The East Herts Council Human Resources Committee convened to discuss HR statistics for the first quarter of 2025/26 and the Annual Equalities Report 2024/25, approving the recommendations outlined in both reports.

Annual Equalities Report 2024/25

The committee reviewed and noted the Annual Equalities Report 2024/25 and approved the recommendations set out in the 2025/26 action plan. The report provides a detailed analysis of the council's workforce and external job applicants, categorised by the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010. The report is a legal requirement under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, which mandates public sector bodies with over 150 employees to publish annual data on workforce equality.

Key findings from the report included:

• Employee Profile: The council's employee profile generally reflects the working population in Hertfordshire and the East of England, particularly in ethnic origin, religion, belief, disability and sexual orientation. However, the report noted that the profile is not closely reflective in terms of sex (gender), age and disability. The council has a considerably higher percentage of female employees (72%) compared to male employees (28%), which is common in the public sector. The council also has a higher proportion of employees aged between 50 and 64 compared to council residents. Only 5% of employees have a disability, which is significantly less than the number of council residents with a disability (13.6%).
• Recruitment: The council attracted a diverse range of external applicants in 2024/25. The council was particularly successful in attracting applicants from the 20-29 and 30-39 age groups, from minority ethnic groups and applicants who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, when compared with the overall Council population. There was an increase in the percentage of white applicants from application to appointment (64% to 86.1%) and a decrease in applicants from the 'Black African/Caribbean/Black British' (11.3% to 2.5%) and 'Asian/Asian British' ethnic groups (14% to 3.8%). The report noted that this was most likely due to the fact that the council receives a significant number of applicants from abroad who do not have the right to work in the UK, and whose applications are automatically rejected. 5% of applicants had a disability, but none of the appointees had a declared disability. The percentage of lesbian, gay or bisexual applicants increased from 6.8% at application to 8.9% at the appointment stage.
• Discipline & Grievance and Training: There were 2 formal probation cases, 1 grievance and 2 disciplinary cases in 2024/25. The council was unable to report on equality data due to the possibility of the individuals being identifiable. The report stated that training and development are provided on a fair and equal basis across the council.
• Leavers: There was a higher proportion of male leavers when compared to the overall employee profile. The percentage of leavers with a disability (7.1%) was also slightly higher than the percentage of employees with a disability (5%). There was a slightly higher percentage of leavers from the 'Asian/Asian British' group when compared to the percentage of employees from that group. The percentage of leavers in the 65-75 age groups was much higher than the percentage of employees in this age group, but this is due to employees in this age group taking retirement.

The report included several recommendations for 2025/26, including:

• Completing the annual gender pay gap report.
• Working with colleagues in Housing & Health on the refreshed Equalities Strategy.
• Sending all staff a reminder to check and update their personal details on MyView.
• Ensuring equalities data at the shortlisting stage is included in next year's report.
• Continuing to monitor equalities data for all disciplinary, grievance and formal probationary cases.
• Continuing to ensure that all staff complete the equality and diversity module as part of the mandatory e-learning training programme, and offer further equalities based training as identified by annual training needs analysis.
• Continuing to promote equalities-based events such as International Women's Day.
• Maintaining a sufficient bank of Mental Health First Aiders to support staff experiencing mental health issues and run refresher training.
• Expanding the East Herts Together Group's remit to ensure minority groups are represented and celebrated.

Human Resources Quarter 1 Statistics

The committee considered the Human Resources Management report for Quarter 1 (April– June 2025).

As of 30 June 2025, East Herts Council employed 278.14 full time equivalent (FTE) staff, with a headcount of 311.

Key statistics from the report included:

• Sickness Absence: A total of 742.15 FTE days were taken due to sickness. Short term sickness (absences of less than four weeks) accounted for 257.7 FTE days, while long term sickness accounted for 484.45 FTE days.
• Recruitment and Retention: The biggest recruitment challenge was for qualified Environmental Health Technical Officers. The team are currently reviewing the structure, with a focus on developing career progression opportunities to both attract new talent and retain staff. There were 9 new starters in quarter 1, with 5 in BEAM, 1 in Leadership Team (Finance), 2 in Revenue & Benefits, and 1 in Legal. As of 30 June 2025, there were 56 unfilled posts, representing 15.3% of posts. There were 8 leavers in Q1, giving a turnover rate for the quarter of 2.6%. The turnover rate predicted for the annual period 2025/26 is 10.3%.
• Learning and Development: The learning needed in the organisation is delivered by e-learning, one to one training or group-based learning remotely or in person. The annual mandatory e-learning training programme has continued for employees to complete in line with their performance review. These courses include Data Protection, Health and Safety, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Safeguarding. A mandatory course on preventing sexual harassment has now been added to ensure compliance with the new statutory requirements and increase the safety of all of our staff at work and in work related activities.
• Health and Safety: There were no work-related accidents reportable to the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013).

The minutes of the Safety Committee meeting held on 7 May 2025 at Wallfields were included in the report. Issues raised at the meeting included poor air quality in the ground floor office space occupied by Planning and Housing and Health, and outstanding repair, maintenance and street cleansing items in council car parks.