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Issue - meetings

JSCC Information Note Equalites Update

Meeting: 18/12/2019 - Joint Staff Consultative Committee (Item 31)

31 INFORMATION NOTE - EQUALITIES UPDATE pdf icon PDF 439 KB

INFORMATION NOTE OF THE SENIOR HUMAN RESOURCES AND CONTRACTS MANAGER.

 

To update the Committee regarding equalities at the Council in respect of Equalities Data and Gender Pay Gap.

 

Decision:

IT WAS AGREED: That the information note entitled Equalities Update be noted.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to consider the Equalities Update.

Minutes:

Audio Recording – 41 Minutes 32 Seconds

 

The Senior Human Resources & Contracts Manager presented the Information Note entitled Equalities Update and advised that the data within the Information Note was nearly a year old as, owing to absence, the information was not able to be brought to an earlier meeting of that Committee.

 

The Senior Human Resources & Contracts Manager advised as follows:

 

·                The data was required to be published, in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, in January 2020 on the Council’s website;

·                Further explanation was provided on the statistics on page 36 of the Information Note at Paragraph 3.1.1.1 – 3.1.1.3.

·                The figures illustrated that the make up of the Council’s workforce, joiners and leavers by protected characteristics remained very stable with few changes;

·                There had been a significant increase in the number of long term sickness cases in 2018;

·                There was an increase in leavers in 2018 to 58 which compared to 46 leavers in 2017 and 60 leavers on 2016;

·                The Council’s Gender Pay Gap figures for 2018 had been submitted in March 2019 and the full Gender Pay Gap Report was attached as Appendix 2 as well as being available on the Council’s website;

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·                Councillor Claire Strong;

·                Councillor Keith Hoskins; and

·                Councillor Kate Aspinwall.

 

In response to questions raised, the Senior Human Resources & Contracts Manager and the Corporate Human Resources Manager advised the following:

 

·                Actual numbers would be given as well as the percentages in order to clarify the percentage of female employees in the workforce;

·                Data relating to how far employees commuted in to work and the number of employees who lived within the District could be obtained;

·                HOP (Hertfordshire Opportunities Portal) into Hertfordshire was a one-stop shop for those wishing to upskill in Hertfordshire;

·                An employee’s Marriage Status was one of the 9 Protected Characteristics that meant it was statutory to publish data relating to this;

·                An Ethnicity Pay Gap would be required to be published in the future;

·                Software to ensure job adverts and interview questions contained gender neutral language was being looked into;

·                There was not an issue with Equal Pay at the Council; there is an issue with The Gender Pay Gap.

 

IT WAS AGREED: That the information note entitled Equalities Update be noted.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Committee to consider the Equalities Update.