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Annual Workplace Equalities Report 2014/ 2015 Contents

1. Introduction: Oxford in context Page 3

2. Purpose of the report Page 3

3. Workforce Diversity: What do we look like? Page 4 - 8

4. Recruitment 2014/ 2015: Starters & Leavers Page 9 -12

5. Equal Pay/ Gender Pay Gap Page 13 - 14

6. Other Workforce Data Page 15

7. 2014/ 2015 Key actions summary Page 16

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Annual Workforce Equalities Report – 2014/ 2015 1. Introduction: In contrast to other parts of the county, Oxford is an ethnically and culturally diverse City, with the third highest minority ethnic population in the South East. The City is experiencing rapid population growth (the third highest outside London), with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and other European communities across Oxford accounting for 28% of the population and with 36% of residents being of non-white British ethnic origin. With large numbers of people of white non-British ethnic origin, including new migrants from EU accession countries, newer communities tend to be complex and made up of many diverse groups. The Council provides strategic community leadership, promotes community cohesion and equalities across its service delivery, and continues to look outwards: focusing on putting in place medium and long-term measures that will help the City to fulfil its potential. Key issues include:

• Increasing the diversity of the workforce by promoting the career opportunities available in local government, attracting and appointing more BME candidates to better reflect the make-up of Oxford communities

• Supporting the creation of new jobs through leading on ethical procurement, working with the local enterprise partnership, investing in major infrastructure projects to regenerate Barton, Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill and the City Centre, and supporting employment and skills plans linked to these developments

• Maintaining our accredited Oxford Living Wage policy for directly employed staff, contractors and agency staff, and influencing other employers to be part of a Living Wage City

2. Purpose of this report: This report focuses on the Council as an employer committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce and providing an inclusive work environment with equality of opportunity for all employees. It covers all aspects of recruitment, retention, performance management and staff development reflecting high standards of professional practice, our position as a Investors in People Gold Champion, in addition to embedding Public Sector Equality Duty and Equality Act 2010 best practice. It provides a comprehensive update on human resources and equalities related work streams and provides a snap shot of what we look like as a council: highlighting what we have done and are intending to do in terms of recruitment and retention to increase the diversity of our workforce.

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3. Workforce Diversity: What we look like as at 31st March 2015

Number of Women employees BME employees Disabled employees 0.96% decrease 0.3% increase

(three members of staff)

0.43% decrease (two members of staff)

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Gender profile: Commentary: The gender split continues to reflect a predominance of male staff in the largest service area, Direct Services, and their on-going recruitment as part of service expansion to cover winning significant tenders in 2014/15. An organisational split of 66.13% male to 33.87% female represents a very marginal growth in balance of men from the previous year. Aside from the direct labour services (including Leisure & Parks) other areas have an even profile, with the majority of services having a greater number of women (more in line with national patterns of employment in the sector). Ethnicity profile: Commentary: The workforce has 7.16% from BME groups: maintaining the momentum from small gains in the previous year. The figure rises to 12.2% when staff from white European and other ethnic backgrounds are included (up from 11.55% in 2013/14). Positive signs in recruitment trends and initiatives throughout 2014/2015 indicate some forward movement is being made, and further improvements planned for 2015/16. With turnover expected to remain at a healthy average of just above 10%, the challenge is to increase application rates even further (across all advertised vacancies), having seen an increase in applications year-on-year from 2012/2013, reaching a record high of 19.6% last year (up by almost 1% on 2013/ 14). Real step changes in the rates of appointment have stabilised, with the 14% (25) of new starters from BME communities appointed over the past year demonstrating good progress against the Council’s ambition to employ a more representative workforce. Improvements are, in part, attributable to the Council providing more effective application advice on its website, sending vacancies out directly to community groups as a matter of routine, general recruitment advice, and skills workshops within local communities for groups protected under the Equality Act. We also ran a year-long “anonymised” shortlisting pilot, with analysis presented to scrutiny committee in June 2014 confirming that the recruitment processes were open and transparent. The pilot proved that potential BME applicants were not at a disadvantage in the shortlisting process but that more work needed to be done around writing accessible job descriptions and ensuring that applicants were familiar with the online application template. The key barrier to being successfully shortlisted (for all applicants) was basic literacy: an area that the Council has addressed through significant educational attainment funding programmes in targeted city schools and via the Welfare Reform team coaching/ mentoring clients to positions where they were better prepared to re-enter the work market and make more robust applications or display more confident core interview skills. The Council has both financed a Business in the Community initiative and seen the active engagement of over 30 staff in mentoring, mock interviews and speed career networking events interventions across city schools to help students gain a greater awareness of what the bridge from school to work is actually like and what careers are available at the Council.

