North Yorkshire Council
Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee
5 March 2024
Progress update on equality objectives 2021-2025
2 Summary
2.1 The report covers EDI work and actions undertaken from April 2023 (quarters one and two) to January (quarter three) 2024 and will also be used to provide evidence of how the council’s Public Sector Equality Duty 2023-2024 Annual Review of Progress is being met.
3 Background
3.1 The Equality Act 2010 sets out the personal characteristics that are protected by the law and behaviour that is unlawful. The nine protected characteristics under the Act are:
· Age
· Disability
· Gender reassignment
· Marriage and civil partnership
· Pregnancy and maternity
· Race
· Religion or belief
· Sex
· Sexual orientation
3.2 North Yorkshire Council also has its own additional protected characteristics which are:
· Carers (unpaid family or friend)
· People on a low income
· People in rural areas
· Are from the Armed Forces Community
3.3 As a local authority we are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) as set out in the Act to:
· Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act;
· Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
·
Foster good relations
between people who share a protected characteristic and those who
do not.
3.4 We are also covered by the specific duties contained in the Act which mean that we must:
· Publish information to demonstrate how we are complying with the Public Sector Equality Duty annually and
· Prepare and publish equality objectives (at least every four years)
3.5 North Yorkshire Council’s equality objectives 2021 – 2025 were approved in June 2021 and are due for renewal. Equal opportunities information | North Yorkshire Council
3.5.1 The objectives align to the Council Plan and are embedded into the performance framework, they are monitored and reported through quarterly performance reporting to Management Board and Executive.
4.0 North Yorkshire demographics at a glance
4.1 The county of North Yorkshire is the largest in England at 8,000 square kilometres (3090 square miles)
|
Data taken from Local Insight 2022
4.2 The following table of information summarises Census 2021 equality related data for North Yorkshire (full data sets can be seen in Appendix 1).
|
Age |
24.5% aged 0-24 (England average= 29.2%) 50.5% aged 25-64 (England average= 52.4%) 25% aged 65+ (England average= 18.4%) |
|
Sex |
49.3% male 50.7% female |
|
Ethnicity |
96% of the population in North Yorkshire are classed as White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British.
|
|
Disability |
74% of the population in North Yorkshire are classed as Not disabled under the Equality Act: No long-term physical or mental health conditions. 17.6% of the population in North Yorkshire are Disabled under the Equality Act: Day-to-day activities limited a little/lot |
|
Gender Identity |
94.7% of the population of North Yorkshire identify identity the same as sex registered at birth 4.9% ‘Not answered’ |
|
Sexual orientation |
91% consider themselves Heterosexual
|
|
Religion |
87.5% are Christian 9.1% ‘not stated’ |
|
Marriage |
42.2% of the population of NY are married 24.6% have never been married or in a civil partnership 16% declared ‘does not apply’
|
A description of each characteristic and terminology is available in a glossary at the end of this report (Percentages have been rounded up)
4.3 Pregnancy and maternity – the Council have a Maternity, adoption, shared parental and paternity policy and procedure which can be found here: Maternity, adoption, shared parental and paternity policy and procedure (sharepoint.com)
5.0 NYC Additional Protected Characteristics data
5.1 Carer – number of unpaid carers in households
Just under 16% of the population have at least 1 unpaid carer in their household
5.2 Armed Forces Community – number of people in households who previously served in UK armed forces (Does not include current armed forces personnel):
1 or more people in the household previously served in UK Armed Forces = 27613 10.06%
No people in the household previously served in UK Armed Forces = 246767 89.94%
5.3 Rural Residents (Rural (as defined using the Output Area Classification (OAC))
250,486 residents = 41.9% living in a rural setting (England average = 10.5%)
85% of North Yorkshire is Super-Sparse – 17% of residents live in this area
13% of North Yorkshire is Sparse – 18% of our residents live in this area
2% of North Yorkshire is Urban – 65% of our residents live in this area
5.4 Low Income
The most recent English Indices of Deprivation report shows that one in seventeen of North Yorkshire residents live in areas that are among the 20 per cent most deprived nationally.
