Agenda item

At the outset of the meeting Surjit Nagra, AD-HR, welcomed the new Committee members.

The Diversity and Inclusion Manager introduced the Workforce Equality Data Report, explaining that it was part of public sector equality duty to publish the report and in Slough Borough Council’s case the report was very much a starting point to understand the impact of the many changes that the Council had experienced in the past two years.

The Council employed more female than male employees, as was common in local government, and compared well with a local equivalent comparator. 58% of the Council’s workforce were female, with a good representation of female staff across all salary bands. There were still more male than female staff members in the most senior positions, but statistics were from December 2022 and there had been staff movement since then. Self-disclosure by staff of disability and ethnicity data was lower than ideal, and officers were looking at ways to improve this, while recognising that giving this data was entirely voluntary. The Council also had policies regarding diversity and wellbeing issues and a number of staff networks, which they hoped would thrive over the coming year.

Priorities going forward were to improve data, encourage employees to update diversity information, develop an applicant tracking system and continue to develop staff support networks.

In answer to questions from Committee Members, the Diversity and Inclusion Manager explained that workforce equality data was captured and reported on an annual basis; that staff feedback was actively sought including during exit interviews; that controls on gender pay gap data included Equality Impact Assessments; and that the staff salary grades were available on the Council website.

In answer to questions from Members speaking under Rule 30, the Diversity and Inclusion Manager explained that in total there were approximately 1,000 directly-employed members of staff and 343 agency workers working at the Council. There was also further discussion on ethnicity data with officers re-emphasizing that providing this information was voluntary and while staff were encouraged to provide it there was no compulsion. Impact Equality Assessments could only be done based on the data available as provided by staff.

Resolved – That the Committee reviewed and noted the Workforce Equality Data Report.