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Age profile: Commentary: The current staff make-up is starting to reflect a change in trend from the typical age profile for local government, with 37.7% of staff now falling within the under 40 category and 28.9% between 40-49 years old. This is a marked change from only 28.2% of staff being under 35 in the two years previously. 58.3% of new starters were under 40 compared with 53.6% in 2012/2013. Disability profile: Commentary: 8.53% of the workforce reported a disability. The Council’s Attendance Management Policy has offered strategic support for staff declaring a disability, including assistance in managing planned and unplanned time off. All managers receive training in the policy as part of the DNA of Great Managers programme. The Council has also invested in an employee assistance programme (OPTUM) has also become a Mindful Employer Charter signatory for employers who are positive about mental health and will ensure that all staff involved in recruitment and selection are briefed on mental health issues and the Equality Act 2010, given the appropriate interview skills, and that all line managers have information and training about managing mental health in the workplace. Elected Councillors have also signed the Time to Change pledge (in partnership with MIND) and developed a group of mental health champions. Various services have commissioned the award winning Mental Health Lite awareness training delivered by RESTORE (mental health charity), while the largest service area, Direct Services, is working with their managers to improve their skills in managing sickness. In addition, the Council continues to be subject to a comprehensive external audit, conducted annually by Job Centre Plus, and has retained its Two Ticks (positive about employing, retaining and developing disabled employees) accreditation since 2010. The HR administration team have all been fully trained in the Two Ticks principles to support the shortlisting process and facilitate reasonable adjustments at interview and for on-going employee management. Sexual Orientation profile: Commentary: Despite regular reminders from HR for all staff to ensure that all personal key equalities data is correct and to inform how we direct resources in terms of diversity initiatives and wider support for all staff with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Rates of self-declaration continue to remain low amongst staff, at under 1%, with large returns under unknown (36.9%) or prefer not to say (6%).The Council is however acutely aware that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender staff can face additional barriers to reporting workplace issues that might place them in a position of effectively “outing” themselves, so has strengthened its Dignity at Work Policy, with input from trade union equalities officers, and used an external trainer from the former Andrea Adams Trust to develop the skills of a group of Contact Officers who can help staff understand the policy. No grievances have been brought on the grounds of harassment or unfair treatment relating to sexual orientation, while proactive HR business partnering interventions have encouraged an open and inclusive cross-team culture where coaching

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conversations by managers (supported by a strong internal management and training programme) are increasingly embedded as the business norm. We have been working closely with Stonewall as a Diversity Champion since 2010, bespoke LGBT awareness training sessions are available and the background of our working relationship with Stonewall is included in the Corporate Induction for all new starters, led by the Chief Executive. We hosted a Stonewall Workplace Equality Index launch in May 2014 and will continue to embed Stonewall best practice recommendations, promote key campaigns, develop an employer profile in the Stonewall “Starting Out” careers guide and online platform and develop an annual action plan with guidance from our Stonewall advisor which will focus on line managers’ leadership responsibilities/ role modelling, senior champions stepping up, and what do you do as an individual member of staff or equality champion to be a visible supporter of diversity and inclusion, e.g. e-mail signatures/ celebrating diversity as a team. Religion/Belief & Non Belief profile: Commentary: The profile of the Council is broadly reflective of the wider national cultural trends highlighted by the 2011 Census, with 9.8% of staff declaring a religion or belief distinct from Christian (25.9%) or atheist/no belief (20.1%). The details for 38.6% of staff are unknown. The Council has a dedicated non-denominational “quiet room” designed for use by all staff as a reflective meditative space in the newly refurbished St Aldate’s Chambers. It also recognises that some groups do have specific needs and these are addressed through commitments enshrined in the Fair Employment policy, flexible working arrangements and an on-going commitment to diversity training and expert HR business partnering guidance to assist staff/ managers with planning leave. A cultural calendar of key national and local events has been promoted on a regular basis through the internal Council Matters bulletins and a diversity calendar available for staff to download from the Council intranet. Living in Central Oxford vs. Living outside Central Oxford profile: Commentary: The make-up of the Council is split 46.1%: 53.9% between those living in the City and those commuting in from outside. This is logical and indicative of both the high housing costs of living in the City (officially the most expensive place to live outside London) and the fact that the City Council has a business focused, forward thinking brand that will attract interest from across the country. Nevertheless, in order that the Council is more reflective of the communities it serves within the City we will take every reasonable opportunity to use positive action principles to target recruitment campaigns within the key Oxford postcode areas. Apprentice Cohort recruitment in September 2014 and NEET apprentice programmes in 2014/ 15 were clear examples of the Council adopting this approach.

