Agenda item

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with information on the process to refresh the Council’s Equalities Strategy.

The Committee is recommended to review the information provided and consider whether there are any conclusions or recommendations it wishes to make to be fed into the refresh of the Equalities Strategy.

The Committee considered a report set out in the supplementary agenda pack on the process for refreshing the Council’s Equalities Strategy. The report also provided a summary of the possible areas for update for the Committee’s feedback.

The Cabinet Member Communities & Culture, Councillor Andy Stranack, the Council’s Chief Executive, Katherine Kerswell, Head of Policy & Strategy, David Courcoux, Head of Learning & Organisational Development, Grace Addy, Equalities Manager, Denise McCausland and Senior Strategy Officer, John Montes, attended the meeting for this item.

From the introduction to the report, it was noted that the current strategy had been in place since its approval in 2021. As there had been significant changes both across the Council and nationally since then, it was felt to be timely to revisit the strategy to ensure that it remained fit for purpose. Although there had been progress made with delivering the original strategy, it had been found that it was difficult to measure its impact in some areas. As part of the refresh, there would be an opportunity to ensure the strategy was measurable and included clear accountability for delivery.

The first question from the Committee asked what term the Council would be using to describe the different ethnic groups formally known as BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic). It was confirmed that following consultation within the Council and with staff networks, the term Global Majority would be used, although the terms racialised groups and minoritised groups were also in use. The term Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic was still used when referring to statistics, but not in its shortened form.

Regarding the action plan for delivering the Equalities Strategy, it was confirmed that it was being reviewed to ensure that measurable targets were included, allowing the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Board to hold officers to account on delivery. Although the current action plan contained a large amount of ambition, clarity was needed on its targets and deliverability. Work was also needed to ensure that the ambition of the Council for the Equalities Strategy could be balanced against the capacity for delivery.

The revised action plan would have a greater emphasis on statistical outcomes rather than the more narrative aims included in the current strategy. Another issue being addressed within the current action plan was the inclusion of actions aimed at the entire organisation, which had proved difficult to define how they would be delivered. It was planned that the revised Equalities Strategy would be considered by Cabinet in September, before going to Council in October for approval. The updated action plan would follow within a couple of months of the Strategy’s approval. Although core accountability would be through direct line management and across directorates through the delivery of the work programmes, it was suggested that the EDI Board could be a mechanism for providing further challenge on the delivery of the strategy. It was agreed that a recommendation would be made on finding the most appropriate mechanism for regularly challenging those officers responsible for delivery.

It was questioned how the Equalities Strategy would address other protected characteristics and hard to reach groups. It was acknowledged that some characteristics were more visible that others in the original strategy and there was a need for all to be reflected in the revised strategy. Although it was intended that the term ‘minoritised groups’ referred to a wider range of groups, it was accepted that it needed to be made clearer which groups were included. The Council did try to ensure that there was support across all staff networks, which was reflected in the strategy, with the voice of the networks being reflected in everything the Council does. It was suggested that further consideration needed to be given to how the intersectionality between protected characteristics was reflected in the Equalities Strategy.

It was confirmed that best practice from other local authorities had been used to inform the refresh, although it was highlighted that the Council was at the cutting edge in some areas such as its menopause policy and network. It was suggested that the Employers Board at London Councils could also be a useful group to provide input into the development of the strategy.

Although the work delivered through the Equalities Strategy was welcomed, it was noted that a key challenge was to ensure that managers were taking account of training provided and whether there were any trends in the data around grievances related to protected characteristics. It was advised that the trends in the reasons for grievances tended to fluctuate. Although training was important, improvement could only be delivered in conjunction with other areas such as improved accountability and compliance. It was noted that the Council was seeing a much higher rate of disclosure from staff with protected characteristics, which had increased from 25% to almost 60%, which was a positive reflection of the changing culture.

It was questioned how the refreshed strategy would feed into the decision-making processes of the Council. In response, it was advised that once the strategy had been agreed, the Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) completed by report authors and which informed the decision-making process, would be reviewed to make it more accessible and to ensure it was more data-driven. The refreshed Equalities Strategy would also link in with the Mayor’s Priorities. A driver for the refresh was the level of upcoming transformational change required across the Council and the need to ensure that equalities was taken into account and appropriate mitigation put into place. It was also important to ensure that the completion of the EQIA was much earlier in the decision-making process, so that any decisions took proper account of any issues identified.

It was confirmed that as part of the refresh, 2021 census data would be used to update the data used in the previous version, with an objective of the strategy being to ensure that the data underpinning it was as up to date as possible.

In response to a question about how progress with delivering the strategy would be tracked, it was advised that an annual review would be undertaken. Given an annual review was built into the process, the Committee agreed that it would be reasonable to extend the life of the refreshed strategy until after the next elections in 2026, when it could be reviewed by the new Administration. If the strategy was extended until 2026, it would allow the delivery of a range of short, medium and long term actions across its lifespan.

At the conclusion of this item, the Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for their attendance at the meeting.

Actions

Following consideration of this item, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed the following action to follow-up after the meeting: -

1. The Committee agreed that it would want the opportunity to scrutinise the accompanying action plan to the refreshed Equalities Strategy, once it was available.

2. The Committee requested that further information on the Equalities Screening tool is shared with them.

3. The Committee requested that the updated Equalities Impact Assessment is shared with them, once it was available.

Conclusions

At the conclusion of this item, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee reached the following conclusions: -

1. The Committee welcomed confirmation that the Equalities Impact Assessment was being refreshed and endorsed the approach of requiring the equalities implications of a decision to be assessed at an early stage in the decision-making process, rather than being left to a later stage when it could be more challenging to meaningfully take account of the potential equalities implications.

2. The Committee welcomed confirmation that the Equalities Strategy Action Plan would focus on measurable outcomes using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Time-Bound) targets, which ensure that its success could be assessed.

Recommendations

The Committee agreed to submit the following recommendations for the consideration of the Mayor: -

1. The Scrutiny & Overview Committee recommends that there is further consideration given to how the refreshed Equalities Strategy can reflect the intersectionality between protected characteristics.
2. In order to improve accountability for the delivery of the Equalities Strategy, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee recommends that a process for holding regular challenge sessions with those officers responsible for specific actions/workstreams within the Strategy is developed as part of the ongoing monitoring of delivery.

3. The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed with the proposal of the Cabinet Member and Officers, that given its scope, the Equalities Strategy should have a longer term end date, but recommends that: -

4. The Scrutiny & Overview Committee recommends that consideration is given to embedding Equalities Champions within directorates to complement existing structures and systems within the Council aimed at promoting equalities and inclusivity.