Agenda item

The Equality Act 2010 stated that everyone had the right to be treated fairly and equally.  The Act had two main purposes.  It brought together and simplified all of the existing discrimination law, and strengthened the law to further support progress on equality.  In the exercise of its functions (including any function carried out by an external supplier/organisation), the Service must have due regard to the need to:

·        Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act;

·        Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not;

·        Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

These were often called the three main aims of the “general duty” and were detailed in the Equality Act 2010 Section 149.  The Equality Duty was supported by two main specific duties which required public bodies to:

·          Publish equality information at least annually;

·          Set and publish equality objectives at least every four years.

Members considered the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report as now presented.  This was the way in which the Service demonstrated it was meeting its legal requirements, the report contained information (based on information that had been disclosed or that was publically available) about:-

·          Our corporate planning and policy approach to equality and diversity;

·          The composition and the equality profile of our workforce;

·          An overview of equality-related activities.

The Annual Report made reference to how equality, diversity and inclusion activity was embedded within its Corporate Planning process and how LFRS was shaping and delivering its services to meet the needs of its diverse communities.  The Report included data that it was required to report in terms of its workforce profile, its completed action plan for last year and its actions for next year. The delivery of the action plan was monitored through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group.

In response to Members questions the Director of People and Development confirmed that the Authority complied with the Equality Act 2010.  Firefighters dealt with incidents which exposed them to people from different ethnic origins and colour was not seen as a barrier. Our values were based on ‘STRIVE’ – Service (delivering the best service at all times); Trust (being open and honest with each other); Respect (treating people fairly); Integrity (accepting responsibility and accountability for performance); Valued (engaging people and recognising achievements); Empowered (giving people the support they need to deliver change).  Where there had been incidents these were dealt with seriously.  In addition, exit interviews were held to receive feedback from individuals. 

Positive action campaigns were held on an ongoing basis to improve the diversity of the workforce.  Although there was more to be done to improve diversity, Home Office requirements for female recruits had been exceeded in the last recruitment campaign.

The Deputy Chief Fire Officer advised that now the Service was able to recruit on a regular basis it was possible to better engage with the community in readiness for recruitment campaigns.

In response to a question raised by Cllr Coleman, the Director of People and Development confirmed that the Service intended to recruit apprentices within the firefighter cadre when the framework was available and were considering apprentices within the support functions, with consideration currently being given to scale 4 vacancies as to whether an apprentice would be appropriate.  Further work was required in this area and the Director of People and Development would bring a report back to a future meeting.

RESOLVED: - That the Committee noted the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report.