The Employees' Consultative Forum met on Wednesday 29 July 2026 to discuss the Annual Workforce Equality Report and the Annual Health and Safety Report. Key discussions included the council's progress on diversity and inclusion, the challenges in data collection, and initiatives to improve workplace safety and employee wellbeing.

Annual Workforce Equality Report 2025-2026

The forum received an update on the Annual Workforce Equality Report for 2025-2026, which details the council's workforce demographics across various protected characteristics. Stacey Bailey, Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development, introduced the report, with Christelle and Corinne providing further details.

A key finding was the increase in staff providing data on their protected characteristics, rising from 34% in 2020 to 55% in 2025-26. However, completion rates for religion, faith, and sexual orientation remain lower than other characteristics. The report highlighted that employees aged 35-64 constitute over 80% of the workforce, while those aged 16-24 represent only 2.4%. Disability disclosure has increased to 5.6%, and Black, Asian, and multi-ethnic employees make up nearly 54% of the workforce.

Discussions also touched upon the decline in ethnic representation at higher pay bands and the need to review shortlisting and selection practices to ensure fairness. Councillor Angella Murphy-Strachan raised concerns about barriers preventing young people from staying on after apprenticeships, and the potential to recruit them permanently to reduce agency costs. The report also noted that while women constitute 61% of the workforce, their representation in senior roles has declined slightly.

The forum also discussed the Disability Action Plan, with Ann Jones questioning whether training for managers on disability awareness would be mandatory. Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, clarified that while disability discrimination training is not mandatory, equalities training is, and he has ensured that mandatory training is indeed mandatory.

Alex Davies raised the issue of gathering equality data for school staff, and it was confirmed that the council would explore the school workforce data for this purpose.

Annual Health and Safety Report 2025-2026

The forum also reviewed the Annual Health and Safety Report for 2025-2026, presented by Stacey Bailey and introduced by Clyde Jackett, Head of Health & Safety (interim). The report detailed the council's health and safety performance, including incident reporting, training, audits, and wellbeing initiatives.

Key highlights included a 8% increase in reported incidents to 524, which was attributed to an improved reporting culture following training for 530 staff. There were six RIDDOR incidents, a relatively low number. The most frequent incident categories were injuries (202) and violence/aggression (193).

Significant progress was noted in training, with 100% completion of IOSH Leadership Training for the Council Leadership Team and 83% for senior leaders. Management audits were largely completed, with an average score of 80%. The report also detailed the creation and updating of 197 new and 260 existing risk assessments on the Evotix Assure system.

Wellbeing initiatives and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) utilisation were highlighted, with a utilisation rate of 15.7%, significantly higher than the national average. The report also outlined plans for 2026-2027, including the continued implementation of the health and safety strategy, a new audit programme, and a focus on themes such as lone working and manual handling.

Concerns were raised by Sharon Haynes and John Royle regarding the effectiveness of the Employee Assistance Programme, with suggestions for mystery shopper exercises to assess service quality. It was confirmed that a survey would be sent out in September to gather feedback on EAP experiences.

The report also touched upon the council's commitment to health and safety legislation, with a review of various policies and arrangements, including those for manual handling, extreme weather, and smoking and vaping. The Corporate Health & Safety Board and Corporate Landlord Forum were identified as key governance bodies overseeing these matters.

The meeting concluded with the forum being asked to note the recommendations from both the Workforce Equality Report and the Health and Safety Report.