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4. Recruitment activity 2014/ 2015: New starters

Count of Gender Female Male Unspecified Sum:

Application Received 1235 2289 98 3622

Percentage 34.097 63.2 2.70568747

Application Shortlisted 370 645 29 1044

Percentage 35.441 61.8 2.77777778

Appointed 69 112 181

Percentage 38.122 61.9

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Summary of new starters and leavers in 2014/ 2015: The continued 10% turnover rate reflected the recruitment of additional staff to support new direct labour contracts, service restructures which saw additional posts created in business regulation, licensing and customer services as previous agency cover was reduced. Other teams expanded through a combination of transfers and the creation of posts using European social fund monies. 180 new starters

• 36.87% Women (66), 63.13% Men (113) • 17% (31) were women starting in City Development or Customer Services • 40% (73) were men staring in Direct Services or Leisure & Parks • 3.5% of all applicants from BME groups were successful (23.4% shortlisted), a slight increase on the previous year, compared with 5.3%

of all applicants from White British backgrounds (30.2% shortlisted) • 3.7% (4) of all applicants with a disability were successful, a 1% increase on the previous year • 38% of new starters live in Oxford compared, a slight rise on the previous year, but this still reflects the pressures on housing costs in the

City

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• BME applicants have grown year-on-year since 2010 but a conversion rate of 0.69% of the total applications remains small when compared against a 4.28% rate for White British/ White Other. Although still a slight increase this is a point for further work

• Applications were received from 96 separate nationalities, with the largest interest groups coming from Poland, Spain, Bangladesh and Portugal

164 leavers

• 40% Women (73), 59.7% Men (117) stabilised a trend since 2012/ 13 where fewer women have been leaving • Resignations accounted for 61.4% of the total (10% of turnover),with overall turnover rates at 14.9% • 6.1 % (10) from BME communities, 10.3% (17) with a disability Note that 6.7% (11) from White European/ other groups also left. All these

figures represent a reduction from the previous year • 38%/ 62% split between within Oxford, outside Oxford • 71% of all leavers were under 40. This is a significant change from 40% in the previous year and could be attributed to the growth of

external career development opportunities at a faster rate than the Council is able to create • 32% of all leavers were from Direct Services, 12% from Leisure & Parks, and 11.5% from Customer Services. These are not notable due

to the respective sizes of the workforce

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5. Gender pay gap by service area (full and part time):

Female Male

Business Improvement and Technology (2012) 21.23 16.66

City Development (2010) 17.08 21.47

Customer Services 13.84 13.44

Direct Services (2010) 12.98 14.00

Environmental Development 15.40 16.51

Finance 16.84 18.59

Housing & Property (2013) 14.79 18.05

Human Resources and Facilities (2012) 12.80 15.65

Law & Governance (2010) 18.18 23.52

Leisure, Parks & Communities (2013) 14.85 13.63

Policy Culture & Communications 18.96 20.58

Regeneration & Major Projects (2013) 20.07 16.60

Senior Management 58.52 63.93

Hourly Rates £15.26 £15.14

Ave Salary £29,442.68 £29,208.90

Difference -£233.78

-0.79%

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Full-time gap: Female FT Male FT

