Appendix B – ‘Ensuring we meet our EDI duties and responsibilities’ – Governance Assurance Area update for CPRC 12 October

ASSURANCE AREA
Ensuring we meet our EDI duties and responsibilities
ASSURANCE DESCRIPTION
We have a duty to adhere to the Equality Act (2010). It is a priority for the Council to ensure we have workplace practices, and deliver services, that meet the required and expected standards to promote equal opportunities, diversity and inclusivity. We will seek to ensure we uphold and demonstrate our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity. We therefore need to ensure we allocate the necessary resources and harness the required skills and expertise to develop, promote and support implementation of our Equality and Diversity Policy.
ASSURANCE ASSESSMENT
Although the Council meets necessary tasks on EDI, due to resourcing issues it has lagged in being developed and taken forward proactively. An Inclusivity Group operate on an informal basis but we are now focusing on ensuring the strategy and objectives of that strategy will be met.
ASSURANCE OWNER	Sandy Muirhead	FOCUS/ISSUE/CONCERN	Focus	LEVEL OF ASSURANCE (High/Medium/Low)	Medium

	Assurance Action	Action Owner	Current RAG status	Performance Update	Next steps (including completion / review date)
1	Training and awareness Ensure the Council develops and provides appropriate training and awareness for both officers and members.	Emily Clayton- HR Business Partner		Mandatory Training is undertaken via our Workrite system by staff on an annual basis and as of September 2026 69.9% of staff have completed the training.  Elected members receive some training on being elected but consideration is being given to further member training.	To seek further training for key staff Review date: December 2026
2	EDI impact assessments Ensure the Council has an appropriate process in place to undertake timely EDI impact assessments	Leigh Street- Project Officer		EDI impact assessments are undertaken on relevant projects and strategies. A system has been set up via the Project Dashboard for a central log of assessments which can be reviewed regularly.	Development of central log completed. Review date: January 2027
3	EDI champions/EDI network Ensure the Council has effective arrangements in place to identify and support EDI champions/EDI network.	Debbie O'Sullivan- Human Resources Manager		The inclusivity working group has continued to look at greater integration and implementation of EDI and we are looking to strengthen this grouping in line with West Surrey requirements. Given current LGR and IRP workloads likely to be difficult to resource this group more effectively given staffing constraints	Issues of time management due to staff roles and resourcing ongoing and unlikely LGR to be resolved before March 2027 Review date: March 2027
4	Oversight of the E&D Policy/ED&I Strategy Ensuring the arrangements for the oversight of the E&D Policy/ED&I Strategy are in place and effective.	Sandy Muirhead- Group Head Commissioning and Transformation		An EDI strategy was agreed by CPRC (April 2026) and EDI considerations are a necessary part of all Committee reports and projects. However, resourcing effective checking on activities is extremely limited and therefore there is a risk on full delivery.	Appropriate reporting on workforce and gender pay gap will be undertaken on an annual basis - so that is covered but extra activities will be limited. West Surrey is developing EDI policies for the shadow authority. Review date: March 2027
5	Procurement strategy/standard contract terms Ensure the Council has the appropriate arrangements in place in the Procurement strategy and standard contract terms to ensure contractors understand and comply with the Council EDI responsibilities.	Linda Heron- Legal Services Manager		Working with Runnymede, who have embedded sustainability/EDI within their procurement routes, will ensure EDI is addressed within Spelthorne's procurements.	To ensure the new procurements via Runnymede team includes consideration of EDI. Review date: December 2026
6	Equal pay/gender pay gap statistics and performance Ensure the Council has, and uses, statistics and performance data to understand any equal pay/gender pay gap issues.	Debbie O'Sullivan- Human Resources Manager		Statistics collected annual and included in workforce data.	Review date: March 2027
7	KPIs in place and used and reported Ensure the Council has identified appropriate KPIs for assessing the EDI compliance and performance and that there are effective mechanisms for reporting	Sandy Muirhead- Group Head Commissioning and Transformation		An EDI strategy has been developed and agreed by Committee.	Targeted KPIs will be put in place including gender workplace reporting, % completion of EDI mandatory training Review date: March 2027

Related Improvement and Recovery Plan Theme High Priority Outcomes: 

Not applicable

Corporate KPIs
	KPI description	Frequency	Target	Corporate priority	Progress update
	Gender pay gap	Annual	Comparative	Services	Produced annually at end of year.
	% completion of EDI mandatory training	Quarterly	70%	Services	Slightly below this figure currently and staff reminded of need to undertake Workrite training