3. What is already known?
see page 10 of Equality Screening and Analysis Guidance.
Aim/Scope (who the Policy/Service affects and intended outcomes if known)
This may include a group/s identified by a protected characteristic, others groups or stakeholder/s e.g. service users, employees, partners, members, suppliers etc.
What equality information is available? (Include any engagement undertaken)
A mix of contextual equalities information, such as the census, and consultation on the Council Plan is provided here.
Polulation:
- Population estimates indicate that the borough is becoming increasingly diverse through international migration, mainly from other EU countries. Based on the 2021 census, the proportion of residents from ethnic minority communities increased from 8.1% in 2011 to 11.7% in 2021. The Pakistani community is the second largest ethnic group in Rotherham after White British, with 3.8% of residents in 2021 and 6.3% of school pupils in 2023.
- Rotherham’s ethnic minority population is very concentrated in the inner areas of the town (in Boston Castle/Rotherham East and Rotherham West wards 63.3% of residents are from ethnic minority communities) whilst the outer areas were 95.3% White British in 2021. 42% of residents from ethnic minorities live in areas that are amongst the 10% most deprived in the country and for some groups the figure is higher. This compares with the Borough average of 19.5%.
- The population is ageing; Rotherham has 52,228 people aged 65 years or over or 19.6% of the population, above the national average of 18.4%. The population aged over 65 is projected to increase to over 21% by 2026, with the largest increase being in the number of people aged over 75.
Economy:
- Rotherham has a polarised geography of deprivation and affluence, with the most deprived communities concentrated in the central area, whilst the most affluent areas are to the south, although the overall pattern is complex.
- Rotherham is one of the 20% most deprived areas in England with 11,128 children living in “absolute poverty” 2021/22 (provisional figures).
- The inequality in the pay gap between men and women is substantial. According to the 2023 ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, full-time male workers in Rotherham earn £8,881 more than full-time female workers, on average (median gross annual full time pay). This means women’s pay in Rotherham is only 75% of men’s pay, compared with 85% nationally.
- In the consultation for the Council Plan conducted in 2021, 45% of respondents stated there were not enough job opportunities in their area, as opposed to 19% who stated there were enough. Those with no disabilities were more likely to state there were enough job opportunities in their area (21%) than those with disabilities (15%), with female respondents more likely to be unsure about the opportunities (37%), than men (32%).
Health and wellbeing
- According to the Census, Rotherham had 56,177 people with a limiting long-term health problem or disability in 2021, with 9.8% saying this limits their activity a lot, compared with the average of 7.3% in England. Although there have been health improvements, health inequalities remain.
- Health inequalities are also significant, both between the borough and the national average and between the most and least deprived communities in Rotherham. In addition to these factors, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities, with the most disadvantaged communities being impacted the most.
- In the Council Plan consultation conducted in 2021, in response to the question on what would have the biggest positive impact on wellbeing and quality of life, men (30%) and those without a disability (27%) were more likely to state environmental improvements (23% overall), while more women and those with a disability stated ‘More things to do in the community’ (16% women, 22% with disability, 13% overall). Male respondents (14%) and those with a disability (12%) were also more likely to state ‘improved working conditions’ as factors (8% overall).
Neighbourhoods
- In the survey consultation on the Council Plan in 2021, men were more likely to say they used parks daily (46%) than women (28%), while women were more likely to never use parks at all (7%), than men (1.2%).
- With regards to crime and community safety, tackling anti-social behaviour (79%), tackling crime such as car crime (67%), and protecting vulnerable older people (62%) emerged as respondents’ top priorities, over preventing harassment and violence against women and girls (42%), and preventing hate crime (includes disability/ racial/ religious/ homophobic/ transphobic crimes) (35%) – which might partly be due to the age profile and the overrepresentation of older age groups, as well as the underrepresentation of religious and ethnic minorities.
The statistics above have been updated to reflect the 2021 Census data.
Resident Satisfaction Survey
The Council Plan includes eight performance measures from the Resident Satisfaction Survey. The 2024 results are set out below:
- Satisfaction with Local Area as a Place to Live – 75% of respondents reported feeling ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with their local area as a place to live. This is the same as the national average (75%).
- Satisfaction with Rotherham as a Place to Live – 66% of respondents said that, overall, they were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied. This was above the average across all the previous surveys (61.5%), although there has been considerable fluctuation between waves.
Respondents aged 18-24 were most likely to feel satisfied with Rotherham as a place to live, with 74% satisfied. Respondents aged 25-34 had the lowest level of satisfaction with Rotherham as a place to live, with only 52% satisfied. Dissatisfaction with Rotherham as a place to live was highest amongst people aged 45-54. - Feelings of Safety – 85% of respondents in Rotherham said they felt ‘very safe’ or ‘fairly safe’ during the day when outside in their local area (lower than the figures observed nationally at 91%). Feelings of safety in the local area after dark were (57%) compared to the national average (71%). There was a significant gender difference in feelings of safety after dark – 62% of men but only 54% of women said they felt ‘very safe’ or ‘fairly safe’.
- Feelings of Optimism – 53% of respondents reported feeling ‘very optimistic’ or ‘fairly optimistic’ about the future of Rotherham as a place to live, slightly below the 54% average across all surveys. Younger respondents (aged 18-24) were the most likely to be optimistic about the future of Rotherham as a place to live (70%) and women are more optimistic than men overall. Fewer respondents felt optimistic about the future of Rotherham Town Centre either ‘very optimistic’ or ‘fairly optimistic’). 35% of respondents were not optimistic at all about the town centre. The cohort most optimistic about the future of Rotherham town centre were young people aged 18-24 (46%), whereas people aged 55-64 were most likely to not be optimistic.
