Content

7.1

Our Annual Equality Report gives an overview
of how we are meeting our Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The
report summarises our actions and progress on improving equality,
in the way we serve the people of Sheffield and how we behave as an
employer.
 
The report includes more detailed information
about some of our areas of work and highlights areas of persistent
inequality. The examples in the report are only a selection of the
ways in which we work to improve equality and to meet the Equality
Duties.
 
The report also includes the council’s
annual Workforce Data Report as Appendix C. This is part of meeting
the Specific Duty under the PSED to publish equality information on
our employees. Producing this report enables us to identify any
disparities in our workforce profile, understand how fair our
workforce policies are and identify any differences in the
experiences of different groups in our workforce.
 
The work undertaken contained in the annual
report is monitored and overseen by the Strategic Equality and
Inclusion Board (SEIB).
 
It was stated that a key positive action to
support our aim to improve equality would be to ensure that all
reports submitted to Committees attach a completed Equality Impact
Assessment (EIA).  Such EIAs should form
part of the early consideration in completing reports so as to
appropriately inform decisions.

 

 

7.2

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That
Strategy and Resources Policy Committee:-
 
(a) notes the progress made in meeting our
Statutory Equality Duties including our Equality Objectives 2019
– 2023;
 
(b) notes our latest workforce diversity data
and outstanding challenges;
 
(c) notes the areas of persistent inequality
that will require continued attention;
 
(d) agrees the priorities for future action as
set out in the report. These are under each equality objective and
cover 6 key areas of focus:
 
• Better data collection, analysis and
use of service equality monitoring information.
• Work with services to ensure service
plans reflect equality goals and commitments.
• Utilise EIAs more effectively and
robustly, ensuring they are undertaken at the right time with good
evidence and in a proportionate way.
• Strengthen relationships with and
understanding of the diverse communities within the city both
online and in person across all characteristics.
• Carry out staff surveys to assess the
morale of the workforce including assessing satisfaction levels of
different groups of employees.
• Develop a more inclusive culture within
the Council including via learning and development for staff and
Members; and
 
(e) agrees to give consideration to
suggestions for future areas of focus for equalities work in
2023.

 

 

7.3

Reasons for
Decision

 

 

7.3.1

We recognise we have some big challenges ahead
and we know from the findings of the Race Equality Commission
report and work from this report that currently, communities in
Sheffield don’t feel the city is fair or inclusive and they
don’t feel empowered or included.

 

 

7.3.2

We therefore need to be committed to providing
more inclusive and accessible services, that meet the needs of all
our communities in Sheffield. We must continue to listen, learn and
embed equality into everything that we do for our residents,
visitors, and workforce

 

 

7.3.3

Although there are many inequalities,
colleagues across SCC are working hard to tackle these. Many are
because of national factors that impact on the city that are
outside our control. We want to thank our colleagues for working
together to help make Sheffield a fairer, accessible and a more
inclusive place to live and work in.

 

 

7.4

Alternatives
Considered and Rejected

 

 

7.4.1

The do-nothing option was discounted when
discussing this paper as it is a Specific Statutory Equality Duty
to report annually on how we are meeting our General and Specific
Duties.