Report of the Director of Capital Programmes attached

This report provides an update on the monitoring and recording of diversity within social value deriving from the Our Town Hall Project.  The report also provides an update on whether specific Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) can be established to monitor this activity.

The Sub Group considered the report of the Director of Capital Programmes that provided an update on how the monitoring and recording of diversity within social value could be reported, and if specific Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) could be established to monitor this activity following a previous recommendation from the Sub Group.

The main points and themes within the report included: -

·                Providing a narrative, noting that it was expected to see the diversity of the city reflected in the people who were engaging with the project’s social value activities and opportunities;

·                Recognising the wider national issues around diversity in the construction industry;

·                Describing the approach adopted to monitor diversity in the workforce;

·                Describing the approach adopted towards KPI’s, noting the good relationship with contractors and suppliers who had committed to delivering social value on the project; and

·                The approach to maximising participation.

The Commercial Director for LendLease also reported that 33% of the overall workforce on the project were female and 16% of the overall workforce were BAME, which were greater than Lendlease’s national targets.  Lendlease had also appointed a Diversity and Inclusion Manager and female ambassadors for construction to promote working in the industry within schools and would use the Town Hall Project as an exemplar to the rest of its business.

Some of the key points that arose from the Sub Group’s discussions were:-

·                What work was being done with the Council’s Equality and Diversity team and had any Equality Impact Assessments been undertaken on the project;

·                Consideration needed to be given to ensure that the appointed ambassadors were overloaded in promoting the construction industry within  schools prevented them from undertaking their employed role;

·                Did Lendlease practice blind recruitment and what adjustments did they make for people with disabilities;

·                What equalities training did Lendlease’s Management Team undertake;

·                What steps did Lendlease take to address street harassment of women on site;

·                Would apprentices employed on the project be monitored by protected characteristics; and

·                What engagement was taking place to promote apprenticeship opportunities.

The Work and Skills Project Manager advised that work was being undertaken with the Councils Equalities and Diversity team to promote the employment opportunities of the project amongst all groups in communities, acknowledging that challenges existed around vacancies and apprentices. 

The Commercial Director for LendLease commented that he was not aware that Lendlease anonymised applications, however he assured the Sub Group that through their recruitment process, they were genuinely looking promote the employment of females and BAME within the construction industry.  The Work and Skills Project Manager commented that the Council and Lendlease were exploring the ability of rolling out the Council’s recruitment process within the projects supply chain.

The Sub Group was advised that all of Lendleases Management Team undertook equalities and diversity e-training training on an annual basis and that this also applied to all Lendlease employees.  The Commercial Director for LendLease also commented that dealing of street harassment of any staff, not just females working on site, would be covered as part of the induction process.

The Work and Skills Project Manager advised that although the employment of apprentices was not currently monitored in terms of the protected characteristics, consideration would be given to how best this could be achieved.  He also commented that the main aspect of engagement for apprentices had been through the Council’s MPeople programme.

Decision

The Committee

(1)       Notes the report.

(2)       Suggests that to help facilitate the experiences of apprentices, informal opportunities to attend and present at future meetings of the Sub Group are considered and where appropriate implemented.