half day workshops designed with a strong input from OCC staff and previous course feedback. The scenarios focused on delivering Excellent Customer Service and were based on real scenarios faced by front line services at Oxford / Demonstrates a strong organisational commitment to refresher training reflecting both a high level of customer expectation and the diverse customer base, as well as the equalities competencies and conduct expected of all employees. 170 staff attended the workshop
Action / What did we do? / Outcome and benefits
Equality Impact Assessment of the medium term budget 2011/ 2015 / A full assessment of the potential impact on employees and services of the comprehensive spending review and cuts in public sector spending. Full dialogue with local trade unions / A Council priority to minimise compulsory redundancies, an agreement for partnership payments, the introduction of the facility to purchase additional annual leave (subject to two months advanced notice to enable adequate workforce planning) and an increase to two days flex days permitted in a calendar month
New staff induction programme / Remodelled and re-launched staff induction programme / Full involvement of the Leader of the Council, Chief Executive, Directors and P&E officers to ensure that all new staff understand the corporate objectives, employee charter and expectations for behaviours. A refreshed diversity element will be added in summer 2011
Quarterly Management Practice Group / Regular networking opportunity across all service areas to discuss operational management issues / Approximately 550 attendees during the year to reinforce consistency of employee management and equality of opportunity in terms of access to training and personal development

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  1. Recommendations / Action Plan for 2011/12

The following bullet points draw together the conclusions and actions in this report and will influence and form the action plan for Equalities and Diversity for 2011/ 2012 onwards

In order that the Council continues to recruit and retain a diverse workforce that is as representative of the diversity of Oxford as is realistic in a difficult economic environment, the following measures are being implemented in 2011/ 2012:

Item / Headline / Details / Who / When / Why?
1 / Staff Attitudes Survey / Run previously in 2009, captures staff views on a variety of issues, including equalities & diversity / P&E / Oct / Nov 11 / Tests employees perspective on how the Council does in this area – informs action plan
2 / Service-related equality objectives / 10 key service aspects across the Council incorporated into Service Transformation Plans (not employment related necessarily but nonetheless worth referencing) / HoS / May / June 11 / Focuses effort on key areas and aims to deliver tangible outcomes to improve services from equalities perspective
3 / Diversity Champion / To reinforce and improve on the Council’s first year ranking as a Stonewall Diversity Champion within their Workplace Equality Index / P&E / Autumn 11 / Improve good employment practice in terms of sexual orientation
4 / Two Ticks / To produce a Two Ticks review and initiate regular short listing sampling to ensure that all disabled candidates meeting the essential criteria are interviewed. To further explore linking in with both the Oxfordshire County Council sponsored website for disabled job seekers, as wellas building on the Council’s relationship with Mencap in terms of providing interview coaching for job seekers, with reciprocal training for OCC managers being made available / P&E / Autumn 11 / To increase the diversity of our workforce
5 / Equalities Framework for Local Government / Undertake accreditation process in Autumn 2011 / P&E / Autumn 11 / Improve the Council’s reputation in terms of diversity
6 / IIP Gold / Continue IIP journey and draw out / focus on diversity themes / P&E / OD Board / 11/12 / Improve the diversity of the workforce
8 / Using iTrent / Verify equalities data on iTrent. Transfer and update all training data into the I Trent system to properly establish training records for all staff / P&E – OD team / By 2012 / Ensure accurate data held to help determine our baseline, produce reports, inform actions, etc.
9 / Recruitment on iTrent / Implement new e-recruitment software to reduce administration and increase resources able to focus on advertising & selection / P&E / 2012 / To release more time to focus on increasing diversity of applicants / new hires e.g. targeted campaigns
10 / Action Learning Sets / Scope and develop a series of action learning sets to follow up Equipping Managers for Change – ensure diversity covered off / P&E – OD team / September 2011 / To share best practice in dealing with diversity issues
11 / Equipping Managers for Change / Run a condensed version of the Equipping Mangers For Change programme for e.g. new managers – which includes references to diversity / P&E – OD team / Summer 2011 / To provide managers with training that amongst other things, considers diversity issues in people management
12 / Corporate training plan / Available on the staff intranet that will enable all service areas to link in with training being corporately provided / P&E – OD team / July 2011 / To provide an appropriately resourced corporate training programme and promote equality of access to it
13 / Exit interviews / Relaunch “Exit” interviews to ensure all leavers are encouraged to give feedback about working for the Council / P&E / September 2011 / To gain useful feedback for managers, service areas on diversity (and other) issues and consider any action which might be appropriate
14 / Apprenticeships / Push the number of apprenticeships across the organisation (& Apprenticeship Pledge) visible community coaching and interview workshops, reaching into schools and colleges (to focus on targeting key areas of deprivation within Oxford), as well as monitoring the career development opportunities available between service areas. Directorate teams will be encouraged to discuss exchange training and staff swaps, mentoring and internship opportunities where students can bring a clear related discipline to add value to the respective service areas. / P&E / 2011 / To increased the diversity of the workforce and provide community leadership in promoting opportunity for others not working for the Council
Item / Headline / Details / Who / When / Why?
15 / Focus on disability / Continue to emphasise the importance that staff self declare any disabilities under DDA (reinforced by the Equality Act 2010) in order that it can take all reasonable and proportionate steps to ensure full access to work, training, development and promotion opportunities as well as performance management. The Access Officer will conduct an analysis of the current spend on adaptations and make recommendations for future funding provision / P&E / End of 2011 / To ensure we are supporting employees appropriately. To ensure our statistics are correct so as we can focus our efforts appropriately.
16 / New induction / Finalise the new induction process with a focus on equalities and diversity / P&E / Summer 2011 / To promote our diversity values with new starters from day one
17 / Communicating Diversity / Audit and update all staff intranet and external website equalities pages where required, including adding a guide to assist applicants with making more effective applications using the Council’s standard application form. Develop new “Diversity Matters” internal publication / P&E / Summer 2011 / To promote our diversity values
18 / Workforce planning / Develop a simpler Workforce Planning Matrix to assist with the Council’s business planning process and to help managers identify current and future workforce issues / P&E / Summer 2011 / To encourage managers to consider diversity issues in workforce planning
19 / Living Wage / Review uplifting mechanism and rate / P&E / Summer 2011 / To increase our minimum wage in the interests of improving income for individuals working for the Council directly or via contractors
20 / Employer of choice / Promote the Council as a potential employer and encourage applications from under-represented groups (e.g. women in senior roles, BME applicants, etc) / P&E / Immediate / To increase the diversity of the workforce