6.0 Examples of progress with equality objectives 2021-2025
Progress is monitored through a variety of ways, such as quarterly performance reporting and outcomes, and findings from assessments and reviews. Additionally, regular directorate equality based meetings take place across the council which link into the Corporate EDI Group. Below are just some of the many examples of work being carried out to meet those objectives:
7.0 Objective 1: Identify and address inequality as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and work to support vaccine take-up across all communities.
7.1 Covid Vaccines - In Autumn 2023, 79% of people in North Yorkshire aged 65+ received a COVID-19 vaccination, above the England average of 69%. The number of deaths is much lower than the 2020 and 2021 peaks.
Graph showing the number of deaths in NY
7.2 Elective Home Education - Children and Young Peoples Services (CYPS) have recorded a rising trend in the number of children recorded as being Electively Home Educated (EHE) which saw a sharp increase following the Covid-19 pandemic. North Yorkshire is not alone in seeing an increase and this trend is being replicated nationally.
7.3 CYPS have specialist Elective Home Education advisors who contact parents/carers of children who become EHE within 5 working days of the LA being notified by the school. If the education of the child is unsuitable or there are welfare or safeguarding concerns this is acted on swiftly to ensure that the child is safe and in receipt of a full-time education.
7.4 Pre Decision meetings - There has also been an increase in the number of pre-decision meetings for parents/carers made with EHE advisors prior to EHE being finalised. This benefits children and their families as families go away with an informed understanding of EHE and what it entails. It has proven to reduce the number of children becoming EHE and has increased the number of children having their needs met in school. The summer of 2023 alone saw around 50% of families who took up the offer of a conversation went on not to follow an EHE route and their child returned to school.
8.0 Objective 2: Identify and address inequality in outcomes for people from ethnic minorities.
8.1 Homes for Ukraine - Homes for Ukraine -The Homes for Ukraine scheme in North Yorkshire continues to resettle significant number of individuals and families. A total of 1,452 Ukrainian guests have arrived in NY since the start of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. 1,008 guests, who came to North Yorkshire as part of the scheme, have since moved on from their sponsor’s accommodation, with 569 moving into private or social housing in the county and 231 individuals have returned to Ukraine.
8.2 Community response - Our communities have responded by setting up extensive networks to support both sponsors and guests, with regular drop-in and social events, as well as language support sessions. Citizens Advice North Yorkshire, a key partner, is offering invaluable support through a dedicated phone line, as well as attendance at local events. NYC’s Early Help and Living Well teams, along with housing officers, are supporting the essential signposting function by ensuring guests and sponsors can access information and guidance to apply for benefits, schools, GP registration and other appropriate referrals.
8.3 Refugee resettlement (Afghan ARAP/UKRS)
North Yorkshire has permanently resettled 290 persons (60 households) under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) between August 2021 to 31 December 2023, and 175 persons (45 households) – mainly Syrian refugees - under the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) between February 2021 to 30 September 2023. No new UKRS cases are being brought forward by government and so the scheme is effectively on hold.
8.4 MOD Surplus Accommodation - Afghan ARAP households continue to be resettled in North Yorkshire utilising additional Ministry of Defence (MoD) surplus Service Family Accommodation (SFA). As at 31 December 2023, 36 Afghan households have been accommodated in SFA properties.
8.5 A second round of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) has been implemented with 11 homes in the county. These properties will chiefly be allocated to Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 3 households, but should they subsequently leave the LAHF property, it will become part of the general pool of council housing stock.
