Monitoring the Equality Objectives

Transcription

1 15 December 2015 Monitoring the Equality Objectives

2 The table below sets out the Equality Objectives , along with the proposed measures. The Council has mainstreamed its equality duties in its service design and delivery processes and so we have prioritised these objectives which identify a small number of areas of cross-cutting and strategic importance, and reflect the council s role in affecting these measures. We will monitor this through our performance management. 1. Continue to promote and celebrate a cohesive borough ensuring that our community gets on well together. Waltham Forest has experienced rapid change in recent years, and will continue to change. We want to ensure a cohesive and integrated local community, which everyone can feel part of and where people get on well together. The indicator we will track is: - The proportion of residents who feel that people from different backgrounds get along with one another. 3. Use greater insight about our community to shape service delivery, including better understanding and managing the impact on protected groups. The Council s equality duty is mainstreamed across services through Equality Analyses (EAs) that are carried out on all key decisions. Additionally the Council operates an evidence-based commissioning model informed by robust assessment of needs. EAs and needs assessments will enable us to gather greater insight on our community in order to shape service delivery to support those most in need. We will monitor that: - All key decisions are informed by a robust Equality Analysis, including clear actions to mitigate any negative impacts. - The agreed mitigating actions identified in EAs are implemented. 2. Promote the opportunities for all members of our community to benefit from local regeneration and growth. The Council wants to build a strong, local economy and thriving town centres and to ensure that all its residents benefit from this growth and regeneration. We want to make the best use of our services to ensure that nobody is left behind. The indicators we will track are: - The attainment gap between pupils from under-achieving groups and their peers, including pupils eligible for free school meals, some BME groups, boys and Looked After Children. - Number of New Homes Bonus beneficiaries recruited to apprenticeships opportunities within growth employment sectors. - Number of European Social Fund beneficiaries, previously unemployed or economically inactive, moved into jobs and sustaining employment for 26 weeks. 4. Advance the equality of opportunity for all staff, by having a diverse workforce that reflects the community it serves. As a Council, we will encourage the internal opportunities available for staff to progress particularly in this period of significant change. We will continue to monitor insight derived from restructures within the council through the staff survey and exit questionnaires. The indicators we will track are: - The profile of the workforce, including age, gender, BME and disability across different grades and departments. - Measures of employee engagement in the Council s Staff Survey. 2

3 1. Continue to promote and celebrate a cohesive borough ensuring that our community gets on well together. Waltham Forest is proud of its social mix and it is important to sustain this, especially in times of financial challenge. This table shows the percentage of respondents to the resident insight survey who agree that the local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together. We will: - monitor the percentage of residents who agree that the local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together. Baseline measure: 82% (as at March 2015) - We will also use the findings from the Council s living together survey to inform our monitoring of this objective - The Council plans to use the findings of this one-off survey to develop a Cohesion Strategy 3

4 2. Promote the opportunities for all members of our community to benefit from local regeneration and growth. Base line figures: The percentage shows the gap between under-achieving groups and their peers. LAC 35.1% Boys 8% Disadvantaged 18.3% Looked After Children (LAC) The performance of children who have been looked after continuously for at least 12 months at KS4 for 2013 was 25% (who achieved at least 5 A*-C including Maths and English. The gap between LAC and peers was 35.1%. Boys Although achievement has improved for both boys and girls, achievement for girls has increased faster in recent years than for boys. The achievement gap has therefore widened to 8%. Disadvantaged Pupils The performance of disadvantaged pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades including Maths and English at KS4 shows a gap of 18.3%. There was a slight dip in performance from in line with local and national trends. We will: Monitor the achievement gaps between LAC, Boys, Disadvantaged Pupils and their peers Monitor the number of New Homes Bonus and Social Fund beneficiaries Please Note: The New Homes Bonus and European Social Fund beneficiaries are both new measures and therefore no baseline is available Both projects are due to begin in January and updates can be expected after this date Progress will be reported regularly to management board 4

