6 - Mainstreaming Equality and Equality Outcomes 2025
Renfrewshire Council · 1 May 2025
Back to Council — 1 May 2025 and its agenda
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1 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Council On: 1st May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Mainstreaming Equality and Equality Outcomes 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The report provides an update on progress with equalities and is intended to meet Renfrewshire Council’s duties to report this progress publicly and in an accessible manner. The report provides an update on what activities have been delivered in the reporting period from 2023- 25. The report also details a range of information that the Council is required to publish by the end of April 2025, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. This report covers Renfrewshire’s Councils duty both corporately, and as an education authority. 1.2 The report provides an update on progress mainstreaming equality through all functions of the Council. It is intended to meet our duties to report this progress publicly and in an accessible manner. The report provides a new draft set of equality outcomes for 2025-2029, with a consultation and engagement programme planned for 2025 to fully develop this outcomes framework alongside communities. 1.3 In the last report in 2023, we reported in the context of globally significant economic and political challenges which have impacted every organisation, business, household and person in Renfrewshire. This has continued through this period, and our communities have experienced a deepening cost of living crisis, and humanitarian emergencies with people displaced by war and other global emergencies.
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2 This report highlights the progress made with our continued focus on tackling inequality, but recognise that despite this, inequalities for local people are persisting and for too many people, worsening. ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 To note the progress made in mainstreaming equalities 2.2 To approve the draft Equality Outcomes 2025-2029, and consultation approach for developing the outcomes framework throughout 2025 2.3 To approve the Progressing Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Equality Report for final publication on the website _________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Renfrewshire Council has a general equality duty, which requires it to pay due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations as set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. There are a number of Specific Duties laid out for public authorities by Scottish Ministers to support the general equality duty. 3.2 In line with these Specific Duties, Renfrewshire Council is required to report on its progress with mainstreaming equality, its progress against its equality outcomes, employee information and gender pay gap information by the end of April 2025. 3.3 This report provides an update in line with these duties and which also require for progress to be reported publicly and in an accessible manner. The report provides information on the progress on mainstreaming equality as well as progress against the Equality Outcomes agreed in 2021. 3.4 The appendices to the report provide a wide range of data, including equalities information in relation to the Council’s workforce, occupational segregation and pay gap data, along with more detailed information on education. 4 Key mainstreaming activities this period Key activities highlighted within the Council’s mainstreaming report include:
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3 Strategic planning and equalities 4.1 In 2024, the Council refreshed its Council Plan, the key strategic plan for Renfrewshire. There are five strategic outcomes for the Council Plan— place, economy, fair, green and living our values. Improving outcomes for children and families is a key theme which runs through all five of our strategic outcomes and underpins all that we wish to achieve. The Mainstreaming Progress Report is aligned to these strategic outcomes and shows the progress we have made embedding equalities in the delivery of the Council’s priorities. 4.2 Detailed local analysis of Renfrewshire’s census data has been undertaken by the organisation. The census data provided a significant update in our understanding of the demography of Renfrewshire, particularly in relation to changing population patterns and the diversity of our communities. For example, local intelligence has highlighted that some of Renfrewshire’s communities are increasingly diverse, and this census data has helped to enhance our understanding of this and will help to inform both service level and strategic programmes of work such as Fairer Renfrewshire. Service delivery and equalities 4.3 Housing Services continue to support over 200 Ukrainian Displaced Persons households who have resettled in Renfrewshire since 2022 and those from Afghanistan and Syria who have arrived via other refugee resettlement programmes. The Resettlement Team assist refugees to find temporary and settled accommodation that meets their needs, as well as deliver and commission integration events. There also continues to be increased demand for services from Asylum Seekers staying in hotel accommodation who have received a positive asylum decision and who are then entitled to present at local housing services seeking support and possible accommodation. 4.4 The Local Employability Partnership Health Conditions and Recovery Group, chaired by the HSCP, focuses on those in recovery from health conditions and brings together and supports services while identifying gaps to people accessing support to work or in-work support. With adults with a disability within a household being an indicator of child poverty, this group also looks at support for those with a disability and those in recovery from addictions and mental health. 4.5 Education Scotland supported the authority with a national input including a presentation to all Head Teachers to raise awareness of the importance of building racial literacy across the curriculum. A cross- sector working group has been established.
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4 This was evaluated as very good and as a result two primary and a secondary school have agreed to pilot anti-racist clubs involving children and young people within their own establishments next session. 4.6 Renfrewshire Council’s work on digital inclusion is sector-leading. As part of the DigiRen network, we have created Digizones where people can access devices, connectivity and skills training. This helps to ensure everyone can access the opportunities available online regardless of their circumstances or experience with using digital. We have rolled out full fibre broadband which now covers almost all of Renfrewshire. Our RenSafe Online programme works with local public and third sector organisations to promote online safety. 4.7 During 2023/24 the Council completed 280 adaptations in its own housing stock, at a cost of just over £700,000. In 2023/24, Care and Repair Renfrewshire: completed 133 adaptations in privately owned homes, completed 1,620 repair jobs through their Small Repairs Service for older and disabled people and dealt with 154 advice cases. The following housing meeting the needs of older people and those with mobility difficulties were delivered in reporting year 2023/24: 20 amenity standard flats and 5 full wheelchair accessible standard flats at Abbey Quarter in Paisley. 40 wheelchair accessible homes at Ferguslie Park in Paisley including 20 bungalows, 2 houses and 18 cottage flats. Organisational development and equalities 4.8 The Council’s gender pay gap has reduced from 4.86% (£0.74 in favour in male) in 2016/17 to 0.44% (£0.09 in favour of male) in 2023/24. In addition to employee turnover the key reasons for the reduction is the impact of recent changes to the Council’s pay and grading model for local government employees and on-going service redesigns under the Council’s transformational plans. 4.9 Following partnership work with Inclusive Employers, the Council approved its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan and sets out the goal to create an environment where everyone can feel valued and can thrive, regardless of their personal characteristics or circumstances. 4.10 New and revised People & Organisational Development policies have been implemented to support wellbeing including Carers Leave, Discipline, Flexible Working, Flexible Retirement and People, Performance and Wellbeing.
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5 4.11 Renfrewshire Council remains a Disability Confident employer, regularly reviewing practices in relation to demonstrating robust recruitment, selection, and retention of employees with disabilities, working in partnership with Access to Work who advise on supporting employees with disabilities to enter and remain at work. 4.12 Supporting and retaining people with caring responsibilities is one of the Council’s key workforce planning objectives. The Council were awarded the highest accreditation by Carer Positive as an ‘exemplary employer’ recognising enhanced paid leave provisions and offering bespoke support provision, using the ‘Carer Passport’ tool and the Carers Connected Forum, where working carers come together to support each other, share experiences and support the Council’s Wellbeing Agenda. 5 Equality Outcomes 2025-2029 5.1 We have produced a set of draft Equality Outcomes for 2025-2029, based on data, evidence and insight into the inequalities that exist in Renfrewshire. 5.2 These draft Outcomes will be subject to a full consultation throughout 2025, as well as developing a supporting action plan. Progress on the development of the outcomes framework will be reported to Leadership Board as part of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme updates. 5.3 The draft Outcomes for 2025-2029 are as follows: Outcome 1: New Scots feel welcomed, supported, and have equal opportunities to thrive in our communities. Proposed actions Undertaken a partnership Strategic Needs Assessment which will allow us to develop local priorities and actions to better support New Scots Develop Council capacity to provide ESoL opportunities Increase racial literacy and challenge discrimination in schools and across Council services Outcome 2: Disabled and older people experience improved access to public buildings, services, and transport, ensuring greater independence and participation in community life. Proposed actions More disabled people and older people can access public transport safely Deliver initiatives to reduce social isolation in older people and disabled people
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6 Children and young people with Additional Support Needs and/or disabilities and their families are well supported to achieve their potential. Outcome 3: Improved economic prospects for women, ethnic minority people and disabled people Proposed actions Increase the proportion of women, minority ethnic people, and disabled people supported into employment or training. Increase the proportion of minority ethnic people supported into employment or training. Increase the proportion of disabled people supported into employment or training. Outcome 4: All residents can access information and services in an inclusive and accessible manner. Proposed actions Provide accessible information on council services for people facing barriers through disability and language. Prepare for implementation of the new Inclusive Communication Duty. Ensuring that the new Council website and online services more broadly are accessible Provide key documents in accessible formats (Easy Read, BSL, Braille, large print, audio). Outcome 5: Our workforce better reflects the diversity of our community, in terms of ethnicity and disability. Proposed actions Explore how the Council’s workforce can become more reflective of the communities we serve Increase representation of underrepresented groups in leadership roles within the council. Workforce culture will be more inclusive with employees from all backgrounds and characteristics and experiences reporting they feel increasingly valued. Ethnic minority, disabled and LGBT+ staff have safe and supportive work environments, and the Council is seen as an employer of choice. Ensure colleagues are comfortable reporting incidents of discrimination or bullying Outcome 6: People with lived experience of inequality and exclusion will be more involved in informing and co-designing policy and practice that affects them
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7 Proposed actions Implement the new Consultation and Engagement Policy, which will seek to better engage equalities communities in local decision-making. Increase engagement from marginalised communities in local decision- making through a range of participatory approaches Improve transparency of monitoring and reporting of equality work across the Council Improve public reporting of Equality Impact Assessments carried out across Council services 6. Next Steps 6.1 The draft Equality Outcomes will be subject to consultation and a programme of engagement activity with communities and Council services. This will inform a more detailed outcomes framework which will be reported to policy boards through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme. 6.2 Recruitment of an Equalities Development Officer has now been completed within the Policy and Partnerships service, with the appointed candidate due to take up post in late April. This will provide valuable expertise and capacity to progress the Council’s equalities practice. 6.3 In addition to the development of the Equality Outcomes across the organisation, there are a number of priority corporate actions which will be taken forward throughout 2025 as part of this workplan. Key actions include: Undertaking a full consultation process on the draft Equality Outcomes, developing an agreed and revised set of outcomes and associated action plan Continuing to develop the programme of work started in 2024 to strengthen Equality Impact Assessment practice across the organisation Developing the ‘Advancing Equality of Opportunity’ workstream within the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, focussed on developing opportunities for local equalities communities to influence policy and practice Further to the Supreme Court judgement handed down in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, reviewing Council policy and practice to reflect that decision and any revised Code of Practice and any other relevant guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission subsequent to it.