Hourly Rates £15.63 £15.21

Ave Salary £30,147.74 £29,335.53

Difference +£812.21

+2.69%

Summary: The Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2014 put the gap between median hourly earnings of men and women in full-time work at 9.4%, with the average salary being £27,000. The average salary for the Council is £29,285.99 and is significantly higher as a commitment since 2009 to an Oxford Living Wage (the only Council in Oxfordshire), currently set at £8.69 (95% of the London Living Wage), ensures that Council staff are paid a decent wage to offset the highest living costs outside London, with average house prices in Oxford being 18 times the average salary. The Council is committed to raising this hourly rate to £9.12 from October 2015. The fundamental changes implemented by a new pay agreement agreed in April 2013 have undoubtedly helped to tackle issues around low pay and the national position of the slowest wage growth since 1997. The Council is proud that this and other measures have resulted in a reduction from a 0.18% differential gender pay gap in favour of men in 2012/ 2013 to a gender pay differential of £233 per annum (0.79%) in favour of women. The Council was shortlisted for a Living Wage Champion award in November 2014 and is likely to undertake further periodic equal pay reviews. Elected members also worked with the Living Wage Foundation as part of an report on Combatting Inequality in Oxford.

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6. Other workforce data (e.g. Disciplinary & Grievance) Employees involved in a disciplinary:

Disciplinary Reason Disciplinary Stage Total

OCC - Damage to Council Property 1st written warning 5

OCC - Damage to Council Property Final written warning 1

OCC - Damage to Council reputation Final written warning 1

OCC - Drug or alcohol misuse Final written warning 1

OCC - Fraud Dismissal - gross misconduct 1

OCC - Non-adherence/breach to Organisational policy or work processes 1st written warning 7

OCC - Non-adherence/breach to Organisational policy or work processes Dismissal - misconduct 1

OCC - Non-adherence/breach to Organisational policy or work processes Final written warning 2

OCC - Non-adherence to values and behaviours framework Dismissal - capability 1 Employees involved in a disciplinary or grievance: The overwhelming majority of disciplinary cases were for failure to observe working procedures, non-adherence to or breaches of organisational policy, with 3 disciplinary cases leading to a dismissal. Only one employee was involved in a grievance that was upheld. It should be noted that the overall total includes cases which had more than one actionable component. Analysis indicates that no member of staff with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 was discriminated against.

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7. Summary and conclusions:

• We have continued to review the essential criteria, practical entry assessment tests for high turnover posts to ensure smarter recruitment , cascaded down best practice around strategic leadership recruitment to other campaigns by involving more staff in the meeting and greeting process and informal stakeholder groups, and engaged with local communities through recruitment awareness workshops in order to be in a better position to recruit a workforce more representative of the City with further HR service objectives to run three community engagement recruitment workshops in 2015/ 2016.

• We have continued to develop detailed HR Metric reports to run headline equalities assessments by each recruitment campaign and to enable the production of a single trend report summarising all protected characteristics (available for Heads of Service to monitor on a monthly and in depth on a quarterly basis as an aid to wider service planning and via Directorate management meetings); and

• We have secured budget commitments to reinforce Corporate Training (£423k pa), extend investment to Leadership (£200k over two years) and implement Health and Wellbeing initiatives (£150k over two years) in response to the 2013 Staff Survey results

• We have continued to explore new opportunities to promote the careers available at the Council, review the apprenticeship opportunities on offer, and support career development for staff through coaching/ mentoring/ secondments and other interventions

The Council is proud to have been recognised as an IiP Gold Champion and international IiP award winner in 2014/ 2015 for its people management and will embed these best practices to recruit and retain a workforce that better reflects the local community. By continually reviewing and refining our approach – and taking action – we have built a significantly better understanding as to why applications from specific groups might fail or indeed why they are not applying in the first place. Using targeted recruitment, implementing new web/ CV based recruitment, the development of a talent management and leadership management strategy, significantly expanding the corporate training programme by including leadership, management and career development workshops, and working directly with schools, community based work clubs and other partners, will help move use towards our aspiration to be an employer of choice and for a workforce that better reflects the demographics of the City of Oxford.

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