Workforce equality
- Introduction
- Section 1 – workforce profile
- Section 2 – age profiles
- Section 3 – disability
- Section 4 – ethnicity
- Section 5 – gender / gender reassignment
- Section 6 – marriage / civil partnerships
- Section 7 – pregnancy and maternity / sexual orientation
- Section 8 – religion or belief
- Section 9 – specific information
- Gender pay gap
Introduction
All public authorities are required to publish information to demonstrate their compliance with the General Equality Duty.
This includes, in particular, information to be published relating to people who share relevant protected characteristics that are affected by its policies and practices and information relating to its employees.
The Council (DBC) is committed to workforce equality issues. In addition to outlining the action that the Council takes to promote equality in everything we do, our Equality Policy reinforces how we train and develop our employees on equality issues and monitor and review the way we work.
The below report covers the period of 1st April 2023 – 31st March 2024.
The Council aims to have a workforce that reflects, as near as possible, the diversity of the residents which we serve in the borough of Darlington.
This report provides a profile of the DBC workforce by the different diversity strands, as outlined in the Equality Act 2010 and in line with requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty 2011.
For comparative purposes, in all cases information relating to the residents of Darlington Borough is drawn from the 2021 census. This is based on all residents, not just those economically active.
All information with regards to the Council workforce was correct as at 31st March 2024. All information with regards to headcount and contracts includes casual employees, unless otherwise stated.
The information quoted excludes employees working for community schools, this is because there are separate arrangements for schools publishing information under the specific duties of the Equality Act 2010.
In February 2024, the Council published its gender pay gap in line with the statutory requirements which will continue to be updated annually.
Section 1
Workforce information.
Table 1 - staff numbers
| Headcount | 2060* |
|---|---|
| FTE | 1571.13 |
| Number of Contracts | 2404* |
* Excludes 148 casual Election Enumerators who only work during elections.
** Excludes 162 Election Enumerator contracts
Table 1 shows the total numbers of employees (excluding schools) working for DBC by Headcount (the actual number of different employees, using their master contract), Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and Contracts (The number of contracts is higher than the headcount figure as one employee may have more than one contract with the council).
Table 2 - redundancies
| Date range | Data |
|---|---|
| 2010–11 | 128 |
| 2011–12 | 136 |
| 2012–13 | 96 |
| 2013–14 | 87 |
| 2014-15 | 22 |
| 2015-16 | 25 |
| 2016-17 | 119 |
| 2017-18 | 21 |
| 2018-19 | 12 |
| 2019-20 | 3 |
| 2020-21 | 1 |
| 2021-22 | 2 |
| 2022-23 | 0 |
| 2023-24 | 1 |
Table 2 figures include both compulsory and voluntary redundancies, where employees have left the Council.
Section 2
Age profiles
Table 3 - age profiles
| Age Range | DBC % 2015/16 | DBC % 2016/17 | DBC % 2017/18 | DBC % 2018/19 | DBC % 2019/20 | DBC % 2020/21 | DBC % 2021/22 | DBC % 2022/23 | DBC % 2023/24 | Darlington % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 – 19 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 4.2 |
| 20 – 29 | 10.8 | 10.4 | 10.3 | 10.1 | 11.1 | 10.6 | 10.8 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 10.9 |
| 30 – 39 | 20.4 | 20.2 | 19.5 | 19.9 | 19.1 | 17.8 | 17.3 | 17.6 | 18.5 | 12.6 |
| 40 – 49 | 25.7 | 25.2 | 24.7 | 23.7 | 23.0 | 23.9 | 23.3 | 22.4 | 21.8 | 12.6 |
| 50 – 59 | 31.0 | 31.8 | 30.9 | 30.4 | 30.2 | 31.0 | 31.1 | 30.5 | 29.0 | 14.5 |
| 60 – 64 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 9.4 | 10.4 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 6.5 |
| 65 + | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 20.4 |
Table 4 - recruitment by age range
| Category | % Applications Received | % Shortlisted | % Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 - 19 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 11.8 |
| 20 – 29 | 24.7 | 22.9 | 21.3 |
| 30 – 39 | 25.3 | 23.5 | 22.6 |
| 40 – 49 | 17.3 | 17.2 | 15.7 |