5 3. Use greater insight about our community to shape service delivery, including better understanding and managing the impact on protected groups. The Council s equality duty is mainstreamed across services through Equality Analyses (EAs) that are carried out on all key decisions. Additionally the Council operates an evidence-based commissioning model informed by robust assessment of needs. EAs and needs assessments will enable us to gather greater insight on our community in order to shape service delivery to support those most in need. Currently, a lot of work goes into ensuring all relevant cabinet reports include an Equalities screening or full analysis. Where necessary, mitigating actions are outlined in order to ensure there is no adverse effect on protected groups. We will begin monitoring this, this will include following up on any key mitigating actions that are agreed in the next year and on the implementation of these actions. We will: from now on keep a regular record of all mitigating actions that have been identified produce a report a year from now to summarise the mitigating actions that were agreed provide example case studies to show significant decisions and the details of these mitigating actions Present the above to PLM and management board as appropriate 5

6 4. Advance the equality of opportunity for all staff, by having a diverse workforce that reflects the community it serves. The graph above shows a breakdown of each ethnicity by pay category. The dotted line indicates the percentage the ethnicity represents across the overall council. What this shows is that Black or Black British staff are over represented in the lower pay grades and white staff are over represented in the higher pay grades. Female staff make up just under three quarters of the total workforce at Waltham Forest. This is broadly reflected across the pay grades. Although there is a slight downward trend amongst women represented in the higher grades and a slight upward trend in men represented in the higher pay grades. Across the whole council 4% of staff are registered as having a disability, the above chart shows that disabled staff are well represented amongst the more senior grades of the organisation. Staff survey (2013) baseline figures: In the staff survey the key measures of interest and current baselines are as follows: 43% feel valued and recognised for the work they do 28% are satisfied with the opportunities they have for career development/promotion in Waltham Forest We will: - Continue to monitor the profile of the workforce as outlined above - Measure employee engagement in the staff survey (the most recent staff survey (2013) had responses from approximately 48% of staff), in particular monitoring the percentage of staff who: feel valued and recognised for the work they do are satisfied with the opportunities they have for career development/promotion in Waltham Forest 6

7 Monitoring Framework The following table is designed to set out a clear framework for monitoring the new Equality Objectives. The figures for 2015 provide us with a baseline from which to measure the direction of travel. Where possible progress will be measured quarterly and a report will be produced on an annual basis. Objective Measure 2015 Baseline April July Oct Jan 2017 (Expected) Direction of Travel 1. Continue to promote and celebrate a cohesive borough ensuring that our community gets on well together. The proportion of residents who feel that people from different backgrounds get along with one another. 78% 2. Promote the opportunities for all members of our community to benefit from local regeneration and growth. The percentage gap between underachieving groups and their peers. Number of New Homes Bonus beneficiaries recruited to apprenticeships opportunities within growth employment sectors. Number of European Social Fund beneficiaries, previously unemployed or economically inactive, moved into jobs and sustaining employment for 26 weeks. LAC 35.1% Boys 8% Disadvantaged 18.3% TBC TBC 7

8 Objective Measure 2015 Baseline April July Oct Jan 2017 (Expected) Direction of Travel 3. Use greater insight about our community to shape service delivery, including better understanding and managing the impact on protected groups. All key decisions are informed by a robust Equality Analysis, including clear actions to mitigate any negative impacts. Informed by qualitative analysis 4. Advance the equality of opportunity for all staff, by having a diverse workforce that reflects the community it serves. Percentage of top 5% of earners who are women 56.6% Percentage of top 5% of earners who are from a black or minority ethnic group 21.1% Percentage of top 5% of earners who are disabled 6.6% Percentage of staff who: feel valued and recognised for the work they do are satisfied with the opportunities they have for career development/promotion 43% 28% Governance arrangements The above monitoring framework will be presented to PLM, Management Board and Cabinet on an annual basis. 8