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8 Reviewing Council approach for gathering equality information of employees, and develop campaign to increase disclosure of equality monitoring information ________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – none. 2. HR & Organisational Development – continue to gather and use employee information to better perform the general equality duty and publish information on gender pay gap, statement on equal pay and occupational segregation. 3. Community/Council Planning – Our Renfrewshire is well – addressing inequalities is shown to have a beneficial impact on health outcomes Our Renfrewshire is fair - the plan will promote better equalities practice Tackling inequality, ensuring opportunities for all – equality will be promoted by this plan and opportunities improved for equality groups Working together to improve outcomes – the outcomes were developed in partnership with local equality groups and partner organisations 4. Legal – The reports attached are designed to satisfy statutory equality duties which are enforceable by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. 5. Property/Assets - none 6. Information Technology - none 7. Equality & Human Rights - The report attached details the Council’s performance against the general equality duty and meets various specific duties. 8. Health & Safety – none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk - none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. Climate risk – none 13. Children’s rights – There are no implications for children’s rights resulting from the recommendations in this paper, which focussing on
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9 reporting activity to support the Council’s Public Sector Equality Duty. However, it is considered that many of the priorities and activities reflected within the paper will have a positive impact on children’s rights, recognising equality and non-discrimination are essential to the realisation of children’s rights. In terms of the proposed equality outcomes, children and young people will be included in the consultation process on these outcomes. 14. COSLA Policy Position – none _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Annabelle Walter, Connected Communities Manager, Chief Executive’s Service, 0141 487 1510
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1 Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Equality 2023-2025
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 2 Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 3 2. Equality Outcomes 2025-2029 ........................................................... 5 3. Public Procurement ......................................................................... 10 4. Data on children in Renfrewshire .................................................... 12 5. Occupational segregation data ....................................................... 14 6. Gender Pay Gap ............................................................................... 16
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 3 1. Introduction The report provides an update on progress towards mainstreaming equalities and achieving our equality outcomes. It is intended to meet our duties to report this progress publicly and in an accessible manner. The report provides information on how we are meeting these equality outcomes, along with information on what activities have been delivered in the reporting period from 2023-2025. This report covers Renfrewshire’s Councils duty both corporately, and as an education authority. This report includes: New equality outcomes 2025-2029 Information on public procurement Data on children in Renfrewshire Occupational segregation data Gender pay gap reporting There are also three detailed supplementary reports: Appendix 1 provides details on the progress we have made mainstreaming equality between 2023-2025 Appendix 2 provides detailed employee information Appendix 3 provides the Council’s Equal Pay Statement Renfrewshire Council is committed to embedding equality into all our functions. We know how challenging this can be, so are systematically assessing our progress through our Council Plan. You can find our Council Plan at Renfrewshire Council Plan 2022-2027 - Renfrewshire Website
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 4 The Law & our duties Equality law (The Equality Act) protects people from unfair treatment and asks public bodies like the Council to show how they make a positive difference to different groups of people. The Equality Act 2010 brings together more than forty years of equality legislation and aims to make Britain a more equal society. It protects many people from unlawful discrimination. It covers “protected characteristics” which include: Age Disability Gender reassignment Marriage and civil partnership Pregnancy and maternity Race Religion and belief Sex Sexual orientation We usually refer to people covered by the protected characteristics as “equality groups”. The Equality Act 2010 requires that all public bodies take account of the need to: Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation Advance equality Foster good relations between different groups
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 5 2. What we know about our communities Detailed local analysis of Renfrewshire’s census data has been undertaken by the organisation. The census data provided a significant update in our understanding of the demography of Renfrewshire, particularly in relation to changing population patterns and the diversity of our communities. For example, local intelligence has highlighted that some of Renfrewshire’s communities are increasingly diverse, and this census data has helped to enhance our understanding of this and will help to inform both service level and strategic programmes of work such as Fairer Renfrewshire. A report on the Census data was presented to Leadership Board in December 2024 and a presentation made to Members to highlight the key points. Census data was also shared with local partnerships, as part of their process to refresh local priorities. Presentations and workshops were also undertaken with both the Chief Officers Team and the Our Leaders Forum groups of employees, and presentations made to the Community Planning Partnership Executive Group and for One Ren Board’s strategic planning workshop. Interactive ward profiles are being developed which will support members, officers and partners to engage with census data at a ward level. The Chief Executive’s service recently appointed a Senior Policy Officer to focus on Migration, Asylum and Population change, within this role, they will continue to analyse and evaluate local data trends and consider the policy and service delivery implications of our changing population for the organisation. • Renfrewshire’s population has increased significantly since the 2011 census, rising from 174,908 to 183,874. This represents a 5.1% increase on 2011, which is well above the national increase of 2.7%. Although our population has increased, the percentage split between male and female has remained the same – 49% male and 51% female, which is also reflective of the national picture. • In line with the national picture, Renfrewshire has an increasingly ageing population, with a declining younger population. The increase can be seen from the age of 50 and above, year on year, most notably between ages 55 to 59. The potential impact of the ageing population can be seen across other data within the census, including the decreasing population in some areas, the increased numbers of households, including single-person households, and also the above average percentage of Renfrewshire’s population who are retired. • Renfrewshire’s long-term increased population trend is not as a result of an increased birth rate. Instead, our long-term increased population is driven by net inward migration – this
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 6 means people moving into Renfrewshire from other parts of Scotland. Further information released in September 2024 shows that the short-term driver of Renfrewshire’s population growth is again migration, but that largest contributor is now international net migration, that is people moving to Renfrewshire from outside of the UK. • The census data on ethnic background and national identity has been helpful to update our understanding of Renfrewshire’s communities and the data shows a changing picture, and also a particularly localised picture. • There has been a decrease in the number of people identifying as ‘White: White Scottish’ since 2011 in Renfrewshire. The biggest increase is seen in people identifying as ‘White: Other White British’ and also as ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’. There is also an increase in ‘White: White Polish’ and ‘Other White’, and increases can also be seen in the ‘African’, ‘Caribbean or Black’ and ‘Mixed or Multiple ethnicity’ groups. • The data for Renfrewshire’s communities indicates a varied picture with some intermediate zones showing very little change in the percentage of people identifying as white, such as in Kilbarchan, Bishopton and Erskine West. Equally, areas such as Paisley Central, Paisley North West and Renfrew North show the biggest changes in ethnic diversity. • Further data is available at an intermediate zone level which shows the proportions of different ethnic backgrounds within these communities. For example, within Paisley Central and Paisley North West there are significant communities of people from both African and Asian backgrounds, whereas in Renfrew North the key driver of the diversity is from people with an Asian background. • In terms of the religious background and sexuality of Renfrewshire’s citizens, the census data closely mirrors the national data trends in these areas – with decreasing religious beliefs and increased diversity of sexual orientation. There are no particular patterns or insights to highlight which present as unique to Renfrewshire. • The census data relating to health and wellbeing shows that 77.8% of Renfrewshire’s population self-report their general health as being good or very good. At the other end of the scale 7.6% of our residents self-report general health that is bad or very bad. This compares with 6.9% for Scotland. • Within our population around 40,000 people reported that they are living with a long-term illness, disease or condition. 21,000 people reported a mental health condition. 19,000 people have a physical disability and 13,000 are deaf or partially hearing impaired. Around
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 7 5,000 people are blind or have partially impaired vision and around 1,000 have full or part loss of their voice or difficulty speaking. This pattern mirrors the national picture. 3. Equality Outcomes 2025-2029 We have produced a set of draft Equality Outcomes for 2025-2029, based on data, evidence and insight into the inequalities that exist in Renfrewshire. These draft Outcomes will be subject to a full consultation throughout 2025, as well as developing a supporting action plan. Progress on the development of the outcomes framework will be reported to Leadership Board as part of the Fairer Renfrewshire programme updates. Outcome 1: New Scots feel welcomed, supported, and have equal opportunities to thrive in our communities. Why we think this is important We know that Renfrewshire’s population is changing, and in particular our communities are becoming more ethnically diverse. We want New Scots to be able to fulfil their potential in Renfrewshire, and we need to do more to understand the challenges and barriers that some New Scots face. Proposed actions Undertaken a partnership Strategic Needs Assessment which will allow us to develop local priorities and actions to better support New Scots Develop Council capacity to provide ESoL opportunities Increase racial literacy and challenge discrimination in schools and across Council services Outcome 2: Disabled and older people experience improved access to public buildings, services, and transport, ensuring greater independence and participation in community life. Why we think this is important We know that disabled people and people with limited mobility face a range of challenges with physical access to buildings, services and leisure and when travelling, and these challenges are well documented. These barriers to participation have an adverse impact of people’s lives, and contribute to increased levels of social isolation.
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 8 Proposed actions More disabled people and older people can access public transport safely Deliver initiatives to reduce social isolation in older people and disabled people Outcome 3: Improved economic prospects for women, ethnic minority people and disabled people Why we think this is important While Renfrewshire performs well on a number of key economic indicators, there are concerns about levels of economic inequality. We are concerned about data that tells us health inequalities are deepening for some, impacting wider wellbeing and health. Proposed actions Increase the proportion of women, minority ethnic people, and disabled people supported into employment or training. Increase the proportion of minority ethnic people supported into employment or training. Increase the proportion of disabled people supported into employment or training. Outcome 4: All residents can access information and services in an inclusive and accessible manner. Why we think this is important The way local people access information about Council services is changing, and we want to make sure that the way we share and provide information is inclusive and accessible to people. Proposed actions Provide accessible information on council services for people facing barriers through disability and language. Prepare for implementation of the new Inclusive Communication Duty. Ensuring that the new Council website and online services more broadly are accessible Provide key documents in accessible formats (Easy Read, BSL, Braille, large print, audio).
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 9 Outcome 5: Our workforce better reflects the diversity of our community, in terms of ethnicity and disability. Why we think this is important As an employer, we want to create a fair and inclusive place to work where differences between people are celebrated and barriers are reduced for women, disabled people, minority ethnic people and young people. Proposed actions Explore how the Council’s workforce can become more reflective of the communities we serve Increase representation of underrepresented groups in leadership roles within the council. Workforce culture will be more inclusive with employees from all backgrounds and characteristics and experiences reporting they feel increasingly valued. Ethnic minority, disabled and LGBT+ staff have safe and supportive work environments, and the Council is seen as an employer of choice. Ensure colleagues are comfortable reporting incidents of discrimination or bullying Outcome 6: People with lived experience of inequality and exclusion will be more involved in informing and co-designing policy and practice that affects them Why we think this is important We believe that when we develop policy and services alongside people, we’re more likely to get it right. We recognise the importance of making sure these processes are representative of the communities we serve, and want to improve how we amplify lesser heard voices. Proposed actions Implement the new Consultation and Engagement Policy, which will seek to better engage equalities communities in local decision-making. Increase engagement from marginalised communities in local decision-making through a range of participatory approaches Improve transparency of monitoring and reporting of equality work across the Council Improve public reporting of Equality Impact Assessments carried out across Council services
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 10 4. Impact Assessment In 2024, a review was carried out of impact assessment in the development of policies and practices across the organisation, recognising the importance of continuing to embed Equality Impact Assessment processes across the organisation. As part of this review, a number of workshops were held with management teams across the organisation to refresh knowledge and understanding around equality impact assessment best practice. This exercise has increased awareness of the Council’s duties around impact assessment, and resulted in an improved number and quality of impact assessments carried out. Using the learning from this exercise, a programme of work is planned for 2025 which will include: An update and refresh of the Council’s templates and processes for impact assessment Integration of equality impact assessment within the Council’s new consultation and engagement policy A programme of training and development for staff An improved approach to the publication of impact assessments aligned to the implementation of the Council’s new website 5. Public Procurement Renfrewshire Council’s Standing Orders Relating to Contracts 2022 sets out specific requirements to support equalities and prevent discrimination. Tenderers must comply with all duties arising from the Equality Act 2010 and produce their equal opportunities policies before they may be shortlisted or recommended for an award of contract. The Council’s corporate procurement unit have integrated the statutory Fair Work Practices, including the Living Wage requirements, into contracts for all regulated procurements and actively require suppliers to provide evidence of Fair Work Practices and compliance with relevant employment, equality and health and safety law, human rights standards. Renfrewshire Council continues to maintain its commitment to maximising the use of community benefits as an integral part of the procurement process. Renfrewshire’s Community Benefit Forum manages the community benefits element of procurement. Benefit outcomes include employment and training opportunities, practical work
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 11 experience for young people, support for local SME’s and Social Enterprises and support for community groups across Renfrewshire. Over 50% of all Community Benefits offered by external providers provide employment and work placement opportunities for priority groups. Engage Renfrewshire supports the allocation of community engagement benefits to their network of social enterprises and community groups, collecting requests for support from their members and passing them on to the company awarded the contract, who choose which project they wish to support. 6. Fair Work First Renfrewshire Council recognises that work is an important part of adult life and is critical to our wellbeing and shaping how we live. Jointly agreed by Renfrewshire Council and all our recognised trade unions the Council is committed to driving high quality, fair work across the labour market in Scotland by applying fair work criteria to grants and other funding and contracts being awarded by and across the public sector. We believe Fair Work boosts creativity, realises untapped potential and increases productivity. The plan for Renfrewshire Council is to be the place to live, learn, work, invest and visit. The Council recognises that work is an important part of adult life and is critical to our wellbeing and shaping how we live. The Fair Work Convention’s Framework defines Fair Work as work that offers effective voice, fulfilment, opportunity, respect and security. We believe Fair Work can boost creativity, realise untapped potential and increase productivity. We are committed to Fair Work and are meeting the criteria by: Providing effective channels for effective employee engagement; Investing in workforce development; Not using zero-hours contracts; Taking positive action to tackle the gender pay gap and to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces; Committing to paying the Real Living Wage, including to apprentices; Offering flexible and family-friendly working practices for workers from day one of employment, where appropriate; and Ensuring that we do not use fire and rehire practices.
