Agenda item

To consider item 16

The Chairman advised that this report set out the progress on the equality, diversity and inclusion objectives and also included some updates to those objectives and looked at the year ahead.

The Head of Human Resources advised Members that this report was to update on progress made on equality, diversity and inclusion and the equality, diversity and inclusion objectives. The themes for 2023 were set against agreed objectives and had been amended to ensure the refreshed Corporate Plan priorities and the HMICFRS report recommendations and learnings, were aligned with it.

Recommendations from both the Independent Culture Review of London Fire Brigade and more recently the HMICFRS values and culture in Fire and Rescue Services had been cross referenced. Separate reports had been presented to the Executive Committee and Fire Authority.

Appendix 1 introduced the statutory duties outlined by the prevailing legislation, and the overarching objectives.  Appendix 2 showed a summary of the equality, diversity and inclusion headlines and what had been achieved in 2022/2023. Appendix 3 illustrated equality, diversity and inclusion workforce data in the form of charts in comparison to the latest census data (2021) for the population of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.  The service had reviewed the way it collected and presented data; this had been refreshed and was captured in the latest data report. Appendix 4 showed the refreshed objectives, noting the themes for 2023/2024 - Leadership, Community Engagement, Neurodiversity, Recruitment, and Facilities and Welfare Provision. They were set out against themes, activities, and the overarching objective so they could be effectively measured and reported on in future.

A Member asked about facilities and welfare provision, there was no timeline to show when the work identified would be completed.

The Head of Human Resources advised that work had already started, the plan was to look across all of the estate to see what was needed throughout and to be consistent. There was an equality, diversity and inclusion budget of £25k per annum.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Assets advised that he was working with the Property Manager, to understand what a standard fire station should look like, and what needed to be undertaken at each fire station. The Property Manager had been invited to attend the equality, diversity and inclusion group meeting to update on what was being done.

Members would like to see a list of identified works needed to upgrade premises in line with EDI objectives.

A Member asked about the gender pay gap and would the Authority hit the target.

The Head of Human Resources advised that the Authority reported on gender pay annually, and there was an action plan in place. In terms of equality on equal pay, an audit was carried out in 2020 that showed the Authority was doing everything it should and there was not any equal pay issues. As well as gender pay, the Authority would be looking at reporting on ethnicity pay moving forward.

A Member asked about the equality, diversity and inclusion recommendations that came out of the Grenfell report.

The Chief Fire Officer advised that once all the Grenfell recommendations had been received, they would be worked on and included in the Authority’s policies and procedures. Regular updates were brought to Members, and the next report would highlight the equality, diversity and inclusion recommendations. The Operational Assurance Improvement Plan which included recommendations from Grenfell and Manchester Arena would be presented at the next Authority meeting in October.

The Chairman advised there was good progress in ethnic diversity in wholetime recruitment, but there had been a drop in gender diversity and asked what was being done to mitigate this.

The Head of Human Resources advised that in terms of gender challenges, in the last cohort of apprentices, of the 18 that had been selected, there were four females. Each recruitment the Service was looking at being as reflective of its communities as possible. Officers would run various reports at different stages of the application process, to see who applied, different dropout rates and was there anything that could be done in terms of the selection procedures and role related testing.

RESOLVED –

1.                  That the contents of the report, Introduction; Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) 2020 – 2025 Appendix 1 the BMKFA Headlines in Appendix 2 and EDI workforce data in Appendix 3 be noted.

2.                  That the revised EDI objectives in Appendix 4 be approved.