Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive

The Service Manager Corporate Services delivered a presentation to support the report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on delivery of the action plan for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Scheme and included the annual diversity report update.

The Group was informed that the data included in the report was from the Census 2011 as the data from the Census 2021 would not be available until October 2022. The data detailed in the report for Rushcliffe was not significantly different to that included in the previous report to the Group.

The Group was informed that 94% of the Council’s workforce was in the white British or white other ethnic group which reflected data for the Borough.  The figure for the Borough was higher than that for the East Midlands (89%) and nationally (85%).

The Service Manager Corporate Services added that the age profile of Rushcliffe indicated that the Borough had a larger proportion of residents who were over 60 years of age (25%) than the East Midlands (23.5%) and national average (22%). There was also a larger proportion of residents aged 45-59 within Rushcliffe (21%) than nationally (19%). Conversely, there were fewer younger residents aged 18-24 (7.8%) than the East Midlands (9.53%) and nationally (9.37%). In addition, there was a disparity in the 25-29 age groups between Rushcliffe (4.7%), East Midlands (6.1%) and nationally (6.8%).  The age profile of the Council showed that there was a peak at 45-54, this was the same as was reported in 2019/20. 20% of the workforce was aged between 18-34, and 59% were aged between 35-54. The authority continued to support employees who wished to continue working, keeping knowledge within the organisation as well as working towards ensuring effective succession planning by improving the age diversity of the workforce.

Regarding health, data from the 2011 Census showed that 7,540 people (6.7% of the population) in Rushcliffe had a long-term health problem or disability which limited their daily activities to a greater extent. A further 9,939 (8.9%) were limited to a lesser extent – all lower than the percentages for the East Midlands which were 8.6% (greater extent), and 11.9% (a lesser extent).

The Group was informed that the number of employees who declared they had a disability was the same as the previous year at 5%.  The Council continued to support employees who were either disabled when they joined the authority or became disabled during their employment. The Group was informed that the Council was a Disability Confident Employer and had reached the required criteria to be reaccredited this year.

The gender profile showed that there were slightly more females (51%) than males (49%) currently residing in the Borough.  The gender split at the Council showed fewer female employees than males (42% compared to 58%) which was, in some part, due to the Council’s manual workforce containing roles that were traditionally male dominated. The Council had worked to encourage female employees into this environment and would continue to promote fair recruitment practices  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24