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 12 We are working towards advancing the Fair Work First criteria above. Our aim is to deliver good quality fair work through continuous improvement. This will give confidence to: The public Those receiving and providing funding through the public sector Those delivering public contracts 7. Data on children in Renfrewshire Summary of findings Ethnicity The data shows that ethnic diversity in Renfrewshire schools continues to increase overall. This pattern that has been followed for several years. The change over time shows our proportion of minority ethnic children in primary schools has increased from 7.9% in 2021 to 9.4% in 2022 and to 12.6% in 2024. In secondary schools, this figure has risen from 5.8% in 2021 to 6.9% in 2022 and 9.6% in 2024. In ASN schools the figures show an increase from 8.5% in 2021 to 9.6% in 2022 and 11% in 2024. Renfrewshire - Pupil Ethnicity September 2024 Total Percentage Total Pupils 24,261 100% White- Scottish 18,525 76.4% White - Other British 1,141 4.7% White - Other 1,176 4.8% Asian - Pakistani / British / Scottish 419 1.7% Asian - Indian / British / Scottish 356 1.5% Asian - Bangladeshi / British / Scottish 14 0.1% Asian - Chinese / British / Scottish 123 0.5% Asian - Other 135 0.6% Carribean / Black 55 0.2% African 944 3.9% Other - Arab 136 0.6% Other 134 0.6% Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Backgrounds 408 1.7% Not Specified 695 2.9% Figures are derived from the Scottish Government’s pupil census supplementary statistics publication. A link to these publications can be found below:
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 13 https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/ Please note that minority ethnic includes all categories other than White-Scottish, White Other- British and White-Other. White-Other includes White-Gypsy/Traveller, White-Other, White-Polish and White-Irish. Pupils in Renfrewshire schools use an increasing variety of first languages. In 2024, 73 foreign languages were spoken across primary, secondary and ASN settings. The five main languages after English are: Polish, Urdu, Arabic, Punjabi, Ukrainian. Sex Renfrewshire Pupils 2024 Female 2024 Male 2024 Total Primary 6,399 6,592 12,991 Secondary 5,496 5,373 10,869 ASN 109 292 401 Total 12,004 12,257 24,261 Renfrewshire Pupils % Female % Male Primary 26.4% 27.2% Secondary 22.7% 22.1% ASN 0.4% 1.2% Total 49.5% 50.5% We also find that there are significant differences in terms of exclusion, as the table below shows. Please note the figures in this table are the number of exclusions and not the number of pupils the exclusions relate to. Some pupils have multiple exclusion incidents. Data is not available for 2024 as the Scottish Government have amended collection term from annually to once every two years. The next collection will be 2025. Number of Exclusion incidents Sector 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 F M F M F M F M F M F M ASN ≤ 5 7 ≤ 5 17 ≤ 5 13 ≤ 5 9 0 8 0 8 Primary 13 74 10 82 ≤ 5 35 ≤ 5 45 6 38 7 53 Secondary 155 399 101 300 152 294 270 496 122 388 170 468 Grand Total 169 480 114 399 158 342 275 550 128 434 177 529
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 14 8. Occupational segregation data The following data was extracted in January 2025 and makes the comparison to previous data extracted in April 2023. Chief Officers: The Chief Officers consists of the Chief Executive, Directors and Heads of Service, Grades range from C01 to C24. The concentration of men and women are 12 women and 12 men. This remains consistent with the data produced in 2022. 15 Chief Officers have declared they do not have a disability, fewer than five declaring a disability and the remainder choosing not to disclose, again this figure remains unchanged from 2022 data. A small increase of 2 (8%) choosing not to disclose this information in comparison to 2022. 6 Chief Officers chose not to disclose if they were from a minority racial group and 18 identified as White Scottish or British. A decrease of 4 (16%) Chief Officers in those identified as White Scottish or British in comparison to 2022 with an increase of 25% in those choosing not to disclose their ethnicity. Local Government Employees (LGE) Our local government employees incorporate administration, professional, technical and clerical occupations and include roles across all service areas of the Council including Classroom Assistants within Childrens’ Services; Clerical Assistants within Finance & Resources and Roadworkers and Neighbourhood Services Operatives within Environment, Housing & Infrastructure. Grades within this group range from Grade 01 to Grade 16. The concentration of people are 4558 (71.7%) women (compared to 3741 (61%) in 2022) and 1800 (28.3%) men (compared to 1277 (21%) in 2022). 3124 (49.1%) LGE have declared they do not have a disability (compared to 3569 (58%) in 2022). 3027 (47.6%) chose not to disclose (compared to 2332 (38%) in 2022) and 207 (3.3%) have declared they have a disability (compared to 222 (4%) in 2022). 3063 (48.2%) LGE employees chose not to disclose if they were from a minority racial group (compared to 2407 (39.5%) in 2022) and 69 (1%) declared they are from a minority racial group (compared to 65 (1%) in 2022). 3153 (49.6%) identified as White Scottish, British or
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 15 Irish. (A decrease in those identified as White Scottish, British or Irish in comparison to 3651 (60%) in 2022). Teachers Employees within the teaching profession consist of roles including Educational Psychologists, Head Teachers, Depute Head Teachers, Principal Teachers, Trainee Teachers across all subject areas. Key grades range from TEACHMAIN19, TEACHER00 to TEACHER48, PSYCHPRIN3 to PSYCHPRIN8, and MUSIC1. The concentration of people are 1731 (81%) women (compared to 1422 (69%) in 2022) and 398 (19%) men (compared to 333 (16%) in 2022). 1170 (54.9%) teaching employees have declared they do not have a disability (compared to 1247 (60.2%) in 2022). 925 (43.5%) chose not to disclose (compared to 792 (38.2%) in 2022) and 34 (1.6%) have declared they have a disability (compared to 33 (1.6%) in 2022). 967 (45.4%) teaching employees chose not to disclose if they were from a minority racial group (compared to 844 (41%) in 2022) and 12 (0.5%) declared they are from a minority racial group (compared to 14 (0.68%) in 2022). 1141 (53.6%) identified as White Scottish, British or Irish (compared to 1214 (58.5%) in 2022). Craft Employees: As part of its People Strategy and Workforce Planning approaches, the Council harmonised the pay and conditions of service of approximately 230 Craft Workers (Trades) thus aligning this group of staff with 6,500 staff on Local Government Conditions of Service.
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 16 9. Gender Pay Gap The previous report in 2023 highlighted a reducing gender pay gap year on year. The Council’s gender pay gap journey detailed in the infographic below highlights a continued reduction of pay gap from 4.30% (£0.72 in favour in male) in 2019/20 to 0.44% (£0.09 in favour of male) in 2023/24. In addition to employee turnover (leavers and new starts including internal movement), the key reasons for this reduction, the lowest in the Council’s history, is the impact of the recent changes to the Council’s pay and grading model for c6500 local government employees and on-going service redesigns under the Council’s transformational plans. Each year our gender pay gap has been in favour of males, and measurement of the pay gap includes the Council’s three different conditions of service: Local Government Employees, Teachers, and Chief Officers. The Council is currently ranked 10 from 32 Local authorities in Scotland as measured by the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) for 2023/24, a reduction from 13 from 32 reported previously. The Scottish average for the same period is 2%. 2023/24 is the most current gender pay position, with the Council due to measure the pay gap again at the end of March 2025. Significant work has been undertaken by Council officers over the years to reduce the pay gap in line with our agreed actions, as reported previously to board. This will ensure we continue to take all reasonable steps possible to ‘advance equality of opportunity’ to reduce the pay gap further as required by the PSED. Some of the key activities to reduce the gender pay gap since our last report in May 2023 are detailed below. These activities will also continue in the year 2025/26 and beyond. Pay and Grading Structure To ensure the Council attracts and retains key talent, and remains competitive in the labour market, the Council reviewed it’s Pay & Grading Model for approximately 6,500 staff.
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 17 Our redesigned and implemented new model consolidated the Scottish Local Government Living Wage into the Council’s pay structure for local government employees as the minimum hourly rate of pay. Also, this ensured the Scottish Living Wage rate is the minimum hourly rate of pay for all apprentices. It restored the pay differentials between grades within the pay structure that had been eroded by recent increases in the level of the Living Wage. It removed all overlaps from the pay scales of adjacent grades in the structure, in accordance with best practice. It reduced the overall length of each pay scale, within the SJC spinal column points, to a maximum of five incremental steps by year 2025. Since implementation, the Council’s Gender Pay Gap reduced to 0.4% in favour of male. As part of its People Strategy and Workforce Planning approaches, the Council harmonised the pay and conditions of service of approximately 230 Craft Workers (Trades) thus aligning this group of staff with 6,500 staff on Local Government Conditions of Service. Harmonisation eradicated previous legacy arrangements for pay and grading and terms and conditions of employment for Craft employees which had been in place since 2006, and now enables this group of staff being able to take advantage of incremental pay progression and the same annual leave provisions alongside thousands of other local government employees. Additionally, harmonisation mitigates the likelihood of any employee relations issues that may be caused by applying differences in pay and conditions of service whilst working alongside each other. This also reduced the number of collective bargaining groups that the Council has to consult and negotiate on, from 4 to 3 groups. Equal Pay We are required, under the general public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012, to publish a statement on equal pay every 4 years. This statement can be found at Appendix 4. Modernised People & OD Policies We continue to work closely with our trade union colleagues and elected members to embed our values through new and revised People & OD policies and suite of learning resources, helping to create a healthy and inclusive working environment. We implemented several new and revised People & OD policies to support wellbeing, including Carers Leave, Discipline, Flexible Working, Flexible Retirement and People, Performance and Wellbeing. Supporting and retaining people with caring responsibilities is one of our key workforce planning objectives.
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 18 Our Values Our planned programme of training continues to be rolled out on Living Our Values and we celebrated World Values Day in October 2024, publishing an article on 28 individual and 3 team nominations from across the Council for being fair, helpful, collaborative and value learning. We are supporting our managers and leaders as visible role models, providing training on role modelling our values and bringing these to life, to improve engagement and communication with their teams. Training continues to be delivered for everyone on living and promoting our values, with approximately 6,000 employees completing this module(s) to date (71% of the Council’s workforce). This will help ensure colleagues are productive, feel valued and supported through regular team meetings and 1-2-1 performance discussions. We continue to work closely with our trade union colleagues to embed our values through new and revised People & OD policies and suite of learning resources, helping to create a healthy and inclusive working environment. Modern Apprenticeships To strengthen career pathways opportunities, we currently have 74 Modern Apprentices, with 50 (67.5%) undergoing placements with the Council and 24 (32.5%) with local businesses – the gender split across these is 53 males (71.6%) and 21 females (28.4%). We continue to ensure that our recruitment campaigns highlight our strong desire to attract applications from those priority groups which are under-represented across our programme. This includes females into gender dominated apprenticeship roles – a key action in reducing our gender pay gap, as well those who are care experienced and those from black and minority ethnic communities.
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Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2023-2025 19 If you wish to have any of this information reproduced in another format or language, please contact: Email: communityplanning@renfrewshire.gov.uk Telephone: 0300 300 0330 Address: Second Floor, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1AD Polish/Polski: Jeśli chciał(a)byś, aby informacja ta lub jej fragmenty zostaly Tobie udostępnione w innym formacie lub języku, prosimy o skontaktowanie sie z nami na powyższy adres, numer telefonu lub e-mail Chinese Cantonese: 如果您希望將此資訊的某些部分以另一種格式或語言複製，請使用以上的聯繫 資訊。 Portuguese: Se desejar receber partes da presente informação reproduzidas noutro formato ou idioma, utilize os detalhes de contacto supramencionados Latvian: Ja Jűs vçlaties saňemt đîs informâcijas daďas, reproducçtas citâ formâtâ vai valodâ, Lűdzu, lietojiet augstâk minçto kontaktinformâciju Lithuanian: Jei jűs norëtumëte, jog đi informacija bűtř pateikta kitu format ar kita kalba, prađome susisiekti virđuje pateiktais kontaktais Russian: Если Вы хотите получить какую-либо из этой информации в другом формате или на другом языке, пожалуйста, воспользуйтесь вышеуказанными контактными данными Czech: Pokud chcete některé z informací reprodukovat v jiném format nebo jazyce, obraťte se na nás na níže uvedeném kontaktu Arabic: بتنسيق ﻼمعلومات هذه من جزء على ﻼحصول في ترغب كنت إذا أعلاه ﻼمذكورة ﻻاتصﻻ بيانات استخدام يرجى ، أخرى لغة أو آخر
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20 Chief Executive’s Service Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire House Cotton Street Paisley PA1 1BR
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Equalities Mainstreaming Progress Report 2023-2025
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Introduction • The report provides an update on progress towards mainstreaming equalities and achieving our equality outcomes. It is intended to meet our duties to report this progress publicly and in an accessible manner. The report provides information on how we are meeting these equality outcomes, along with information on what activities have been delivered in the reporting period from 2023-2025. This report covers Renfrewshire’s Councils duty both corporately, and as an education authority. • In our last report in 2023, we reported in the context of globally significant economic and political challenges which have impacted every organisation, business, household and person in Renfrewshire. This has continued through this period, and our communities have experienced a deepening cost of living crisis, and humanitarian emergencies with people displaced by war and other global emergencies. This report highlights the progress we’ve made with our continued focus on tackling inequality, but we recognise that despite this, inequalities for local people are persisting and for too many people, worsening. • Renfrewshire Council is committed to embedding equality into all our functions. We know how challenging this can be, so are systematically assessing our progress through our Council Plan. You can find our Council Plan at Renfrewshire Council Plan 2022-2027 -Renfrewshire Website.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level The Law & our duties Equality law (The Equality Act) protects people from unfair treatment and asks public bodies like the Council to show how they make a positive difference to different groups of people. The Equality Act 2010 brings together more than forty years of equality legislation and aims to make Britain a more equal society. It protects many people from unlawful discrimination. It covers nine “protected characteristics”–we commonly refer to people covered by the protected characteristics as “equality groups”. The Equality Act 2010 requires that all public bodies take account of the need to: Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation Advance equality Foster good relations between different groups Age Disability Gender reassignment Marriage and civil partnership Pregnancy and maternity Race Religion and belief Sex Sexual orientation
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Our strategic outcomes and priorities • In 2024, we refreshed our Council Plan –the key strategic plan for Renfrewshire Council. • There are five strategic outcomes for the Council Plan—place, economy, fair, green and living our values. Improving outcomes for children and families is a key theme which runs through all five of our strategic outcomes and underpins all that we wish to achieve. This Mainstreaming Progress Report is aligned to these strategic outcomes and shows the progress we have made embedding equalities in the delivery of the Council’s priorities.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Place: Working together to enhance wellbeing across communities • Renfrewshire’s Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028 reflects the Council’s response to a number of housing- related equalities issues, including homelessness prevention and housing support for those in need, and supporting independent living and meeting different housing needs. • Renfrewshire’s Local Partnerships bring together local elected members, community representatives and organisations to have their say on local issues and make a difference to their local area. As part of our new ‘Local Plan, Local Priorities and Local Voices programme’ in 2024, we have updated our community representatives and the Local Partnerships have identified a range of local priorities, a number of which reflect the equalities priorities of local communities. • As part of our Housing Led Regeneration and Renewal Programme, Neighbourhood Renewal Plans are being developed involving Council services and community representatives in each of the eight Regeneration Areas in parallel with the physical regeneration plans. These will be tailored to the needs and circumstances of each area, going beyond housing and the immediate external environment and taking account of broader issues such as links to health and wellbeing, access to outdoor space and sustainable travel and employment or training opportunities to maximise the benefits achievable for local residents.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Place: Working together to enhance wellbeing across communities • We are developing a new transport strategy called Travel Renfrewshire 2035, supported by revised Active Travel and Public Transport Strategies and aligned to the regional and national travel strategies. • A draft strategy is being produced, informed by a far-reaching data gathering engagement exercise. This included online surveys, stakeholder workshops and pop-up engagement sessions at supermarkets and direct in person workshops with community organisations. • We specifically engaged with group representing people with disabilities and those who are particularly affected by the cost of living crisis. The draft strategy will be issued for further consultation in 2025.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Place: Working together to enhance wellbeing across communities • Renfrewshire’s new Events Strategy 2025-2028 has been informed by a robust consultation process with our communities, and one of the three strategic priorities is ‘Events that are informed and open to everyone’, focussed on creative accessible, inclusive and collaborative events. Our findings will continue to inform and improve our practise of developing events with and for Renfrewshire’s communities in the years to come. • Renfrewshire’s approach to accessibility and inclusion has been recognised and applauded by our national funding body EventScotland (ES) in several ways, through the award of funding from the National Fund and Scotland’s themed years fund for a number of our events including Paisley Halloween and the Food & Drink Festival; our team have written and had blogs on this subject published on ES online channels and given presentations at industry events; we have received and been shortlisted for regional and national Thistle Awards a number of times; and our fund managers have requested our accessibility guides to use as examples of best practise in a national events context: “Paisley Halloween really demonstrates best practice in this area (accessibility & inclusion)”(Jennifer Stevenson, Fund Manager, EventScotland).