9.0 Objective 3: To improve inclusion and diversity of staff working for the Council
9.1 The HR team continues to focus on and deliver the work of the employee EDI networks, whilst working on projects and initiatives to raise awareness and promote EDI within the workplace and into the wider community, with events such as Scarbrough Pride and Community Ramadan. Workforce data for Q3 22/23 is provided below (Q3 22/23 is included for comparison purposes):
|
Q3 22/23 |
Q3 23/24 |
|
|
% Male |
23.5% |
31.3% |
|
% Female |
76.5% |
68.7% |
|
% of staff who have declared their ethnicity |
75.8% |
61.6% |
|
· Of the above, % who are minority ethnic |
2.9% |
3.4% |
|
· Of the above, % who are white |
97.1% |
96.6% |
|
% of staff who have declared disability/no disability |
49.2% |
32.4% |
|
· Of the above, % who have a disability |
3.8% |
3.6% |
|
· Of the above, % who have no disability |
96.2% |
96.4% |
|
Average Age of workforce |
47.48 |
47.67 |
|
% over 55 years of age |
30.3% |
30.7% |
|
% under 25 years of age |
4.6% |
4.7% |
|
Top 5% of earners (excluding schools) |
|
|
|
Average age |
50.5 |
50.0 |
|
% Male |
34.5% |
37.4% |
|
% Female |
65.5% |
62.6% |
|
% who have declared their ethnicity |
80.0% |
70.1% |
|
· Of the above, % who are minority ethnic |
1.0% |
0.8% |
|
· Of the above, % who are white |
99.0% |
99.2% |
|
% of staff who have declared disability/no disability |
61.3% |
46.5% |
|
· Of the above, % who have a disability |
2.1% |
2.0% |
|
· Of the above, % who have no disability |
97.9% |
98.0% |
Note: Although there has been improvement with employees declaring their equality data within recent quarters, there remains further work to be done to encourage more staff to update their equality information. Technical issues at various points in the year meant that reporting of disability was not being recorded correctly and figures are therefore underreported
9.2 Tables below show EDI networks within the council and the key issues and themes being actioned:
|
EDI networks Name of group |
Q2 members |
Q3 members |
Percentage Growth |
|
Disabled Employee Network |
51 |
59 |
+ 16% |
|
Pride Network |
33 |
38 |
+ 15% |
|
Value in Racial Diversity Network |
31 |
36 |
+16% |
|
Gender Equality Forum |
10 |
14 |
+ 40% |
|
Inclusion Forum |
21 |
32 |
+ 52% |
|
Total |
146 |
179 |
+26% |
|
Employee Network Group |
Key issue/themes |
Action |
Next steps |
|
Disabled Employee Network |
Parking accessibility issues for disabled staff |
HR have included these concerns in a wider report on parking which has been taken to Management Board in December. |
This is being considered as part of the wider car parking review across NYC. Specific requirements have been factored in to the current Property Rationalisation work underway. |
|
Disabled Employee Network |
Neurodiversity and career progression, looking at staff experiences of interviews, and progression barriers or challenges. Looking to best practise from other organisations – e.g. interview questions in advance for all candidates. |
Inclusion and Diversity Officer to pick up with Resourcing Solutions. |
Develop options appraisal for HR Senior Management team consideration in the first instance. |
|
Value in Racial Diversity Network |
Staff experiences of racism from service users/customers across services. Stronger guidance wanted regarding Zero Tolerance and Third Part Harassment guidance or policy document. |
Consideration to hold an anonymous Racism survey with network members to increase engagement relating to, subject to staff experience. This is subject to analysis and findings of the forthcoming Staff Survey. |
People Strategy |
|
Value in Racial Diversity Network |
Community Iftar |
Organising community event for Ramadan for late March/ early April after last year’s success. |
Small working group to take this forward. |
|
Pride Network |
Pride events 2024 – focus on Scarborough Pride as main event. |
Working group to be formed from network for event. |
Pride Network to form small working group to plan Pride events. |
|
Pride Network |
More input into LGBT+ comms |
EDI calendar to be made and shared with group for members to easily contribute. |
Inclusion and Diversity Officer to arrange with Technology ( and Pride Network). |
9.3 International recruitment: Nationally and locally, Adult Social Care has been experiencing recruitment challenges for some considerable time. There are a number of interventions underway to address this, one of which is international recruitment.
