Equality, diversity and inclusion annual report 2023

Introduction

The last year has seen further work taken forward across Lincolnshire County Council, with recruitment and retention of employees being high on our agenda. Our strength as a Council that delivers a wide range of services to residents and businesses continues to be dependent on the people we employ and our ability to value difference and diversity, both within our own staff and across the many communities that we serve in the county. 

Every day there are thousands of interactions between colleagues working in the Council and those living and working in the county – elected Members and officers, Lincolnshire residents and partners. The things we do are varied but they all revolve around relationships between people with different backgrounds, beliefs, wants and needs. We understand the importance of connecting with our varied and ever-changing communities.

We have sought the views of our employees through active engagement and by means of a Culture and Leadership stock take to identify new opportunities to ensure they feel valued, feel a sense of belonging while working in the Council and are best able to deliver excellent services for the people of Lincolnshire.

The data collected for this report shows improvements in the confidence of our workforce to share their characteristic information and continues to highlight areas where we can focus attention to ensure equity for our current and prospective colleagues.

We remain committed to embedding a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion for employees and residents here in Lincolnshire, so that the Council is an employer of choice, able to attract and retain high quality staff, so that we can continue to deliver the very best services to our residents and businesses.

Report summary

This report covers how we are meeting our obligations as a county council and as an employer, the profile of our workforce and how our approaches support equality, diversity and inclusion.  In the last year we have:

• improved our data collection of the disability status of our employees
• added transgender and non-binary gender options to our diversity recording in the employee data system which will be reported in next year and will help us to identify any difference experienced by these groups
• calculated the ethnicity and disability pay gaps to help us understand any pay differentials between different groups
• developed tools to support employees across the workforce to access flexible working and to share information about their personal circumstances to increase opportunity for support, understanding and reasonable adjustments. These include:
  • personal support passport
  • day one right to flexible working
• increased awareness of the different needs of employees through additional information resources on our intranet and regular communications to employees from our staff network groups
• encouraged our employees to take part in awareness and celebration events, including Race Equality Week, Black History Month and Carers Rights Day
• signed up to the Social Care Race Equality Standard to identify differences for employees from ethnic minority backgrounds working in our Children’s Services and Adult Social Care and Community Wellbeing directorates 
• planned to use the information from the Social Care Race Equality Standard to provide us with an area to pilot new ways to improve the experience of all employees from ethnic minority backgrounds and a method to monitor its success
• increased the number of services collecting and considering customer equality data

Our legal duty

The Equality Act 2010 provides a legal framework to:

• protect the rights of individuals
• advance equality of opportunity for all
• protect individuals from unfair treatment
• promote a fair and more equal society

Under the act it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of the following ‘protected characteristics’:

• age
• gender reassignment
• being married or in a civil partnership
• being pregnant or on maternity leave
• disability
• race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation

Our diversity and inclusion policy outlines the different types of discrimination.

Public sector equality duty

The public sector equality duty was created under the Equality Act. As a large public authority we have to consider all individuals when carrying out our day-to-day work including:

• when developing policy
• when delivering services
• in relation to our own employees

The duty also requires that public bodies have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

We comply with the legislation by having due regard for advancing equality in the following ways:

• Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics
• Taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people
• Encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low

Equalities objectives

Public bodies must publish relevant, proportionate information demonstrating their compliance with the Equality Duty. They must set themselves specific, measurable equality objectives. The equality objectives must be published at least every four years.

Lincolnshire population

Lincolnshire is a large rural county. The latest population predictions from the office for national statistics and data published from the 2021 Census on sex, age, ethnicity and religion there are:

• 768,364 people living in the county
• 51% (391,934) female and 49% (376,430) male residents
• 468,318 residents of working age (15 to 64)
• 4.0% (30,834) of residents from an ethnic minority background. This may be from an Asian, Black, mixed ethnicity or other ethnic background.
• 96.0% (737,532) of residents from a White British (89.2%), Irish (0.4%), Gypsy or Irish Traveller (0.1%), Roma (0.1%) or other white background (6.1%)
• 53.7% (412,588) of residents are Christian, 38.1% (294,198) have no religion, 0.2% (1,824) Buddhist, 0.3% (2,494) Hindu, 0.1% (495) Jewish, 0.7% (5,411) Muslim, 0.1% (681) Sikh and 0.5% (3,783) of residents have other religions or beliefs.
• 6.23% (estimate) of working age adults have a long term condition or physical disability

Our population is getting older as the percentage of people in the older age groups continues to increase.

From the 2011 to the 2021 census for Lincolnshire:

• 8% (54,711) increase in population from 713,653 in 2011
• 0.2% decrease in the proportion of the population aged under 15
• 2.5% decrease in the proportion of the population aged 15 to 64
• 2.7% increase in the proportion of the population aged 65 and over

The diversity of cultures is affected by Brexit where some foreign nationals have returned to their countries of birth. It is likely to be changed again by recent refugee crises.

Lincolnshire data and summaries

There are two main data sites for the Lincolnshire region.  Lincolnshire Open Data provides information on wide range of data across a number of different themes including council services.  The Lincolnshire Health Intelligence hub provides population demographics including 2021 census summaries and an outline of communities of interest from a health perspective.  The site also includes the latest Joint Strategic Needs assessment and the Director of Public Health annual report.

 

Our commitment

We encourage a supportive and inclusive culture. We believe that diversity and inclusion brings many benefits. People work better and services improve if we operate in an open and supportive environment, where people are individually valued. We recognise everyone has visible and non-visible differences. By respecting this, everyone can feel valued. Our revised Equality and Inclusion Policy covers how we treat everyone:

• colleagues
• customers
• communities
• other stakeholders

We adopted a Declaration condemning extremism and racist behaviour in all its forms. That Declaration is incorporated in our Equality and Inclusion Policy. It was signed by the Leaders of each of the Political Parties that make up the County Council on 15 September 2017.

Corporate diversity steering group

Our Corporate diversity steering group is made up from representatives from across the Council. It is chaired by the Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing. The Group provides council wide strategic direction to equality and diversity. This includes the overall culture of the Council. It ensures we meet our statutory requirements as set out in the Equality Act 2010 and the Equality Duty.

Our corporate plan

Our corporate plan was approved by Council in December 2019. It sets out:

• what we want to achieve for local residents and communities
• how we will work with public and private organisations to bring greater and lasting benefits to our county

This ensures we continue to provide good services but also work towards meeting the wider needs of Lincolnshire residents.

We are committed to:

• being customer-focused – understanding the key issues for Lincolnshire’s people and places, to help shape services in a highly personalised way
• working collaboratively – recognising that many people need organisations to work collectively to ensure we demonstrate how we value diversity and people get the best possible outcomes
• connecting our communities – using infrastructure to connect people and places. This includes digital communications, rail and road networks
• advocating for Lincolnshire – working with our partners to passionately advocate for Lincolnshire. 'Sing loud and proud', attracting additional investment to strengthen our communities
• making your money go further – providing cost-effective, high-quality services
• working creatively – tackling our challenges and making the most of all opportunities and innovation

The Corporate Plan has identified four key priorities. We are determined that in the future people and communities will have:

• high aspirations
• the opportunity to enjoy life to the full
• thriving environments
• good-value council services

We believe that high aspirations, good advice and information and education are the pathways out of poverty and vehicles for reducing inequality. We aspire to working with local communities and partners to deliver good quality services to all of our residents. We work with district, town and parish councils to provide community support, accommodation and housing that meets everyone's needs.

We believe that thriving, sustainable environments are important so that everyone can access and enjoy the beautiful outdoor spaces this county has to offer. We will continue to maximise and exploit technology so that we become even more accessible and continue to provide appropriate services to our customers.

Our people strategy

Our People Strategy supports the delivery of our Corporate Plan. It supports our ambition of being an employer of choice and aims to ensure our culture fosters a working environment that:

• embraces the diversity of all our workforce and residents
• supports individuals and teams to feel empowered
• ensure that everyone owns, understands and embodies the Council's vision and values
• supports an open and compassionate approach to people management
• supports staff engagement
• facilitates learning and development
• we are able to recruit, retain and develop skilled and talented individuals from inside and outside of Lincolnshire, across generations. This will enable the future delivery of our services.

Our workforce

We monitor the characteristics of our workforce to:

• identify trends within employment practices
• investigate trends
• implement change where appropriate

It also enables us to fulfil our commitment to:

• ensure employment practices are free from discrimination
• meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010

The provision of personal diversity information within the council is voluntary. Employees have the option of choosing not to share this information. The personnel system can be accessed on a self-serve basis. This allows employees to manage and amend their personal information. We encourage employees to provide this information as it helps us to improve how we support colleagues with different characteristics.

Where an employee has chosen not to share ethnicity, disability, religion or belief or sexual orientation, this is shown on the workforce profile as 'unknown'. When employees choose not to share their personal diversity information, this can affect our ability to meaningfully report and benchmark monitoring information.

Additional data is also provided on:

• Recruitment process
• Pay and the gender pay gap
• Discipline, grievance and capability processes
• Turnover and leaver data

At the reporting date of 31 March 2023, there are 5,500 employees (excluding schools).

We have compared our workforce data to:

• the same period in 2022
• 2021 census data

This allows us to assess:

• if the composition of our workforce has changed
• whether it is reflective of the local community

The workforce profile differs within each part of the organisation depending on the roles undertaken and the purpose of the services. This report provides a summary across the council.

Where employee numbers are below 10, the detail will not be provided in this report to protect the anonymity of individual employees.  In these cases it will state ‘fewer than 10’.  Where possible there will be an indication of whether the percentage is above or below the workforce percentage of that characteristic.

Age

Age profile of workforce 31 March 2023

In common with many employers, the proportion of our staff who are in the older age groups continues to grow. There has been an increase since last year in the percentage of employees in the 35 to 39, 40 to 44 and 55 plus age groups.

As an ‘age friendly’ employer and part of the national ‘Ageing better’ programme, we aim to provide fulfilling work to people aged 50 and over.  We have reviewed the workforce data and employee survey responses from those aged 50 and over to show the current experience of employees in this age group and to understand whether they can access fulfilling work at Lincolnshire County Council.

• The percentage of employees aged 50 and above is 39.5% (2,167), an increase of 0.1% (50) over the year from 39.4% (2,117) in 2022. 
• In Lincolnshire, people aged 50 and over form 45% (343,670) of the population.
• 42.2% (914) of employees aged 50 and over work part-time compared with 33.5% (1,118) of employees under 50.

Apprenticeships

• There were 266 live apprenticeships in 2022 to 2023, a decrease of 107 from 2021 to 2022.
• Internally and externally provided apprenticeships are available to staff of any age.  They can support development up to level 7 (equivalent to a master’s degree).
• 17.7% of apprenticeships (47) were undertaken by employees under the age of 25.  There are 256 employees under the age of 25 which is 4.7% of the workforce.  Staff under the age of 25 are therefore around four times more likely to undertake an apprenticeship than older staff. Several of the courses offered support the development of administration and customer service skills for individuals who are leaving education or early in their careers.
• The majority of apprenticeships (45.5% or 121) were undertaken by employees aged between 25 and 40.
• 15.4% (41) were undertaken by employees aged 50 and over. Although this is not representative of the number of employees in this age group (39.4%) it shows that individuals are supported to continue their development through apprenticeships, regardless of their age.

Employee Survey

The figures and percentages can be found in the Employee survey section.

Respondents aged 50 and over were:

• less likely to say they have a fair opportunity to progress in their career
• less likely to say they are supported or have their contributions recognised by their manager
• more likely to say they maintain a good level of resilience and wellbeing

When asked whether they experience abuse at work, survey respondents aged 50 and over were no more likely than other groups to answer yes.

Disability

The number of employees sharing that they have a disability has increased year on year:

• 4.3% (230) in 2020
• 4.3% (231) in 2021
• 4.6% (249) in 2022
• 5.8% (319) in 2023

The percentage of employees whose disability status is not known has decreased in the last year from 46.3% (2,486) in 2022 to 24.3% (1,338).  Further work is in hand to encourage staff to feel confident about disclosing that they have a disability, with the aim of reducing still further the proportion whose status is unknown.

We continue to have a lower percentage of employees sharing that they have a disability (5.80%) compared to the Lincolnshire population (6.23%).

We have committed to the Disability Confident Scheme and have also been accredited as a Disability Confident employer. We also reference this in our recruitment and take action on the following commitment to:

• ensure the recruitment process is inclusive and accessible
• communicate and promote vacancies
• offer an interview to disabled people if they meet the minimum criteria for the post
• anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as required when disabled employees are applying for and doing their jobs

The fact that the pay gap between employees with no disability and those with a disability is little more than half the national average suggests that these actions are having an impact. The distribution of staff across the various pay bands still suggests that it is more difficult for someone with a disability to secure a role at a more senior level than it is for someone without a disability. As the proportion of successful applicants recruited to the council who have a declared disability remains greater than the proportion of current staff with a disability, it seems likely that the proportion of all staff with a reported disability will continue to increase.