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Place: Working together to enhance wellbeing across communities • Approximately 86% of those young people eligible in Renfrewshire have a Junior or a Young Scot National Entitlement card and free bus travel as part of the U22s Free Bus Travel Scheme saving families money on transport costs. This is an increase from 79% last year. • Barriers to accessing the card have been removed by setting up easy application processes with trusted verifier organisations who support young people who are more likely to experience poverty including social work, Home Link, young homeless charities, supported residential units, those in employability programmes, and young migrants and refugees. We have removed the need for them to collect documentation and pay for a passport photo in order to apply for their card. • In general, where possible, we have removed the cost burden of applying for proof anyone in school Instead of families having to pay for required proofs to apply, (e.g. full birth certificate extracts), we will use their school record instead to verify their details, simplifying and poverty proofing the process. Extra support has been put in place to help boost uptake of the Junior NEC, offering parents a manual form to complete within primary schools. Targeted promotion is planned in areas with significant child poverty alongside parents of pupils in ASN schools who may need support to access a Disabled NEC.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level The Local Housing Strategy identifies a number of housing related equalities actions, with some highlights within 2023/24 as follows: • During 2023/24 the Council completed 280 adaptations in its own housing stock, at a cost of just over £700,000. In 2023/24, Care and Repair Renfrewshire: completed 133 adaptations in privately owned homes, completed 1,620 repair jobs through their Small Repairs Service for older and disabled people and dealt with 154 advice cases • The following housing meeting the needs of older people and those with mobility difficulties were delivered in reporting year 2023/24: 20 amenity standard flats and 5 full wheelchair accessible standard flats at Abbey Quarter in Paisley. 40 wheelchair accessible homes at Ferguslie Park in Paisley including 20 bungalows, 2 houses and 18 cottage flats. • Housing Services continue to support over 200 Ukrainian Displaced Persons households who have resettled in Renfrewshire since 2022 and those from Afghanistan and Syria who have arrived via other refugee resettlement programmes. The Resettlement Team assist refugees to find temporary and settled accommodation that meets their needs, as well as deliver and commission integration events. There also continues to be increased demand for services from Asylum Seekers staying in hotel accommodation who have received a positive asylum decision and who are then entitled to present at local housing services seeking support and possible accommodation. Place: Working together to enhance wellbeing across communities
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Economy: building an inclusive, green and resilient economy • Employability is a key focus for the Council. Our employability services worked with over 1500 people in 2023/24, supporting more than 600 to gain new qualifications and supporting more than 500 into paid employment. The Council also created a number of apprenticeships and trainee posts to provide employment opportunities directly. • Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership is committed to reducing those inequalities that exist in relation to employment between different geographic areas and for different groups who face significant barriers to work. Success as a Partnership goes beyond reducing unemployment at a Renfrewshire level to reducing the gaps that exist for these areas and groups. • Over this reporting period supporting families to make the most of their money has been paramount. The Cost of Living Crisis has hit everyone’s pockets, but it is for households who had low incomes before the crisis began that that it has hit hardest. Renfrewshire Council has targeted resources to support local households, working to ensure their income is maximised and outgoings are minimised. Full details of the Council’s analysis of the impact of the Cost of Living Crisis, and our response are overseen by the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Economy: building an inclusive, green and resilient economy • The Local Employability Partnership Health Conditions and Recovery Group, chaired by the HSCP, focuses on those in recovery from health conditions and brings together and supports services while identifying gaps to people accessing support to work or in-work support. With adults with a disability within a household being an indicator of child poverty, this group also looks at support for those with a disability and those in recovery from addictions and mental health. Current actions to improve economic participation include: •New post of capabilities co-ordinator to focus on health and disability issues across employability •2 new UK Shared Prosperity Fund funded employability roles to work specifically with those economically inactive due to health •New Supported Employment Initiative offering up to £11k subsidy to develop job roles for people with complex disabilities •New condition management programme with multiple services to support people to improve / manage health conditions and get back to work •Year 9 of the very successful Project Search programme at Renfrewshire Council supporting young people with learning Disabilities / Autism •Focussed support to disabled parents or parents with a disabled child to move back into work.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Economy: building an inclusive, green and resilient economy • The percentage of leavers entering a positive destination has increased to 97.1%. This is an increase over 5 years and Renfrewshire is ahead of both the virtual comparator and national figures. Renfrewshire now has the 5th highest leaver destination figure in Scotland. • There has been a significant increase in the proportion of S4 leavers going into positive destinations. In 2023/24, this was 98.49%, up from 91.79% in 2022/23 and 91.88% in 2021/22. Nationally the figure is 91.9%. • We have a focus on supporting our young people with their next steps into employment and deliver work placement programmes in schools. Employers continue to offer a range of opportunities such as site visits, training and long-term work placements for young people in the senior phase. 'My Futures Pathways' provision now includes an additional class group supporting Flexible Learning Resource pupils. A Principal Teacher has been appointed to support partnership working with West College Scotland and to enhance future pathways provision with a particular focus on our care experienced young people.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • Renfrewshire’s Children’s Services Partnership produced its Children’s Services Plan for 2023-2026, which sets out partnership priorities and approach to the services provided to support Renfrewshire’s children, young people and families. The Plan and the work of the Partnership reflects equalities considerations for Renfrewshire’s children and young people. • In 2024, the Council published its British Sign Language Plan (BSL) 2024-2027 which focusses on a range of actions to ensure that Renfrewshire Council can better meet the needs of BSL users. • Renfrewshire’s Community Learning and Development Plan 2024-2027has inclusion and equality at its heart and has a priority area focussed on tackling inequalities informed by evidence and engagement around the experience of equalities communities. • The annual Education Standards & Quality Report 2024 provides a detailed assessment of progress against Renfrewshire’s Education Improvement Plan, this includes a wide range of good practice examples focussed on equality and equality in education in Renfrewshire.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • Renfrewshire Council’s work on digital inclusion is sector-leading. As part of the DigiRen network, we have created Digizones where people can access devices, connectivity and skills training. This helps to ensure everyone can access the opportunities available online regardless of their circumstances or experience with using digital. We have rolled out full fibre broadband which now covers almost all of Renfrewshire. Our RenSafeOnline programme works with local public and third sector organisations to promote online safety. • The Council’s new Digital Strategy 2025-2030 was published in April 2025, and digital inclusion features as one of six strategic themes to this strategy, recognising the power of digital inclusion in tackling wider inequalities. • Renfrewshire has been recognised as an exemplar and case study in Audit Scotland’s “Tackling Digital Exclusion” report for enabling digital inclusion, delivered through multi-sector collaboration using person-centred and place-based approaches. • Work is being progressed with a local charity (Pachedu) that works with diverse minority ethnic groups across a broad range of protected characteristics. This work will enable digital inclusion, through the creation of a community-led secure device recycling project, which, once developed will provide an opportunity for local communities and businesses to donate their unwanted digital devices. These will then be given a new lease of life to help people and organisations impacted by digital exclusion.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all Our Equally SafeStrategy has been refreshed and is expected to be implemented across our services by June 2025, underpinning our commitment to eradicating violence against women and girls and providing safety for all. In November 2024 services and community groups across the multi-agency partnership participated in the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, including our annual ‘Reclaim the Night’ march. The Mentors Against Violence Prevention Programme (MVP) has been successful rolled out in Renfrewshire Schools. MVP is a peer education approach to GBV and bullying prevention and is designed to give students the skills to speak out against issues which affect relationships within our schools and communities by adopting a ‘bystander’ approach.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level • Our Winter Connections programme has now completed its third year. • The 2024/25 programme distributed £75,000 in small grants to local organisations to support them to provide activities in warm and welcoming spaces across Renfrewshire. The programme helps people feel less isolated, learn new skills, take part in creative activities and have fun. • The evaluation from the 24/25 programme has been positive, showing organisations involved in providing activities to have diverse users –including those with a learning disability, older men and women and women affected by domestic violence. Over 2,500 people benefited from the programme over the winter months, with 43 local organisations hosting Winter Connections activities across the area. • The evaluation of the programme produced each year provides analysis of key equality groups reached through Winter Connections activities. • The projects report that Winter Connections funding allows them to offer communities the opportunity to meet up regularly in familiar, safe, spaces, where they feel welcomed, valued, and connected. Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all Deliver mental health and wellbeing support, including Ren10 mental health and wellbeing network to support children, young people and their families. Ren10 has helped connect teams and services across education, social work, health and the Third Sector ensuring that the journey and outcomes of those using Ren10 can be better understood. It continues to offer a range of mental health and wellbeing early intervention and approaches to children and young people including Let’s Introduce Anxiety Management (LIAM), Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC), Togetherall, and Non Violence Resistance (NVR) training. In terms of impact, Ren10 approaches and interventions are supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. We are seeing improvements in health and wellbeing measures following the Health & Wellbeing Census and this is due to the range of support available through Ren10. Between July 2023 and March 2024, over 200 children and young people accessed Ren10 for support in relation to mental health and wellbeing.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all Anti-racist education pilot • Education Scotland supported the authority with a national input including a presentation to all Head Teachers to raise awareness of the importance of building racial literacy across the curriculum. A cross-sector working group has been established. This was evaluated as very good and as a result two primary and a secondary school have agreed to pilot anti-racist clubs involving children and young people within their own establishments next session. • An accessible portal has also been set up with resources and materials to support schools. All members of this group have attended a number of professional learning opportunities in anti-racism, and this has developed a deeper understanding across schools of the complexity of delivering an anti-racist curriculum. A programme of training to support leaders at all levels in ensuring a whole school approach to anti-racism, has now been developed in partnership with the West of Scotland Development Education Centre (WOSDEC).
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • The Healthier Wealthier Children (HWC) pathway allows referrals from maternity and early years staff to target pregnant women and families with young children experiencing, or at risk of, child poverty as costs increase and employment patterns change around the birth of a child. The service, provided by Advice Works, provides income maximisation advice and support for families. Support provided includes benefit checks, support applying for benefits, help to reduce and manage debts, access to emergency funds and grants, support with budgeting and assistance dealing with food and fuel poverty. • During 2023/24 there were 302 referrals received for HWC, with 58% of those referred engaging with the service and being supported with 437 matters. This resulted in direct financial client gains of £323,255.31 for families. The majority of those who were supported by the service are in at least one of the child poverty priority groups: lone parents (32%), families with a child under one (29%), families that include a disabled adult or child (11%), ethnic minority families (10%), mother under 25 years (9%) and families with 3 or more children (5%).
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • Our Improving the Cancer Journey and Long-term Conditions services help people to get the support they need –whether that’s physical, emotional, practical, medical, or financial. The services are a partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support, Renfrewshire Council, and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The Improving the Cancer Journey service has continued to offer holistic advice for those with a cancer diagnosis. • With money worries highlighted as the main issue for service users, in the last year, £1,002,752 has been gained for 681 clients. In addition, a service for those with Long-term Conditions commenced last year, with 317 service users gaining £198,469.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • All local authorities in Scotland were subject to an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectors of Education to review how local authorities in Scotland support school improvement. A national report was published in March 2025 which highlighted Renfrewshire Council’s best practice a number of times. • The Council’s approach to working alongside parents and carers of children with additional support needs was highlighted as best practice nationally, with the following findings: “As part of the local authority’s target to build on inclusive approaches, parents of children with additional support needs (ASN) are invited to volunteer as Parent Ambassadors. Renfrewshire’s Parent Ambassadors play a significant role in advising education officers during the creation or review of local authority policy and practices in relation to inclusion and ASN. They meet four times per year to discuss emerging issues and to consider local authority initiatives. An example of this consultation and collaboration is the development of the local authority’s policy for transitions. Parent Ambassadors feel that they have a genuine voice in representing the families of children with ASN, and in informing the bespoke arrangements and approaches that are frequently required.”