4.What the Council looks like: The equalities breakdown across grade bands

Grade Band / Male / Female / White / BME * / Disabled
Craft B-H / 10.4% / 0.1% / 11% / 0.2% / 0.3%
1-3 / 3.8% / 3.3% / 4.8% / 1% / 0.9%
4-6 / 32.2% / 22.1% / 45.4% / 4.5% / 3.9%
7-9 / 9.9% / 9% / 9.1% / 1.3% / 1.5%
10-Hay / 2.5% / 1.1% / 3.4% / 0.2% / 0.2%
Total / 62% / 38% / 83.86% / 7.3% / 6.8%

* 10% not known/ prefer not to say data returns

Summary:

  • Craft B-H grades are traditionally male dominated
  • Expect to see the highest proportion of all staff in the 4-6 grade band as these job roles will cover many of the larger directorates, e.g. Direct Services, Customer Services
  • Encouraged by the even split of male and female staff represented in the 7-9 grade band
  • Key gaps are clearly female staff at 10-Hay, and BME/ Disabled staff at grade 7 and above
  • There is an opportunity to think more broadly and innovatively to explore and facilitate, where possible, career development, coaching and mentoring opportunities in order to be able to shift the boundaries, e.g. positive action in the use of secondments, talent management workshops, mentoring and shadowing. The Council needs to consider what other positive action it can take in encouraging applicants from under-represented groups

Note:

  • The current economic climate for public sector recruitment will be particularly challenging. The Council is struggling to recruit into some positions, partly due to potential applicants being wary of a sector experiencing constant change and broader uncertainty over public sector employer branding

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5.Detailed report findings

The following sections give details under the following protected characteristics, which outline the Council’s profile in the respective areas:

  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Faith/religion
  • Disability
  • Age

5.1Protected Characteristics - general

These are in addition to the above, the Equality Act provides protection across 4 other characteristics; pregnancy & maternity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and marriage/civil partnership. This report does not consider these elements in detail as some have emerged through the Equality Act which came into effect during the reporting period.