9.4 A programme has been undertaken to recruit 30 social workers and 25 offers of appointment for social work posts have been made and accepted. To date, 23 international recruits have arrived and taken up their social work posts in Harrogate, Scarborough and Vale of York teams. Comprehensive induction and pastoral support arrangements are in place. Delays are continuing to be experienced in the time it is taking Social Work England to register international recruits, however we expect the remaining recruits to arrive by April 2024.
9.5 Immigration Policy - Whilst the initial programme of international recruitment is concluding, applications for social work posts from UK applicants remain low, therefore we will continue to welcome applications from international applicants. The recent changes announced to immigration policy will not have an impact on the recruitment of Social Workers (classed as skilled workers). However, there will be a significant impact in the recruitment of care and senior care workers as removing their eligibility to bring dependants will make a relocation to the UK much less desirable.
9.6 Impact of international recruitment within the sector
Without doubt, International Recruitment has had an impact on the sector, in terms of filling vacant roles:
· Skills for Care data suggests the vacancy rate in North Yorkshire is 8.60% (against a regional average of 8.0% and England at 9.9%).
· Nationally, the number of care worker sponsorship licenses issued is reported as 101,316k
· 141 providers in North Yorkshire (or on our approved provider list)– have sponsorship license, and further work is being done to identify the total numbers of international workers in North Yorkshire – Skills for Care Data shows that 7% of the North Yorkshire care workforce are a non-EU nationality (an increase of 4% from 21/22)
10.0 Objective 4: To improve health and educational outcomes amongst Gypsy, Roma, Traveller (GRT) communities in the county.
10.1 A cross directorate approach is providing services to GRTS communities in North Yorkshire. An editorial group has been formed following a workshop in July 2023, and ‘task and finish groups’ are working on data and intelligence, engagement, and understanding the wider determinants. The group is liaising with organisations working directly with GRTS communities and recruiting community representatives to help develop the approach.
10.2 The Public Health team are continuing their work to conduct a deep dive health needs assessment focusing on GRTS communities. A health needs assessment is a systematic and holistic approach to understanding the health needs of a population.
10.3 NYC have commissioned Horton Housing to deliver a pilot DA IDVA/IVSA community support officer across their 4 gate managed sites at Carlton Burn, Stokesley and Thirsk. Our first-year report findings have now been provided (Sept 22/Sept 23
Horton Housing provides operational staff who are now trained to Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA)/Independent Sexual Violence advocates (ISVA) standards.
|
Number of households supported e.g. Benefits, education, funding, housing. |
52 |
|
Number of adult victims and survivors of domestic abuse accessing support. |
16 15 Females 1 Male |
|
Number of households with children receiving domestic abuse support. |
11 |
|
Number of Workshops delivered. |
5 |
|
Number of offsite support sessions for victims and survivors. |
20 |
|
Number of victims and survivors attending workshops. |
6 |
|
Number of referrals made to specialist services. |
14 |
11.0 Objective 5: To ensure service delivery and commissioning, particularly social care and public health, is inclusive of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans + adults
11.1 The HAS team organised a ‘Spotlight on Trans awareness’ session delivered to nearly 150 Adult Social Care colleagues in June 2023 with follow-up actions planned to further enhance the learning.
11.2 Pride Event example: A collaboration of organisations created a 4 day Pride event at Skipton in the summer (2023)
11.3 Liquid Logic Adults - A supplier-led review of data fields in adult social care customer case system (Liquid Logic Adults) is underway to enhance inclusion, particularly for gender-diverse customers, which will contribute to person-centred practice and improve our ability to collect EDI data.
11.4 Inclusion In Public Health, customer data capture for some commissioned services has been reviewed to ensure gender-diverse customers are included.
12.0 Objective 6: To improve wellbeing, inclusion and feeling safe for vulnerable groups of children and young people.
12.1
Children and Families
Intervention Workers (CFIWs)
A pattern of regular visits has been established
to council run GRTS sites in Thirsk, Stokesley, Carlton, Burn and
Malton, to meet with staff and residents. During that time GRTS
families have requested support in finding school and nursery
places, finding dentists and accessing mental health care.
