Tony Williams, Head of Human Resources introduced the report of the Director of Change and Organisational Design that provided information on the Council’s our workforce for 2017/18 in accordance with the Equality Act (2010) and Public Sector Equality Duty (2011). The report also provided the Employment and Appointments Committee with an update in relation to any data gaps in the Council’s workforce equality information.

The report informed that the purpose of the Duty was to help embed equality considerations (which were central to delivering fair and efficient public services) into the day to day activities of public bodies. It encouraged public bodies to engage with the diverse communities and workforce affected by their activities so policies and services were appropriate and accessible to all.  This would help shape future service delivery and ensure we meet the needs of our residents with a skilled and committed workforce.

Mr Williams, Head of Human Resources informed the Committee that Wirral Council remained one of the biggest employers in the borough with 83% of employees living in Wirral. He added that it was the Council’s aim is to be a good and fair employer which was broadly representative of the residents who live here.

Mr Williams further stated that in comparison to local demographic information, the workforce was over-represented by females and under-represented by males and figures remain relatively the same over the three year time period examined. Employees paid at workforce level, generally reflected the overall composition of the workforce, however in terms of Manager / Senior Managers (EPO1 –EPO25) women employees were under-represented at around 57% (against overall female workforce of 64%). The report informed that based on comparison to local population figures, women were over represented at Manager / Senior Managers level and at Chief Officer group level (the Chief Officer level female representation being a reversal in trend from last year by 7%).

In addition to the above information, Mr Williams informed the Committee of a number of key statistics relating to the Council’s Workforce, namely:

·  Disability Workforce - 5.7%

·  Ageing Workforce – 65% aged 46years or over

·  Work / Life – 36% of workforce are part-time

·  Staff with Carer responsibilities – 3%

·  Ethnicity – BME 2-3%

Members were apprised that the collection of personal information would always remain sensitive, and the Council ensured employees could select ‘prefer not to say’ options when providing data. The Head of Human Resources informed that the Council was confident that all its policies and procedures were equitable and fair across all protected characteristics. He added that an initial staff confidence campaign had been launched with more planned in the coming months to address any concerns and help reduce the data gaps. He added that the report would continue to be refreshed, updated, analysed and published annually, and data provided would be used to form the basis of an ‘equality-proofed’ workforce strategy.

Resolved – That

1)  publication of the Annual Workforce Equality Report to meet our legal requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) 2011, be approved; and

2)  the position in relation to workforce equality performance and the progress made by the Council in relation to producing, analysing and publishing workforce data, be noted.