Disability statistics 2022 to 2023

• 5.8% (319) employees have shared that they have a disability.
• 24.3% (1,338) employees have not shared their disability status.

Pay

The disability pay gap of employees has been calculated for the first time this year. As 24.3% of employees have not declared their disability status, these employee records were not included, therefore 3892 employees were in scope for the disability pay gap calculations.  Of these employees 3616 (92.9%) have no disability and 276 (7.1%) of the employees have a disability.

• The 2023 disability pay gap:
  • The mean hourly rate for employees with no disability is £17.33 and for employees with a disability is £16.17.
  • The mean disability pay gap is 6.7%.
  • The median hourly rate for employees with no disability is £16.11 and for employees with a disability is £14.95.
  • The median disability pay gap is 7.2%.
  • The latest UK median disability pay gap reported by the ONS for 2021 was 13.8%
• Disability pay gap quartile bands

Quartile	No disability or unknown percentage	Disability percentage
Lower quartile	92.9%	7.1%
Lower middle quartile	94.3%	5.7%
Upper middle quartile	95.5%	4.5%
Upper quartile	96.2%	3.8%

• 6.0% (312) of employees on grades G1 to G12 or equivalent salary levels (5223) shared that they have a disability.
• This reduces to less than 3.6% (fewer than 10) from G13 and above or equivalent salaries (277).

Recruitment

• 10.3% (1192) of job applicants (11604) shared that they had a disability (0.2% or 25 applicants did not declare their disability status).
• This has increased from 2022 when 8.6% (906) of job applicants (10,550) shared that they had a disability (0.8% or 80 applicants did not share their disability status).
• 12.0% (461) of shortlisted applicants (3844) shared that they had a disability.
• This has increased from 2022 when 10.0% (366) of shortlisted applicants (3,670) shared that they had a disability.
• 8.7% (101) of successful applicants (1,170) shared that they had a disability.
• This is a small increase from 2022 when 8.0% (101) of successful applicants (1,270) shared that they had a disability.
• A disabled applicant was 1.19 times more likely to be shortlisted than a non-disabled applicant. This has remained the same as in 2022.  As a Disability Confident employer, applicants with a disability are guaranteed an interview if they meet the minimum criteria for the role.
• A non-disabled shortlisted applicant was 1.43 times more likely to be successful in the recruitment process.  This has increased from 1.25 times more likely in 2022.

Apprenticeships

• 6.39% of employees (17) on apprenticeship programmes (total 266) had a disability.  This is above the % of employees with a disability (5.73%) and is an increase from 2022 when 3.22% of employees (12) on apprenticeship programmes had a disability. 

Formal HR processes

• There were 40 formal disciplinary cases in 2022- 2023 and no cases related to people with a disability.
• There were 21 formal grievance cases. The percentage of cases raised by employees with a disability was 9.5%, which is greater than the percentage representation in the workforce (5.7%).
• There were no formal grievances relating to bullying and harassment raised by employees with a disability.
• There were 15 formal capability cases. The percentage of cases relating to employees with a disability was 20.0% which is greater than the percentage representation in the workforce (5.7%).
• Given the small number of such cases, a single additional case can cause a large shift in the percentage rates.

Employee Survey

The figures and percentages can be found in the Employee survey section.

• 89.3% of respondents answered the question which asked whether they had a disability or health condition.
• 15.9% of all respondents stated that they have a disability or health condition.
• Respondents who stated they have a disability were:
  • 5% less likely to say they have a fair opportunity to develop their career
  • 5% less likely to say they have their contributions recognised
  • 24% less likely to say they maintain a good level of resilience and wellbeing
  • 3% more likely to say they have regular one to one meetings with their manager 
• When asked if they experience any abuse at work, 33% or 124 out of 380 disabled respondents stated that they experience abuse at work compared to 25% or 435 out of 1758 non-disabled respondents. Employees with a disability were more likely to answer yes but less likely to say they feel supported to deal with it. They were more likely to receive abuse from service users and the public than any other group.

Leavers

• 5.6% (38) of leavers (678) had a disability which includes 26 resignations and 12 involuntary dismissals.
• The data suggests that someone with a disability was 5.4 times more likely to be dismissed than other employees, though this figure needs to be treated with care due to the very small numbers involved, such that an individual case can shift the percentages significantly.
• Someone with a disability was 1.3 times more likely to resign than other employees.
• This includes ill health dismissals which may lead to early access to pension benefits.

The high proportion of employees (24.3%) who have not shared their disability status is likely to have had an impact of the statistics of the pay comparison and the formal HR process reporting.

Carers

There are a number of employees who are indirectly affected by disability as they are carers for family or friends outside of work. As part of the employee survey, respondents were asked if they are a carer. The responses have been analysed to understand the experience of these individuals.

The figures and percentages can be found in the Employee survey section.

• There were 524 individuals who stated they are a carer. Carers’ responses were similar to those of individuals with a disability. Carers were:
  • 4% less likely to say they have their contributions recognised
  • 8% less likely to say they maintain a good level of resilience and wellbeing
  • 4% more likely to say they have regular one to one meetings with their manager.
• Carers were more likely to work in roles which involved interaction with the public, service users or partner organisations. They were more likely than most to experience abuse. Although the figures are low, they were the group with the highest proportion (7%) of individuals suffering abuse from colleagues or partner organisations.

Carers are also likely to fall into one or more of the protected characteristic groups.

• 75% or 384 of 513 carers who responded to the question, confirmed they are female.
• 24% or 127 of 522 carers who responded to the question, stated that they have a disability or health condition.
• 6% or 29 of 506 carers who responded to the question, identified themselves as from an ethnic minority background.
• 50% or 261 of 524 carers who responded to the question were aged 50 or over.

Ethnicity

The ethnicity categories for statistics purposes are regularly reviewed by many organisations with recent guidance published by the government in December 2021 .

For the purpose of this report ethnicities are grouped into the following categories or will be listed using each subcategory heading. This is to take account of the small numbers recorded under each ethnicity and to improve the reliability of the statistics.

Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities)

• Asian: Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Asian other
• Black: African, Caribbean, Black Other
• Mixed: White and Asian, White and Black African, White and Black Caribbean, Mixed Other
• Other: Arab, Any other ethnic group

White and white minorities

• White: British, Gypsy, Roma or Irish Traveller, Irish, White Other, White not specified

Where ‘white minorities’ is stated, this includes the groups described above not including white British.

The percentage of employees who are from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities) has increased from 3.05% (164) in 2022 to 3.07% (169) in 2023. This figure is lower than the 2021 Census figure for Lincolnshire residents which is 4% (30,834). 

The percentage of employees from white and white minority backgrounds has increased from 93.22% (5,008) to 93.55% (5,145) in the last year.

There has been a decrease year on year since 2019 in the number of employees whose ethnicity is unknown from 4.47% (239) in 2021 to 3.72% (200) in 2022 and 3.38% (186) in 2023.  

Ethnicity statistics 2022 to 2023

• 3.07% (169) of employees are from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities)
• 3.3% (182) of employees are from white minority backgrounds
• 90.2% (4963) of employees are white British

Pay

The ethnicity pay gap of employees has been calculated for the first time this year. The calculations were in line with the gender pay gap criteria and 5208 employees were in scope. Of these employees 5056 (97.1%) were from white backgrounds or their ethnicity was unknown. 152 (2.9%) of the employees were from ethnic minority backgrounds.

• The 2023 ethnicity pay gap:
  • The mean hourly rate for employees from white backgrounds or where ethnicity is unknown is £17.64 and for employees from ethnic minority backgrounds is £17.54.
  • The mean ethnicity pay gap is 0.6%.
  • The median hourly rate for employees from white backgrounds or where ethnicity is unknown is £16.11 and for employees from ethnic minority backgrounds is £16.11.
  • The median ethnicity pay gap is 0.0%.
• Ethnicity pay gap quartile bands

Quartile	White or unknown ethnicity percentage	Ethnic minority percentage
Lower quartile	97.2%	2.8%
Lower middle quartile	96.9%	3.1%
Upper middle quartile	97.4%	2.6%
Upper quartile	96.8%	3.2%

3.1% (164) of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds are on grades G1 to G12 or equivalent salaries (5,223).  This reduces (figure below 10) for the band G13 or equivalent and above (277).

Recruitment

• 12.5% or 1,454 (7.1% or 749 in 2021 to 2022) of job applicants (11604) were from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities).
• 5.0% or 581 of job applicants were from white minority backgrounds
• 7.6% or 293 (5.5% or 202 in 2021-2022) of shortlisted applicants (3844) were from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities).
• 4.9% or 57 (3.5% or 44 in 2021-2022) of successful applicants (1,170) were from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities).
• An applicant from a white or other white minority ethnicity is 1.7 times more likely to be shortlisted (1.3 times in 2022).
• An applicant who is white British is 1.5 times more likely to be shortlisted than an applicant from a white minority background.
• A shortlisted applicant from a white or other white minority ethnicity is 1.6 times more likely to be successful in the recruitment process (1.3 times in 2022).
• A shortlisted applicant from a white minority ethnicity as just as likely to be successful as a white British applicant.

Apprenticeships

• Fewer than 10 employees on apprenticeship programmes (266) were from an ethnic minority background. The percentage is below the organisation’s percentage 3.07%. Therefore in 2022 to 2023 employees of a white background were more likely to undertake an apprenticeship, though this has reduced from the previous year.
• The proportion of employees on apprenticeship programmes from white minority backgrounds was close to the proportion of employees in the organisation (3.3%).

Formal HR processes

• There were 40 formal disciplinary cases in total and fewer than 10 cases involving employees from an ethnic minority background. The percentage is above the organisation’s percentage of 3.07%.
• There were 21 formal grievances cases in total and none of these were raised by employees from ethnic minority backgrounds.
• There were 15 formal capability cases in total and none of these involved employees from an ethnic minority background.
• The very small number of cases means that even a single individual can affect the percentages significantly.

Employee Survey

The figures and percentages can be found in the Employee survey section.

• 4.5% (108) of all respondents (2395) identified themselves as being from an ethnic minority background (not including white minorities).
• Respondents from an ethnic minority background were:
  • 8% less likely to say they have a fair opportunity to progress and develop their career
  • 4% less likely to say they are supported by their line manager
  • 6% less likely to say they maintain a good level of resilience and wellbeing
• Employees from an ethnic minority background were:
  • the most likely to work with the public or partner organisations
  • 4% more likely to suffer abuse from service users or the public
  • 6% less likely to feel supported in dealing with abusive behaviours

Leavers

• 5.0% (34) of leavers (678) were from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities) which includes more than 20 resignations and fewer than 10 dismissals.
• Employees from ethnic minority backgrounds (excluding white minorities) were 1.7 times more likely to resign than those from white ethnicities.
• Employees from ethnic minorities were 1.4 times more likely to be dismissed.  This has reduced from 2022 when employees from ethnic minorities were 1.7 times more likely to be dismissed. Dismissals include the end of temporary and fixed term contracts.
• 3.4% (23) of leavers (678) were from white minority backgrounds.
• When compared to white British employees, employees from other white backgrounds were 0.8 times less likely to be dismissed and just as likely to resign.

Marriage and civil partnership

The personnel system has a provision for employees to declare their marital status. In 2023 45.9% (2,526) of employees have recorded their marital status.  This has increased from 36.21% (1,945) in 2022.  We have not found evidence to suggest that there is a difference in the treatment of employees who are married or in a civil partnership compared to those who are not.

We do not record marital status as part of the recruitment processes.

Pregnancy and maternity

During the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023: 

• 121 employees took maternity leave, and there were no cases of adoption leave 
• Of all employees who finished their maternity leave during this period fewer than 10 left the organisation either before or shortly after returning to work 
• 11 employees used statutory paternity leave
• We do not record whether an applicant is pregnant, due to have or adopt a child as part of the recruitment process.

Religion or belief

The percentage of employees whose religion or belief has been left blank on their personnel record has reduced year on year from 7.3% (382) in 2019 to 5.7% (314) in 2023.  

There has also been a decrease in the number of employees who have stated that they would prefer not to disclose their religion or belief from 18.8% (985) in 2019 to 12.7% (700) in 2023.

We hold religion or belief data on 81.6% (4,486) of our employees. This is an increase from 79.0% (4,242) in 2022.