The Early Help Practice Supervisor and Senior Consultant
participate in the Northern Regional GRTS Coordinators Group and
liaise with representatives from other CFIW and Horton staff
work effectively together to support the family to access school
places for their children. Children and Families
Intervention workers have also presented GRTS awareness training
for the CFIWs and MIST teams.
12.2 The Service Children’s Champion has organised events over the past year including:
· The Festival of Remembrance which was held in Ripon Cathedral and attended by over 700 service children from schools around North Yorkshire.
· The Big Conversation event held in December at County Hall was attended by 53 Service Children from schools across the county.
· A warm welcome to Catterick - The Service Children’s Champion and Minority, Inclusion Support team (MIST) are working collaboratively to plan half termly ‘Welcome to Catterick’ sessions for newly arrived parents/carers from military and international backgrounds including HFU (Homes for Ukraine) families . Sessions will include basic information about how to access community services and activities and opportunities to meet up with other families who are new arrivals.
12.3 Social media connecting families - Work continues to develop social media sharing posts with the military community and others to build stronger relationships and integration between military and civilian families.
12.4 Director of Public Health Annual Report. The report focuses on the health and wellbeing of North Yorkshire’s children and young people and includes voice and artwork from children and young people.
12.5 Refugees and Asylum Seeker families support - There is much work and activity taking place with the MIST Team which has organised nursery, school and college placements for children and young people from 19 refugee families who have arrived from Afghanistan through resettlement schemes (104 people). Some of the other project work ongoing is:
· A ‘Living in the UK: Support for Families’ presentation and accompanying cultural orientation information is delivered to all families who arrive in North Yorkshire through resettlement schemes and as asylum seeker families.
· Visits continue to Northallerton’s asylum seeker hotel- organising nursery, school and college placements for children and young people who arrive with their families at the hotel as well as making families aware of local services available including local volunteering opportunities.
· Work also continues to encourage Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and young people (UASC) and asylum seeker families to become involved in local sports teams and to engage with their local communities.
12.6 Homes for Ukraine Children and families intervention work - Early Help Children and Families Intervention Workers continue to closely support all Homes for Ukraine placements for the families, children and young people in placements across North Yorkshire. As of 30th November 2023, there have been 574 identified sponsors offering accommodation to families. Children & Families Intervention Workers (CFIW) have conducted welfare visits to 526 sponsors, and welcome visits to 450 families. Since the beginning of the scheme, a total of 603 Ukrainian children (aged 0-18 at their arrival date) have been welcomed into North Yorkshire colleges, schools and settings.
12.7 Recruitment
drive gains seven new team members for the MIST Team.
The team is now made up of 5 females and 6 male workers, 4 of whom
have arrived in North Yorkshire through resettlement schemes, and a
further 3 from overseas. The languages spoken by the team now
include, English, Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Hungarian, Italian
and French.
13.0 Objective 7: To support digital inclusion for North Yorkshire’s communities and ensure that digital access to our services is inclusive of the widest range of customers as possible, taking into account different access requirements and the needs of those who experience digital exclusion.
13.1 Digital Inclusion Investment: Research and development work has begun in preparation for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) funding that will be available in 2024/25. The stakeholder co-design phase which the team received funding from the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care System to enable, will be completed in partnership with Community First Yorkshire. This research and development will inform the coordination of the UKSPF Digital Inclusion investment programme in 2024/25; £480,000 capital infrastructure and £336,000 revenue for digital learning and skills. The ambition for the investment is to stimulate digital inclusion activity through learning, skills, resources and volunteering, in a range of existing and new settings targeting digital and health inequalities.
13.2 Reboot North Yorkshire has continued to support digital inclusion with regular referrals into the scheme from a broad range of organisations, health, and NYC services. To date in 2023-24, 69 devices have been gifted to socially isolated individuals or those in need of a device to access training or to continue their education. Our community partner Craven Reboot have similarly been active in gifting devices, supporting people with IT needs, and encouraging donations within their communities. Alongside the Reboot scheme we have been promoting the digital courses run by the Adult Learning Service as well as the work that libraries do to support digital confidence so that those receiving a device can make best use of it.
