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Sunderland City Council
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Sunderland
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Tel. (0191) 520 5555
Civic Centre
Burdon Road
Sunderland
SR2 7DN
Tel. (0191) 520 5555
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training purposes
RACE EQUALITY MONITORING - SOCIAL SERVICES 2006/07Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Groups Our employment practices |
| 1 | Background |
| 1.1 |
As part of our duties under the Race Relations [Amendment] Act 2000 we monitor certain aspects of our employment practices and publish the results. To comply with the Act we publish the results of our monitoring across the nine areas detailed in the accompanying table. These include monitoring applicants for jobs, promotion, discipline and grievance, training and performance appraisal. All of them are of key importance to employees and we need to be sure that our practices do not disadvantage any particular groups in any way. |
| 1.2 |
We believe that it is important that we carefully monitor our employment practices and look hard at the data we collect. We see this as a means of developing a more diverse workforce and services that are more sensitive to the needs of different ethnic groups. |
| 2. | Context |
| 2.1 |
As we have previously reported, Sunderland is a large city with a small but growing Black and Minority Ethnic [BME] population. Latest figures suggest that about 3% of our 280,000 or so residents come from a BME Group. This compares to the 2% recorded in the 2001 Census and just over 1% recorded in the 1991 Census. It equates to roughly 9000 people. |
| 3. | The Data |
| 3.1 |
This is the fourth year that we have published this information. The results of the last 3 years’ monitoring are available for comparison here: |
| 3.2 |
Last year we reported that Adult and Children’s Social Care Services had been split and that from this year Workforce monitoring and reporting would be carried out separately. However, because Adults and Children still share a training facility, the figures for training refer to both services. All other figures refer to Adult Services only. |
| 4. | Workforce overview |
| 4.1 |
During 2006/7 Adult Services employed 1857 staff 44 [2.4%] of whom are known to be from a BME background. This compares to a figure of 2.2% for the whole of Social Services last year. A small number of employees [13/0.7%] chose to withhold details of their ethnic background. |
| 4.2 |
In general this is a positive trend and indicates that our workforce, statistically at least, reflects the make up of the local community. |
| 5. | Staff profile and adult services performance |
| 5.1 |
Appendix 1
( pdf 46kb) shows a breakdown of all the results of our workforce monitoring across 8 of the 9 required areas for the year ending 31 March 2007. Unfortunately we are still unable to produce figures in respect of applicants for promotion. As reported last year we hope that the eventual introduction of the Council’s new HR and Payroll system will address this issue for us. |
|
5.2 |
We had 736 applications for jobs last year, just over 4% from people known to be from BME Groups. This compares with 5% for Social Services last year. Whether there is any significance in this figure is hard to tell due to the large number of applicants [152/21.0%] whose ethnicity is recorded as ‘unknown’. There have been changes in the past year in the way job applications are received and dealt with and we will need to look into the reasons for this high level of applicants whose ethnicity is not recorded. |
|
5.3 |
During the year we received 2872 applications for training. Of these 32 [1.1%] were from BME staff. Of the 2643 staff who received training, 29 [1.1%] were from a BME Group. Although this indicates no particular disadvantage to those who applied, it does show that a comparatively small percentage of the BME staff group were applicants for training. This is another area for investigation though, as indicated, the figures may be affected by still being combined with Children’s Services. It is pleasing to note that the recording of ethnicity in respect of training has greatly improved since last year. |
| 5.4 | As noted above we are still unable to collect data on applications for promotion. |
|
5.5 |
Also, Adult Services operates an Appraisal Scheme with each employee being appraised at least once a year. However, Appraisals are not generally the forum for decisions about promotion or levels of pay. Rather they focus on training and development needs, work issues and employee aspirations. |
| 5.6 | Of the 8 staff involved in the Grievance Procedure this year, 1 was from a BME Group. |
| 5.7 |
None of the 7 staff involved in the Disciplinary Procedures were from a BME Group. |
| 5.8 |
377 staff left their jobs with Adult Services during 2006/7. Of those 8 [2.1%] were from a
BME background. A further 5 leavers [1.3%] chose to withhold details of their ethnicity. |
| 6 | Conclusions |
| 6.1 |
Equality and Diversity are key issues both for Adult Services and for the Council as a whole. We regard the monitoring of our workforce and our performance in that respect as very important. However we also undertake a number of other activities aimed at improving our performance in respect of the BME population. For example: · We continue to work towards meeting the requirements of Level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government. This includes continuing to assess our services for barriers to access, making and implementing plans to remove those barriers and monitoring our progress against those plans · We have started to develop a Cultural Database to assist our staff in their dealings with BME Groups. This is to be extended to include basic information about a range of faiths and beliefs · We are also working on a database of available training in Equality and Diversity issues to help our staff identify suitable development opportunities for them · We are active members of the NE Equality Network We regularly monitor the performance of our directly provided and commissioned services in respect of Equality and Diversity issues |
| 6.2 |
There are positives to be taken from this year’s workforce monitoring. We have managed to more or less maintain the level of job applicants from BME Groups and the composition of our workforce broadly mirrors that of the Sunderland community. However there are indications that the proportion of BME residents in Sunderland is growing faster than the proportion in our workforce. This is an issue we need to consider as a matter of priority. |
| 6.3 |
We also need to look closely at the figures for applications for training and receiving training. It may be necessary to separate the results for Children and Adults to get a true picture but there are indications that fewer of our BME staff apply for and receive training. |
| 6.4 |
Finally, we need to examine why the ethnicity of job applicants is not more fully recorded and make improvements. This is a key piece of information in deciding how Council jobs are advertised and marketed and we need to make efforts to ensure an improved level of recording takes place. |
| 6.5 |
Overall, while there are no major areas of concern arising from our monitoring this year, there are some important issues that need to be further investigated and some areas where improvements will need to be made. |
| 7 | Further information |
| 7.1 |
You can get more information about our workforce monitoring or any other equality and diversity issue in Adult Services from: David Elliott Policy and Development Manager ILC Claymere Road Leechmere Sunderland SR2 9TS Tel: 0191 5661626 Fax: 0191 5662182 E-mail: policy&devunit@ssd.sunderland.gov.uk |
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These practices are adopted by the Social Services Directorate. The City Council as a whole undertakes similar practices for more information contact askrecruitment@sunderland.gov.uk.
Last updated 06/02/08 |