Religion or belief statistics 2022 to 2023

• 49.6% (2,725) of employees are Christian.
• 3.5% (194) of employees have other religions or beliefs including Buddhist, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, Pagan and Sikh.
• 53.1% (2919) of employees have a religion or belief.
• 28.2% (1548) of employees have no religion.

Recruitment

• There has been an increase in the percentage of applicants who have religious beliefs from 46.2% (4875) in 2021-2022 to 47.9% (5563) in 2022 -2023.
• 7.1% (825) applicants have religious beliefs other than Christian.
• 46.1% (1,772) of shortlisted applicants (3844) have religious beliefs, with 5.4% (207) being religious beliefs other than Christian.
• 44.4% (519) of successful applicants (1170) have religious beliefs, with 4.2% (49) being religious beliefs other than Christian.
• Applicants with no religion were 1.07 times more likely to be shortlisted than applicants with religious beliefs.
• Shortlisted applicants with no religion were 1.10 times more likely to be successful than applicants with religious beliefs.
• Shortlisted applicants of Christian belief were 1.27 times more likely to be successful than those of other religions or beliefs. 

Apprenticeships

• 46.6% (124) of employees on apprenticeships (266) have religious beliefs, this is below the organisational percentage (53.1%).
• 43.6% (116) of employees on apprenticeships were Christian which is below the workforce percentage (49.6%) and fewer than 10 have other religious beliefs which is within 1% of the workforce percentage (3.5%).

Formal HR processes

• There were 40 formal disciplinary cases in total and 57.5% (23) of cases involved employees with Christian beliefs, this is higher than the workforce percentage (49.6%).
• There were fewer than 10 disciplinary cases involving employees of other religions or beliefs.
• There were 21 formal grievances cases in total and 52.38% (11) of cases were raised by employees with Christian beliefs this is higher than the workforce percentage (49.6%).
• There were fewer than 10 grievance cases raised by employees of other religions or beliefs.
• There were no formal grievances relating to bullying and harassment raised by employees of other religions or beliefs.
• There were 15 formal capability cases in total and 73.3% (11) of these involved employees with Christian beliefs this is higher than the workforce percentage (49.6%).
• There were no formal capability cases involving employees of other religions or beliefs.

Leavers

• 50.1% (340) of leavers (678) had religious beliefs which includes 41.9% (284) resignations and 8.3% (56) dismissals.
• 47.6% (323) of leavers were Christian.
• 2.7% (18) of leavers had other religious beliefs.
• 30.4% (206) of leavers had no religion.
• Employees with no religious beliefs were 1.2 times more likely to resign than those with religious beliefs.
• Employees with religious beliefs were 1.4 times more likely to be dismissed than those with no religious beliefs.
• Employees with Christian religious beliefs were 1.3 times more likely to be dismissed and 1.3 times more likely to resign than employees with other beliefs.

Sex

• 68.0% (3742) of the workforce are female.
• 32.0% (1758) are male.
• 37.0% (2032) of employees work part-time, which is higher than the 2021 census figure which is 29.9% of workers.
• Part-time employees have increased from 32.59% (1742) of the workforce in 2020 to the current figure of 37.0% (2032).
• Most part-time employees are female (1374) compared to male (658).
• Fewer than 10 or 3.6% of employees on salaries equivalent to G13 and above work part-time compared to 38.8% (2026) of employees on salaries equivalent to G12 and below.

Pay

There was a total of 5,208 employees in scope of the Gender Pay Gap calculations for 31 March 2023. 

3,551 (68%) of these were female and 1,657 (32%) were male.  

• The 2023 gender pay gap:
  • The mean hourly rate for males is £18.07 and females is £17.44.
  • The mean gender pay gap is 3.5%.
  • The median hourly rate for males is £16.55 and females is £16.11.
  • The median gender pay gap is 2.7%.

The UK national median gender pay gap for all employees, calculated by the Office for National Statistics, is 14.3%.

Quartile pay bands

The workforce is split into four equal parts and that the proportions of male and female employees in each quartile are shown as:

Quartile	Males percentage	Females percentage
Lower quartile	26%	74%
Lower middle quartile	26%	74%
Upper middle quartile	43%	57%
Upper quartile	31%	69%

• Female employees account for 68.5% (3596) of the workforce on salaries equivalent to G12 and below (5223). 
• Female employees account for 59.9% (166) of the workforce on salaries equivalent to grades G13 and above (277).

Recruitment

• 66.6% (7724) of job applicants (11604) were female.
• 68.4% (2628) of shortlisted applicants (3844) were female.
• 76.6% (896) of successful applicants (1170) were female.
• Female applicants were 1.09 times more likely to be shortlisted than a male applicant.
• Once shortlisted, female applicants were 1.5 times more likely to be successful in the recruitment process.

Apprenticeships

• 75.6% (201) of employees on apprenticeships (266) were female.

Formal HR processes

• Men accounted for 67.5% (27) of the workforce who were subject to a formal disciplinary process (40).
• Men were 4.4 times more likely than women to be subject to a formal disciplinary process.
• Men accounted for 66.7% of the workforce who raised a grievance (21).
• Men were 1.9 times more likely than women to raise a grievance.
• Of the 15 cases, more than 66% or 10 women were subject to a capability process.  Women were more likely to be subject to a formal capability process than men. 

Employee survey

The figures and percentages can be found in the Employee survey section.

• Male respondents accounted for 25.3% (605) of the workforce who participated in the survey (2395).
• Male respondents were:
  • more likely to say they feel supported by their manager
  • less likely to say they have fair opportunity to progress in their career
  • less likely to say they have regular one to one meetings
  • less likely to say they maintain a good level of resilience and wellbeing
• Female respondents were less likely to feel supported when dealing with abuse from colleagues or the public.

Leavers

• Men accounted for 33.5% (227) of all leavers (678) in 2022-2023 which is within 2% of the proportion of men in the workforce (32.0%).
• Men accounted for 28.7% (33) dismissals and 34.4% (191) resignations.
• Women were 1.2 times more likely to be dismissed.
• Men and women were just as likely as each other to resign.
• In the year 2022 to 2023 women were 1.5 times more likely to be made redundant.

Sexual orientation

We hold sexual orientation data for 75.1% (4,129) of our employees. This has been increasing slowly year on year from 67.7% (3,553) in 2019.  

2.9% (158) of employees have shared that they are LGBTQ, this has increased from 2.2% (116) in 2022.

Recruitment

• The number of job applicants (11604) declaring their sexual orientation is 78.9% (9,159). This is a reduction from 2021 – 2022 when 90.7% (9571) applicants shared this information.
• 6.2% (721) of job applicants (11604) were LGBTQ.
• 5.6% (216) of shortlisted applicants (3844) were LGBTQ.
• 4.0% (47) of successful applicants (1170) were LGBTQ.
• Heterosexual applicants were 1.07 times more likely to be shortlisted than LGBTQ applicants. 
• Once shortlisted heterosexual applicants were 1.4 times more likely to be successful than LGBTQ applicants.
• This is an increase from 2021-2022, however the reduction in the number of applicants sharing their sexual orientation could have affected the data. 19.3% (226) of applicants who were successful in the recruitment process, chose not to share their sexual orientation.

Apprenticeships

• Fewer than 10 of the 266 employees on apprenticeships were LGBTQ. The actual percentage is an increase from 2022 but is below the workforce percentage (2.9%).

This shows an underrepresentation.  However, increasing the information held on employee's sexual orientation would help confirm whether this is an issue.

Formal HR processes

• There were no formal disciplinary cases (40) involving employees who shared their sexuality as LGBTQ
• There were no grievance cases with employees who had declared their sexuality other than heterosexual
• There were fewer than 10 capability cases (15) involving employees who shared their sexuality as LGBTQ. The percentage of cases was greater than the percentage representation in the workforce (2.9%)

Gender reassignment

We do not monitor the number of employees who are transitioning or who have transitioned. From 1 April 2023 we will have the facility to record the gender identity of job applicants and employees these options include ‘trans man’ and ‘trans woman’ in line with the 2021 census categories. We have transitioning at work guidance as part of a commitment to ensure an environment where transgender employees feel safe in being open about their gender identity. The guidance aims to:

• aid managers in supporting potential and existing employees undergoing gender reassignment
• provide good practice and highlight areas that may need to be considered when an individual is going through the process of gender reassignment 
• ensure the fair treatment of potential and existing employees

Pay and grading

For details of our pay policy read our annual pay policy statement.

We have a job evaluation scheme (Greater London Provincial Council - job evaluation scheme) in place to grade jobs from Grade 1 to Grade 16. This ensures we comply with the requirements of equal pay (equal pay for work of equal value) as jobs are objectively assessed and graded according to the same criteria. The job evaluation scheme is used to evaluate those posts which are covered by NJC (National Joint Council) for Local Government Services terms and conditions of employment. These posts all have a GLPC grade. This covers 82.8% (4,555) of our employees (5,500).

The highest percentages of employees on the GLPC grades (4,555) fall into Grade 3 (14.4% or 656) and Grade 7 (17.83% or 812).

Grades 3 and 11 have the highest difference in percentage comparing females to males:  

• G3 has 81.7% (536) females to 18.3% (120) males
• G11 has 80.7% (205) females to 19.3% (49) males

At Grade 13 the percentage of females is 76.2% (48 of 63). 

This is more reflective of the split between males and females in the workforce profile.  It is most evident in children's services and adult care and community wellbeing where the majority of team manager and area manager roles are occupied by females.

At the three top grades G14, G15 and G16 there are 67 employees and in each of these grades the percentage of males is higher.  In these grades there are 44.8% (30) females to 55.2% (37) males

We also have senior leadership pay for those managers above GLPC grade 16. There are 45 managers (0.8% of the workforce) who are on the three senior leadership grades A, B and C, and Chief officer pay, in these grades there are 62.2% (28) females and 37.8% (17) males. 

Gender pay gap 2023

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, we are required to publish statutory gender pay gap information by 31 March each year. This information is published on both our website (gender pay gap data) and, as required by legislation, on the Government website for gender pay gap information (Gov.uk - gender pay gap data).

The gender pay gap data does not highlight any specific issues at Lincolnshire County Council, as at end of March 2023 the median gender pay gap was 2.7% and remained considerably below the national average reported in 2022 of 14.9%. 

This report includes the first report of Disability and Ethnicity pay gaps.

Learning and development

Equality and diversity issues, specifically in relation to recruitment and selection, are included in the recruitment and selection training.  All recruiting managers are required to attend. In 2021 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training became a mandatory requirement for all employees to complete on a three yearly basis.  Data shows that 1728 employees completed this training in 2022 to 2023.

Other mandatory training includes:

• Domestic abuse awareness
• Tackling exploitation and modern slavery

Additional training is available to all:

• Introduction to Unconscious Bias e-learning
• Equality Impact Analysis e-learning

Specific training for individuals in professional roles include:

• Equality and Diversity and its Roots in Personalisation (Adult Care)
• LGBTQ+ Awareness (Adult Care)
• LGBT Domestic abuse training (Children’s Services)
• Anti Racist Practice (Children’s Services)

There is further work necessary to ensure that:

• there are appropriate resources for all employees, managers and professions interacting with other employees, with members of the community and those developing services

Employment policies

Before the launch in 2021, all employment policies were checked against the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines to help us provide a healthy and productive workplace. They were simplified to reduce bureaucracy moving towards a resolution based, human-centric approach to reflect the desired culture of the organisation.

Since 2021 HR have continued to meet regularly with Trade union colleagues to review the use of the policies and guidance toolkits and to consider feedback reported in the case management system and by e-mail. This has identified opportunities for additional guidance information and has informed our manager training.

Policies will continue to be changed to adopt changes in legislation, good practice and updates to support the People Strategy and to ensure we remain a good employer.

Disability Confident Scheme

The Council has committed to the Disability Confident Scheme and has also been accredited as a Disability Confident employer. We also reference this in our recruitment and take action on the following commitments to:

• ensure the recruitment process is inclusive and accessible
• communicate and promote vacancies
• offer an interview to disabled people if they meet the minimum criteria for the post
• anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as required when disabled employees are applying for and doing their jobs

Employee voice and participation

To maintain an inclusive and supportive environment which promotes a culture of participation and celebrates diversity and employee voice, we have a number of methods for employees to provide feedback and to participate in improving the organisation.

Culture and leadership stocktake

In 2022 we conducted a review of culture and leadership focusing on the following areas:

• learning and innovation
• goals and performance
• teamwork
• vision and values
• support and compassion
• equality diversity and inclusion

The review included interviews with senior leaders, employee focus groups and a workforce survey.

