Progress and challenges in 2023 to 2024
In 2023/24, Surrey County Council (SCC) continued to make good progress against our key objectives for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
Some highlights from the 2023 to 2024 action plan include:
- Rolling out an improved process for assessing and implementing workplace adjustments for staff.
- Completing the launch of the Refuges for All project, providing 7 safe spaces for victims and survivors of domestic abuse from underserved backgrounds including LGBTQ+ and ethnically diverse people.
- Achieving Carer Confident level 2 status and introducing one-week paid carer's leave.
- SCC website achieving full digital accessibility compliance and rolling out an Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven checking tool for documents ('TAMI').
- Developing Inclusive Recruitment guidance for hiring managers and implementing inclusive practices in interviews.
- Undertaking 3 in-depth reviews of staff experience at SCC with our disabled, ethnically diverse and LGBTQ+ staff.
- Launching an Inclusive Language Guide for staff.
- Extending the Reverse Mentoring programme to all members of Corporate Leadership Team and other senior managers.
- Developing in-depth ethnographic research into the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis for our most vulnerable communities and working with community groups and charities to target Household Support funds at disabled and ethnically diverse residents.
- Improving guidance on undertaking Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs), developing EIA champions network and providing training for EIA champions.
- Funding an Inclusive Boards programme with 20 local voluntary organisations to improve understanding of inclusion and how to diversify trustee boards.
- Running inclusive communications in collaboration with our Inclusive Staff Networks to promote awareness, celebrate diversity and support an inclusive culture for all.
- Completing the launch of the Refuges for All project, providing 7 safe spaces for victims and survivors of domestic abuse from underserved backgrounds including LGBTQ+ and ethnically diverse people.
The Council also published its refreshed Organisation Strategy, The Surrey Way which sets out how EDI is central to the delivery of our aim of having No One Left Behind in Surrey, as well as a new People Strategy (PDF). which sets out how we will become an inclusive and compassionate employer. This demonstrates the growing level of maturity of EDI work in Surrey County Council and our journey to embed it at the heart of everything we do.
We know, though, that there is still some way to go to achieve our ambitions of having no one in Surrey left behind and having a truly inclusive and compassionate workplace culture at SCC. In 2023/24 we undertook a series of external challenges to our EDI work to help us better understand our challenges and where we need to focus resources going forward. These reviews included a Local Government Association peer review of our work against their Equality Framework for Local Government as well as three in-depth independent reviews into the experiences of disabled, ethnically diverse and LGBTQ+ staff in SCC.
Some key challenges that remain include:
- Issues with the roll out of our new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system means we have not been able to improve the data we hold on staff demographics which is needed to enable us better understand patterns of recruitment, retention and promotions.
- We still have groups of staff, particularly in sessional and sub-contracted roles, who do not have access to the same levels of support as our general staff population.
- There are still too many accessibility issues with our core office sites which make access challenging for disabled staff and residents and some of our internal digital services are not sufficiently accessible.
- We need to work more closely with partners across Surrey from public, private and voluntary sectors to develop a shared strategic framework for addressing persistent inequalities in our communities.
Our Action Plan for 2024 to 2025 will build on the solid foundation of our work so far, as well as enabling us to address our ongoing challenges and take us to the next phase of this work by doing three things:
- Responding to the recommendations of the Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Review and reviews of underrepresented staff groups.
- Setting out key areas of work from across the organisation which will further embed EDI into our ways of working and tackle our outstanding challenges.
- Setting out how we will develop a longer-term strategic vision for EDI across the whole of Surrey, working with partners to address inequalities of outcome for residents.
We have arranged this work into 6 key themes which are set out below.
Theme 1: Improving the experiences of underrepresented staff in SCC
We will respond to all the recommendations in the three reviews of underrepresented staff voices.
We will continue to support our Inclusive Staff Networks including by developing guidance for staff and managers on how to manage staff time and network activity.
