People from ethnic minority backgrounds are “consistently underrepresented” across the UK’s council workforces, compared to the working-age ethnic minority population, according to a new report.
The report, carried out by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE), entitled Understanding and Improving Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, revealed that ethnic minorities were underrepresented in the workforces of local authorities across England and Wales.
Compared to the regional working-age ethnic minority population, it is evident that ethnic minorities are consistently underrepresented in the workforces of councils across all regions of England and Wales. As census data for Scotland was not available at the time of the analysis, the data is focused on the 251 councils in England and Wales that had workforce ethnicity data available, as shown in the chart below.
Source: Solace
RACE REPRESENTATION & PAY DATA
The study also concluded that a lack of consistent data collection and publication means that it is difficult to discern a meaningful understanding of the relationship between race and pay. Analysing ethnic minority representation in leadership roles is challenging due to the absence of a standardised reporting and the voluntary nature of reporting on ethnicity pay, according to the report. However, existing literature suggests that ethnic minorities are often underrepresented in leadership positions in local government.
The research also highlighted the need for standardised reporting practices and a more focused commitment to addressing diversity and inclusion in leadership roles, indicating that such an approach would be “beneficial in facilitating meaningful and cross-council and cross-year comparisons and advancing equitable distribution across local government”.
WORKFORCE ETHNICITY DATA
Key findings also showed that:
- Over the past year, 65% (100 councils) of upper tier councils have published new workforce ethnicity data.
- While last year’s report revealed that 56% (84 councils) of upper tier councils had complete data, this year, that figure has risen to 59% (80 council) this year, suggesting greater completeness of data from upper tier councils.
- Upper tier councils (59%) publish more complete data compared to other/district councils (37%) in England.
- Data collection reveals that in England, all regions have councils where workforce data is either unable to be located or where data that is published is incomplete, indicating regional disparities and ongoing inconsistencies in the publication of DE&I information within local government.
- London emerges as the region with the most comprehensive data on workforce ethnicity and pay, whereas the South West publishes the least complete data.
- 100% of Scottish and Welsh councils published either complete or partial workforce ethnicity data, demonstrating the highest rates of workforce ethnicity data publication.
SOBERING STATISTICS
Commenting on the report findings, Nazeya Hussain and Chris Naylor, Joint Solace Leads for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, said: “The sector remains strongly committed to improving diversity at all levels and our most recent report is clear that we still have important work ahead of us to achieving this. We must work harder to ensure local government is reflective of the communities we serve as well as identifying, nurturing, and promoting diverse talent into senior leadership. This must remain a top priority for leaders.”
Matt Prosser, President of Solace, described the report’s findings as “sobering”. “While there have been some improvements in the amount of meaningful data councils capture in relation to representation, it is still far from the comprehensive picture we would like to see. And what we can see from the data we do have is that ethnic minorities are consistently underrepresented in council workforces right across the country,” noted Prosser.
While there have been some improvements in the amount of meaningful data councils capture in relation to representation, it is still far from the comprehensive picture the Government would like to see. “What we can see from the data we do have is that ethnic minorities are consistently underrepresented in council workforces right across the country. It cannot be right that the local government workforce largely fails to reflect the communities we serve,” shared Prosser. “None of us should simply stand on the sidelines hoping things will change; it is on all of us, as leaders, to be the change.”
Click here to download a copy of the report.
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