The feedback from the stocktake showed that our employees value clarity, consistency and compassion.  The areas of improvement relevant to EDI included:

• the need for all leaders to understand the challenges employees face
• more compassion and support
• for employees to be trusted and empowered to do their jobs
• for employees to have the support and confidence to ‘speak up’ against poor behaviours​

The next two years will see the development of a new set of corporate values and a leadership and management development programme.

Employee survey

We undertake an employee survey every two years. The last survey was undertaken in November 2021. 2,395 employees completed the survey– a response rate of 44.15%, which is a reduction on the 2019 survey where 47.86% or 2540 employees completed the survey.

The following questions provide an overview of employee experience including:

• line management support
• career progression
• health and wellbeing
• receiving abuse at work

The percentage and number of respondents (in brackets) who answered positively to each question are shown in the table below by:

• sex
• aged 50+
• carers
• ethnicity
• disability

Please note that a respondent may not have answered every question or shared their personal characteristics.

The survey also includes questions which collect information about work engagement using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). The UWES-9 defines work engagement as "...a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption.”

The overall engagement scores from this survey fall within the band of average scores 2.89 – 4.66.

Questions	All	Female	Male	50+	Carers	Ethnic minority	Disability
Respondents	2395	1602	605	1002	524	108	380
Work engagement score (max 6)	4.04	4.14	4.01	4.06	4.06	4.04	3.98
Is your line manager approachable?	89% (2139)	91% (1452)	91% (552)	88% (886)	88% (463)	91% (98)	89% (337)
Are your contributions recognised and valued by your line manager?	82% (1974)	84% (1343)	84% (507)	80% (806)	79% (415)	81% (88)	79% (299)
Do you have the support of your line manager?	86% (2064)	87% (1401)	89% (536)	85% (848)	83% (436)	83% (90)	82% (313)
Do you have a fair opportunity to progress and develop your career?	53% (1261)	55% (879)	52% (313)	50% (496)	51% (267)	45% (49)	50% (190)
How regularly do you have a one-to-one meeting with your manager? (once a month or two months)	84% (2008)	87% (1390)	80% (482)	84% (843)	87% (458)	83% (90)	87% (330)
Are your one-to-ones effective in supporting you in your role and with development needs?	69% (1643)	72% (1157)	66% (399)	65% (654)	67% (351)	69% (75)	68% (260)
Do you maintain a good level of resilience and wellbeing most of the time?	72% (1722)	74% (1184)	71% (427)	74% (744)	66% (346)	66% (71)	54% (206)
Are you managed by someone who supports your health and wellbeing?	79% (1885)	81% (1298)	80% (483)	77% (770)	76% (398)	76% (82)	78% (295)
Do you work with residents, business users, visitors or partner organisations? (yes)	74% (1780)	75% (1195)	74% (446)	77% (772)	78% (409)	81% (87)	76% (288)
Do you experience any abuse at work? (yes)	27% (639)	26% (410)	27% (163)	27% (269)	31% (162)	30% (32)	33% (124)
Do you suffer abuse at work from colleagues/ providers? (yes)	5% (115)	4% (62)	5% (33)	5% (50)	7% (36)	4% (4)	6% (23)
Do you suffer abuse at work from service users/public? (yes)	22% (524)	22% (348)	21% (130)	22% (219)	24% (79)	26% (28)	27% (101)
Do you consider LCC supports you in dealing with abusive behaviours? (No/inconsistently)	33% (210)	29% (117)	34% (55)	30% (81)	31% (64)	38% (12)	35% (44)

Exit questionnaires

Exit questionnaires are voluntary.  They are completed when people leave the organisation or move to another role within the organisation.  The completion rate is low and there are opportunities to encourage a higher completion rate next year.

The HR department review exit questionnaires and discuss with managers if they raise any concerns. 

The employee also completes information around protected characteristics. The forms are monitored to identify if the individual has given a reason for leaving that relates to their protected characteristics.

Exit questionnaire statistics 2022 to 2023

• There were 111 exit questionnaires completed and 678 leavers in 2022 -2023. The number of interviews completed is a reduction from 156 in 21-22.
• 34% (35) of responses state that they left to pursue a different career. This was the most common reason for leaving.
• 81.1% (90) of responses agreed that their manager promoted and supported equal opportunity and fair treatment of employees
• 46.8% (52) of exit questionnaires were completed by employees aged 50 and over.  This is slightly higher than the percentage of leavers who were over 50 (42.5% or 288)
• There were fewer than 10 exit questionnaires completed by employees with a disability. Half of the responses agreed that their manager promoted and supported equal opportunity and fair treatment of employees.
• There were fewer than 10 exit questionnaires completed by employees from an ethnic minority background.  Approximately 80% of responses agreed that their manager promoted and supported equal opportunity and fair treatment of employees. 
• 80.4% (78) of exit questionnaires were completed by female employees.  This is higher than the percentage of females who left the workforce (66.9% or 451)
• 82.4% (75) of female respondents agreed that their manager promoted and supported equal opportunity and fair treatment of employees compared with 75.0% (15) of male respondents.
• 1 response referred to experiencing racist remarks from colleagues. This was looked into and addressed by the relevant assistant director.

Staff networks

There are four established staff networks in the council

• Disability Staff Network
• Identify (BAME group)
• LCC staff Carers Network
• LGBTQ+ Staff Network

There are over 200 staff members within the networks.  The groups:

• are a vital source of information sharing and peer support for the members
• provide their members with a safe space to share their experiences, a sense of belonging and support.  This empowers members to discuss concerns confidently with others
•  give us the opportunity to engage with the different communities within the workforce and contribute towards equality impact assessments
• have helped to provide advice and guidance in areas such as including the impact of transformation projects and COVID-19 working arrangements on the workforce.

All staff networks are represented on the Corporate Diversity Steering group.  They share a common terms of reference. They support our Employee Health and Wellbeing strategy and the Equality and Diversity agenda.  They work very closely together providing an important source of mutual support and solidarity on common issues.

The current networks are a great asset to the Council.  The networks have identified that they need additional support and resources to ensure that all groups can work effectively, communicate and engage with the workforce and be sustainable.

In addition, we have an e-mail address for staff to raise an equality issue directly with a senior HR officer.

Disability staff network

The Evolve staff network, formerly known as the Disabled Staff Engagement Group (DSEG) is at the forefront of providing a wide range of support to colleagues with disabilities across Lincolnshire County Council. The group currently has over 50 members who are based across different service areas, and have varying levels of seniority, and interest from within the organisation.

As part of the Joint Staff Network Committee (JSNC), the Corporate Diversity Steering Group (CDSG) and other working groups, the network regularly gets involved in projects and requests across the Council to provide valuable insight and contribution. The group exists to provide a safe and confidential forum of support, aiming to highlight key risks around accessibility whilst empowering members to advocate for their own needs.

During the past year, the network has been reviewing its offering to its members, to ensure the most necessary support is provided at the time when it is needed the most.  Member engagement has helped to shape the future focus for the group.

For the upcoming year, the Evolve network plans to:

• Establish an alternative group structure and appoint active key members.
• Re-launch the network intranet site.
• Increase disability awareness and raise the profile of the group.
• Join with Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue colleagues to develop support and understanding for colleagues who are neurodivergent.
• Understand the practical and procedural challenges faced by employees when accessing buildings and workplace facilities. To support with escalation, reporting and resolution of problems.
• Develop guidance on reasonable adjustments so group members are able to advocate for themselves confidently.

Identify staff network

The Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Engagement Group has 40 members. It provides representation and positive promotion of ethnic minority staff members, giving them peer support and safe spaces to share their experiences.

The group shares corporate, national and international information and discusses relevant topics that may otherwise not be discussed.  They provide innovative solutions to the CDSG.

The group has also engaged with other public authority BME staff groups such as the NHS and external networks including:

• the University of Lincoln
• the reimagining Lincolnshire Research project
• the Wolds Community Committee
• the Midlands BAME network chairs development group

The group has launched a number of beneficial programmes that support colleagues and customers. These have included:

• "Listening Ear" a confidential, supportive phone line for colleagues who needed an informal conversation
• KwickLincs service where colleagues in the council who speak other languages offer up their skills to support emergency requirements. 
• Addition of topical information and resources on the network intranet page for all staff to access
• Promotion of the #mynameis campaign to encourage employees who find that people mispronounce their names, to add a phonetic spelling on their e-mail signatures

The group contributes to Equality Impact Analyses such as the review of HR policies allowing consideration of the needs of people from a Black, Minority Ethnic background. The group has also fed back on guidance for risk assessments for colleagues at risk of COVID-19.

In the last year the group has

• held a conversation café for colleagues to chat about their experiences and the impact of the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter 
• Attended Race Equality Matters webinars
• Created and delivered Children’s Social Work Anti- Racist Practice Training Days
• Hosted bi monthly lunchtime drop in sessions
• Presented to the apprentices' group to raise awareness about the staff network
• Delivered a four week program for employees to mark Black History Month 2022
• Initiated the process for LCC to be involved in Race Equality Matters ‘spotlight organisation’
• Took part in Race Equality Week February 2023

The network priorities for 2023 to 2024 are to:

• gain additional support and resources for the running of the network
• contribute to events and communications throughout the year. 
• organise staff social events
• continue to keep up to date through equality, diversity and inclusion training
• contribute to any future Heritage sites and activities which highlight the cultural diversity of Lincolnshire
• Promote the Windrush 75th Anniversary in June 2023.
• Deliver a four week program to mark Black History Month in October 2023
• Host Race Equality Week in February 2024

Staff carer network

There are over 90 members of our growing Staff Carer Network. 524 employees who completed the 2021 employee survey consider themselves to have a caring role outside of work. The network provides support and advice for employee carers by;

• Raising awareness of employee carers through events, campaigns and communications
• Connecting employee carers to the network and wider support
• Helping each other, providing peer support across the network.

LCC is a member of the national ‘Employers for Carers’ movement. This includes many blue chip employers, who continue to innovate and share good practice in their support offerings for staff.

The staff carer network provides access to high quality information, such as Employers for Carers guides for employees, managers and employers. They hold regular ‘Carer’s Cuppas’ online and periodic meetings, offering a friendly and supportive space. The members of the network support each other providing information about useful services, increasing awareness of colleagues’ rights at work and the many benefits that we offer to our staff.

The Carer's rights day event in November 2022 was particularly successful. There were talks by members of the network sharing their personal experiences, a talk from Carers First and the Lincolnshire Carers Service, information about Connect to Support and our employee health and wellbeing offer.  The event also attracted new members to join the network.

A presentation was also delivered to LCC’s senior leaders to raise awareness of carers in the LCC workforce with a further event for managers delivered by Carers First.

The network has developed a useful manager’s resource that complements our employment policies and contributed to the new Personal Support Passport. The network is well supported by the corporate leadership team. It offers opportunities for its members to be representatives at meetings including the Corporate Diversity Steering Group, the Organisational Development Steering Group and the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue EDI steering group.

Network priorities for 2023 to 24 are to:

• Continue to promote and raise awareness of the staff carer network to employee carers through communications and events
• Promote the use of the new Personal Support Passport
• Promote equitable access to flexible working
• Ensure that staff are not required to use annual leave for caring duties.

LGBTQ+ staff network

The network started in 2022 and has approximately 50 members from roles across the organization. The group have an active core of members working towards supporting LGBTQ+ individuals within LCC and providing a knowledge base for allies or anyone wishing to learn more about the topic.

Over the last year members of the network have attended events across the county such as the Networking with Pride Conference (organised by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust) and Lincoln Pride. The group has also worked with colleagues in Children’ Services to pilot Practice Lead sessions delivered successfully to the whole service. The aim is to establish a template for such sessions in the future and liaise with other services such as Adult Care to tailor an event for their project work.

The group has also launched an intranet page with information and links to other websites covering LGBTQ+ issues.  The network is developing a peer support resource where any colleague who is struggling with their identity or would like to know more about the subject can contact an LGBTQ+ champion from in the network for an informal discussion. The network has also worked closely with colleagues in HR regarding amending the pronoun and gender options on recruitment forms and the personnel record system. 

Next year, the network is planning to have a more official presence at events such as the numerous Pride events happening around the county. They will do this by continuing to strengthen links with the other EDI networks and maximizing available resources.

Another key project is to establish an awareness campaign all through Pride month (June) to assist colleagues with understanding the history of the LGBTQ rights movement and the further progress we still have to make.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue EDI steering group

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue’s EDI Steering Group is Chaired by Chief Fire Officer Mark Baxter. It has membership from representatives from all areas of the service and at all levels.  It also has LCC EDI strategic representative and an external Group Manager from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue as a critical friend to help drive forward our EDI Strategy. 