- Keeping Residents Informed – 45% of Rotherham respondents said that the Council keeps residents ‘very well’ or ‘fairly well’ informed about the services and benefits it provides. This is below the most recent national result (52%) and below the average percentage across all Rotherham surveys (50%). Younger respondents (aged 18-24) and older respondents (65+) were the cohorts most likely to think that the Council keeps residents well informed. It should be noted that this measure covers not only corporate communications but could also refer to face to face or any other types of council touchpoint that the customer experiences.
- Responsiveness of Rotherham MBC – 52% of respondents in Rotherham answered positively when asked about the extent to which RMBC acts on the concerns of residents (i.e. ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’). This is the highest response across all surveys and similar than the national average (47%). Respondents aged 25-34 were most likely to think that the Council acts on the concerns of local residents (60% responded positively) whilst those aged 55-64 were least likely to have this view.
- Provisions of Values for Money – 38% of Rotherham residents agreed that the Council provides value for money, an increase from the previous year (36%). This is the same percentage as the national figures (38%) and the first time that Rotherham and national data has aligned on this measure.
Council Plan data
The Council Plan includes three performance measures which aim to create a diverse workforce and Quarter 4 data for 2024/25 in the report states:
• Overall proportion of disabled employees – 10.6% against a year-end target of 9%
• Overall proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees – 5.6% against a year-end target of 6.3%
• Proportion of the workforce under 25 – 3.4% against a year-end target of 4.6%.
The targets are designed to drive the Council towards having a workforce that better reflects the diversity of the borough. The Workforce Plan sets out key activity to become an employer of choice, including a review of how the Council attracts, recruits, develops and retains staff from different sections of the community.
Year Ahead Delivery Plan
When the Year Ahead Delivery Plan undergoes its annual refresh, services are expected to set out the action to be taken to ensure consideration of equality, diversity, and inclusion, including timescales for the delivery of each individual milestone. These actions are reviewed as part of the milestone setting process and progress captured as part of the reporting process.
Are there any gaps in the information that you are aware of?
Promoting equality, celebrating diversity, and ensuring fairness for everyone runs throughout all the themes in the Council Plan and Year Ahead Delivery Plan and updates are now obtained from directorates in relation to actions being taken to consider equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for each of the Year Ahead Deliver Plan actions. EDI has also been built into the case study templates for officers to obtain specific examples.
However, some updates are still lacking detail with regards to actions/activities to gain a better understanding of communities and the equality data being collected and used to better inform activities, along with gaps. It therefore remains unclear, for some areas, how outcomes for different communities and protected characteristic groups are being improved.
Details of how equality, diversity and inclusion actions are being monitored through the Council Plan/Year Ahead Delivery Plan was shared with the Equality Peer Review Team in December 2024 to help identify any further areas for consideration/improvement with findings due to be shared in June.
What monitoring arrangements have you made to monitor the impact of the policy or service on communities/groups according to their protected characteristics?
Progress updates on the Council Plan Year Ahead Delivery Plan are produced on a quarterly basis (twice internally and twice publicly in January and July). Public updates are reviewed by Cabinet and Scrutiny and are available online. The update reports to Cabinet and Scrutiny include progress in relation to actions within the Year Ahead Delivery Plan, as well as performance relating to a suite of key performance measures and case studies.
As part of this monitoring process, services are required to specially set out progress on the delivery of equalities, diversity and inclusion outcomes for each individual action in the Year Ahead Delivery Plan. These updates are reviewed and challenged as part of the monitoring process. They are reported as part of the internal monitoring and are also used to inform the public monitoring reports.
In addition, as the Year Ahead Delivery Plan activities are implemented, services are required to complete an equality screening and/or analysis to ensure due regard has been given and that there is an understanding of the effects of a strategy, policy, service or function on those from a protected characteristic group, where this is applicable to do so.
Engagement undertaken with customers. (date and group(s) consulted and key findings)
To help inform the priorities and actions in the Council Plan, various consultation exercises took place between August and September 2021. There were over 1,300 interactions across all engagement methods. The consultation was part of an ongoing dialogue between the Council and members of the public.
Customers are consulted and engaged in different ways by services when delivering the Year Ahead Delivery Plan activities.
The performance measures monitored include resident satisfaction and a resident satisfaction survey is conducted annually. In July and August 2024, a statistically representative random sample of 500 Rotherham residents (aged 18 or over) was polled mainly by landline telephone using quotas set by age and gender. The data was further weighted to reflect the age, gender, and social grade profile of Rotherham. This ensures that the sample is as representative of adults in the borough as possible as there is often a bias in the profile of people who respond to any survey. See results from 2024 survey above.
Some performance measures are also based on customer perceptions in relation to the quality of the service received.
To help guide the priorities and actions in the new Council Plan 2025, various consultation exercises took place between September and November 2024. Engagement has been made with residents through a variety of ways including online and postal surveys, focus groups and short interaction exercises to inform the Council and its partners’ priorities over the next few years. The results have been analysed and the findings were presented to Council, alongside the new Council Plan in May 2025.
Engagement undertaken with staff (date and group(s)consulted and key findings)
Engagement with staff was undertaken through directorates with regards to the progress made on actions/milestones that applied to them and identifying actions for the new Year Ahead Delivery Plan for 2024-25. Staff also provided performance data and contributed to the gathering of case studies used in this report.
Throughout the development of the report, Cabinet Members are briefed.
Furthermore, the headlines are shared with the Assistant Director Group and Strategic Leadership Teams.
Wider Leadership events and staff briefing sessions also include highlights in relation to the process being made.
Staff at all levels were consulted as part of the consultation process for the new Council Plan for 2025.