13.3 Community Development directorate and as part of the councils cultural offer, the Outreach, Livestream and Community Project are working on engagement numbers as part of the offer to improve accessibility to the service. Tracking performance in relation to digital access to activities is ongoing.
14.0 Examples of some of the other work being carried out across the council are:
14.1 All-age autism strategy for North Yorkshire - partners are working together to develop new plans that will support autistic people of all ages in North Yorkshire to thrive. The draft all-age autism strategy for North Yorkshire was drawn together building on engagement work which took place in Q1 and Q2. Seven action-planning sessions were held in September 2023 attended by seventy seven people (autistic people, carers, practitioners and partners working together). Public consultation on the draft strategy was launched on 27th November 2023, with ten events taking place during the consultation period (running up to 15th March 2024) and four surveys available for different audiences. Widespread participation is encouraged and further information can be found here: Autism strategy consultation | North Yorkshire Council
14.2 The Supported employment team helps adults living with a wide range of disabilities, including autism, to achieve their aims and aspirations around employment. The team gets to know the person, to understand their skills, strengths and talents to help identify the right opportunity, or to work creatively to support the person to gain new skills and experience in order for them to achieve meaningful, paid employment.
The team achieving advanced status through the National Autistic Society’s accreditation process early last year.
14.3 A new Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) strategy sets out to improve outcomes for children and young people and their families. The strategy has been developed in partnership with children and young people, their families and education settings, as well as Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) and West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. It aims to improve the lived experiences of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability across the county by identifying needs early, providing timely and effective support and ensuring children and young people are prepared for adulthood. Statistics show that around 10,000 North Yorkshire pupils aged up to 25 years receive special educational needs support, while more than 4,500 children and young people in addition have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
14.4 Within the Culture and Archives teams The following highlight some of the accessible successes:
· Advertisement and Information Channels: Opportunities are communicated through a diverse range of channels: website, social media, mailing lists, targeted print media, and community partners. Information is available in large print, and the website features smart reader capability for visually impaired visitors.
· Support Mechanisms: Sensory backpacks have been reviewed and enhanced, offering more equipment to support neurodivergent visitors.
· Youth Engagement: A 50% increase in Young Archaeologist Club capacity expands opportunities for young people in heritage.
· Improvements to Access: Free 'Make & Take' craft workshops during October and December holidays attracted over 150 participants each. Museum Discovery Boxes, available for loan, enhance accessibility for community groups, educational institutions, and care homes, ensuring broader access to collections.
14.5 Equality Impact Assessments - The council uses equality impact assessments (EIA’s) to ensure we pay due regard to impact across all protected characteristics for decision making of policies, projects and financial savings proposals. These assessments enable the council to mitigate actions and capture decisions which provide an audit trail for our due regard processing. The most up to date Budget EIA’s for 2024-25 are published on the council website here: Equalities assessment and consultation | North Yorkshire Council
15.0 Workforce data and gender pay gap reporting
Public sector bodies with 250+ staff are required to publish mean and median pay gaps and the proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure.
NYC does not pay a bonus so is exempt from this requirement. The figures for March 2022 pay are set out below, figures for March 2023 will be submitted for approval in March 2024 then published on the website.
2022 GPG (2021 figures in brackets)
Mean gender pay gap 9.8% (11.6%)
Median gender pay gap 11.7% (16.3%)
Proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure:
|
|
Men % |
Women % |
£/hr |
Band |
|
Upper quartile |
32.4 |
67.6 |
£17.36+ |
K+ |
|
Upper mid Q |
19.2 |
80.8 |
£13.18 - £17.36 |
H - J |
|
Lower mid Q |
17.9 |
82.1 |
£10.45 - £13.18 |
E - G |
|
Lower quartile |
26.4 |
73.6 |
Apprentice- £10.45 |
A - D |
15.1 The high-level figures show a positive trend: the mean GPG is down from 11.6% to 9.8% and the median is down from 16.3% to 11.7%. The proportion of women in the upper quartile (which covers Grade K and above) has dropped slightly from 68.2% to 67.6%, to the level it was in the previous year. But the % of women in the lowest quartile has dropped significantly from 79% to 73.6%, representing a significant drop in the proportion of women in the lowest paid roles.