The Steering Group has reinforced the message to all staff that through positive EDI culture we will ensure that:

• all of our people will have opportunities to reach their potential
• everyone will have the confidence to be themselves at work in a safe and secure environment

Since forming in 2021 the group has been meeting monthly to embed knowledge and understanding of the benefits of EDI to everyone within the service.  They have been delivering a focused awareness campaign to all colleagues within the service.  Our priorities for this year have been built around the recommendations of the HMICFRS report.  This report identified areas for improvement. We have addressed these areas through:

• the development of robust equality impact assessments
• positive action campaigns for our Wholetime and On Call recruitment
•  delivery of our foundation training to all colleagues
• the embedding of the steering group as a strategic priority for the service

The Steering Group have developed several active employee groups within the service such as women’s group, LGBT+ group and careers group.

The progress that has been made through the steering group to ensure EDI is a priority for the service and that all staff have better understanding and awareness of the benefits of EDI has been recognised through a re-visit by HMICFRS.  The inspectors stated that good progress has been made in this area and were pleased with the significant progress within 2022 to 2023.

Our three year action plan is monitored and scrutinised through the steering group and Performance Management Board.  We have linked into community data sets to ensure our EDI agenda has expanded to influence areas of our business such as recruitment and prevention to ensure we will be representative of our local communities.  This is our focus for year two of our action plan to develop our data gathering and have more analysis of the impacts our EDI strategy is having in all of our activities.

Employee Health and Wellbeing Group Project Team

This group was established in early summer 2020 to oversee the delivery of our Employee Health and Wellbeing Strategy. In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and wellbeing the delivery plan for the strategy was reviewed and refocused. This ensured a range of support is available for employees and managers with both physical and mental health and wellbeing. The group ensures work is focussed and targeted appropriately.  It also links in with work currently being led by Lincolnshire Community Health Services Trust (LCHS) to support employees with health and wellbeing particularly across the health and social care sector in Lincolnshire.

The LCC group is made up of representatives from HR, Health and Safety, Public Health, Adult Services, Children’s Services, Fire and Rescue and Communications.  This ensures relevant intelligence can be fed into all initiatives we undertake to support employee health and wellbeing and to reflect our supportive and inclusive culture. We engage with the Chairs of the Staff Network groups regularly to ensure feedback from the networks is captured and the offer developed appropriately to ensure support for all employees including:

• carers
• employees with a disability
• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees
• LGBTQ+

Through the work of the group colleagues are offered healthy lifestyle initiatives.  A recent offer included a 12 week physical activity programme ‘Miles Better’ which was very well received.

As an organisation we know that it is hugely important we take care of our mental health. As part of our employee health and wellbeing offer we have a wide range of support open to all.  This ranges from advice to specialist sessions and practical assistance.

This includes:

• Employee Support and Counselling Service
• Resilience workshops
• Mindfulness Hour
• Mental Health First Aider network
• Being a Mindful Employer

Our Health and Wellbeing offer has been enhanced in the last year and a comprehensive package of support is now available to both employees and managers on all aspects of wellbeing. This includes both proactive, preventative measures such as resilience and mindfulness workshops, mental health first aiders,  personal support passports, grief and loss workshops, menopause cafes and trauma support as well as reactive support such as an enhanced counselling offering including one off wellbeing check ins.

In addition, all our staff can access The Staff Wellbeing Hub run by LPFT (Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust).  This provides a confidential space to share concerns and worries without the fear of being judged.

Organisational Development Steering Group

The Organisational Development Steering Group is made of representatives from across the council. It is one of our key engagement groups for workforce issues.  It meets quarterly and works collaboratively and creatively to support the delivery of our initiatives including:

• Employee Health and Wellbeing;
• Engagement and Development; and
• People Strategy

Mindful Employer Charter

The Mindful Employer Charter shows our commitment to supporting employees' mental wellbeing. As a Mindful Employer we are committed to creating a supportive and open culture, where colleagues are able to talk about mental health with confidence that they will be supported.

We are making mental health and resilience training available to all colleagues.  There was a particular focus on managing mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and we continue to enhance the support we offer.

We worked with health partners to set up a priority referral process to the Steps2Change service. This is a free NHS service that provides a range of evidence based talking therapies for problems such as:

• depression
• anxiety
• post-trauma reaction
• panic
•  phobia
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Ageing better

A programme of work was developed by Public Health and HR to consider the support in place for our employees aged 50 plus. In 2021 we reviewed the support in place which enabled us to identify areas for future focus, this was updated in 2022.

The work forms part of our partnership with the Centre for Ageing Better. This is a charitable foundation, whose vision is for a society in which everyone can live a good later life. More information on the national Ageing Better charity can be found on the ageing better website, or on the partnership with Lincolnshire pages here.

For the - 'Fulfilling Work' part of the programme and as part of our commitment as an ‘Age Friendly employer’, we are introducing:

• the personal support passport, a tool for employees to use to share information about their personal circumstances that may affect them at work
• data analysis on the characteristics of employees who sign up for health and wellbeing support and initiatives to understand how the services may be improved
• age positive imagery in recruitment advertisements
• an age positive approach to workforce planning, career progression, learning and apprenticeships
• the day one right to request flexible working
• ‘your life’ MOTs to provide information to support wellbeing for your health, finances and career

This will help to improve our employees’ wellbeing and financial security in later life.

We are also an advocate for employers in Lincolnshire and we have developed a toolkit of our templates so that others can follow the same process to become an Age Friendly employer.

Our customers

Customer strategy

Our customer strategy has enhanced the way we deliver services. It sets out how we will ensure our services are delivered to meet the diverse range of customer needs, from simple transactional requirements through to more complex, emotive interactions.

We know that many of our customers now expect to be able to access services digitally. To support this we have improved the range of information and number of services available online enabling more customers to self-serve.  We still ensure that those who require extra assistance, support over the phone or face to face is still available. We will continue to improve the accessibility rating of our website through implementing new technologies, including the launch of a Digital Assistant on our website and on our main phone lines, which will remove barriers to access and enable services to be delivered at a time and place that suits individuals.

Our engagement with customer advocates, representative groups and service users enables us to gain a better understanding of customer needs and expectations, and through our Human Centred Design methodology this ensures EDI is at the forefront when developing and designing new solutions that meet our customers’ current and future needs and expectations.

Engagement

The engagement team supports engagement and consultation activities across all service areas within Lincolnshire County Council reaching our communities to understand their views.

We engage with individuals and groups including, but not limited to, service users and voluntary sector organisations that are identified through stakeholder analysis for each.  The team then support with:

• facilitating engagement workshops, face to face and online engagement events, for example workshops to build on responses received through County Views surveys
• engagement activities hosted on the Let’s talk Lincolnshire online engagement platform.  This uses a variety of interactive tools (including surveys, polls, stories, ideas, question and answers, forums, guestbook and maps)
• Equality Impact Analysis which is then published on Let’s talk Lincolnshire project pages when required
• Promoting engagement activities in line with engagement and communication plans

Methods of communication include:

• voluntary sector communications channels
• town and parish newsletter (monthly and sent to all clerks to share with the councillors)
• parish clerk database
• Let’s talk Lincolnshire database
• county view survey (contains recurring questions and service specific questions).  This is promoted across the Lincolnshire area (including district councils)
• promotions through county councillors
• publishing engagement reports (unless commercially sensitive) and ‘You Said, We Did’ updates on Let’s talk Lincolnshire, sharing the findings and decisions with participants where applicable as part of closing the engagement activity loop.

There has been a rise in the range of engagement methods used with the introduction of the online platform Let’s talk Lincolnshire in late 2021.  In the year 2022 to 2023 we conducted 65 engagement activities including:

• 56 public and wider stakeholder engagements and 9 internal engagement activities.
• Between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, there were over 11,000 responses to activities on the Let’s talk platform. These include:
  • Over 10,400 surveys submissions
  • 446 responses to a single quick poll
  • 485 visitors to the ideas page, where 29 ideas were shared and there were 364 ‘likes’
  • 524 visitors to guestbooks, where residents and business can share their views
  • 4,646 visitors to news pages
• Let’s talk Lincolnshire is used alongside more traditional methods of engagement, such as face-to-face events and postal or telephone surveys (including almost 12,000 SNAP survey responses). The platform allows for better intelligence, data analysis and reporting and contributes to more informed decisions being made as a result. 
• The County Views surveys have now entered their fourth year. They are an important way for us to gather local opinions so we can improve services for the whole of Lincolnshire. 401 people took part in the survey about Council priorities in November 2022, 363 in the survey about communication and media in July 2022 and 557 took part in the survey about highways, roads, and transport in April 2022.
• Anyone that accesses the website can register on it to:
  • take part in engagement activity
  • receive a dedicated email newsletter
  • be updated about the projects progress they have participated or expressed their interest in
  • be notified when reports are published, or decisions have been made
• There are currently 3,347 registered participants, of whom:
  • 1,646 are members of the public, organisations and under 12s
  • 1,701 staff participants (including 230 administrators)
• The registration form consists of several questions and allows participants to provide additional information including demographic data.
• Survey tools and poll tools do not require registration by default. It is up to the service area what information is crucial to collect and if necessary to build important demographic or equality monitoring questions into their survey.
• The registration process allows us to:
  • understand community participation profile across all projects (including demographic data)
  • secure and verify community feedback, for example authenticated participants feedback when there is a need to collect personal data
  • build trust and relationship with the participants
• Registration might also be a barrier to participation, as people may want to remain anonymous.  Therefore, the service area has a choice to select the right approach to collect the data they need within an engagement activity

Accessibility

Accessibility statement – Lincolnshire County Council

Our website is audited and monitored to meet accessibility standards. We have made text as simple as possible to understand. It can be read with a screen reader and pages can be adjusted. We have identified cases where information is not fully accessible such as PDF documents and customers can ask for information in a different format if needed. We are working towards replacing as many PDFs as possible with HTML web pages.

Customer data

We are committed to promoting an environment in which people feel safe in being open about their background, beliefs and identity. As part of this commitment, we encourage the freedom of individuals to self-identify and to express their preferences in a safe environment. Following requests from customers to make changes to the information we hold on our records about their name, gender or title, we produced guidance and top tips.  This provides everyone in the Council with a 'One Council' approach that is clear, consistent and straightforward. The guidance supports our colleagues working directly with customers or customer data.  It enables them to respond to a request for a change in customer details in a way that:

• is sensitive to the customer
•  meets underpinning legislation
• ensures the dignity and privacy of the customer is maintained, whilst minimising any risk to the customer, the Council and our partners

Our equality, diversity and inclusion customer data annual report provides further information.

Customer complaints

We put our customers first and the views of our customers are important to us. When customers need to raise concerns, we encourage them to first raise them with the individual concerned or their line manager so that the problems can be addressed. Alternatively, customers can also speak to one of our Customer Relations Advisers. Our first step is to always attempt to provide early resolution of the issue before progressing to the next formal stage.  Our Complaints Policy is published on our website so customers can see our complaints process.

Corporate and statutory complaints annual report

Over the year 2022 to 2023 we received 1928 contacts from the public to express dissatisfaction with the services they had been provided.

• 353 (18%) were resolved to the customer’s satisfaction through early resolution.
• 1575 contacts went on to enter the formal complaints process.

In comparison to the previous year there was:

• an increase of 15% in the number of contacts received
• a 21% decrease in early resolution cases
• 28% increase in the number contacts entering the formal complaints process

The higher volume of contacts has contributed to the decrease in cases resolved informally. Throughout the year a renewed focus has been placed on the informal resolution of cases.

The complaints process does not record the protected characteristics of complainants. Therefore, it is not possible to identify from the data whether people experience our services differently depending on their personal characteristics.

Interpretation and translation service

We have a contract in place to provide our employees with communication support when providing services to service users who speak or read languages other than English, or who need to communicate in English in non-spoken ways.  This includes transcription, face to face and video translation.  It is available from locations around the county.

In 2022 to 23 there were 4,877 bookings (1,862 in 2021 to 2022) for the interpretation and translation service for 56 different languages.  82.6% (4027) of bookings were from children’s services to support their interactions with the community.  The most required languages were:

• Polish (18.7% or 913)
• Bulgarian (14.9% or 726)
• Romanian (10.6% or 517)
• Russian (9.5% or 463)
• Ukrainian (5.8% or 285)

Equality Impact Analysis

We have integrated the equality duty into the decisions we make about the services we provide to the people of Lincolnshire. We consider how any policy, project or proposed change to services may affect people with protected characteristics in different ways. Our process for Equality Impact Analysis (EIAs) helps us to ensure better informed decision-making and policy development for the customer. We conducted an analysis on the impacts of our Corporate Plan on people with protected characteristics so that we can make sure everyone benefits from living, working and visiting Lincolnshire.