We will develop a 'safe space' reporting system for staff to raise concerns about discrimination in the workplace.
We will address issues with our recording systems to enable staff to correctly report their demographic data.
We will use this data to carry out a deep dive into our workforce profile to see where inequalities of outcome are and to improve our recruitment and retention approaches.
We will set up a task and finish group to address the issue of staff who have reduced access to SCC systems and support.
We will ensure that our proposed career development programme is designed to meet the needs of groups who are underrepresented in leadership positions.
We will review our refreshed Induction Training to ensure it provides effective EDI guidance.
We will continue to seek independent accreditation for our EDI policies and practice.
Theme 2: Improving our culture and capacity within SCC to lead on EDI
We will develop an evidence-based council-wide training programme on EDI, in line with best practice and providing clear, practical and operationally relevant advice on our duties as an employer under the Equality Act 2010.
We will develop inclusive management and inclusive recruitment programmes that meet the needs of all staff in order to address recruitment, retention and progress of underrepresented staff groups.
We will work across SCC directorates to understand requirements for further EDI training, including around cultural intelligence, and what resources would be needed to deliver this.
We will roll out training on EIAs via a new e-learning package that will focus on the practicalities of developing an equality analysis. This will be supplemented by classroom-based training which focuses more on supporting colleagues to understand what makes a good EIA, how to scrutinise a completed one and how they are used to practically inform decision-making.
Theme 3: Improving accessibility of our built environment and services
We will develop a prioritised action plan for addressing outstanding accessibility works required in our existing core office sites.
We will ensure that plans for our new office site in Woking are compliant with best practice for accessibility (BS8300).
We will develop a sustainability plan to address pressures on our workplace adjustments budget.
We will improve accessibility of our digital and built environments and ensure accessibility considerations are built into our design and transformation work.
We will develop and agree an approach with our Disabled Employees Network in Surrey to accessible communications for staff and residents.
Theme 4: Working alongside local people to improve community cohesion
We will work with faith communities and interfaith networks to develop and pilot an approach to improving engagement with and access to public services.
We will work with our communities in Surrey to support community-based events to celebrate diversity and promote understanding and cohesion.
We will work with colleagues in Surrey Police to develop a partnership approach to community cohesion and tackling hate crime.
We will work with partners to address over-representation of young people with additional needs, who have experienced care and who are from ethnically diverse backgrounds in the criminal justice system.
We will work with partners in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to improve understanding of and approaches to EDI throughout the sector.
Theme 5: Communicating our values, providing leadership and celebrating diverse voices
We will agree key inclusion and awareness events with our Inclusive Staff Networks and promote information about them throughout the year in new and creative ways.
We will showcase diverse voices and perspectives through our internal communications including through guest blogs and 'spotlight on Surrey'.
We will develop a series of case studies to highlight the work being done to address inequality in Surrey's communities to increase awareness of and trust in our No One Left Behind mission.
We will promote our work in EDI to improve our attractiveness as an employer.
Theme 6: Ensuring we have systems in place to measure, monitor and implement change on EDI
We will provide development and induction support to elected Members to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.
We will develop an evaluation and impact measurement for EDI related activity to enable us to demonstrate outcomes from our work and focus on 'what works'.
We will embed EDI considerations in our commissioning and procurement frameworks, providing training on our responsibilities for procurement teams and contract managers, as well as providing improved guidance to commissioners and providers of services.
We will strengthen our approach to EIAs, including improving quality assurance, measuring impact and working with strategic partners to improve engagement with them in the EIA process.
We will review our suite of HR policies in light of recommendations from the three staff reviews.
Theme 7: Working with partners to develop a longer-term strategic framework for tackling inequalities in Surrey
We will work with internal and external partners to develop a shared understanding of the inequalities our communities experience. We will create a shared strategic framework to bring together work across the county of Surrey in tackling these inequalities and identify where gaps in resources and activity need to be addressed.