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level • The work of the Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) Team was highlighted as best practice as part of the Joint Inspection of Children at Risk of Harm in the Renfrewshire Partnership Area in 2024: • The team, which was established in 2017, was reported to have significantly increased the safety and wellbeing of young people at risk of exploitation. The team’s responsive approach fostered trusting and sustained relationships, ensuring all UASC held Looked After Child status, a strategic decision in Renfrewshire to offer substantial opportunities to these young people. • It was reported that the UASC Team adopted a rights-based approach, prioritising the young person’s views from the outset. They remained vigilant about the risk of re-trafficking and were proud that no re-trafficking incidents had occurred, attributing this success to their focused commitment and responsive support. Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • DFN Project SEARCH Renfrewshire offers 12 places each year to young people who have a learning disability, autism spectrum condition or both with work experience, as well as academic and employability support, as they are supported into the world of work. • Interns split their time between a classroom-based environment and on work placement within Renfrewshire Council and with local businesses, with work rotations including catering, cleaning, clerical and administration, customer services, leisure services and waste recycling, and new opportunities for work experience placements are welcomed by the team. • Last year, all seven interns who completed the course secured jobs after leaving and, in addition to the academic qualification, left with certificates in Food Hygiene, First Aid, Manual Handling, Health and Safety at Work and Customer Care. • Since 2015, 55 graduates (60%) have progressed to a positive job outcome which counters the trend in Scotland where employment rates for people with learning disabilities is estimated at 4-8% and 29% for autistic people. • This year marks the tenth cohort of the programme running in Renfrewshire and this milestone will be marked by a celebration event, as well as a series of promotional activity to chart the ten years of progress and success of the graduates who are now established in the world of work.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Fair: nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all • At the request of the Integration Joint Board, Renfrewshire Council developed a new policy on charging for non-residential social care. The charges mainly impact those aged 65 and over, those with a learning disability, and those with a physical disability or long-term health condition. • A survey was developed to allow service users to share their opinions on the planned change and although this was available online, it was also made directly available in places where service users would be –either in the centres they attend or directly mailed to their home. • The results of the survey informed an Equality Impact Assessment which recognised that the change in policy would address an inequality but also that increased charges could have adverse impacts on particular groups. This was clearly highlighted to elected members and it has been agreed that there will be close monitoring of service use patterns.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • We demonstrate care for our people, resulting in an improved employee experience, an overall healthier, more engaged and more productive workforce. Implementing these Plans helps us to ensure that both health and wellbeing and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are central to everything we do, are supported at all levels across the Council, and are part of our everyday culture and values. • Our People Strategy called ‘Our People, Our Future 2021-2026’ is a 5-year framework, which replaced the Council’s Organisational Development Strategy 2016-2019 and Council Workforce Plan 2017-2020, integrating our people vision and workforce planning activity into a single people strategy called ‘Our People Our Future’.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • We have a strong focus on supporting employee wellbeing, with a suite of updated policies and supports in place to help our employees to balance work and life and know where to get help when they need it. • Recently, we have offered RenTalksessions on men’s health and wellbeing and on menopause support. • We have a range of colleagues across services who are Mental Health First Aiders, trained to support their colleagues who may be struggling and need someone to listen with care and in confidence. • Ongoing training is provided to our Mental Health First Aiders, including on specific conditions before the end of the year. • Officers are also working with the RCA Trust to provide specialist training and support on gambling addiction. • The Council’s recent Best Value thematic focus on workforce innovation highlighted a number of areas of good practice, including our approach to supporting health and wellbeing.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan , approved in 2024, was driven by feedback received following a council wide survey and supports our five-year inclusion plan and sets out our goal to create an environment where everyone can feel valued and can thrive, regardless of their personal characteristics or circumstances. • Building on the response to the challenges COVID19 presented, we recognised that being an inclusive employer means to continually assess what more we can do to ensure the safety, wellbeing and happiness of our people. The Plan provides an overview of current good practice and also sets out a framework for areas for development. The key focus of the plan is to deliver on 3 outcomes which are: • 1. Immediate Priorities –the brilliant basics of inclusion. This has 3 aims which are: Refreshed approach to learning; Focus on LGBTQ+ Inclusion; and Becoming anti-racist • 2. Next steps of inclusion –enhancing the colleague experience. This has 3 aims which are: Events that add value; Authentic and accessible. Communications; and Data that makes a difference; and • 3: Sector Leading Inclusion –Become the Best Place For People To Work. This has 2 aims which are: Adopting an inclusive approach to recruitment and progression; and Continuous policy development.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level KeyareasofprogressinthefirstyearoftheEquality,DiversityandInclusionPlanare: All People & OD policies are equality impact assessed prior toapproval and we embed our values and ensure inclusive language and content isusedwhenreviewingandimplementingourPeople&ODPoliciesandsupportingguidance. The Council participated in a Scottish Government feasibility study to establish a model for recruiting to healthcare roles that are increasingly difficult to fill from the UK Labour Market using international recruitment processes. We achieved success with being the first participating organisation to bring 4 overseas workers in, direct from South Africa to fill permanent roles within Care at Home, which were beingdeliveredbyagencyworkers orcoveredbyovertime costs,aspartofthis pilotprogramme. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Awareness is now one of the Council’s mandatory training modules and all employees are being supported and encouraged to complete the training, whether that be online or via face to face/toolbox talks. 62% of our workforce have completed their trainingtodate. TheCouncilandtradeunions haveagreedtore-establishEmployeeEqualityForums,focusingonRace andDisability.Thiswillensurepeople from minority backgrounds/underrepresented groups have their voices heard, feel represented and included and any barriers in the employeejourneyareremoved. We communicated with the workforce throughout November 2024 to encourage employees to update their personal equality monitoring information currently held by the Council. This will enable the Council under its statutory duty to ensure the most up to date information is heldandpolicies/strategies, etcaremeetingtheneedsofour people. We are currently reviewingoursuccessful Leadto Succeed managementdevelopment programme. Anew module on Equality, Diversityand Inclusionwillbeembeddedwithin this,ensuringourmanagersareclearontheir responsibilities andareED&Irole modelsfortheCouncil.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • In December 2024, the council launched an innovative new approach to self-assessment focused on organisational culture, known as Renfrewshire’s Cultural Assurance Model (CAM). The CAM is a first of its kind within the Scottish public sector and was developed in partnership with the Improvement Service and based on the Public Service Improvement Framework which has been used in the Council for over 15 years. • Within the statement set used for the CAM, there were a number of statements relating to equalities, diversity and inclusion: • 82% agreed leaders promote and demonstrate equal opportunities and diversity within the Council/service • 86% agreedthe Council has a range of policies to support equality, diversity and inclusion • 93% agreed people show respect and care for each other and the citizens and stakeholders they work with • 95% agreed our employees reflect the values of the Council when engaging with communities, citizens stakeholders and each other
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • We implemented several new and revised People & OD policies to support wellbeing, including Carers Leave, Discipline and People, Performance and Wellbeing. Supporting and retaining people with caring responsibilitiesis oneofour key workforceplanningobjectives. Wewereawardedthehighest accreditationby Carer Positive as an ‘exemplary employer’ recognising enhanced paid leave provisions and offering bespoke support provision, using the ‘Carer Passport’ tool and the Carers Connected Forum, where working carers cometogethertosupporteachother,shareexperiencesandsupporttheCouncil’sWellbeingAgenda. • WewontheBestEmployerforCarerIdentificationcategoryattheCarerPositive10th AnniversaryAwards,on13 November2024.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • We continue to promote and support informal and formal flexible working to ensure staff and their families are able to balance their work and personal commitments, including caring responsibilities. • To support new ways of working, the Council has successfully evolved its hybrid working model, having enabled a transitional return to work in office-based locations following the pandemic. The Council’s Hybrid Working Model is an informal flexible working arrangement within our revised Flexible Working Policy which supports staff to change their contracted hours or days from Day 1 of employment, ensuring inclusiveness is at the heart of our decision-making. This supports our family friendly, and inclusive working environment, helping to recruit and retain key talent across the organisation. The evolvement of hybrid working practices has created more flexibility for staff to work when and where they choose to, realising benefits such as reduced parking, travel time and commuting costs. • Our new Health, Safety and Wellbeing Plan was approved by Members in February 2024. This Plan outlines the Council’s Health and Wellbeing vision by providing a ‘safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace’ that recognises people are individuals with different life experiences and needs that may impact on our physical, mental, social and financial wellbeing.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • We remain a Disability Confident employer, undertaking regular reviews of our practices in relation to demonstrating robust recruitment, selection, and retention of employees with disabilities. We work in partnership with Access To Work who help provide solutions and advice on supporting employees with disabilitiestoenterandremainatwork. • From a recent Employee Engagement survey sent to all Council employees, with approximately 22.9% return rate,13%ofrespondentsdeclaredtheyhadadisability. • The Council’s employability team ‘Invest in Renfrewshire’ provide lots of different support to help young people prepare for work, learn new skills and get a job. The Council has tailored programmes to support everyone, including people who are care experienced, people with a disability or health condition, school leavers,workingparentsandpeoplewithcriminalconvictions.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • Mental Health First Aid training continues to be rolled out across the Council, with approximately 91key trained staff able to support colleagues. The Council partners with West College Scotland to provide accredited Mental Health First Aider training, to empower our workforce to support each other with mental health related issues. This is part of a wider approach to support all our employees’ Health and Wellbeing, a key People Strategy priority, and support disabled employees across the Council, with a focus on mental health. The Council is committed to increasing its network of Mental Health First Aiders during 2025, having set a goal to have at least 1 fully trained Mental Health First Aider in every Renfrewshire Council premise.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • Ourcurrentleadershipdevelopmentpathway“LeadtoSucceed”offers3levelsofmanagementqualificationto support our current, aspiring and senior managers to develop leadership and business skills at every stage in their career. Our entry level ‘Inspire’ pathway targets our predominantly female workforce providing opportunity to progress along career pathways into first line management roles and continue their learning journey by completing each of the 3 levels. Each level covers the essential skills to support staff become managers or to enhance the skills of existing managers, with the option to achieve and accredited CMI qualificationateachstage. • Anaccessibleandinclusiveblendedmodelofdeliveryisavailableinavarietyofinteractiveformats,andallows participants to gain accredited qualifications, if desired, at a convenient time that fits their needs and life commitments. • 60% of those aspiring to take up their first supervisory or management position were female. During this period55employees,33(60%)femaleand22(40%)malehaveparticipatedinLevels2,3and5.
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Title can go here • Click to edit Master text styles • Second level • Third level • Fourth level • Fifth level Living our Values: making a difference together • The Council co-developed and launched in October 2023 a new Leadership Development Programme, consisting of 7 key modules in collaboration with Solace and their partners. The programme was evaluated and then 2 further cohorts were rolled out to the next level of senior managers. 20 male (36%) and 36 (64%) female managers participated in these cohorts. • The aims of the programme included developing key competencies, consistency of leadership behaviours, relationship building, increasing capacity and resilience. Following this, participants from all cohorts can consider embarking on a voluntary learning journey, where both individual and team coaching sessions can be tailored to suit their specified needs and continue the learning gained from the programme. • We will establish clear outcomes to measure the success of the Leadership Development Programme and identify a framework of further learning resources to enable senior officers to understand areas for development that will lead to demonstrating levels of skills and knowledge against the framework.
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Employee information For all council employees - 2024
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Contents What we know about our staff ................................................................................................................. 3 Collecting employee equality monitoring information ...................................................................... 4 Data tables .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Renfrewshire Council Staff Head Count – December 2024 ........................................................... 6 Renfrewshire Council – Children’s Services – Staff Establishment 2024 .................................. 11 Renfrewshire Council – Application and recruitment data 01.01.2023-31.12.2024 ................ 16 Recruitment .......................................................................................................................................... 16 Children’s Services – Application and recruitment data 01.01.2023 – 31.12.2024 .................. 24 Renfrewshire Council – Training and Development Data ........................................................... 30 Development ........................................................................................................................................ 30 Children’s Services – Training and Development Data ................................................................ 35 Renfrewshire Council – Leavers Data .............................................................................................. 40 Retention ............................................................................................................................................... 40 Children’s Services – Leavers Data ................................................................................................... 45
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What we know about our staff Where we compared Renfrewshire Council data to the Renfrewshire area population data contained within Scotland’s Census in 2022, we found in some category groups our staff are broadly representative of the community that we serve. There are some areas where differences exist in terms of representation. The large numbers of employees choosing not to disclose equalities information means that it is difficult to draw sound conclusions about the representation of many protected characteristics across our workforce. We are overrepresented in the age groups from 31 years old to 60 years old, with our largest age group proportion falling within the 51- to 60-year-old age profile (28% of our workforce). In Children’s Services the spread is relatively even within the 31- to 60-year-old groups. Renfrewshire Council employee groups are over- represented in the following age bands: 31-40 age banding accounts for 24.3% of our workforce but only 16% of our overall community; 41-50 age bands account for 23.7% of our work force compared to 14.6% of our community and 51-60 age bands accounts for 27.7% of our workforce but only 18.3% of our community. There has been a small decrease of 1.6% of staff aligned to the 51-60 age bandings since the 2022 report. Within Children’s Services, the Age profile data indicates that 29.1% of employees fall within 31-40 age grouping, 25.6% of employees fall within 41-50 age band and 22.2% of employees fall within the 51-60 age band. We know we have an overrepresentation of women in Council employment, in common with most other Councils. Overall, approximately 74% of our staff are female and this rises to 86% of staff within Children’s Services who are female. In terms of disability, our workforce significantly underrepresents the proportion of disabled people in Renfrewshire. 28% of Renfrewshire residents report that they experience a condition that affects their day-to-day activities a little, or significantly whereas council staff only declare a 3% rate of disability and in Children’s Services this remains at 2%. Despite the high number of employees choosing not to disclose whether they have a disability, this appears to be a significant underrepresentation of disabled people. In relation to the ethnicity of Council staff overall and in Children’s Services staff in particular, the data shows that 52% of our workforce identify as White - Other/White, White – Irish and White - Scottish. African and Asian groups make up a total of 0.6% of Council employees, a figure which suggests slight under- representation across groups who make up 3.4% of the Renfrewshire area population.