Our approach gives responsibility to service managers for conducting EIAs. They understand the strategic needs for their proposals and the customer base so can identify potential impacts on customers and other services. Our online learning is available for any employee involved in EIAs.

Equality Impact Analysis documents are available on request from each service.

Workforce profile 2023

Total workforce

Staff as at 31 March 2022	Staff as at 31 March 2023
5,372	5,500

Workforce by types of contract

Contract type	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
Full-time	62.2% (3,339)	63.1% (3,468)	70.1%
Part-time	37.8% (2,033)	37.0% (2,032)	29.9%

The percentage of part-time workers is higher than the figure for Lincolnshire workers.

Workforce by sex

Sex	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
Female	67.4% (3,621)	68.0% (3,742)	51%
Male	32.6% (1,751)	32.0 % (1,758)	49%
Full-time female	42.0% (2,255)	43.1% (2,368)	Not applicable
Part-time female	25.4% (1,366)	25.0% (1,374)	Not applicable
Full-time male	20.2% (1,084)	20.0% (1,100)	Not applicable
Part-time male	12.4% (667)	12.0% (658)	Not applicable

The percentage of the workforce which is female has increased. The percentage of female workers is higher than across Lincolnshire, but it is recognised that this is typical of local authority workforces in general.

These figures show the percentage of our workforce working full or part-time split by sex.

Workforce by ethnicity

Ethnicity	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
White British, Irish, Gypsy, Traveller, Roma or White other	93.2% (5,008)	93.6% (5,145)	95.9%
White British	89.9% (4830)	90.2% (4963)	89.2%
Irish, Gypsy, Traveller, Roma or White other	3.3% (178)	3.3% (182)	6.7%
Black, Asian, mixed ethnicity and other ethnicities	3.1% (164)	3.1% (169)	4.0%
Unknown ethnicity	3.7% (200)	3.4% (186)	Not applicable

The percentage of White British, Irish, Gypsy, Traveller, Roma and White other category has increased but this figure is still lower than in the local resident population. There has been a slight increase in the number of employees from Black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic origins. The 2021 Census data shows a higher percentage of residents from other white backgrounds and with Black, Asian, mixed ethnicity and other ethnicities than in the number of employees.

Workforce by disability

Disability	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
Declared disability	4.6% (249)	5.8% (319)	20.1%
No disability	49.1% (2,637)	69.9% (3,843)	Not applicable
Disability unknown	46.3% (2,486)	24.3% (1,338)	Not applicable

The percentage of employees declaring they have a disability is lower than in the 2021 Census for Lincolnshire. Comparisons are difficult as there is a large percentage of employees whose disability status is unknown, the actual number of employees with disabilities is likely to be higher than reported. The percentage of employees whose disability is not known has reduced by 22% over the last year.

Workforce by age

Age	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
15 to 19	0.6% (31)	0.5% (27)	5.4%
20 to 24	4.4% (238)	4.2% (229)	5.7%
25 to 29	8.6% (461)	8.6% (470)	5.6%
30 to 34	10.7% (576)	10.5% (579)	5.9%
35 to 39	12.1% (652)	12.4% (682)	5.6%
40 to 44	12.5% (673)	12.8% (706)	5.4%
45 to 49	11.6% (625)	11.6% (640)	6.1%
50 to 54	15.6% (839)	15.1% (829)	7.2%
55 to 59	13.0% (700)	13.6% (747)	7.5%
60 to 64	7.6% (407)	7.6% (417)	6.7%
65 and over	3.2% (170)	3.2% (174)	23.4%

The percentage of the Lincolnshire population over 50 years old has reached 44.7%. The percentage of employees aged over 50 is 39.5% an additional 0.1% (50 employees) from 2022.

Workforce by religion or belief

Religion or belief	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
Unknown	6.31% (339)	5.7% (314)	6.1%
Buddhist	0.15% (8)	0.2% (12)	0.2%
Christian all denomination	51.15% (2,748)	49.6% (2,725)	53.7%
Hindu	0.2% (10)	0.2% (10)	0.3%
Muslim	0.24% (13)	0.3% (15)	0.7%
No religion including atheist and agnostic	24.52% (1,317)	28.5% (1567)	38.3%
Other including Jewish, Humanist, Sikh and Pagan	2.7% (146)	2.9% (157)	0.7%
Prefer not to disclose	14.7% (791)	12.7% (700)	-

From 2022 to 2023 there has been an increase in employees who have shared their religion status. There is a slight reduction in employees who are Christian. Due to numbers lower than 10 employees who have Jewish, Humanist, Sikh and Pagan beliefs have been added to the ‘other religion or belief’ category. The number of employees who have other religion or beliefs and those with no religion have increased.

Workforce by sexual orientation

Sexual orientation	As at 31 March 2022	As at 31 March 2023	Census 2021
Unknown	29.9 % (1,606)	24.8 % (1,364)	7.65% (not answered)
Bisexual	0.6% (35)	1.1% (62)	1.26%
Gay or lesbian	1.1% (61)	1.3% (74)	1.22%
Heterosexual	70.8% (3,655)	72.2% (3,971)	89.58%
Other	0.3% (15)	0.4% (22)	0.29%
Prefer not to disclose	Not applicable	0.1% (7)

There has been a slight increase in the number of employees who have shared their sexual orientation status. The number of employees in all categories has increased.

Customer data: services

The following pages contain data currently collected for the following services:

• children and young people supported by social care
• early years
  • holiday activities and food programme
• children’s health 0 to 19
  • infant breastfeeding support
• schools
  • free school meals eligibility
  • special educational needs provision
• youth support – Future4me
• adult social care
• adult skills and family learning service
• public protection
  • domestic abuse
  • scams awareness and prevention
• Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue community safety
  • home fire safety

Children and young people supported by social care

Children’s social care delivers a wide range of services to children, young people and their families in Lincolnshire to ensure that they are safe, well and supported. This support ranges from universal services through to child protection and beyond. Children and young people supported by social care are assessed (under the Children Act 1989) as needing help and protection. This includes children and young people on Children in Need plans, children with a Child Protection Plan and children in the care of the Local Authority; Care experienced and disabled children.

Whilst most children will be aged under 18, the data will include young people aged 18 or over who are still receiving care and accommodation or post-care support from children’s services. This data is reported from the annual ‘Children in need census’ as at 31 March 2023 which included 3480 children in total. It includes all vulnerable children, including:

• unborn children
• babies
• older children
• young carers
• disabled children
• those who are in secure setting

Children and young people supported by social care by age

Age	Number of children or young people	Percentage
Unborn or under 1	307	8.8%
1 to 4 years	604	17.4%
5 to 9 years	797	22.9%
10 to 15 years	1,076	30.9%
16 to 18 years	467	13.4%
19 to 24 years	229	6.6%
Total	3,480	100%

Children and young people supported by social care by gender

Gender	Number of children or young people	Percentage
Female	1,546	44.4%
Male	1,825	52.4%
Other, not recorded or unborn	109	3.1%
Total	3,480	100%

In January 2023 Lincolnshire Children’s Services received the update with enhancements to our recording resource to improve how we record Gender. The changes were made in collaboration with trans and non-binary people who informed and shaped the decisions and development of this new feature. This enables a person’s gender to be recorded differently to their sex, allows pronouns to be added to ensure professionals can respond to and refer to people respectfully and appropriately.

Children and young people supported by social care by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Number of children or young people	Percentage
White	3,048	87.6%
Mixed	122	3.5%
Asian or Asian British	34	1%
Black or Black British	31	0.9%
Other	136	3.9%
Not recorded or refused	109	3.1%
Total	3,480	100%

The Department for Education Children in need census codes for ethnicity include the following:

White:

• White British
• White Irish
• Traveller of Irish Heritage
• Any other white background
• Gypsy or Roma

Mixed:

• White and Black Caribbean
• White and Black African
• White and Asian
• any other mixed background

Asian or Asian British:

• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• any other Asian background

Black or Black British:

• Caribbean
• African
• any other black background

Other:

• Chinese
• any other ethnic group

Not recorded or refused:

• refused
• not yet obtained

Children and young people supported by social care by disability

Disability	Number of children or young people	Percentage
Yes	334	9.6%
No	3,146	90.4%
Total	3,480	100%

Children and young people supported by social care by nationality

Nationality	Number of children or young people	Percentage
British	2,362	67.9%
EU countries	114	3.3%
The rest of the world	178	5.1%
Not recorded	826	23.7%
Total	3,480	100%

Children and young people supported by social care by religion

Religion	Number of children or young people	Percentage
Christian	589	16.9%
Muslim (Islam)	126	3.6%
Other religion	23	0.7%
No religion	1,329	38.2%
Not willing to declare	8	0.2%
Not recorded	1,405	40.4%
Total	3,480	100%

The data on age and gender are reported daily to the wider management team within children’s services. The disability data is considered regularly by the relevant teams. Ethnicity, Nationality and Religion data is collated but not routinely shared, it is therefore an area for improvement. Routine collection and analysis will allow further consideration of the accessibility of support for children from different ethnic backgrounds and any trends which may help to improve services specific to local demographics.

Early years

Holiday activities and food (HAF) programme

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme is a government funded programme until March 2025, that provides free holiday clubs for reception to year 11 pupils in receipt of benefits-related free school meals in Lincolnshire over the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays.

The HAF programme is designed to ensure a high-quality experience for children that will result in receiving healthy and nutritious meals and maintaining a healthy level of physical activity. Children and young people (CYP) who attend HAF develop a greater understanding of food, nutrition and other health-related issues and have the opportunity to take part in fun and engaging activities.

The following data is based on HAF delivery within the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

Attendance to HAF provision

Holiday	Primary	Secondary	Total
Winter 2022	2,881	547	3,428
Easter 2023	3,490	577	4,067
Summer 2023	3,781	722	4,503

A higher proportion of primary aged children attend HAF, though secondary attendance continues to grow.

HAF 2023 attendance by gender

Holiday	Male	Female
Easter	53% (2,156)	47% (1,911)
Summer	52% (2,342)	48% (2,161)

A higher proportion of males attend HAF provision than females.

Growth of HAF funded special educational needs and disability spaces

Holiday	2022	2023	Growth
Easter	177	784	342%
Summer	597	1,215	103%
Winter	622	to be confirmed	to be confirmed

The volume of HAF funded SEND spaces continues to increase holiday period by holiday period and year-on-year.

Reporting on other protected characteristics is challenging as the Department of Education (DfE) do not require returns on age, race and religion.

During 2024, the HAF Team continue to increase the volume of SEND spaces and grow secondary provision and attendance whilst identifying creative solutions to increase the volume of funded HAF places, during the fourth year of national delivery.

Children's health 0 to 19

The Children’s Health Service supports the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme. The programme support families to ensure their children grow up to be healthy, safe and able to achieve their potential. The service provides strong universal provision from the antenatal period to when the child is aged six years and a targeted service to the school aged population. Early intervention and prevention are key to ensuring effective and efficient services and support the reduction in health inequalities across Lincolnshire.

In the year April 2022 to March 2023, the service had a total of 68,129 children and adults open to receive care.

Breastfeeding

There is strong evidence that breastfeeding protects the health of babies and mothers both in the short and long term.

Breast and combined breast and supplement (e.g. infant formula) status is recorded by the health visitor at the infant’s six to eight week review. In this period, 2755 (43.6%) infants were fully or partially breastfed. 3569 (56.4%) were supplement fed only.

Ethnicity	Count of breast or breast and supplement fed infants	Count of NHS number	Percentage breast of breast and supplement fed at six weeks
White	2,306	5,650	40.8%
Mixed ethnicity	114	191	59.7%
Asian	107	129	82.9%
Black	83	102	81.4%
Other	127	208	61.1%
Not stated	18	44	40.9%
Grand total	2,755	6,324	43.6%

Breastfeeding groups are delivered within children centre’s across Lincolnshire and are open to all breastfeeding mothers. These groups offer professional advice/guidance and peer support to assist mothers in their breastfeeding experience and journey.

Breastfeeding group attendance in the year April 2022 to March 2023

Ethnicity	Number of infants	Percentage
White British	815	88.68%
Other white background	40	4.35%
Asian or black	30	3.25%
Mixed ethnicity	14	1.52%
Other ethnicity	14	1.52%
Not stated	6	0.65%
Total	919	100%

The breastfeeding data shows that white British have lower rates for breastfeeding or breast and supplement fed at 6-8 weeks (40.8%), whereas other ethnicities equate to 65.6%, with black and south Asian being the most likely to breastfeed or breast and supplement feed their babies. However, white British mothers are most likely to attend the breastfeeding groups seeking support and guidance with breastfeeding. Lincolnshire County Council is currently leading the development of a collaborative infant feeding strategy for Lincolnshire with a view to improving breastfeeding rates across the county.