| 50 - 59 | 15.5 | 17.5 | 16.4 |
| 60 – 64 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 5.2 |
| 65 + | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| Undeclared | 6.7 | 6.5 | 4.5 |
Table 5 - redundancies by age range
| Age Range | Compulsory % | Voluntary % | Total % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 – 19 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 20 – 29 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 30 – 39 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 40 – 49 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 50 – 59 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 60 – 64 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 65 + | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Section 3
Disability
Table 6 - disability profiles
| Category | DBC 2015/16 | DBC 2016/17 | DBC 2017/18 | DBC 2018/19 | DBC 2019/20 | DBC 2020/21 | DBC 2021/22 | DBC 2022/23 | DBC 2023/24 | Darlington % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declared Disability | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 19.3 |
| Without Disability | 87.6 | 89.8 | 89.2 | 88.1 | 87.0 | 6.2 | 85.3 | 85.4 | 89.7 | 80.7 |
| Prefer not to say | 0.4 | n/a | ||||||||
| Undeclared | 8.3 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 7.9 | 88.5 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 1.5 | n/a |
Table 7 - recruitment of those with a disability
| Category | % Applications Received | % Shortlisted | % Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Declared Disability | 9.1 | 9.9 | 9.0 |
| Without Disability | 87.7 | 86.9 | 86.8 |
| Prefer not to say | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.7 |
| Undeclared | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
Section 4
Ethnicity
Table 8 – ethnicity profiles
| Category | DBC 2015/16 | DBC 2016/17 | DBC 2017/18 | DBC 2018/19 | DBC 2019/20 | DBC 2020/21 | DBC 2021/22 | DBC 2022/23 | DBC 2023/24 | Darlington % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic minority | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 5.6 |
| White / Other | 88.7 | 90.8 | 90.3 | 90.2 | 89.2 | 91.2 | 91.0 | 91.2 | 95.0 | 94.4 |
| Undeclared | 9.1 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 8.5 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 1.6 | N/A |
Less than 10 of the top 5% of earners in the Council come from a minority ethnic background.
Table - 9 recruitment by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % Applications Received | % Shortlisted | %Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic minority | 16.9 | 13.8 | 8.8 |
| White/other | 73.2 | 78.1 | 85.6 |
| Undeclared | 9.9 | 8.2 | 5.6 |
Section 5
Gender / gender reassignment
Table 10 - gender profiles
| Category | DBC % 2015/16 | DBC % 2016/17 | DBC % 2017/18 | DBC % 2018/19 | DBC % 2019/20 | DBC % 2020/21 | DBC % 2021/22 | DBC % 2022/23 | DBC % 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 63.9 | 63.3 | 63.5 | 63.6 | 63.6 | 64.2 | 63.9 | 63.1 | 63.0 |
| Male | 36.1 | 36.7 | 36.5 | 36.4 | 36.4 | 35.8 | 36.1 | 36.9 | 37.0 |
Table 11 - split by Full time and part time employees working at Darlington Borough Council.
| Category | Female % | Male % |
|---|---|---|
| Full Time | 51.2 | 74.2 |
| Part Time | 47.5* | 25.8** |
* of which 37.6% are casual
** of which 44.4% are casual
Table 12 - % of salary levels by gender
| Salary Range | Female % | Male % | Total % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 15,000 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| 15 – 19,999 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 20 – 24,999 | 32.6 | 23.3 | 29.1 |
| 25 – 29,999 | 16.2 | 32.3 | 22.3 |
| 30 – 34,999 | 16.8 | 15.7 | 16.4 |
| 35 – 39,999 | 16.1 | 11.0 | 14.2 |
| 40 – 44,999 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 6.3 |
| 45 – 49,999 | 5.7 | 4.4 | 5.2 |
| 50,000 + | 5.9 | 7.0 | 6.3 |
Please note table 12 doesn’t include casual members of staff, also for ease, part time salaries have been rounded up to FTE salaries.
Table 13 - recruitment by gender
| Category | % Applications Received | % Shortlisted | % Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 55.3 | 57.5 | 59.5 |
| Male | 36.1 | 34.4 | 35.1 |
| Undeclared | 8.7 | 8.2 | 5.4 |
Gender reassignment
At the end of 2023/24 financial year there were nil employees who declared gender reassignment.