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Our statistics relating to religion look to be broadly in line with the local population, with a underrepresentation and decrease of the dominant local religions (Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic), again a pattern also reflected in Children’s Services. Both the Council and Children’s Services have a slightly higher representation than the local community of people who identify with a religion which is not stated. There appears to be an underrepresentation of employees identifying as gay or lesbian, but again, low declaration rates mean it is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the data. Similarly, there appears to be an underrepresentation of employees identifying as trans but again, low declaration rates mean it is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the data. Collecting employee equality monitoring information Since the Business World ERP was introduced in 2018, employees have been able to update their own records directly. We will continue to seek an increased declaration rates for equalities monitoring from our employees through ongoing promotion of self-service. To further promote declaration rates, the Council regularly initiates campaigns including guidance to encourage staff to provide equality information using this self-service platform, explaining the benefits that valuable data provide to the organisation and its employees. The key aim of this action is to help reduce the proportion of who have stated ‘prefer not to answer’, where rates of this option vary within each protected characteristic. Within HMRC guidance, individuals are categorised and recorded as male or female for Tax and National Insurance purposes. For this reporting period, Renfrewshire Council has used official HMRC data for reporting on sex information. Our internal equality monitoring data provides employees with the opportunity to select a ‘prefer not to say’ response under each protected characteristic. A campaign was launched in November 2024 to encourage all colleagues in the Council to access their records to check and update their equality information on Business World ERP. This exercise, containing system alerts, briefings being issued to all line managers, and inclusion within both corporate and service employee induction checklists, was designed to inform employees of the reasons and importance of equality information being recorded and accessed, to ensure our policies and procedures reflect the diverse needs of our workforce. Since 2022, the data indicates that the number of employees who have chosen not to declare has increased across all protected characteristics.
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This highlights the requirement for further work to be undertaken around the promotion of encouraging employees to provide specific responses to better inform the Councils data. Data tables This document contains a range of datasets about Renfrewshire Council’s employees by protected characteristic including: 1) Renfrewshire Council Staff Head Count 2) Children’s Services Staff Establishment 3) Renfrewshire Council Application and Recruitment Data 4) Children’s Services Application and Recruitment Data 5) Renfrewshire Council Training and Development Data 6) Childrens Services Training and Development Data 7) Renfrewshire Council Leavers Data 8) Children’s Services Leavers Data
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Renfrewshire Council Staff Head Count – December 2024 This data tells us who works for Renfrewshire Council, by protected characteristic. This is the headcount for all employees, including the education authority (although this is also provided separately). Commentary and analysis on these figures can be found in the accompanying Equalities Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2024. Please note in some cases where the numbers are very small, percentages can often not be very useful. Age Band Age Band Head Count %age 16-20 53 0.62% 21-30 1163 13.66% 31-40 2065 24.26% 41-50 2019 23.72% 51-60 2355 27.67% 61+ 856 10.06% Total 8511 100.00% Sex (as per HMRC data) Sex Head Count %age Female 6301 74.03% Male 2210 25.97% Total 8511 100.00% What is your sex? Sex Head Count %age
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Female 4558 53.55% Male 1546 18.16% Prefer not to say 2407 28.28% Total 8511 100.00% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Head Count %age No 4658 54.73% Prefer not to say 3842 45.14% Yes 11 0.13% Total 8511 100.00% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Head Count %age Civil Partnership 8 0.09% Divorced 224 2.63% Married 1986 23.33% Never Married/Civil Partnership 1431 16.81% Prefer not to say 4799 56.39% Separated - Legally Married 15 0.18% Surviving Partner - Civil Partnership ≤5 - Widowed 47 0.55% Total 8511 100.00%
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Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Head Count %age Bisexual 36 0.42% Gay or Lesbian 84 0.99% Other sexual orientation ≤5 - Prefer not to say 4065 47.76% Straight/Heterosexual 4324 50.80% Total 8511 100.00% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Head Count %age Buddhist ≤5 - Church of Scotland 1017 11.95% Hindu ≤5 - Jewish ≤5 - Muslim 26 0.31% None 3355 39.42% Other Christian 265 3.11% Other religion or body 58 0.68% Pagan ≤5 - Prefer not to say 2598 30.53% Roman Catholic 1162 13.65% Sikh 15 0.18% Total 8511 100.00%
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Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Head Count %age No 3722 43.73% Prefer not to say 2770 32.55% Yes 2019 23.72% Total 8511 100.00% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Head Count %age No 4309 50.63% Prefer not to say 3959 46.52% Yes 243 2.86% Total 8511 100.00% What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Head Count %age African - African, Scottish African, British African 14 0.16% Asian - Chinese, Scottish Chinese, British Chinese ≤5 - Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian 18 0.21% Asian - Other Asian ethnic group ≤5 - Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani 16 0.19% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black ≤5 -
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Caribbean or Black - Other Caribbean or Black ethnic group ≤5 - Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group 19 0.22% Other Ethnic Group - Arab, Scottish Arab, British Arab ≤5 - Other Ethnic Group - Other ethnic group ≤5 - Prefer not to say 4036 47.42 % White - Irish 42 0.49% White - Other British 160 1.88% White - Other white ethnic group 51 0.60% White - Polish 7 0.08% White - Prefer not to say 24 0.28% White - Scottish 4110 48.29 % Total 8511 100.00 %
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Renfrewshire Council – Children’s Services – Staff Establishment 2024 This data tells us who works for Children’s Services, by protected characteristic. Age Band Age Band Head Count %age 16-20 14 0.34% 21-30 696 16.90% 31-40 1199 29.12% 41-50 1054 25.59% 51-60 915 22.22% 61+ 240 5.83% Total 4118 100.00% What is your sex? Sex Head Count %age Female 3555 86.33% Male 563 13.67% Total 4118 100.00% Sex (as per HMRC data) Sex Head Count %age Female 2612 63.43% Male 408 9.91% Prefer not to say 1098 26.66% Total 4118 100.00%
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Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Head Count %age No 2281 55.39% Prefer not to say 1832 44.49% Yes ≤5 - Total 4118 100.00% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Head Count %age Civil Partnership ≤5 - Divorced 73 1.77% Married 919 22.32% Never Married/Civil Partnership 764 18.55% Prefer not to say 2345 56.95% Separated - Legally Married ≤5 - Widowed 12 0.29% Total 4118 100.00%
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Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Head Count %age Bisexual 17 0.41% Gay or Lesbian 32 0.78% Prefer not to say 1919 46.60% Straight/Heterosexual 2150 52.21% Total 4118 100.00% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Head Count %age Buddhist ≤5 - Church of Scotland 508 12.34% Hindu ≤5 - Jewish ≤5 - Muslim 12 0.29% None 1602 38.90% Other Christian 141 3.42% Other religion or body 24 0.58% Pagan ≤5 - Prefer not to say 1167 28.34% Roman Catholic 651 15.81% Sikh ≤5 - Total 4118 100.00%
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Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Head Count %age No 1811 43.98% Prefer not to say 1249 30.33% Yes 1058 25.69% Total 4118 100.00% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Head Count %age No 2154 52.31% Prefer not to say 1879 45.63% Yes 85 2.06% Total 4118 100.00%
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What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Head Count %age African - African, Scottish African, British African ≤5 - Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian 6 0.15% Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani 11 0.27% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black ≤5 - Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group 7 0.17% Other Ethnic Group - Arab, Scottish Arab, British Arab ≤5 - Prefer not to say 1916 46.53 % White - Irish 17 0.41% White - Other British 76 1.85% White - Other white ethnic group 19 0.46% White - Polish ≤5 - White - Prefer not to say 7 0.17% White - Scottish 2052 49.83 % Total 4118 100.00 %
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Renfrewshire Council – Application and recruitment data 01.01.2023-31.12.2024 This data gives us information about the people who have applied to work for Renfrewshire Council, by protected characteristic, between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024. It also tells us how many people were successful in their applications, by protected characteristic. We can use this to calculate a ‘conversion rate’, i.e. the percentage of people from a particular group who are successful. This data also counts the number of applications rather than applicants. There are likely to be people who have applied for a number of different jobs within the Council. Also, in some cases, where the numbers are very small, percentages can often not be very useful. Recruitment Our recruitment data details the number of applications received and the rate at which applications convert into appointments for all candidates. Based on the period 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2024, 3,131 posts were filled from 43,704 applications. This represents 7.16% of people being appointed from all applications received from a combination of both internal and external applicants. Within Children’s Services, during the same period there were 19,506 applications received and 1,305 people appointed from these applications which equates to 6.7% of applications being converted into appointments, slightly lower than the overall Council conversion rate. When considering this data, we also recognise that the number of applications received during the period may include multiple applications from a single person. The data demonstrates a reduction in the total number of applications received since 2022, decreasing by 20.5%. During the COVID pandemic, the Council required to undertake additional recruitment for roles such as COVID cleaners and support staff to facilitate vaccination clinics. This could account for higher numbers of applications during 2021-22 reporting period as compared to 2023-24 reporting period. Similarly, the reduction in application numbers in the current reporting period may attribute to wider labour market availability/choices following the pandemic and also the re-initiation of the Council’s transformation programme following COVID, which created opportunities through service redesigns and resulted in more internal movement of staff. From the equality data contained within this report, there is a significant difference in the volume of applications received when split by sex, with 29,061 (66.5%) applications from females, 13,695 (31.3%) applications from males and 948 (2.2%) applications from those who prefer not to say. This split of applicants is broadly similar to the split within our workforce demographics.
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A similar theme is evident within Children’s Services data with 15,638 (80.2%) of all applications being from female applicants, 3,491 (17.9%) of applicants being male and 377 (1.9%) of applicants choosing not to disclose their sex. Again, data which is representative of the overall employee headcount within Children’s Services and is broadly aligned with our overall workforce demographics. Across the Council, the number of applicants appointed to a role increased from the previous reporting period, noting that the number of females appointed increased from 1.8% in the previous reporting period to 7.2% in the current reporting period, the number of males increased from 2.3% in the previous reporting period to 6% in the current reporting period and the number of who answered ‘prefer not to say’ showing a significant increase of 18.4%. Confidential equality monitoring within recruitment data indicates that the highest proportion of applications were received from candidates who identified in the 31-40 age bracket (30.4%), closely followed by those in the 21-30 age bracket (27.7%). In comparison, however, it can be seen that the success rate for applications progressing to appointments is higher in the upper age categories, with 8.6% of applicants in the 51-60 age band and 7.9% of applicants in the 61+ age band obtaining employment. Within our Children’s Services data, the highest proportion of applications received were from candidates within the age 21-30 band (34.6%) and the 31-40 band (30.6%). Of those appointed to roles, the greatest success rate was within the age 41-50 age band where 7% of applicants were appointed to a role although it should be noted that the conversion rate under the age data remains fairly consistent with all age bands having a conversion rate of between 6% and 7%, with the exception of 16-20 band where the conversion rate is 4.7%. The variance between the conversion rates within each age band is reasonably small which indicates a fairly even spread of applications being converted to appointments across all age bands. 88.9% of all 43,704 applicants described themselves as straight/heterosexual, with 6.9% of those applications being converted into appointments. Applications from bisexual candidates accounted for 2.4% of all applications, with the conversion rate for these applicants being 4.7%. 6.3% of applicants preferred not to disclose their sexual orientation, with 11.1% of these people being appointed to a role. These levels are comparable within Children’s Services with 88.8% of applications received from straight/heterosexual applicants, with a conversion rate of 6.6%. Bisexual applicants made up a total of 2.7% of all applicants with 3.9% of these applicants being successful in securing employment. 5.6% of all applicants were within the prefer not to say category, with 8.8% of these appointed to a role. Data within the Religion category indicates that the highest success rates for candidates being appointed to a role are within Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic, at 7.9% and 7.5%
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respectively. This rate is only higher amongst those who chose not to disclose where the success rate was 11.8% and those who stated that they do not belong to any religion, religious denomination or body with a success rate of 7.7%. Applications within Children’s Services were predominantly from candidates who belong to Roman Catholic religion, contributing 22% of all applications and with a success rate of 7.9%. Applicants who chose not to disclose any religion accounted for 6.4% of all applications, with 8.21% being appointed to a role. This is the highest conversion rate within all religions or religious bodies. The data obtained in relation to disability indicates that of the total 43,704 applications received, 40,806 (93.4%) stated they did not have a disability whilst 1,474 (3.4%) of applicants declared that they had a disability. In terms of the rates of applications being converted to appointment, 5.1% of applicants who disclosed that they have a disability are appointed into a role, this compares to 6.9% of applicants who state that they do not have a disability being successful in gaining employment with the Council. 17.8% of candidates appointed to a role did not disclose whether they have a disability. These figures remain largely similar within Children’s Services with 5.2% of applicants identifying as having a disability being appointed to a role. 6.6% of those who declared they do not have a disability were appointed and 14.1% of applicants who chose not to disclose any disability were appointed to a role. A consistent theme exists within ethnicity whereby 3.7% of total applicants chose not to disclose their ethnic grouping with a 15.2% success rate in applications converting to appointments in this group. This rate is considerably higher than the rate for declared ethnic groups, with the next highest being 10.5% for White – Irish applicants. 10.5% of all applications received were from African ethnic groups with a 3.1% conversion rate for this group. This was considerably lower within Children’s Services where applications from African groups contributed to 5.9% of all applications and had a conversion rate of 0.6%.
