Our commitment to equality

Promoting fairness and tackling inequality are at the heart of our values as an organisation.

As a council we want to provide high quality and accessible services that deliver what matters most to our diverse communities.

We also want our workforce culture to promote and embrace equality, fairness and inclusion. We are committed to supporting our workforce to develop and to deliver and commission quality services.

The Equality Framework and Equality Objectives: 2024 to 2028

The Equality Framework sits within the Council Plan, and sets out our statutory equality, diversity and inclusion objectives and actions for the next four years.

We want to be an organisation that people aspire to work for, is open to all, truly represents and puts the people of Sheffield at its heart.

The Framework builds on our last set of Equality Objective from 2019-23 and the work of the Race Equality Commission.
   
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, we have specific duties to set Equality Objectives at least every 4 years. After we published the draft Equality Objectives in December 2023, following consultation and feedback we have amended the Objectives set out in December, we now have 4 Equality Objectives for 2024-28:

Objective 1: Leadership 
Objective 2: Delivery of Services 
Objective 3: Communities 
Objective 4: Workforce- People and culture

Our Equality Objectives 2024-28 was approved by Strategy and Resources Committee on 12 March 2024.

We will update the Strategy and Resources Committee annually on our progress against the Framework. Our implementation and reporting will be overseen by the Strategic Equality and Inclusion Board.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy sets out our equality commitments to the people of Sheffield and our staff and how we will meet them.

Our Public Sector Equality Duty

The Public Sector Equality Duty  (PSED) (Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010) covers councils and other public sector organisations such as the Police, health and schools. It also applies to organisations we contract with who are carrying functions on our behalf.

The General Duty has 3 aims. It requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations

Annual Equality and Workforce Employee Reports

Our Annual Equality Report gives an overview of how we are meeting our Public Sector Equality Duty. It summarises our actions and progress on improving equality, in the way we serve the people of Sheffield and how we behave as an employer.

The report includes more detailed information about some of our areas of work and highlights areas of persistent inequality.

The examples in the report are only a selection of the ways in which we work to improve equality and to meet the Equality Duty. Our partners also have a duty to report on their work around equality.

2022 to 2023 Annual Equality Report

Our 2022-23 Annual Equality Report and the 2022-3 Workforce Data Report are currently being designed and made fully accessible. They will be uploaded once they are published.

In the interim period, and to ensure timely reporting of our statutory duties, copies of the report that were submitted to Strategy and Resources Committee in February 2024 are available for download papers as a temporary basis. However, they will not be fully accessible to all readers. 

Race Equality

In 2020 Sheffield City Council supported the setting up and delivery of the Independent Race Equality Commission in Sheffield.

This was to provide an independent strategic assessment of the nature, extent, causes and impacts of racism and race inequality within the city. The Commission Reported in July 2022. Please see all the hearings and reports on the Race Equality Commission webpage.

As a Council we have responded to the commission. We have undertaken further work to support the Council in working to become an anti-racist organisation and Sheffield to be an anti-racist city.

We have described the work in reports to our Strategy and Resources Committee. Please see the reports for the detail.

The Race Equality Partnership for Sheffield

The Race Equality Partnership for Sheffield (REPS) was launched in February 2024. REPS has been established by partners including public sector institutions, local businesses and community groups, following the publication of the Race Equality Commission (REC) in July 2022. It will play a pivotal role in supporting the city to deliver against the Commission’s recommendations and secure a legacy from the work. 

The new Chair of REPS, Fatima Khan-Shah, was appointed and started in July.

Equality Impact Assessments

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is a way of systematically assessing the effects that a policy, project or proposal is likely to have on different groups of people within the city and/or in our workforce. 

Our policies, projects and decisions will affect the communities we serve and there is the potential for our services to have unseen barriers or to affect some customers, residents, visitors or staff, even if this is not our intention. We therefore undertake an EIA to help us make better decisions and to try to ensure that the services we provide and commission are fair and accessible to all.

EIAs are focussed on the impact on the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. These include age, disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, religion/belief, gender reassignment, pregnancy/maternity. In Sheffield, we have decided to go beyond our statutory duty under the Equality Act 2010. We also assess the impact on the Voluntary and Community and faith Sector (VCFS), poverty and financial exclusion, unpaid carers, armed forces and social cohesion. We believe that this gives us a wider understanding than the statutory framework would without these additions.

We carry out an initial EIA for proposals, policies and projects and a full EIA where we think there may be a disproportionate impact on some groups of people. We consult with people who are likely to be impacted by proposals, projects or changes to policies.

Equality Impact Assessments that are completed as part of public decisions that the Council makes are publicly available and are attached to all Committee reports. You can search for any report you would like to view by visiting the site below.

Equality information and monitoring

Equality monitoring helps us to ensure that services are accessible. Recording personal circumstances allows us to analyse how well we are meeting our commitments to different groups of customers. Research such as the Census provides a profile of the population of Sheffield that enables us to compare who requests and receives services against the data we collect. For example, we collect information on who uses our translation and interpretation.

Equality monitoring helps us to:

• understand why our services do not meet their needs
• improve delivery of services making it easier for all groups of customers to access services