Agenda item

M Hempshall, Place, Policy and Equality Manager, presented the Annual Equality and Inclusion Report.

The following key points were noted:

·         The Annual Equalities report provided an overview of how the Council met the Equality Act 2010 and associated Public Sector Equality Duties (PSED).

·         The Council recognised significant gaps in the provision of equalities monitoring data, work was being undertaken to remedy for example collecting equality monitoring data for customer complaints and compliments.

·         The Council was in the process of updating the current HR management system. Employees would be able to access the system via self-service, providing the opportunity to keep their own personal data up to date, which would help to the Council accurately capture workforce data.

·         New systems in Childrens Social Care had been implemented including a systems audit.

·         The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion action plan was currently underway.

·         The Council was developing its staff networks including a BAME and Disability network.

Member discussion arose the age profile of the Council’s staff. Barnsley had a comparable age profile to similar local authorities which varied across directorates. SMT had pinpointed succession planning as a key piece of work and the Council had worked with the LGA to test their workforce planning tool.

RESOLVED that Members note the update.