Everyone’s Battle, Everyone’s Business action plan approved by Cabinet

An updated plan setting out council’s plans to address existing inequalities outlined key successes of the past year – and also recognised there were still much to do ensure its workforce reflects the city it serves.

Everyone’s Battle, Everyone’s Business Equality Action Plan for 2022/23 brings together a range of actions focused on protected characteristics – in particular the council’s role as a major employer in Birmingham.

The early successes include Birmingham becoming an accredited Living Wage City, the adoption of the RACE Code with a view to dismantling barriers to staff progressing to senior roles, establishment of Safe Space Listening Circles to capture employees’ lived experience, and the Proud Rainbow City Partnership which aims to make Birmingham a safe and inclusive city for all communities.

The finding of the Workforce Race Equity Review, published as part of this report, show that while progress has been made since 2019, Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff are more likely to be employed in more junior roles – with an ethnicity pay gap of 10 per cent recorded in May 2022.

Cllr John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety and Equalities, said: “Everyone’s Battle, Everyone’s Business is a strategy for the whole council: no single team or directorate can do this on their own – it has to be a collective effort by everyone.

“We recognise there’s still  a way to go to tackle systemic inequalities which many of our staff from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds face and experience – but we are accelerating the pace of work around this.

“More widely we are making good progress, but this work will not stop while our communities continue to face inequalities in our city. We want to build a Birmingham that is fair for all, where inequalities are tackled wherever they are found."