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Age Band Age Band Applications Appointed % Appointed Av 16-20 1275 84 6.59% 21-30 12112 724 5.98% 31-40 13305 889 6.68% 41-50 8631 621 7.19% 51-60 5256 450 8.56% 61+ 1491 118 7.91% Prefer not to say 1634 245 14.99% Total 43704 3131 7.16% What is your sex? Sex Applications Appointed % Appointed Av Female 29061 2093 7.20% Male 13695 812 5.93% Prefer not to say 948 226 23.84% Total 43704 3131 7.16% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Applications Appointed % Appointed Av No 42297 2883 6.82% Prefer not to say 1279 243 19.00% Yes 128 ≤5 Total 43704 3131 7.16%
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What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Application s Appointe d % Appointed Av Civil Partnership 577 29 5.03% Civil Partnership - Legally Dissolved 41 ≤5 Divorced 1790 128 7.15% Married 16246 1115 6.86% Never Married/Civil Partnership 20238 1383 6.83% Prefer not to say 3601 367 10.19% Separated - Legal Civil Partnership 135 ≤5 Separated - Legally Married 746 72 9.65% Surviving Partner - Civil Partnership 37 ≤5 Widowed 293 31 10.58% Total 43704 3131 7.16% Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Applications Appointed % Appointed Av Bisexual 1029 48 4.66% Gay or Lesbian 1038 95 9.15% Other sexual orientation 26 0 0.00% Prefer not to say 2743 305 11.12% Straight/Heterosexual 38868 2683 6.90% Total 43704 3131 7.16%
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What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Applications Appointed % Appointed Av Buddhist 233 ≤5 Church of Scotland 4258 338 7.94% Hindu 756 10 1.32% Jewish 32 0 0.00% Muslim 2141 41 1.91% None 20351 1573 7.73% Other Christian 4274 176 4.12% Other religion or body 59 ≤5 Pagan 74 ≤5 Prefer not to say 2897 342 11.81% Roman Catholic 8473 637 7.52% Sikh 156 10 6.41% Total 43704 3131 7.16% Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Applications Appointed % Appointed Av No 35142 2446 6.96% Prefer not to say 1697 264 15.56% Yes 6865 421 6.13% Total 43704 3131 7.16%
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Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Applications Appointed % Appointed Av No 40806 2802 6.87% Prefer not to say 1424 254 17.84% Yes 1474 75 5.09% Total 43704 3131 7.16% What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Applicat ions Appoin ted % Appointed Av African - African, Scottish African, British African 311 10 3.22% African - Other African ethnic group 4277 131 3.06% Asian - Bangladeshi, Scottish Bangladeshi or British Bangladeshi 107 ≤5 Asian - Chinese, Scottish Chinese, British Chinese 453 6 1.32% Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian 1120 22 1.96% Asian - Other Asian ethnic group 599 14 2.34% Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani 1017 22 2.16% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black 38 ≤5 Caribbean or Black - Caribbean, Scottish Caribbean, British Caribbean 15 0 0.00%
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Caribbean or Black - Other Caribbean or Black ethnic group 224 ≤5 Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group 419 21 5.01% Other Ethnic Group - Arab, Scottish Arab, British Arab 154 ≤5 Other Ethnic Group - Other ethnic group 560 13 2.32% Prefer not to say 1622 246 15.17% White - Gypsy / Traveller 38 ≤5 White - Irish 277 29 10.47% White - Other 696 43 6.18% White - Other British 1290 89 6.90% White - Polish 501 24 4.79% White - Prefer not to say 894 53 5.93% White - Roma 11 0 0.00% White - Scottish 29081 2397 8.24% Total 43704 3131 7.16%
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Children’s Services – Application and recruitment data 01.01.2023 – 31.12.2024 This data provides data about people who have applied to work within Children’s Services, by protected characteristic during the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024 and how many were successful in their application, providing a ‘conversion rate’, i.e. the percentage of people from a particular group who are successful. As above, this data also counts the number of applications rather than applicants. There are likely to be people who have applied for a number of different jobs within the Council. Also, in some cases, where the numbers are very small, percentages can often not be very useful. Age Band Age Band Applications Appointed % Appointed Av 16-20 470 22 4.68% 21-30 6742 409 6.07% 31-40 5974 406 6.80% 41-50 3743 262 7.00% 51-60 1682 113 6.72% 61+ 296 19 6.42% Prefer not to say 599 74 12.35% Total 19506 1305 6.69% What is your sex? Sex Applications Appointed % Appointed Av Female 15638 1064 6.80% Male 3491 179 5.13% Prefer not to say 377 62 16.45%
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Total 19506 1305 6.69% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Applications Appointed % Appointed Av No 18989 1237 6.51% Prefer not to say 481 67 13.93% Yes 36 ≤5 Total 19506 1305 6.69% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Application s Appointe d % Appointed Av Civil Partnership 181 10 5.52% Civil Partnership - Legally Dissolved 13 0 0.00% Divorced 628 31 4.94% Married 6992 476 6.81% Never Married/Civil Partnership 9849 636 6.46% Prefer not to say 1375 103 7.49% Separated - Legal Civil Partnership 23 ≤5 Separated - Legally Married 331 39 11.78% Surviving Partner - Civil Partnership 8 0 0.00% Widowed 106 8 7.55%
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Total 19506 1305 6.69% Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Applications Appointed % Appointed Av Bisexual 520 20 3.85% Gay or Lesbian 562 50 8.90% Other sexual orientation 11 0 0.00% Prefer not to say 1096 96 8.76% Straight/Heterosexual 17317 1139 6.58% Total 19506 1305 6.69% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Applications Appointed % Appointed Av Buddhist 71 0 0.00% Church of Scotland 1951 145 7.43% Hindu 235 6 2.55% Jewish 20 0 0.00% Muslim 761 14 1.84% None 9248 634 6.86% Other Christian 1487 53 3.56% Other religion or body 37 0 0.00% Pagan 14 0 0.00% Prefer not to say 1255 103 8.21% Roman Catholic 4367 344 7.88% Sikh 60 6 10.00%
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Total 19506 1305 6.69% Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Applications Appointed % Appointed Av No 16131 1062 6.58% Prefer not to say 632 77 12.18% Yes 2743 166 6.05% Total 19506 1305 6.69% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Applications Appointed % Appointed Av No 18357 1197 6.52% Prefer not to say 541 76 14.05% Yes 608 32 5.26% Total 19506 1305 6.69% What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Applicat ions Appoin ted % Appointed Av African - African, Scottish African, British African 85 ≤5 African - Other African ethnic group 1060 6 0.57%
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Asian - Bangladeshi, Scottish Bangladeshi or British Bangladeshi 37 ≤5 Asian - Chinese, Scottish Chinese, British Chinese 232 ≤5 Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian 375 14 3.73% Asian - Other Asian ethnic group 228 ≤5 Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani 466 13 2.79% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black 9 0 0.00% Caribbean or Black - Caribbean, Scottish Caribbean, British Caribbean 6 0 0.00% Caribbean or Black - Other Caribbean or Black ethnic group 59 0 0.00% Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group 210 10 4.76% Other Ethnic Group - Arab, Scottish Arab, British Arab 59 ≤5 Other Ethnic Group - Other ethnic group 189 ≤5 Prefer not to say 644 71 11.02% White - Gypsy / Traveller 35 ≤5 White - Irish 146 17 11.64% White - Other 319 20 6.27% White - Other British 662 53 8.01% White - Polish 226 10 4.42% White - Prefer not to say 298 18 6.04% White - Roma ≤5 0 0.00%
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White - Scottish 14159 1057 7.47% Total 19506 1305 6.69%
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Renfrewshire Council – Training and Development Data This data includes information on take up of corporate training and e-learning and does not represent the full range of training and development activity that happens at individual service level, e.g. Social Care and Fleet Maintenance, professional seminars, webinars, etc. Development Training and development data recorded by Renfrewshire Council informs that a total of 6,546 employees undertook training - this equates to 77% of all Renfrewshire Council employees. In comparison to the 2022 report, this indicates a positive increase of 1,571 (18%) of Council employees undertaking training within the current reporting period. Within Children’s Services, 67.2% of employees received training in the current reporting period. An analysis of the sex split indicates that of all training delivered, 74.5% of recipients were female and 25.5% were male. These figures are reflective of the split across the Council’s employees (74% female compared to 26% male). Within Children’s Services, these figures are slightly higher with the split of training being delivered being 85.3% females and 14.7% males. Across all age bands, the number of employees who have completed training is highest within the 51-60 age band at 28.4%, with the lowest being in the 16-20 age band at 0.43%. This is proportionate to the age bands in our overall employee headcount. The lowest number of employees completing training within Children’s Services is within the 16-20 age band at 0.18% compared to the highest level being within the 31-40 age band at 28.1%. Within the marital status category, the highest level of employees who have completed training is within the prefer not to say option at 55% with the lowest being 0.02% under the surviving partner in a civil partnership. Once again, this theme is consistent within Children’s Services. Training data under sexual orientation also remains proportionate with our overall headcount data; of all training delivered, 51.6% of recipients considered themselves to be straight/heterosexual with 1.2% identifying as gay or lesbian and 0.4% stating that they are bisexual. Our Council headcount data informs that 51% of employees identify as straight/heterosexual, 1% identify as gay or lesbian and 0.4% state they are bisexual. The delivery of training amongst employees with caring responsibilities is representative of the overall Council employment with 44% of training recipients stating that they have no caring responsibilities (44.7% within Children’s Services) and 23.7% of those undertaking training declaring that they have caring responsibilities (25.4% within Children’s Services). Of the total number of employees who received training, 51.3% stated that do not have a disability whilst 3.1% declared that they do have a disability. Similar numbers emerge for
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Children’s Services with 52.1% of those training stating that they do not have a disability and 2.3% declaring that they do have a disability. Within ethnicity, the number of employees who have completed training is highest within the prefer not to say option at 46.2% (46.5% for Children’s Services), with the lowest being in the Other Ethnic Group at 0.03% and Caribbean grouping at 0.05% (0.04% for Children’s Services which sits equally with the Other ethnic group also at 0.04%). Age Band Age Band Head Count %age 16-20 557 0.64% 21-30 10878 12.48% 31-40 20025 22.98% 41-50 21237 24.37% 51-60 25025 28.72% 61+ 9418 10.81% Total 87140 100.00% Sex (as per HMRC data) Sex Head Count %age Female 63568 72.95% Male 23572 27.05% Total 87140 100.00% What is your sex? Sex Head Count %age Female 44544 51.12% Male 15646 17.96%
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Prefer not to say 26950 30.93% Total 87140 100.00% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Head Count %age No 49294 56.57% Prefer not to say 37781 43.36% Yes 65 0.07% Total 87140 100.00% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Head Count %age Civil Partnership 158 0.18% Divorced 2819 3.24% Married 23398 26.85% Never Married/Civil Partnership 12790 14.68% Prefer not to say 47079 54.03% Separated - Legally Married 232 0.27% Surviving Partner - Civil Partnership 231 0.27% Widowed 433 0.50% Total 87140 100.00% Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Head Count %age Bisexual 387 0.44%
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Gay or Lesbian 1532 1.76% Other sexual orientation 22 0.03% Prefer not to say 41545 47.68% Straight/Heterosexual 43654 50.10% Total 87140 100.00% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Head Count %age Buddhist 39 0.04% Church of Scotland 10503 12.05% Hindu 31 0.04% Jewish 13 0.01% Muslim 213 0.24% None 32480 37.27% Other Christian 3396 3.90% Other religion or body 596 0.68% Pagan 50 0.06% Prefer not to say 29504 33.86% Roman Catholic 10213 11.72% Sikh 102 0.12% Total 87140 100.00% Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age?
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Caring Responsibility Head Count %age No 35496 40.73% Prefer not to say 31206 35.81% Yes 20438 23.45% Total 87140 100.00% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Head Count %age No 43759 50.22% Prefer not to say 40175 46.10% Yes 3206 3.68% Total 87140 100.00% What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Head Count %age African - African, Scottish African, British African 470 0.54% Asian - Chinese, Scottish Chinese, British Chinese 53 0.06% Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian 100 0.11% Asian - Other Asian ethnic group 18 0.02% Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani 121 0.14% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black 13 0.01% Caribbean or Black - Other Caribbean or Black ethnic group ≤5 0.01% Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group 272 0.31%
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Other Ethnic Group - Arab, Scottish Arab, British Arab 60 0.07% Other Ethnic Group - Other ethnic group 20 0.02% Prefer not to say 40247 46.19 % White - Irish 426 0.49% White - Other British 1666 1.91% White - Other white ethnic group 613 0.70% White - Polish 66 0.08% White - Prefer not to say 309 0.35% White - Scottish 42681 48.98 % Total 87140 100.00 % Children’s Services – Training and Development Data This data includes information on take up of corporate training and e-learning and does not represent the full range of training and development activity that happens at individual service level. Age Band Age Band Head Count %age 16-20 39 0.16% 21-30 3946 16.55% 31-40 6363 26.69% 41-50 6169 25.88% 51-60 5505 23.09% 61+ 1816 7.62%
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Total 23838 100.00% Sex (as per HMRC data) Sex Head Count %age Female 20467 85.86% Male 3371 14.14% Total 23838 100.00% What is your sex? Sex Head Count %age Female 14098 59.14% Male 2350 9.86% Prefer not to say 7390 31.00% Total 23838 100.00% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Head Count %age No 12563 52.70% Prefer not to say 11257 47.22% Yes 18 0.08% Total 23838 100.00% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Head Count %age Civil Partnership 12 0.05%
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Divorced 470 1.97% Married 5892 24.72% Never Married/Civil Partnership 3411 14.31% Prefer not to say 13949 58.52% Separated - Legally Married 27 0.11% Widowed 77 0.32% Total 23838 100.00% Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Head Count %age Bisexual 100 0.42% Gay or Lesbian 198 0.83% Prefer not to say 12020 50.42% Straight/Heterosexual 11520 48.33% Total 23838 100.00% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Head Count %age Buddhist ≤5 0.14% Church of Scotland 353 12.75% Hindu ≤5 0.04% Jewish ≤5 0.07% Muslim 9 0.33% None 1108 40.01% Other Christian 95 3.43%
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Other religion or body 16 0.58% Pagan ≤5 0.04% Prefer not to say 772 27.88% Roman Catholic 404 14.59% Sikh ≤5 0.14% Total 2769 100.00% Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Head Count %age No 1238 44.71% Prefer not to say 829 29.94% Yes 702 25.35% Total 2769 100.00% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Head Count %age No 11502 48.25% Prefer not to say 11751 49.30% Yes 585 2.45% Total 23838 100.00% What is your ethnic group?
