Workforce equalities report 2020 to 2021

Fair and inclusive place to work 

This report provides evidence and commentary on the council’s progress towards being a fairer and more inclusive place to work. The report also meets our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty within the Equality Act 2010.   

The council’s Fair and Inclusive Action Plan (FIAP) was co-created in 2019, in response to a review carried out by external consultants, Global HPO. View our Fair and Inclusive Action Plan. 

Our data shows inequalities for staff from minority ethnic backgrounds and for disabled staff, particularly when we look at their under-representation in higher graded roles. We need a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve, at all pay grades, including senior roles. We know that fair and inclusive practice can benefit all our staff as well as the council’s customers and communities.     

All the fair and inclusive work is done in collaboration and agreement with a range of stakeholders from across the organisation and at all levels. We understand that quantitative data (numbers) cannot tell us everything and that qualitative data (words) is equally important. We use our staff survey and other feedback from staff about their lived experiences to help us make decisions about where and when to take action.   

We have developed trust with key stakeholders through openness and collaboration. The Fair and Inclusive Action Plan began in April 2019 and on 9 March 2020, we launched our We Need to Talk About Race campaign. Less than 3 weeks later, the whole country was in lockdown because of the global coronavirus pandemic.   

Global events and local impacts 

The departure of the UK from the European Union at the end of March 2020 created uncertainty for EU citizens and their families living in the UK. During this period we provided information and support to staff who needed to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by 31 December 2020.   

The coronavirus pandemic increased pressure on local authorities across the UK in unprecedented ways. In Brighton & Hove, this meant some of the resource for our planned FIAP work was moved to meet new and urgent priorities.

In 2020, racism across the world was highlighted by events in the United States. In Brighton & Hove, local councillors made a pledge to be an anti-racist council and city.     

With a year of the Fair and Inclusive Action Plan underway, we were in a stronger position than some to develop an anti-racist approach. We built on the work we had already started and the relationships we have with our key stakeholders. For example, when we produced our COVID-19 individual risk assessments, to keep staff safe in the workplace, input from our workers’ fora was really important.  We continue to collaborate with key stakeholders on all our fair and inclusive work. 

The composition of our workforce

The following information shows how our workforce is made up:

• Female employees continue to do well at the council. In 2021 the council published a negative gender pay gap. On average, females are paid 6.1% more than males 
• There is a higher percentage of female staff than male staff on all contract types and across all pay bands. This has been the case for more than 5 years and is likely to be a reason for the council’s negative gender pay gap 
• 53% of our female workforce works part-time compared with only 18% of all male employees 
• Men are under-represented in the council’s whole workforce (42.1%) when compared with the local economically active population (53.6%)  
• Less than 8% of staff are aged under 30; more than 14% of staff are aged 60 and over  
• 49% of all staff have been employed by the council for 10 years or more 
• The council continues to steadily increase the percentage of employees identifying as Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and White Other within the workforce, but these groups are not proportionately represented when compared with the city’s economically active population 
• The percentage of BME and White Other applicants for council jobs has increased since 2015/16, from 14% to 22% and 12% to 15% respectively.  These groups remain less successful at being shortlisted and hired when compared with White British applicants 
• The percentage of BME staff employed in the middle pay band has increased for the fourth consecutive year to 7.6%.  This is an increase of 1.3% since 31 March 2020 (6.3%)  
• BME and White Other staff are not proportionately represented in the middle and upper pay bands   
• 6.5% of staff with 10 or more years’ service are from BME backgrounds 
• In 2020/21, 15.4% of all new starters identified as BME, 7.8% as disabled, 19.2% as LGBTQ+ and 10.1% were from a White Other background 
• The percentage of disabled staff within the council workforce exceeds the target figure, but they are not proportionately represented in the upper pay band 
• LGBTQ+ staff are slightly under-represented in the lower pay band only 
• The proportion of BME staff on permanent contracts has increased for the last three years  
• Looking at all staff employed on temporary contracts, there is a higher percentage of male, LGBTQ+, disabled, BME, White Other and White Irish staff than compared with permanent contracts  
• 11.9% of leavers identified as disabled.  This is higher than their percentage in the workforce (7.7%) 
• 32% of the workforce identifies as Christian and 9% as other religions 

The experiences of our workforce

The following information shows the experience of our staff:

