Our achievements so far
Workforce diversity and inclusion
We are working to build a more inclusive culture, and have implemented a programme of activities, including awareness sessions discussing lived experiences, establishing employee networks for protected groups, and development sessions on equalities for the leadership community.
The council was awarded Disability Confident Employer status (at Level 2) on 23 March 2021 and this will be in place up to the 19 March 2024.
Equality Impact Assessments
We use EIAs to ensure our policies and services do not create unconscious discrimination and to ensure equality principles are designed in from the start.
We are reviewing the process and criteria for these to ensure they are not only adequate for our customers’ needs but go beyond that, to deliver on our aspirations of equality for everyone.
Equality Monitoring
We monitor and report on our progress against the gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap, to inform our recruitment, retention and development approaches.
We use our equality monitoring of staff demographics to review our people Strategy and implementations.
Locality teams
We have created Locality Hubs, enabling frontline, responsive teams reacting to the needs of the most vulnerable people in our communities and creating trusting relationships with communities and individuals we had failed to reach previously.
Engagement and involvement
We support a range of external partners and activities to promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
We promote awareness of diversity, equality and inclusion to our audiences around key opportunities, including Black History Month, LGBT History Month and South Asian Heritage Month.
Voluntary adoption of Socio-economic Duty
In March 2024, Oxford City Council voluntarily adopted the Socio-economic Duty within the Equality Act 2010. Work is now ongoing to shape and embed this as part of the Council’s policy making and decision-making processes. The Socio-economic Duty considers and seeks to address the inequalities of outcomes that stem from socio-economic disadvantage. Here are some key examples:
- Health
- Education
- Employment
- Safety
- Living standards