Schools

School information on the gender (male or female) and ethnicity of pupils, free school meals, special educational needs provision and exclusions is collected in the school census. This takes place in January each year. The data below shows the latest information from the January 2023 school census.

School pupils by gender

Gender	Number of pupils	Percentage
Female	53,734	49.14%
Male	55,613	50.86%
Total	109,347	100%

School pupils by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Number of pupils	Percentage
White British	88,568	81%
Other white background	10,030	9.17%
Black or ethnic minority background	8,796	8.04%
Refused	552	0.50%
Unobtained	1,401	1.28%
Total	109,347	100%

The 2021 census data for Lincolnshire shows that 96.0% of the population are white compared to 90.17% of the population of children in Lincolnshire schools. Like last year 8.04% of children in school are black or ethnic minority background which is higher than the total population of Lincolnshire which is 4%.

School students eligible for free school meals

Free school meals	2020 number of students	2021 number of students	2022 number of students	2023 number of students
No	89,478 (83.61%)	85,750 (79.66%)	83,928 (77.12%)	82,127 (75.11%)
Yes	17,536 (16.39%)	21,895 (20.34%)	24,902 (22.88%)	27,220 (24.89%)
Total	107,014 (100%)	107,645 (100%)	108,830 (100%)	109,347 (100%)

The number of students eligible for free school meals (FSM) has increased over the last four years by 8.5%. In 2023, this was 24.89% of the school student population.

School students eligible for free school meals by gender

Free school meals (FSM) by gender	Number of students with FSM eligibility	Percentage of FSM total	Percentage of total students
Female	13,259	48.71%	24.68%
Male	13,961	51.29%	25.10%
Total	27,220	100%	24.89%

School students eligible for free school meals by ethnicity

Free school meals (FSM) by ethnicity	Number of students with FSM eligibility	Percentage of FSM total	Percentage of total students
White British	23,131	84.98%	26.11%
Other White  Background	1,963	7.21%	19.57%
Black or Ethnic Minority Background	1,542	5.66%	17.53%
Refused	144	0.53%	26.09%
Unobtained	440	1.62%	31.41%
Total	27,220	100%	24.89%

A slightly higher proportion of male students are eligible for free school meals than female students.

For those where ethnicity is known and obtained White British students are more likely to be eligible for free school meals than other ethnic groups. There is a lower proportion of students eligible for free school meals from Black or ethnic minority backgrounds, or other white backgrounds than in the school student population.

Although the promotion of free school meals is equal to all residents, not all ethnic groups claim this benefit related entitlement equally.

School students receiving Special Educational Needs provision

Special Educational Needs provision in schools includes education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) support.

Special educational needs provision	2020  Number of students (%)	2021 Number of students (%)	2022 Number of students (%)	2023 Number of students (%)
Education, health and care plans (EHCP)	3,772 (3.52%)	4,545 (4.22%)	4,850 (4.46%)	5,172 (4.73%)
Special Educational Needs (SEN) support	14,184 (13.25%)	13,611 (12.64%)	14,277 (13.12%)	15,089 (13.80%)
No Special Educational Need	89,058 (83.22%)	89,489 (83.13%)	89,703 (82.42%)	89,086 (81.47%)
Total	107,014 (100%)	107,645 (100%)	108,830 (100%)	109,347 (100%)

The proportion of school students with either an Education, Health and Care Plan or Special Educational Needs support has been increasing over the last four years by 1.76% of the student population.

School students receiving special educational needs (SEN) provision by gender

SEN provision by gender	Number of students with ECHP	Number of students with SEN support	Total number of students with SEN provision	Percentage of total students
Female	1,433 (27.71%)	5,820 (38.57%)	7,253 (35.80%)	6.63%
Male	3,739 (72.29%)	9,269 (61.43%)	13,008 (64.20%)	11.90%
Total	5,172 (100%)	15,089 (100%)	20,261 (100%)	18.53%

School students receiving special educational needs (SEN) provision by ethnicity 

SEN provision by ethnicity	Number of students with ECHP	Number of students with SEN support	Total number of students with SEN provision	Percentage of total students
White British	17,783 (87.77%)	20.08%	17,783 (87.77%)	20.08%
Other white background	1,251 (6.17%)	12.47%	1,251 (6.17%)	12.47%
Black or Ethnic Minority Background	864 (4.26%)	9.82%	864 (4.26%)	9.82%
Refused	85 (0.42%)	15.40%	85 (0.42%)	15.40%
Unobtained	278 (1.37%)	19.84%	278 (1.37%)	19.84%
Total	20,261 (100%)	18.53%	20,261 (100%)	18.53%

There is a higher proportion of male students (64.20%) accessing SEN provision than females (35.80%) when compared to the total student population (males 50.86% and females 49.14%). Male students are 1.79 times more likely to access SEN provision than female students.

For those where ethnicity is known and obtained, White British students are more likely to be receiving SEN provision (SEN support or Education, Health and Care plans) than students from other ethnic groups.

There is a lower proportion of students receiving SEN provision from Black or ethnic minority backgrounds or other white backgrounds than in the school student population.

Further investigation is required to confirm whether this is affected by accessibility or whether all children requiring SEN provision are receiving the support required.

Youth support – Future4me

Future4Me offer direct work and consultation to support a broad range of young people known to Children’s Services in Lincolnshire.

The multi-disciplinary team is a responsive and skilled workforce meeting the diverse and complex needs of our young people. They facilitate timely and appropriate intervention so that:

• young people are supported without the need for statutory intervention – either through Social Care or Youth Justice
• older adolescents are supported to remain with their existing carers (where this is safe) and there is a reduction in late entrants into the care system
• relationships are maintained with key professionals accessing specialised wrap-around support
• victims of crime are supported and given a voice through restorative practice to ensure safe communities
• children and young people are fully supported to realise their potential

In the year from April 2022 to March 2023, the team supported 473 young people. The data below shows a summary of their characteristics by gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, and religion. Where numbers are below 10 these have been grouped.

Young people by gender

Gender	Number of young people	Percentage
Male	353	74.6%
Female	120	24.4%
Total	473	100%

Young people by religion

Religion	Number of young people	Percentage
Unknown	360	76.1
Agnostic	19	4%
Christian (any)	43	9.1%
Atheist	25	5.3%
Other (including no religion)	26	5.5%
Total	473	100%

Young people by age (as at 31 March 2022)

Age	Number of young people	Percentage
11 and 12	10	2.1%
13	25	5.3%
14	41	8.7%
15	84	17.8%
16	88	18.6%
17	96	20.3%
18	88	18.6%
19 and 20	41	8.6%
Total	473	100%

Young people by nationality

Nationality	Number of young people	Percentage
Europe	37	7.8%
UK	410	86.7%
Unknown	23	4.9%
The rest of the world	3	0.6%
Total	473	100%

Young people by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Number of young people	Percentage
White British	390	82.5%
Other White background	51	10.8%
Black, Asian or other Ethnic Minority Background	30	6.3%
Unknown	2	0.4%
Total	473	100%

The 2021 census data outlines characteristics for this specific age group indicates that within the general 10-19 age group in Lincolnshire there is an equal age spread amongst this population (approximately 10% each). By comparison the Future4Me data confirms that those open to the service are concentrated within the 15-18 years age range. Similarly, there are notable differences within the gender data with 52% of the general population being female compared to 24% within the Future4Me cohort. The 2021 census does not provide specific data for the 10 to 19 age range in relation to nationality, ethnicity or religion.

The Future4Me EDI group considers the age, gender, ethnicity and nationality of the cohort on a quarterly basis at a locality level. The data captured has expanded during the year 2022 to 23 to include additional characteristics such as Special Educational Needs and Disability, transgender status, caring commitments and language. This information is scrutinised to understand the demographics of young people supported by the Future4Me team and enables interventions to be tailored to meet their needs. Staff training, quality assurance work, data accuracy and practice guidance also underpins the Future4Me commitment to ensuring equality of services for young people.

Adult social care

This is the age, gender, ethnicity and primary support need breakdown for adults receiving a social care service as per the short and long term (SALT) data return for the year from April 2022 to March 2023. As part of this mandatory reporting, we have included age, gender, ethnicity and disability. Religion and sexual orientation are not required to be reported so have been excluded from this report.

Equalities information has been provided in relation to long-term and short-term adult social care services which have been provided to adults. Long-term support encompasses any service or support which is provided with the intention of maintaining quality of life for an individual on an ongoing basis. Short-term support includes all episodes of support that are intended to be time limited without intending to maximise independence and reduce the need for ongoing support.

Adults in receipt of a long-term social care service

Age	Number of adults receiving a service	Percentage
18 to 25	486	4.6%
26 to 35	693	6.6%
36 to 45	579	5.5%
46 to 55	787	7.5%
56 to 65	1,109	10.6%
66 to 75	1,264	12.0%
76 to 85	2,474	23.6%
85 and over	3,101	29.6%
Grand total	10,493	100%

The majority (over 65%) of adults receiving a long-term service are over 65 years old.

Adult social care clients by gender

Gender	Number of adults receiving a service	Percentage
Female	6,274	59.8%
Male	4,196	40%
Undefined or indeterminate	23	0.2%
Total	10,493	100%

There is a higher proportion of female adults receiving a long-term service than male adults. Despite the longer life expectancy of females, a further review will be carried out ahead of the next annual report to better understand why fewer males and more females are accessing services.

Adult social care clients by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Number of adults receiving a service	Percentage
White	10,358	98.71%
Asian or Asian British	32	0.30%
Black or Black British	29	0.28%
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	38	0.36%
Other Ethnic Groups	19	0.18%
Not Stated	17	0.16%
Grand total	10,493	-

White includes British, English, Irish, Scottish and 'any other White Background'.

The majority of adults receiving a long-term service (98.71%) are white. This is similar to the Lincolnshire population data where 96% of people are white.

Primary support reason	Number of adults	Percentage
Learning disability support	2,012	19.2%
Mental health support	918	8.7%
Physical support: access and mobility only	1,233	11.8%
Physical support: personal care support	5,694	54.3%
Sensory support	41	0.4%
Social support	82	0.8%
Support with memory and cognition	513	4.9%
Grand total	10,493	-

The primary support reason is essentially why the individual requires support.

The majority of adults (54.3%) drawing on long-term services had a primary support reason of physical support: personal care support. Adults with a learning disability account for 19.2% of adults drawing on services. In Lincolnshire 20.1% are people with a disability as defined under the equality act.

Adults in receipt of a short-term social care service

Age	Number of adults receiving a service	Percentage
18 to 25	27	0.7%
26 to 35	122	3.4%
36 to 45	126	3.5%
46 to 55	255	7.0%
56 to 65	452	12.4%
66 to 75	543	14.9%
76 to 85	1,168	32.1%
85 and over	942	25.9%
Grand total	3,635	-

The majority (73%) of adults receiving a short-term service are over 65 years old. This is a slightly higher percentage than those adults over 65 years old receiving long term services (65%). #

Gender	Number of adults receiving a service	Percentage
Female	2,364	65.0%
Male	1,264	34.8%
Unknown	7	0.2%
Total	3,635	-

There is a significantly higher proportion of female adults receiving a short-term service than males. Despite the longer life expectancy of females, a further review will be carried out ahead of the next annual report to better understand why fewer males and more females are accessing services. 

Ethnicity	Number of adults receiving a service	Percentage
White	3,566	98.1%
Asian or Asian British Black or Black British	19	0.5%
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	10	0.3%
Not Stated	40	1.1%
Grand total	3,635	-

The majority of adults receiving a short-term service (98.1%) are white. This is similar to the Lincolnshire population data where 96% of people are white.

Primary support reason	Number of adults	Percentage
Learning disability support	242	6.7%
Mental health support	43	1.2%
Physical support: access and mobility only	2,004	55.1%
Physical support: personal care support	1,223	33.6%
Social support or other	74	2.1%
Support with memory and cognition	41	1.1%
Reason not yet established	8	0.2%
Grand total	3,635

The primary support reason is essentially why the individual requires support. The majority of adults (55.1%) drawing on short-term services had a primary support reason of physical support: access and mobility only.

Adult Skills and Family Learning Service

The ASFL is part of Economic Development within the Place directorate.  The service receives grant funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to deliver adult education programmes across Lincolnshire.