• Disabled staff are much more likely to have been subject to attendance management procedures than staff who tell us they are not disabled 
• LGBTQ+ staff were slightly more likely (14.6%) to be subject to attendance management procedures than their percentage of the workforce (13.4%) 
• Staff identifying as BME, disabled and male were more likely to be subject to disciplinary procedures compared with their proportion of the workforce 
• 2,697 staff completed the 2019 staff survey (see Appendix 4). When comparing against the whole council workforce, survey results found the following: 
  • Staff identifying as Black/Black British (45 responses), of mixed ethnicity (64 responses) or as disabled (256 responses) were much less likely to agree the organisation feels like a fair and inclusive place to work  
  • Staff who responded more negatively to all of the indices includes those who are disabled, whose gender identity is different from their sex registered at birth (32 responses), or who identify as Other gender (32 responses) or Other sexual orientation (51 responses) 
  • Bisexual staff (89 responses) responded more negatively to all of the indices except for the Developing People Index, where their response was the same as the whole workforce 
  • Asian / Asian British (40 responses), Female (1619 responses), Gay (129 responses) and staff identifying as White Other (180 responses) responded more positively to all of the indices 
  • Black / Black British staff responded more positively to all of the indices except for Wellbeing and Fair and Inclusive, where they responded more negatively 
  • Staff identifying as Muslim (22 responses) and Christian (595 responses) responded more positively to all of the indices 
  • Staff identifying as Pagan (23 responses) responded more negatively to all of the indices 
  • Jewish staff (20 responses) responded more positively to all of the indices except for the Managing Change Index 

All figures reported are based on known data at 31 March 2021. 

Figures do not include staff employed within schools.   

Table 1: 1 and 5-year changes to Brighton & Hove City Council workforce profile 

The council has 6 directorates: 

• Economy, Environment and Culture (EEC) 
• Families, Children and Learning (FCL) 
• Finance & Resources (F and R) 
• Health & Adult Social Care (HASC) 
• Housing, Neighbourhoods and Communities (HNC) 
• Strategy, Governance and Law (SGL) 

Our data shows there are some differences in the workforce profiles of the 6 directorates (see Appendix 1).  Each directorate uses their own data to focus fair and inclusive workforce actions.   

All directorates report progress towards their workforce and service equalities objectives in a quarterly report.  This is an important part of the council’s performance management framework and how we monitor the impact of any actions. 

Each directorate also brings regular updates and case studies to the Corporate Equality Delivery Group, which is chaired by our Chief Executive, Geoff Raw. 

The Communities workstream of the FIAP supports the interlink between the workforce and delivery of services to our diverse communities and customers. Because this report focusses on workforce equalities it does not include data relating to service delivery.   

However, it is important to note the huge amount of work done during this reporting period.

In particular, council services worked across the city to respond to COVID-19 and the emerging needs of our customers. This work also helped inform some of the actions we took with staff, particularly in relation to wellbeing. 

2020 to 2021 workforce activity includes: 

• recruiting to a Lead Practitioner for Anti-racist Practice role in the Families, Children and Learning directorate 
• partnering with Sussex Health and Care Partnership on the Sussex-wide BAME Disparity Programme, focussing on Workforce, Population and Communications 
• maintaining virtual links with local education providers 
• implementation of a migrant employability project working jointly with Voices in Exile 

Recommendations for 2021 to 2022 include: 

• develop a pre-employment strategy to support under-represented groups 
• increase attendance at face-to-face careers fairs with local education providers 
• establish relationships with community groups to support those individuals from under-represented groups who experience barriers to employment 
• refresh equality impact assessment (EIA) forms and training 

In 2020 to 2021, Accountability and Consequences workstream activity included: 

• delivering online mandatory fair and inclusive briefings to around 3,000 staff 
• embedding the council’s Behaviour Framework including working with HR Advisory Services to ensure we use the language of our values and policies 
• communicating to staff about where to report issues and get support 
• publicising the council’s definition of racism and zero-tolerance approach 
• developing a restorative approach to racism, to increase understanding around the personal impact of certain behaviours and language relating to race, and to resolve issues in a way that encourages reflection and learning 
• commissioning actor-led specialist equalities training for the HR Advisory Service, investigating managers and members. Face to face learning was stopped because of the pandemic and delivery of this training was postponed  
• agreed a new Attendance Management Policy  
• offered online conflict coaching in place of mediation, which was paused due to social distancing restrictions 
• coaches undertook ‘Coaching in the context of racial harm’ training 

Our data shows that: 

• the total number of attendance management cases in 2020 to 2021 was 197, compared with 360 in 2019 to 2020 
• disabled staff are around twice as likely to have been subject to attendance management procedures, when compared with their proportion in the workforce 
• staff identifying as BME (5), disabled (7) and male (35) are more likely to be subject to disciplinary procedures compared with their proportion of the workforce.   
• of 53 disciplinary cases reported, 5 were related to discrimination: race/ethnicity (4), sexual orientation (1) 
• in the 2019 staff survey, 67% of the whole workforce agreed that the organisation feels like a fair and inclusive place to work. Scores were lower for staff identifying as:
  • Black/Black British (53%)
  • of mixed ethnicity (58%)
  • disabled staff (54%)
  • those whose gender identity is different from their sex registered at birth (63%)
  • staff employed at Scales 1 to 6 (64%). 