15.2 It is difficult to compare like with like since 2019 with a combination of factors impacting on the figures which have little relevance for measuring progress in gender pay equality. There has been Covid and high numbers of furloughed employees, additional care resources to deal with Covid, labour market turmoil, high turnover in lower paid roles, facilities contracts won and lost, and bottom loaded pay awards. There has been no steady state to enable comparison between years.
15.3 The steady decrease in the gender pay gap over the last 4 years is positive. This decrease is influenced in part by changes to the composition of the workforce, and efforts to reduce the pay gap and any uneven distribution between the pay quartiles are still required. Specifically, the slight decrease in the proportion of women in the upper quartile is disappointing. Nevertheless, the reduction in both mean and median gender pay gap from 2017 to 2020 is to be celebrated.
16.0 Conclusion
16.1 Equality and diversity is an important priority for the Council. Paying due regard to equality is not just a legal obligation but good customer service. We will continue to foster a positive and inclusive approach to our staff and customers.
16.2 The role of Members is to challenge services to progress and embed the objectives, and to take a leadership role in communities. Progress will continue to be reported to the committee on an annual basis, or as required.
|
17.0 Recommendation
17.1 Scrutiny members are asked to note and comment on the progress of the work to improve equality, diversity and inclusion.
|
Corporate Director – Resources
County Hall
Northallerton
23 February 2024
Report Author – Sheila Horner, Senior Strategy and Performance Officer
Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.
Background Documents: None
Appendices:
Appendix 1 - Data sets for Protected Characteristics & Glossary
Appendix 1
Data sets for Protected Characteristics
Ethnicity
|
Ethnic Group |
2021 |
2021 (%) |
|
Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Bangladeshi |
331 |
0.06 |
|
Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Chinese |
1574 |
0.26 |
|
Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Indian |
2031 |
0.34 |
|
Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Other Asian |
3347 |
0.56 |
|
Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Pakistani |
1037 |
0.17 |
|
Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African: African |
1494 |
0.25 |
|
Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African: Caribbean |
536 |
0.09 |
|
Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African: Other Black |
429 |
0.07 |
|
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: Other Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups |
1808 |
0.30 |
|
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: White and Asian |
2496 |
0.42 |
|
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: White and Black African |
982 |
0.16 |
|
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups: White and Black Caribbean |
1436 |
0.24 |
|
Other ethnic group: Any other ethnic group |
2047 |
0.34 |
|
Other ethnic group: Arab |
562 |
0.09 |
|
White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British |
574065 |
96.04 |
|
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller |
550 |
0.09 |
|
White: Irish |
2681 |
0.45 |
|
White: Roma |
348 |
0.06 |
Disability
|
Disability |
2021 |
2021 (%) |
|
Disabled under the Equality Act: Day-to-day activities limited a little |
56253 |
10.72 |
|
Disabled under the Equality Act: Day-to-day activities limited a lot |
36043 |
6.87 |
|
Not disabled under the Equality Act: Has long-term physical or mental health condition but day-to-day activities are not limited |
42167 |
8.03 |
|
Not disabled under the Equality Act: No long-term physical or mental health conditions |
390338 |
74.38 |
Gender identity
|
Gender Identity |
2021 |
2021 (%) |
|
All other gender identities |
135 |
0.03 |
|
Gender identity different from sex registered at birth but no specific identity given |
598 |
0.12 |
|
Gender identity the same as sex registered at birth |
598 |
0.12 |
|
Gender identity the same as sex registered at birth |
489220 |
94.67 |
|
Non-binary |
176 |
0.03 |
|
Not answered |
25481 |
4.93 |
|
Trans man |
253 |
0.05 |
|
Trans woman |
320 |
0.06 |
Sexual Orientation
|
