Equality Peer Challenge - Excellent LevelCity of York Council

PeersCllr Eunice Campbell – Nottingham City CouncilJohn Cowings – Derbyshire County Council Sally Atueyi – Rochdale Borough CouncilAlison Scott – Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue ServiceGill Elliott – Local Government Association

January 2015 www.local.gov.uk

The Challenge

• Designed to assess CYC’s self assessment at the Excellent level of the Equality Framework for Local Government

• Not an inspection but an external assessment by critical friends

5 Themes of the Framework

• knowing your communities

• leadership, partnership and organisational commitment

• involving your communities

• responsive services and customer care

• skilled and committed workforce

knowing your communities

strengths:• Good use of evidence and data to support Council

vision • Data collected is comprehensive and a wide range of

sources are used• Most members have a good knowledge of their

communities• Good evidence of detailed understanding of issues

affecting communities e.g. JSNA mental health issues • Changing needs of communities are mapped and

resources are targeted to areas of deprivation• Good use is made of economic and health data

knowing your communities

areas for consideration:• Ward profiles are good but more local intelligence

from service users would add to knowledge• Maintain focus on accurate reporting of hate crime

against vulnerable groups • Range and quality of customer data and how it is

used, including CIAs

leadership, partnership and organisational commitmentstrengths:

• Council has a clear and strong vision for the city and the role of equalities

• Chief Executive and senior managers demonstrate personal commitment to equalities

• Leader and Member equality champion are firmly committed to equalities agenda

• Many Members are engaging directly on fairness and equality issues in their community

• Managers have a good understanding of the importance of equalities in service planning, development and delivery

leadership, partnership and organisational commitmentstrengths• Partnership working on equalities across the city is good –

effective networking with a wide range of stakeholders• The Equalities Plan demonstrates links between equality

objectives and outcomes for communities• Voluntary and community sector recognise the commitment of

CYC to equalities

• Procurement and commissioning processes are supporting equalities objectives

• CYC is a strong supporter of initiatives to foster good relationships between diverse communities – Big York Survey demonstrates successes

leadership, partnership and organisational commitmentareas for consideration• Role and responsibilities of the Fairness and Equalities Board

need to be clearer in implementation of Equalities Plan• Equalities Plan needs to be a “living” document that reflects

the voices of all communities• All Members need to champion equality and fairness• Community Impact Assessments need to be consistent in

their quality and in reflecting community views• Further development is needed on improving communication

both within Council and partners

Involving your communities

strengths:• Huge range of community engagement opportunities

• Good use of forums for engaging with protected groups

• Strong emphasis on giving people a voice

• Volunteering is well developed and supported

• Close relationship with York CVS

• Work with Gypsies and Travellers is longstanding and has delivered outcomes for the community across a range of issues

• Evidence that community engagement around services is improving

• Staff recognise part of their role is to enable communities to inform service delivery.

Involving your communities

areas for consideration:• Ensure customers can navigate new website to access

services and information• Ensure consultation on all service changes is timely and

comprehensive• Continue to develop better links with small and new emerging

communities in the City• Equalities and Advisory Group feel less influential than in the

past – view supported by some voluntary partners• Need to identify and reach out to people from protected

characteristics who don’t participate in volunteering• Could do more to support and listen to those with learning

disabilities e.g Easy Read correspondence, direct payment processes

responsive services and customer care

strengths:• Many good examples of equality outcomes are being delivered

across services e.g. homeless young people, older people’s care homes and dementia understanding

• Data analysis is used to track services e.g mental wellbeing

• CIAs are being used to identify needs and mitigate negative impact

• Views and experiences of protected groups have influenced the initial design of the customer centre and ongoing improvements

• Dementia friendly city

responsive services and customer care

areas for consideration:• How to capture the views of customers from

protected groups that may not be evident from methods like surveys e.g. New CRM system

• balancing the needs of different communities of interest within the city Centre e.g Heritage; businesses; disabled people

• Managing customer and community expectations within context of budget cuts and restructuring e.g Gypsy and Traveller Strategy

Skilled and committed workforce

strengths:• Staff speak highly of the Council as an employer and feel well

supported and empowered to do their jobs• There is comprehensive workforce data on recruitment,

selection, leavers and the workforce profile which is driving workforce strategy and management practice

• The Health and Wellbeing Survey indicates high satisfaction levels amongst staff. Results are disaggregated and issues are being addressed

• CYC has invested in positive action around recruitment which is generating high numbers of applicants from protected characteristic groups.

Skilled and committed workforce

strengths: • The Equality Experts Group has delivered outcomes and is a

good resource for the Council• A wide variety of training is available for staff on equalities • The Council has been a driver for establishing the Living

Wage in York more widely• Equal Pay has been addressed• Staff value PDRs and could give examples of their own

equality objectives• Behavioural framework allows appropriate conversations with

staff• Good working relationship between TUs and HR

Skilled and committed workforce

areas for consideration:• Workforce profile still does not reflect community in terms of

ethnicity and disability. Need to further consider selection processes as numbers of applicants from these groups is high

• Council has been successful in increasing the number of women in senior posts but not BME or staff with a disability

• Further consider ways to consider how to close the gaps in disclosure of protected characteristics – encourage use of self reporting via iTrent

• Still a need to embed equalities awareness amongst all staff• Consistent application of employment policies e.g. reasonable

adjustments, and development of managers’ skills• Earlier engagement in CIAs and restructuring would be

welcomed by TUs

Overall conclusion

City of York Council has satisfied the criteria for the Excellent level

of the EFLG