Recommendations for 2021 to 2022 include: 

• increase promotion of the council’s virtual Fair and Inclusive Team 
• implement new Attendance Management Policy April 2021 
• approve and implement the restorative approach to racism 
• deliver specialist equalities training for HR Advisory Service 
• continue to embed the language and values of the Behaviour Framework 

In 2020 to 21, Learning and Development workstream activity included: 

• coaching and mentoring offer available to all staff 
• delivering ‘coaching in the context of racial harm’ training to existing coaches  
• five BME Workers Forum members completing ILM3 coaching qualification 
• delivering interview skills workshops, ‘making the most of your 121s’, and ‘planning your career’ training 
• delivering anti-racist and white privilege targeted training to 275 delegates  
• delivering active bystander training and racial microaggressions training 
• delivering fair and inclusive sessions to the Leadership Network 
• publishing anti-racism resources for individual and team use 
• publishing new ‘recruiting virtually’ and ‘managing remote teams’ e-learning 
• sharing opportunities for development and progression on the council’s intranet and directly to our employee networks  
• publishing fair and inclusive guidance for internal and external trainers 

Our data shows that: 

• feedback from the fair and inclusive briefings was positive and there is appetite for additional learning  
• disabled staff and those of mixed ethnicity are less likely to feel they have opportunities to progress and develop 
• staff aged under 25, disabled and of mixed ethnicity were less likely to agree Personal Development Plan (PDP) discussions are held in a meaningful way 

recommendations for 2021 to 2022 include: 

• use 2021 service-level staff survey responses to the fair and inclusive questions to identify and implement further targeted interventions 
• provide development to our Managers Network to deliver fair and inclusive aims 
• refresh PDP documents to support managers to lead meaningful career conversations 
• pilot additional career planning sessions  
• create a menu of ‘stretch assignments’ to provide opportunities to staff who are not proportionately represented in the middle and upper pay bands 
• develop a positive action development programme to support staff from under-represented groups to progress 
• increase the disability-related training offer 
• explore ways to improve monitoring of equalities data on our Learning Management System 

In 2020 to 2021, Recruitment, Retention and Progression workstream activity included: 

• attending online universities careers fairs 
• taking part in the Job Centre Plus virtual jobs fair 
• targeted social media advertising of vacancies to local community networks 
• delivering online sessions with the National Careers Service on getting work in the Public Sector  
• corporate advert published in council’s ‘Summer Fun’ brochure to showcase our employer offer and fair and inclusive commitment 
• senior leaders holding BME Wellbeing Listening workshops  
• producing COVID-19 individual risk assessments and sensitive guidance 
• recruiting to a new HR Diversity Recruitment Consultant role  
• external review and internal audit of recruitment processes 
• implementing a new process to check compliance with recruitment training 

Our data shows that: 

• BME and White Other applicants are less likely than White British applicants to be interviewed or hired 
• disabled applicants are slightly more successful at being shortlisted and hired than applicants who tell us they do not have a disability 
• the percentage of BME, White Other, disabled and LGBTQ+ staff on secondment is higher than their proportion in the workforce  
• BME and disabled staff accessed acting up opportunities at a lower rate (7.5% and 2.3% respectively) than their percentage in the workforce  
• 13.2% of all promotions were achieved by staff identifying as White Other; this is higher than their proportion in the workforce 
• BME, disabled and LGBTQ+ staff gained promotions in line with their workforce profiles 
• staff aged under 30, who are disabled, LGBTQ+ or identify as White Other left the organisation at a higher rate than their proportion in the workforce 

Recommendations for 2021 to 2022 include: 

• HR Diversity Recruitment Consultant to deliver a range of actions 
• develop additional inclusive recruitment training for recruiting managers 
• promote development and job opportunities to existing staff in a transparent way 
• additional support for all roles grade M8 and above including the use of ethnically diverse panels  
• review current process for extension of acting ups 
• further data analysis of our largely successful female workforce, to identify possible impacts of intersectionality 
• increase community outreach and in-reach for diverse communities, working with our Employment and Skills Team 
• review digital inclusion and accessibility 

Table 1 Numbers of staff by ethnic origin  

Table 2 Numbers of staff by sexual orientation 

Table 3 Numbers of staff by disability 

Table 4 Numbers of staff by age 

Table 5 Numbers of staff by religion  

Table 6 Numbers of staff by sex. This table shows binary data required by HMRC  

Table 7: Percentage of the workforce in each pay band and contract type by protected characteristics 

Table 8 Recruitment data by ethnicity 

All applicants for all vacancies 

Table 9 Recruitment data by disability

All Applicants for all vacancies 

 Table 10 Recruitment data by gender 

All Applicants for all vacancies 

Table 11 Recruitment data by sexual orientation 

All Applicants for all vacancies 

Table 12: Staff survey index names and scores