Sexual orientation |
2021 |
2021 (%) |
|
All other sexual orientations |
1056 |
0.20 |
|
Bisexual |
4460 |
0.86 |
|
Gay or Lesbian |
5773 |
1.12 |
|
Not answered |
34029 |
6.59 |
|
Straight or Heterosexual |
470861 |
91.22 |
Religion
|
|
2021 |
2021 (%) |
|
Buddhist |
2033 |
0.52 |
|
Christian |
342438 |
87.54 |
|
Hindu |
1677 |
0.43 |
|
Jewish |
631 |
0.16 |
|
Muslim |
2984 |
0.76 |
|
No religion |
596 |
0.15 |
|
Other (s) |
4758 |
1.22 |
|
Religion not stated |
35758 |
9.14 |
|
Sikh |
326 |
0.08 |
Marital Status
|
Status |
2021 |
2021 (%) |
|
Divorced |
52150 |
8.47 |
|
Does not apply |
99311 |
16.14 |
|
Formerly in a civil partnership now legally dissolved |
85 |
0.01 |
|
In a registered civil partnership |
1031 |
0.17 |
|
Married |
262671 |
42.68 |
|
Never Married or Civil partnership |
151785 |
24.66 |
|
Separated |
11027 |
1.79 |
|
Widowed |
37435 |
6.08 |
Carers
|
Carers per household |
2021 |
2021 (%) |
||
|
1 unpaid carer in household |
|
|
33849 |
12.34 |
|
2 unpaid carers in household |
|
|
8265 |
3.01 |
|
3 unpaid carers in household |
|
|
787 |
0.29 |
|
4 or more unpaid carers in household |
|
|
176 |
0.06 |
|
No unpaid carers in household |
|
|
231304 |
84.30 |
|
|
||||
Glossary (taken from the ONS Census 2021)
Gender identity
Gender
identity refers to a person’s sense of their own gender,
whether male, female or another category such as non-binary. This
may or may not be the same as their sex registered at birth.
Gender identity different from sex registered at birth but no
specific identity given
These are people who answered
“No” to the question “Is the gender you identify
with the same as your sex registered at birth?” but did not
write in a gender identity.
Non-binary
Someone who is non-binary does not identify
with the binary categories of man and woman. In these results the
category includes people who identified with the specific term
“non-binary” or variants thereon. However, those who
used other terms to describe an identity which was neither
specifically man nor woman have been classed in “All other
gender identities”.
Trans man
A trans man is someone who was registered
female at birth, but now identifies as a man.
Trans woman
A trans woman is someone who was registered
male at birth, but now identifies as a woman.
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an umbrella
term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an
individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example,
someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience
same-sex attraction, and vice versa. This means the statistics
should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the
question, rather than being about whom they are attracted to or
their actual relationships.
Religion
The religion people connect or identify with
(their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have
belief in it.
Carer
An unpaid carer may look after, give help or support to anyone who
has long-term physical or mental ill-health conditions, illness or
problems related to old age. This does not include any
activities as part of paid employment
Low Income
(ONS.gov.uk)
In
2023, low pay is defined as those earning as below £10.95 per hour and
high pay is defined as those earning
more than £23.82 per hour. Households are
classed as being in low income if they live on less than 60% of the
median net disposable equivalised UK household income. For
example, in the year ending March 2022, a household made up of a
couple with no children would be in low income with an annual
household income of up to £17,700 before housing costs and
£15,600 after housing costs. Household income is the
total income of the household before tax, National Insurance and
other deductions. It includes the value of free school meals, free
TV licences and other income-based entitlements.
Pregnancy and
Maternity (Equality Act 2010)
The Equality Act says
individuals must not be discriminated against during the protected
period because: of pregnancy, or. because of illness suffered as a
result of pregnancy, or, are a woman on compulsory maternity
leave.
Rural Residents (Local
Insights 2023)
Rural areas,
sparsely populated, above average employment in agriculture, higher
number owning multiple cars, an older married population, a high
provision of unpaid care and an above average number of people
living in communal establishments