Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director, Human Resources, for the Committee to receive a presentation on the review into the Council’s equality practices and overall compliance with the Equality Act and Public Sector Duty with the aim of creating an Equality and Inclusion Action Plan for the Council.

The Committee received a presentation by Alaba Okuyiga from the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) on the equality audit they had undertaken for the Council. The presentation set out the objectives and methodology of the review, key findings and recommendations, and proposed next steps. The full report produced by ENEI would be ready by the end of September, and this would be circulated to the Committee separately. It was proposed that the action plan arising from this work would be brought back to the December meeting of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee for consideration. Mr Okuyiga advised the Committee that Haringey were to be commended for undertaking such an in-depth review.

The Committee asked for comparison with other London boroughs, and Mr Okuyiga advised that Haringey compared very favourably in terms of its equalities impact assessments (EQIAs), however cumulative equalities impacts and improved equality training had been identified as areas for improvement. The Committee welcomed the quality of the presentation, but noted that it would have been useful to have received it in advance of the meeting, as this would have enabled them to give more consideration to questions they wanted to ask.

One of the issues arising from the interviews was making equalities ‘part of the day job’ and the Committee asked what this might mean in practice. Mr Okuyiga indicated that staff wanted to feel that characteristics such as their age, their ethnicity had been fully taken into account when decisions were made affecting their work, and should be taken into account as part of everything the Council did in terms of service delivery, given the very diverse nature of the borough. Mr Okuyiga said that this would be covered within the final report.

The Committee asked about the responses in the survey relating to staff reporting barriers to progression, and whether it was possible to identify whether these were perceived barriers or barriers in reality. Mr Okuyiga advised that the perception of such barriers was one of the key drivers for the review and that one of the findings was that people were not seeing people like themselves in senior roles at the Council. The Committee asked what could be done to address this issue, particularly in terms of changing the structures within the organisation that support staff to reach senior posts. It was noted that this was one of the issues that would be addressed in the full report at the end of the month, and that the emerging Haringey Academy would play a significant role. It was also noted that the Council’s graduate trainee scheme had a role to play in this work, as the graduate trainees were very visible throughout the organisation, and were expected to take on senior roles in future. Mr Okuyiga reported that some form of positive discrimination was often considered as a means of addressing diversity in a visible way quickly, however he advised that there were downsides to this approach that the Council would have to consider if it adopted positive discrimination.

The Committee noted that culture change was an essential outcome, and asked Mr Okuyiga to identify which of the recommendations set out in the presentation would have the greatest impact in achieving this. Mandatory training in equalities issues was highlighted as one of the central recommendations for culture change, and also making equalities and inclusion a core part of every decision making process in the Council. The Committee asked whether there were examples of mandatory equalities training having an impact, in response to which Mr Okuyiga advised that one non-London authority found a 30% reported increase in awareness of equalities issues a year after the introduction of such training. Mr Okuyiga noted that the recent engagement of a number of policy officers to look at equalities and inclusion was a positive step by the Council.

Nick Walkley, Chief Executive, agreed that the findings in respect of the need for cumulative equalities impacts accurately reflected the current position, and would help the Council to focus on moving forward with this. It was noted that the work around the new values and brand identity was positive, but that there were still legacy issues relating to organisational culture that needed to be challenged. The Chief Executive advised that the forthcoming launch of the new brand and values had been discussed as an opportunity to re-induct all members of staff, and this was something that could be linked in with the review’s recommendation regarding mandatory equalities training.

Incorporating equalities issues into learning and development was emphasised as a means of addressing the perceived ‘glass ceiling’. It was also evident from the survey results that individual staff members’ experiences of management were very different from the experience at more senior levels, and suggested that training for first and second level managers should be a priority.

The Chair welcomed the findings of the review as interesting and challenging, and noted that it was valuable to get an idea of different perceptions of the organisation. It was hoped that this work would lead to a change in culture and of the perception of the Council in respect of equalities and inclusion, and that equalities would now start to be looked at in a more cohesive manner across the Council.

The Committee and Chief Executive expressed their satisfaction with the work undertaken by the ENEI, and thanked Mr Okuyiga for his presentation. As next steps, it was noted that the full report would be produced at the end of September and circulated to the Committee directly. Work would then begin on developing an action plan, which would be brought to the Committee at its December meeting for consideration. It was agreed that it was important for it to be communicated to all staff that this work was taking place, in order to be as transparent as possible.

RESOLVED

a)    That the content of the presentation be noted.

b)    That the Committee agree to receive a final Action Plan and actions already completed at the December 2015 committee meeting.

c)    That the Committee agree to monitor progress during 2016.