The aim of the service is to engage with local people who are least likely to participate in learning and enable them to access a range of high-quality learning opportunities to:

• lead more independent lives
• support their families
• gain a qualification
• get a job
• volunteer
• become less socially isolated

The service has four key strategic priorities:

• widen participation and transform people’s lives
• support the local economy
• improve the health and wellbeing of learners
• provide targeted learning to those in greatest need, including helping parents to support their children’s learning

To achieve these priorities ASFL works with local partners to deliver high quality learning to:

• focus funding on people who are disadvantaged and least likely to participate in learning, including people:
  • on low incomes
  • with low skills
  • furthest away from the labour market
• widen participation in learning through locally delivered informal and accredited programmes, serving the needs of the diverse communities across Lincolnshire
• contribute to a wide range of outcomes for individuals and the wider community including:
  • personal and social
  • educational attainment
  • economic regeneration
  • improved health and well-being
• develop the capacity of voluntary and community sector organisations to deliver effective adult learning that meets the quality requirements of Ofsted through funding and supporting niche provision
• Work with local partners to deliver high quality learning which contributes to the priorities of:
  • Lincolnshire County Council,
  • GLLEP Local Skills Plan,
  • Joint LCC/LEP Employment and Skills Strategy,
  • GLLEP Strategic Economic Plan,
  • the Local Industrial Strategy,
  • the Skills Strategy,
  • the Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan,
  • Protecting, Progressing, Prospering: Greater Lincolnshire Plan for Growth (COVID-19 Revival Plan), and
  • Council's Corporate Plan

In the year 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2023, the team worked with 7,138 learners.  who enrolled on one or more courses.  The total number of enrolments was 9984.  The data below shows a summary of their characteristics by gender, age, employment, learning difficulty, qualifications and ethnic breakdown.

Providers contracts include a target for learners from minority groups in order to ensure we target our funding at those who will benefit most. 

Provider monitoring meetings take place monthly where we review data and follow up if there is under-performance.

ASFL enrolments by age

Age	Number of enrolments	Percentage
19	288	2.9%
20 to 29	2,031	20.3%
30 to 39	2,415	24.2%
40 to 49	1,960	19.6%
50 to 59	1,902	19.1%
60 to 64	717	7.2%
65 plus	671	6.7%
Total	9,984	100%

ASFL enrolments by gender

Gender	Number of enrolments	Percentage
Female	6,607	66.2%
Male	3,377	33.8%
Total	9,984	100%

ASFL enrolments by employment status at the start of the course

Employment status	Number of enrolments	Percentage
Employed	4,194	42%
Unemployed and looking for work	3,667	36.7%
Unemployed and not looking	2,123	21.3%
Total	9,984	-

ASFL enrolments by learning difficulty

Learning difficulty	Number of enrolments	Percentage
No learning difficulty	7,007	70.2%
Vision impairment	176	1.8%
Hearing impairment	220	2.2%
Disability affecting mobility	287	2.9%
Profound complex disabilities	17	0.2%
Social and emotional difficulties	114	1.1%
Mental health difficulty	494	4.9%
Moderate learning difficulties	461	4.6%
Severe learning difficulty	56	0.6%
Dyslexia	379	3.8%
Dyscalculia	15	0.2%
Autism spectrum disorder	222	2.2%
Asperger's syndrome	43	0.4%
Temporary disability (for example post-viral) or accident	44	0.3%
Speech, language and communication needs	31	1%
Other physical disability	100	1.0%
Other specific learning difficulty (for example Dyspraxia)	18	0.2%
Other medical condition (for example epilepsy, asthma, diabetes)	179	1.8%
Other learning difficulty	45	0.5%
Other disability	76	0.8%
Total	9,984	100%

ASFL enrolments by qualification at the start of the course

Qualification	Number of enrolments	Percentage
Entry level	562	5.6%
Level 1	787	7.9%
Level 2	985	9%
Full level 2	815	8.2%
Level 3	520	5.2%
Full level 3	872	8.7%
Level 4	374	3.7%
Level 5	384	3.8%
Level 6	1,041	10.4%
Level 7 and above	532	5.3%
Other qualifications, level not known	341	3.4%
Not known	603	6.0%
No qualifications	2,258	22.6%
Total	9,984	100%

ASFL enrolments by ethnicity compared to 2021 Census data for Lincolnshire

White

Ethnicity	Number of enrolments	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
White British	7977	79.9%	89.2%
Irish	14	0.1%	0.4%
Gypsy or Irish Traveller	9	0.1%	0.2%
Any other White background	1190	11.9%	6.1%
Total White	9190	92.0%	95.9%

Mixed or multiple ethnic

Ethnicity	Number of enrolments	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
White and Black Caribbean	43	0.4%	0.4%
White and Black African	20	0.2%	0.2%
White and Asian	31	0.3%	0.4%
Any other mixed or multiple ethnic background	39	0.4%	0.3%

Asian and Asian British

Ethnicity	Number of enrolments	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
Indian	33	0.3%	0.5%
Pakistani	17	0.2%	0.2%
Bangladeshi	6	0.1%	0.1%
Chinese	77	0.8%	0.3%
Any other Asian background	99	1.0%	0.5%

Black and Black British

Ethnicity	Number of enrolments	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
African	69	0.7%	0.4%
Caribbean	16	0.2%	0.1%
Any other Black, African or Caribbean background	26	0.3%	0.1%

Other ethnic group

Ethnicity	Number of enrolments	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
Arab	62	0.6%	0.1%
Any other ethnic group plus other ethnic group	121	1.2%	0.5%

Total

Ethnicity	Number of enrolments	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
Total Black, Asian other ethnic background	659	6.7%	4.1%
Not known or not provided	135	1.4%	0%
Grand total	9,984	100%	100%

Public protection

Public protection covers an array of activities within Lincolnshire. Within the area of domestic abuse victim services and fraud prevention ethnicity data is requested from the service users to help us better understand the accessibility and equality of the services we provide, but also to help identify any potential hidden or unsupported victims.

This is the first year that we have looked in detail within our gender, age and health condition recording to enable us to improve our services and support to our communities.

Domestic abuse

EDAN Lincs is a registered charity commissioned by us to deliver the Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Specialist Service (LDASS) which provides support and assistance to anyone suffering or fleeing from domestic abuse in Lincolnshire.

The following data shows the age, ethnicity and gender of people referred to the service.

EDAN Lincs referrals by age

Age	Number of people	Percentage
16 to 19 years	20	2.4%
20 to 24 years	85	10%
25 to 34 years	305	35.9%
35 to 44 years	217	25.6%
45 to 54 years	125	14.7%
55 to 59	29	3.4%
60 to 69 years	28	3.3%
70 plus years	15	1.8%
Unknown	25	2.9%
Total	849	100%

The highest proportion of people who are referred for support from the domestic abuse service are aged between 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 years old.

EDAN Lincs referrals by gender

Gender	Number of people	Percentage
Female	765	90.1%
Male	72	8.5%
Not disclosed	12	1.4%
Total	849	100%

The majority of people who are referred for support from the domestic abuse service are female.

EDAN Lincs referrals by ethnicity compared to 2021 census data for Lincolnshire

Ethnicity	Number of people	Percentage	2021 Census percentage
White British	666	78.4%	89.2%
White Other	90	10.6%	6.7%
Asian, Black, Mixed or other ethnic group	25	2.9%	4.1%
Not provided	68	8.0%	-
Total	849	100%	100%

There is a higher proportion of people from white other backgrounds who are referred for support from the domestic abuse service than in the Lincolnshire population and a lower proportion of people from Asian, black, mixed ethnicity and other ethnic backgrounds.

The service will be looking at crime reporting incidents and the counties demographic information to establish if there are any groups that are either not getting or seeking support for domestic abuse.  

Scams intervention and Prevention

The scams intervention and prevention services offered by LCC provide holistic support to individuals who have experienced fraud or who are at risk of fraud.  Referrals are received from a number of sources including Lincolnshire Police, Lincolnshire Trading Standards and Adult Safeguarding.  Additionally, some individuals have made self-referrals.

The collection of the following data started in September 2022 and covers the period up to the end of March 2023.  A total of 47 people were supported by the service as potential victims of scams. 

Potential scam victims by gender

Gender	Number of people	Percentage
Female	23	48.9%
Male	24	51.1%
Other	0	0
Prefer not to say	0	0
Total	47	100%

There was almost an equal split between male and female potential victims and those at risk of fraud.

Potential scam victims by health condition

Health condition	Number of people	Percentage
Cognitive impairment or learning disability	7	14.9%
Hearing or visual impairment	5	10.6%
Physical impairment	5	10.6%
Mental health	5	10.6%
Total with health condition	16	34%
None disclosed	31	66%
Total	47	100%

Of those that chose to disclose, 16 people disclosed health conditions (some more than one).  These conditions could increase their risk of being a victim of fraud.

Potential scam victims by age

Age	Number of people	Percentage
40 to 69 years	7	14.9%
70 to 79 years	11	23.4%
80 and over	21	44.7%
Unknown	8	17%
Total	47	100%

The age of individuals supported during 2022 to 2023 ranged from 41 to 91 years old and 60% of individuals supported were aged over 75. The data also showed that 38 of the 47 people supported live alone.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Community Safety

Home fire safety visits

Throughout 2023, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue have followed the direction of the National Fire Chiefs Council, and we have continued to develop our Home Fire Safety Visits.

It is important that LFR understand our highest ‘risks’ and develop support plans to ensure our resources target these risks. Local data analysis supported by work carried out at a national level has allowed us to identify factors that make individuals more likely to have a fire, accident or be injured in their homes. The following factors have been identified as a result of the data analysis:

• smoking
• hoarding
• elderly or lives alone
• reduced mobility, hearing or visual impairment
• mental health conditions
• alcohol misuse, drugs or medication dependant
• care needs

Our risk profiling uses a weighting for all the above areas, and with our internal and partner datasets we are able to identify a risk rating for all households. Individuals found to have a number of the elements identified will be determined to be a high risk. 

Those identified as most at risk, through the data and through partner referrals will be targeted as a priority for Home Fire Safety Visits.

Our community safety advocates, and operational crews also support and engage with local communities with the aim of increasing the number of home fire safety visits carried out. 

Our specially trained staff provide a person-centred approach to their visits. They look to provide support by focussing on the areas of high risk within the home setting. Consideration is given to:

• personal factors such as mobility issues, which may make an individual more at risk from a fire
• behavioural factors, such as smoking in the house
• the home setting such as a complex layout, multi levels

An academic research partnership with the University of Lincoln has allowed us to understand the change of demographics within the county, which has supported our profiling and targeting approach.

On average 82.5% of visits were with people considered to be in high-risk groups. As we continue to develop our approach to identify high risk households the service aims to see this percentage increase. This will ensure resources support can be focussed on those who most need it across the county. A breakdown of safe and well visits by age and ethnicity is shown below. The 65+ age category is more likely to be identified as high risk therefore it is important for the service to monitor this group to ensure it is meeting the needs of people across all ethnicities.

Household occupants receiving support by age

Age band	Number of people	Percentage
Under 5	468	4.22%
5 to 15	1,038	9.36%
16 to 24	881	7.95%
25 to 59	3,199	28.86%
60 to 64	721	6.50%
65 plus	4,778	43.10%
Total	11,085	100%

Household occupants receiving support by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Occupants of households	Percentage	Lincolnshire population census 2021
White British	9,759	88.0%	89.2%
White other	931	8.4%	6.7%
White total	10,690	96.4%	95.9%
Asian or Asian British	78	0.7%	1.6%
Black or Black British	66	0.6%	0.6%
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	18	0.2%	1.3%
Other ethnic groups	140	1.3%	0.6%
Asian, Black, mixed and other ethnic groups	302	2.7%	4.1%
Not stated	93	0.8%	-
Total	11,085	100%	100%

Equalities objectives

Workforce

These objectives are part of our people strategy and aim to improve the areas of difference identified in the 2023 workforce data. 
 
Workforce equalities objectives:

• we will improve county council building accessibility, where there are unreasonable deficiencies for employees.
• we will aim to increase the number of employees who share their personal characteristic data via self-service on Business World through a communication plan on its importance
• we will aim to increase the success rate of job applicants who are shortlisted from minority or disadvantaged groups, as well as support existing employees to access support and development for their career progression
• to enable dialogue, support, knowledge and action on equality, diversity and inclusion, we will invest and increase training, resources and engagement on Lincs2Learn (our learning portal) for employees and managers

Customers

The 2023 customer data has informed the priorities included in the objectives.  

Customer equalities objectives:

• we will improve county council building accessibility, where there are unreasonable deficiencies for residents.  
• we will continue to broaden the detailed analysis of each directorate’s service provisions from an equality perspective
• we will identify areas of good practice from within the County Council and using the ‘one council’ principles, share the learning to enable continuous improvement
• we will review current community engagement initiatives and evaluate their effectiveness in eliminating poor access to services