Issue - meetings

Report of Assistant Director - Customer Focus

Purpose of report

To seek the Committee’s views on the approach officers are proposing for the council’s EDI action plan and a councillor EDI working group.

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended:

1.1          To considers the approach being proposed for the council’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) action plan and councillor working group and provides comments on both.

1.2          To review the draft action plans for Inclusive Communities and Inclusive Services and provides comments for the Executive Committee to consider at its February meeting.

Resolved

(1)          That, having given due consideration, the approach being proposed for the council’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) action plan and councillor working group be endorsed.

(2)          That, having reviewed the draft action plans for Inclusive Communities and Inclusive Services, no specific comments be provided to the Executive to consider at its February meeting.

The Assistant Director – Customer Focus submitted a report which sought the Committee’s views on the approach officers were proposing for the council’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan.

In introducing the report, the Assistant Director – Customer Focus explained that an equalities framework ‘Including Everyone’ had been agreed by the Executive, however following the Council’s decoupling with Oxfordshire County Council, officers had looked at taking a fresh approach to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion action plan from a Cherwell only perspective. The intention was to produce action plans that underpin the three themes included in the framework; Inclusive communities, inclusive services and inclusive workforce.

The Assistant Director - Customer Focus advised the Committee that a Councillor Working Group containing representatives from both the Overview and Scrutiny and Personnel Committees would be established to review the three action plans before they were considered by the relevant Committee. The Working Group would subsequently oversee the implementation of the plan and help shape the annual improvement plans.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Chief Executive confirmed that the action plans for all three themes in the Council’s equalities framework would be presented to the Executive at the same time.

Following queries from the Committee regarding how the Council can improve the diversity of the organisation when sensitive data numbers gathered by the organisation is low as presented in a previous Personnel Committee, the Chief Executive advised that there had been an increase in data received from staff from 48.75% to 68.73% however work is taking place to encourage more staff to provide sensitive data.

Following queries from the Committee regarding how the Council could improve the diversity of the organisation when there was a lack of data regarding ethnicity, the Chief Executive advised that it was not mandatory for staff to provide sensitive data, but work continued to encourage more staff to provide this information. As reported to Personnel Committee as part of the Quarter 2 Workforce Profile Statistics, the collection rate for sensitive data had increased   from 48.75% to 68.73%.

Resolved

(1)           That, having given due consideration, the approach being proposed for the council’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) action plan and councillor working group be endorsed.

(2)           That, having reviewed the draft action plans for Inclusive Communities and Inclusive Services, no specific comments be provided to the Executive to consider at its February meeting.