Agenda item

The Board to review and provide feedback/ recommendations to Cabinet on the proposed draft Equalities Policy and Action Plan (copies attached).

 

Alex Shiell, Service Manager – Policy, Strategy and Transformation and Martin Iyawe, Policy and Projects Officer, will be in attendance at the meeting to guide the discussion.

The Board welcomed Mr Alex Shiell, Service Manager – Policy, Strategy and Transformation and Martin Iyawe, Policy and Projects Officer, who provided information on the Council’s new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Action Plan, prior to its consideration by the Cabinet.

 

The Board was advised that the policy aimed to deliver outcomes in many areas, including better access to services for customers and helping to develop stronger and more inclusive communities. Members were assured that the Council already demonstrated an equality approach in many areas, including:

 

·                    Housing and homelessness prevention

 

·                    Cost of living support.

 

·                    Nepali-speaking staff available at service desk

 

·                    Community cohesion initiatives

 

·                    Community safety work

 

·                    Accessible leisure opportunities

 

·                    Refugee and resettlement support

 

·                    Support for local businesses

 

·                    Resident engagement and consultation

 

It was explained that the Equality Act protected certain characteristics, such as:

 

·                    Age

 

·                    Disability

 

·                    Gender reassignment

 

·                    Marriage and civil partnership

 

·                    Pregnancy and maternity

 

·                    Race

 

·                    Religion or belief

 

·                    Sex

 

·                    Sexual orientation

 

Members heard that the approach was to strengthen existing work rather than create a new programme. A consultation exercise had taken place between December, 2025 and February, 2026 and this had provided useful information that had been factoring into the policy. Delivery of the policy would be split between early actions / quick wins over the coming six months and medium to longer-term actions through to 2028. The Board was invited to:

 

·                    Note the consultation findings

 

·                    Review the Equality Policy and Action Plan

 

·                    Consider whether the five priorities reflected local needs

 

·                    Identify any gaps or overlooked groups

 

·                    Provide feedback before Cabinet consideration

 

In discussing the content of the presentation, the Board raised the following points:

 

·                    Q – Who to contact if complaints in respect to equality matters?

A – General enquiries through normal Council channels but if a complaint needed to use the formal complaints process

 

·                    Evidence of good engagement with Nepali businesses but what about other ethnic groupings?

 

·                    Language barriers exist, such as no Nepali speakers at Job Centre

 

·                    Consultation aimed at as many community groups as possible but if Members aware of underrepresented group(s), please tell the Policy Team

 

·                    70-80% of respondents did this via website as opposed to other channels

 

·                    Accessibility of resources to the young and the neuro diverse are areas where more work is required

 

·                    Gender Pay Gap is a driver to support recruitment of women to more senior positions within the organisation

 

·                    Armed Forces not a protected characteristic as such but is subject to the provisions of the Armey Forces Covenant

 

·                    How will we measure success in relation to the Action Plan? Should be outcome-based

 

·                    Resources to be offered to this hindered by the significant impact of LGR on senior management capacity - offer from Members to be involved in the delivery of this

 

In summarising the views of the Board, the Chair proposed that the following recommendations should be made to the Cabinet:

.

·                    Consider neuro-diversity to ensure this plan covers people with those needs and obtain data on difficulties neuro-diverse individuals may have had in accessing our services

 

·                     Military families should be covered (possibly by reference to the Armed Forces Covenant) even though this is not a protected characteristic in the Act

 

·                     Measures in the action plan should focus on outcomes rather than actions taken e.g. numbers of meetings. This will ensure that we are addressing key inequalities, with outcomes that are visible to residents

 

The Board voted and AGREED to the above recommendations.

 

The Chair thanked Mr Shiell and Mr Iyawe for their input and guidance.