Section 6
Marriage and civil partnership
Although the Council does not actively monitor workforce composition in terms of marriage and civil partnership, we are able to provide information in this area where known.
The equality monitoring form for new employees asks whether an applicant is married or in a civil partnership. We do not ask employees to either state that they are married or in a registered civil partnership, but rather ask a combined question on the two areas.
Table 14 - marital status profiles
| Category | DBC % 2023-24 |
|---|---|
| Married / Civil Partnership | Information to follow |
| Single | Information to follow |
| Divorced | Information to follow |
| Separated | Information to follow |
| Widow / Civil Widow | Information to follow |
| Undeclared | Information to follow |
Please note this may not provide a full picture as employees do not necessarily advise the Council if their marital status changes during their employment. Employees are encouraged to self declare and update their personal details though our online employee records system.
Section 7
Pregnancy and maternity / sexual orientation
Pregnancy and maternity
There were 33 employees on maternity leave during 2023/24. 48.5% returned to work and 48.5% were still on maternity leave as at 31st March 2024 and one person left
Table 15 - Sexual orientation
| Category | DBC % 2015/16 | DBC % 2016/17 | DBC % 2017/18 | DBC % 2018/19 | DBC % 2019/20 | DBC % 2020/21 | DBC % 2021/22 | DBC % 2022/23 | DBC % 2023/24 | Darlington % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bisexual | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Gay / Lesbian | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.5 |
| Heterosexual / Straight | 10.0 | 10.7 | 9.9 | 9.6 | 23.4 | 29.1 | 36.0 | 43.0 | 51.1 | 91.4 |
| Not Stated | 89.2 | 88.4 | 89.4 | 89.8 | 74.8 | 68.8 | 61.0 | 52.5 | 44.1 | 5.7 |
| Other | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Prefer not to say | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | N/A |
Table 16 - recruitment by sexual orientation
| Category | % Applications Received | % Shortlisted | % Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bisexual | 2.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 |
| Gay / Lesbian | 3.1 | 3.6 | 5.0 |
| Heterosexual /Straight | 73.9 | 75.4 | 78.5 |
| Not Stated | 16.1 | 14.4 | 12.7 |
| Other | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Prefer not to say | 4.1 | 4.1 | 2.2 |
Section 8
Religion or belief
The table below shows Darlington Borough Council’s employees religious beliefs in comparison to the Borough of Darlington residents.
Table 17 – religion profile
| Religion | DBC % 2015/16 | DBC % 2016/17 | DBC % 2017/18 | DBC % 2018/19 | DBC % 2019/20 | DBC % 2020/21 | DBC % 2021/22 | DBC % 2022/23 | DBC % 2023/24 | Darlington Borough % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 7.1 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 14.0 | 16.9 | 20.8 | 23.3 | 26.8 | 52.1 |
| Buddhist | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Hindu | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Jewish | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Muslim | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Sikh | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Other religion | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 |
| No Religion | 4.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 10.1 | 12.8 | 16.7 | 21.0 | 24.4 | 39.7 |
| Religion not stated | 88.3 | 87.6 | 88.5 | 89.2 | 74.7 | 67.7 | 59.9 | 52.3 | 44.5 | 4.9 |
| Prefer not to say | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.5 | n/a |
Table 18 - recruitment by religion or belief
| Category | % Applications Received | % Shortlisted | % Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhist | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.3 |
| Christian | 36.2 | 36.5 | 35.8 |
| Hindu | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Jewish | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Muslim | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 |
| Sikh | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Other religion | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.2 |
| No Religion | 36.9 | 37.9 | 38.8 |
| Religion not stated | 17.0 | 15.5 | 16.0 |
| Prefer not to say | 3.2 | 3.8 | 2.8 |
Section 9
Specific information
Management cases -- Information for 2023-24 to follow.
The below table summarises the management cases which have required HR intervention and concluded in 2023/24. Dismissals do not include redundancies.
| Category | BAME | Disability | Female | Male | Total for DBC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullying and Harassment | |||||
| Disciplinary | |||||
| Grievance | |||||
| Capability | |||||
| Dismissals |
Gender pay gap details
- Gender pay gap summary 2023 [pdf document]
- Gender pay gap summary 2022 [pdf document]
- Gender pay gap summary 2021 [pdf document]