Most distinctly, in terms of sexual orientation, the Council has achieved a ranking on the Stonewall Diversity Champions Listing, a good practice employment forum in relation to sexual orientation

These elements will feature in future workforce equalities reports.

6.Gender

The Councilhas a duty to report on Gender under legislation reinforced by the Equality Act 2010 which extended the public sector duty to “eliminate” discrimination, “advance” equality of opportunity and foster good relations between all groups covered by the Act.

Organisation/ Unit / Male / % / Female / % / Unspecified / % / Total
Council / 756 / 62.1 / 461 / 37.8 / 0.00 / 0.00 / 1217
  • Excludes 48 Councillors (36 male and 12 female)
  • The gender split reflects the predominance of male staff in the largest service area, Direct Services

6.1Length of service - gender:

Length of service / <1 / 1-2 / 3-5 / 6-10 / 11-15 / 16-20 / >20
Male / 7.52% / 11.3% / 17.2% / 26.8% / 13.8% / 5.1% / 18%
Female / 8.3% / 16% / 19.6% / 26.5% / 10.3% / 5.5% / 13.7%
Overall / 7.8% / 13% / 18% / 26.7% / 12.5% / 5.3% / 16.7%
  • The length of service across all indicators is similar for both male and female staff in most categories. However in percentage terms more women joined the Council in the last 12 – 24 months, and more men have long service. The difference might be explained by career breaks

6.2Average earnings:

Male hourly earnings / £14.48
Female hourly earnings / £14.19
Total average / £14.38
  • The Council’s Single Status project provided a firm foundation for equal pay and a review is planned for later in 2011.
  • Oxford City Council is committed to paying a minimum Oxford Living wage of £7.19

6.3OxfordCity Council Gender Pay Gap

December 2010 the Office for National Statistics reported the national pay gap was 19.8% for all employees. The Council undertook an equal pay audit as part of implementingSingle Status scheme and conducts regular reviews to ensure that equal pay is maintained and issues addressed. Data shows that the average pay gap between men and women at Oxford is 2%. Rates will inevitably differ but are explainable in context, e.g. craft grades are traditionally male dominated, account for a large proportion of the workforce and still paid on a productivity scheme so are not direct comparators with other service areas.

Average of Hourly rate / Gender
Service Area / Female (£) / Male (£)
Business Improvement / 20.31 / 17.00
Business Transformation / 13.93 / 12.48
City Development / 14.03 / 18.38
City Leisure / 13.02 / 12.58
City Works* / 11.19 / 11.32
Community Housing & Community Development / 14.66 / 14.54
Corporate Assets / 11.09 / 17.09
Customer Services / 13.07 / 12.49
Direct Services* / 13.73 / 21.28
Environmental Development / 14.71 / 16.01
Finance / 17.25 / 16.71
Housing & Communities / 14.84 / 16.18
ICT / 16.13 / 15.78
Law & Governance / 16.03 / 20.24
Oxford City Homes* / 13.33 / 14.36
People & Equalities / 16.00 / 17.96
Policy Culture & Communications / 12.19 / 14.29
Procurement & Shared Services / 19.29
Senior Management / 46.86 / 64.56

* Denotes changes under Council 2012 programmes.

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6.4Gender - Conclusions and actions to be taken forwards:

The Council workforce is predominately male, unsurprising due to the high level of traditionally male orientated roles. Again fairly typically, there is a lack of women in senior roles, the Council can take positive action to promote opportunities when they arise to women.

In terms of equal pay, under the Equality Act 2010, Section 71 allows a claim of direct pay discrimination to be made even if no real person comparator can be found where an individual has been treated less favourably. The Council is committed to ensuring that it continues to recruit in an open and transparent manner and will monitor equal pay on a regular basis.

7.Ethnicity

The most readily available data set suggests that the Council’s workforce does not reflect the ethnic profile of Oxford. The City has a significant ethnically diverse character, with a large transient student population (estimated at 40,000) and a strong primary health care trust as a significant employer. AnOffice for National Statistics interim analysis in 2007 indicated that 17% living in the city were from BME communities: with Asian or Asian British at 6%, Chinese at 5%, Black or Black British at 3% and Mixed at 3%. Therefore approximately 26,000 people in Oxford are from BME communities, a number likely to be even higher once the 2011 Census returns have been analysed (potentially taking the numbers from BME communities above 25%).