Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive

The Group received a report from the Assistant Director for Corporate Services and Interim Monitoring Officer on progress made against the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan. The report also outlined the Council’s EDI priorities and planned activity for the next 12 months.

Assistant Director for Corporate Services and Interim Monitoring Officer noted that staff demographic data had remained broadly stable due to limited changes within the workforce. As the most recent Census data continued to be used as the baseline for comparison, there were only minor changes in the reported figures.

However, there had been a significant increase in job applications, potentially linked to wider use of flexible working and technological changes.

The Group was updated on key activities undertaken during the year, including:

• Delivery of a large-scale Lunar New Year event – over 1000 people attended
• Introduction of the Hidden Disability Sunflower Scheme
• Re-accreditation under the White Ribbon scheme
• Expansion of support for carers, including the introduction of carers’ passports
• A review and update of the Council's inclusive language guide for staff and councillors

The Group discussed:

• The use and reliability of demographic data and how it informs service delivery
• Recruitment practices and the absence of demographic targets
• Support for carers and how the carers’ passport operates in practice
• Whether further work should be undertaken to measure service impact across different groups

The Assistant Director for Corporate Services and the Interim Monitoring Officer confirmed that:

• Recruitment is undertaken on merit
• Resident feedback is primarily obtained through the resident satisfaction survey
• Demographic data is used selectively through analytical tools to inform service planning

The Assistant Director for Corporate Services and the Interim Monitoring confirmed that the Chair of the internal steering group has been taken up by the Assistant Director for Planning and Growth, who was unable to attend the meeting but updated the following:

·       Committed to positively and proactively fulfilling its EDI duty

·       We will be pragmatic in our delivery whilst ensuring that the Council continues to prioritise and embed EDI in how we plan and deliver services

The Chair asked whether armed forces support fell within this remit. It was confirmed that covered by the Armed Forces Covenant.

It is RESOLVED that the Corporate Overview Group:

a) considered and endorsed the information provided for the Diversity Annual

Report

b) reviewed the action taken so far as a part of the Equality, Diversity and

Inclusion Scheme action plan and made suggestions for future action or

areas of focus.