Agenda item

Report from the Executive Director of Corporate Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the Inclusion Strategy 2026-30.

2.    Approve the action plan for February 2026 to March 2027.

3.    Note the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2024-2025.

Consideration was given to the report which summarised the Council’s new Inclusion Strategy which updated the previous Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy. Building on the vision of the Council Plan of creating inclusive growth, the new Strategy set out the Council’s approach to addressing inclusion-related issues, ensuring services were accessible and the voices of all communities were heard. In addition, the annual report for 2024-25 included key achievements and case studies that demonstrated progress in addressing EDI issues.

The Inclusion Strategy 2026-2030 reflected the ambition set out in the Council Plan 2025-2030: to create an inclusive borough where no one was left behind and everyone could achieve their potential. It reinforced the inclusive growth focus of the Council Plan’s vision of building a borough where opportunity was extended to everyone, where people could grow, flourish and prosper, and where no one was left behind. It described how the Council would focus on listening to residents, engaging with them meaningfully – particularly those whose voices were not always heard - to address their concerns and ensure services were accessible.

Several significant recent achievements were highlighted in the Strategy. This included receiving an outstanding Ofsted rating for Children and Young People’s Services, establishing the RASCAL (Rotherham Adult Social Care Always Listening) group to enable individuals with lived experience to shape future adult care services, and working with local organisations to deliver a community cohesion programme after securing £600,000 from the government’s Community Recovery Fund. At the same time, it recognised that more could be done to ensure that people did not feel excluded, disadvantaged or held back due to their race, gender, disability, or any other characteristic.

The Strategy was informed by a series of focus groups held between August and November 2025, as well as an online survey. Participants in the focus groups reflected the range of protected characteristics. Further details could be found in the consultation report at Appendix 4. The findings had directly informed the Strategy’s themes and areas of focus. The agreed themes were:

-       Working together – demonstrating how the Council would continue to engage with residents and, where possible, design and produce services and plans with them, acknowledging the need to proactively reach out to those who found it more difficult to engage.

-       Responsive services – focused on the importance of listening to residents, consistently providing feedback, and showing how services were being reshaped (where appropriate) in response.

-       Welcoming places – reflecting concerns about feeling safe, which was a significant issue for some groups.

-       Employer of choice – outlining ongoing efforts to ensure that the Council’s workforce reflected its diverse communities, with an inclusive approach to recruitment and staff engagement.

A series of actions were included for each theme, providing a focus for activity over the lifetime of the Strategy. A more detailed action plan for 2026-27 was attached at Appendix 2. The Annual Report for 2024-25 provided a summary of recent achievements within the framework of the 2022-25 EDI Strategy and was attached at Appendix 3. The Annual Report also included several case studies that illustrated how positive equality, diversity and inclusion outcomes had been achieved as part of the delivery of services and initiatives. Cabinet Members stated that inclusion of case studies was a good addition to the report.

The report was considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board who advised that the recommendations be supported. Discussions had focused on consultation, Key Performance Indicators and reliance on the Voluntary and Community sector.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the Inclusion Strategy 2026-30.

2.    Approve the action plan for February 2026 to March 2027.

3.    Note the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2024-2025.