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Ethnic Group Head Count %age Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian 17 0.07% Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani 91 0.38% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black 6 0.03% Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group 53 0.22% Other Ethnic Group - Arab, Scottish Arab, British Arab 10 0.04% Prefer not to say 11797 49.49 % White - Irish 91 0.38% White - Other British 357 1.50% White - Other white ethnic group 75 0.31% White - Polish 9 0.04% White - Prefer not to say 45 0.19% White - Scottish 11287 47.35 % Total 23838 100.00 %
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Renfrewshire Council – Leavers Data This data gives us information about the people who have left their roles at the Council, by protected characteristic. It tells us the proportion of each group that have left their jobs and compares this to the proportion of that group within the Council as a whole. From this we can see whether certain groups are disproportionately leaving the Council. Retention A comparison of our overall headcount against the profile data of our leavers indicates that those in the 16-30 age band represent 20.5% of leavers despite accounting for 14.3% of the workforce within this age band. Similarly, we have a higher proportion of males leaving the Council with 32.4% of leavers being male, whilst males make up only 25% of the workforce. Within Children’s Services, the highest proportion of leavers are within the 21-30 age band at 23.7%. This age band accounts for 16.9% of the overall headcount within Children’s Services. Whilst males make up 13.7% of the headcount within Children’s Services, 14.7% of leavers are male. Age Band Age Band Head Count %age 16-20 30 1.70% 21-30 332 18.81% 31-40 358 20.28% 41-50 266 15.07% 51-60 421 23.85% 61+ 358 20.28% Total 1765 100.00% Sex (as per HMRC data) Sex Head Count %age Female 1193 67.59% Male 572 32.41%
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Total 1765 100.00% What is your sex? Sex Head Count %age Female 680 38.53% Male 277 15.69% Prefer not to say 808 45.78% Total 1765 100.00% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Head Count %age No 718 40.68% Prefer not to say 1046 59.26% Yes ≤5 Total 1765 100.00% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Head Count %age Divorced 44 2.49% Married 348 19.72% Never Married/Civil Partnership 181 10.25% Prefer not to say 1181 66.91% Widowed 11 0.62% Total 1765 100.00%
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Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Head Count %age Bisexual ≤5 Gay or Lesbian 13 0.74% Prefer not to say 1075 60.91% Straight/Heterosexual 676 38.30% Total 1765 100.00% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Head Count %age Buddhist ≤5 Church of Scotland 194 10.99% Muslim ≤5 None 515 29.18% Other Christian 43 2.44% Other religion or body 19 1.08% Pagan ≤5 Prefer not to say 826 46.80% Roman Catholic 158 8.95% Sikh ≤5 Total 1765 100.00%
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Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Head Count %age No 617 34.96% Prefer not to say 852 48.27% Yes 296 16.77% Total 1765 100.00% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? Disability Head Count %age No 679 38.47% Prefer not to say 1049 59.43% Yes 37 2.10% Total 1765 100.00% What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Head Count %age African - African, Scottish African, British African ≤5 0.17% Asian - Chinese, Scottish Chinese, British Chinese ≤5 0.06% Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian ≤5 0.06% Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani ≤5 0.11% Caribbean or Black - Black, Scottish Black, British Black ≤5 0.06%
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Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group ≤5 0.28% Other Ethnic Group - Other ethnic group ≤5 0.06% Prefer not to say 1080 61.19 % White - Irish ≤5 0.40% White - Other British 27 1.53% White - Other white ethnic group 8 0.45% White - Polish ≤5 0.06% White - Prefer not to say ≤5 0.06% White - Scottish 627 35.52 % Total 1765 100.00 %
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Children’s Services – Leavers Data This data gives us information about the people who have left their roles within Children’s Services, by protected characteristic. It tells us the proportion of each group that have left their jobs and compares this to the proportion of that group within Children’s Services as a whole. From this we can see whether certain groups are disproportionately leaving Children’s Services. Age Band Age Band Head Count %age 16-20 ≤5 21-30 164 23.73% 31-40 157 22.72% 41-50 112 16.21% 51-60 148 21.42% 61+ 105 15.20% Total 691 100.00% Sex (as per HMRC data) Sex Head Count %age Female 589 85.24% Male 102 14.76% Total 691 100.00% What is your sex? Sex Head Count %age Female 352 50.94% Male 67 9.70%
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Prefer not to say 272 39.36% Total 691 100.00% Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Transgender Head Count %age No 318 46.02% Prefer not to say 372 53.84% Yes ≤5 Total 691 100.00% What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status? Marital / Civil Partnership Status Head Count %age Divorced 19 2.75% Married 134 19.39% Never Married/Civil Partnership 85 12.30% Prefer not to say 449 64.98% Widowed ≤5 Total 691 100.00% Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Sexual Orientation Head Count %age Bisexual ≤5 Gay or Lesbian 8 1.16% Prefer not to say 385 55.72% Straight/Heterosexual 297 42.98%
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Total 691 100.00% What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Religion or Body Head Count %age Buddhist ≤5 Church of Scotland 74 10.71% Muslim ≤5 None 225 32.56% Other Christian 21 3.04% Other religion or body 6 0.87% Prefer not to say 279 40.38% Roman Catholic 77 11.14% Sikh ≤5 Total 691 100.00% Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical/mental ill-health/disability or problems related to old age? Caring Responsibility Head Count %age No 246 35.60% Prefer not to say 292 42.26% Yes 153 22.14% Total 691 100.00% Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months?
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Disability Head Count %age No 306 44.28% Prefer not to say 375 54.27% Yes 10 1.45% Total 691 100.00% What is your ethnic group? Ethnic Group Head Count %age Asian - Chinese, Scottish Chinese, British Chinese ≤5 Asian - Indian, Scottish Indian, British Indian ≤5 Asian - Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani, British Pakistani ≤5 Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups - Any mixed or multiple ethnic group ≤5 Other Ethnic Group - Other ethnic group ≤5 Prefer not to say 385 55.72 % White - Irish ≤5 White - Other British 13 White - Other white ethnic group ≤5 White - Polish ≤5 White - Scottish 276 39.94 % Total 691 100.00 %
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Issue Number: 2 Issue Date: 2/23 Review Date: 2/27 Equal Pay Statement For all council employees. This document is available in alternative formats on request.
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CONTENTS 1 Introduction 3 2 Aims and Objectives of this Statement 3 3 Scope 4 4 Legislation 4 5 Responsibilities 5 6 Equality Impact Assessment 6 7 Monitoring and Review 6 VERSION CONTROL Version Date Details of Review/Revisions made Next Review date 2 March 2023 Drafting of revised to reflect Equal Pay Statement to include current legislative requirements [March 2027]
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Page 3 of 5 1 Introduction 1.1 The Council strives for equality of opportunity in employment and is committed to ensuring that its procedures and systems used to determine the pay and conditions of employment for employees does not discriminate unlawfully and are free from bias, irrespective of sex, marital/civil partnership status, age, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief. In addition, the Council will promote initiatives and take action to encourage equality of opportunity and eliminate discrimination on the basis of employment status, caring responsibilities or trade union activity. Equality is a core value of the Council governing the actions of all officers and employees. 1.2 The Council understands that the right to equal pay between women and men is a legal right. To achieve equal pay for employees doing the ‘same or broadly similar work’, or ‘work rated as equivalent’ and for ‘work of equal value’, the Council is committed to operating a pay and grading model which is fair, transparent, based on objective criteria and is free from bias. 1.3 The Council has not identified any patterns or trends that demonstrate that equal pay or pay discrimination exists within our structures or is a concern for our organisation. Any pay differentials which exist can be objectively justified using our nationally agreed Job Evaluation Scheme which directly relates pay to the requirements, demands and responsibilities of a job role. That said, to continue delivering equality of opportunity for our employees and future job applicants, we will continually review our pay model and carry-on equality impact assessing all our relevant employment policies and procedures to identify different effects of practices on women and men and take relevant action to address these, if necessary. 2 Aims and objectives of this statement 2.1 This statement sets out the Council’s commitment to equal pay for all employees. The Council’s equal pay objectives are to: • Have a fair and transparent pay and grading model. • Eliminate any unfair, unjust, or unlawful practices. • Take suitable and appropriate remedial action if necessary. 2.2 To achieve our objectives outlined in paragraph 2.1 above, the Council commits to: • Apply appropriate resources to achieve equal pay and monitor the application of this statement. • Undertake regular reviews of pay and grading and job evaluation processes ensuring any discrimination is eliminated and employees are paid fairly for their duties and responsibilities. • Provide training and guidance for those involved in determining pay and grading and job evaluation. • Publish the Council’s pay and grading models for transparency. • Inform employees of how their pay is determined. • Carry our regular reviews of our recruitment practices to ensure compliance with equality legislation and best practice.
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Page 4 of 5 • Ensure learning and development opportunities are available for all. • Take appropriates measures to address occupational segregation. • Carry out and publish results of any equal pay audits and appropriate actions. • Continue to work in partnership with recognised trade unions to monitor pay regularly, taking the necessary steps to eliminate discrimination, advance equality or opportunity and foster good relations. 3.0 Scope 3.1 This statement applies to all employees of the Council irrespective of any protected characteristic, employment status or length or conditions of service. 4.0 Legislation 4.1 The Equality Act 2010 gives woman and men a right to equal pay for equal work. 4.2 The Council will take all relevant and necessary steps to ensure it fully complies with the Equality Act 2010 and any other relevant equality legislation. The Council will ensure it applies this statement fairly and consistently to all employees. 4.3 The Council will ensure that it meets its legal duties set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (the “Regulations”), having due regard to the need to: • Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct. • Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. • Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 4.4 In determining the pay and remuneration for all employees, the Council will comply with all relevant employment legislation including the Part Time Employment (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, Agency Workers Regulations 2018 and where relevant, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Earnings) Regulations. 4.5 The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (“EHRC”) Statutory Code of Practice for equal pay advises that a person of one gender can claim equal pay and other contract terms with a comparator from the other gender doing work that is: • The same or broadly similar, provided that where there are any differences in the work, these are not of practical importance. (This is known as ‘like work’). • Different, but which is rated under the same job evaluation scheme as being work of equal value. (This is known as ‘work rated as equivalent’). • Different, but of equal value in terms of factors such as effort, skill, and decision making. (This is known as ‘work of equal value’). 5.0 Responsibilities 5.1 The Head of People & OD has overall responsibility for achieving the aims and objectives set out in this statement, but commits to the following:
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Page 5 of 5 • Ensure publication of the Council’s Equal Pay Statement every 4 years, in accordance with the publication requirements set out in the Regulations. • Ensure compliance with all legal duties set out in the Regulations, in line with the specified timescales. • Publish information on the occupational segregation of our workforce, in particular grades and occupations for employees who are men and women; employees who are disabled and who are not; and employees who fall into a minority racial group and employees who do not. • Prepare and report the Council’s Gender Pay Information to the UK Government, on an annual basis, as required by law. • Take any appropriate action(s), where necessary, in relation to the above analysis and review that is carried out. 5.2 Employees are asked to familiarise themselves with this statement and commit to participating and co-operating in any measure introduced by the Council to help eliminate discrimination, advance equality and foster good relations. Additionally, the Council asks all employees to ensure their equality monitoring personal information is kept up to date, should they wish to declare it, and take part in equality and diversity learning and national learning events. 5.3 Trade unions are asked to work in collaboration with the Council to continue achieving equal pay and encourage their trade union members to participate and co-operate in any measure introduced by the Council to eliminate discrimination, advance equality and foster good relations. 6.0 Equality Impact Assessment 6.1 This statement has been impact assessed in line with the Council’s obligation to comply with the Equality Act 20l0 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. 7 Monitoring and Review 7.1 Monitoring and review of this statement will be carried out to ensure compliance with all relevant equality legislation, as may be amended from time to time, and the EHRC Statutory Code and/or any guidance, as may be amended from time to time. EHRC. 7.2 To ensure the Council has an accurate picture of its workforce demographics when applying this statement, the Council will regularly ask employees to update their equality information held on file. Equality monitoring helps the Council ensure that its policies, services, and employment practices are fair, reasonable and meet the needs of the workforce. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation EU 2016/679) (“GDPR”), the information employees provide will be used by the Council for the purpose of providing statistical reports and equality monitoring. The details provided by employees will not be passed to any external bodies.