Equality, diversity and inclusion action plan 2022 to 2023

Last updated: 6 January 2022

Introduction

Equality, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our work as the specialist regulator for social workers in England. As such, we are pleased to introduce our first equality, diversity and inclusion action plan which builds on our statement of intent.

This action plan comes midway through our first corporate strategy. It evaluates our progress to date and sets out objectives that will accelerate our work on equality, diversity and inclusion ahead of our next corporate planning cycle beginning in 2023. It is in this next corporate strategy where we will set our ambition, and benefit from greater experience, dedicated equality, diversity and inclusion leadership, and improved data and insight.

This action plan is underpinned by 3 drivers:

1. Values – We believe that the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion is extremely important. It is unfair and unethical for people to experience prejudice, unlawful discrimination, or oppression, based on difference. Ensuring everyone is treated fairly and with respect is central to us being an effective regulator and employer.
2. Performance – Diverse teams perform better, they are engaged, innovative and better at problem-solving [note 1]. As a regulator, being representative of the people we serve means we are more likely to meet the diverse needs of the public we work to protect. The social work profession, with its values and principles of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice, is uniquely placed to lead the way in achieving equality in all aspects of society.
3. Duty – As a public body, we have duties arising from the Equality Act 2010. These are outlined in our statement of intent. We are also required to comply with standard 3 of the Professional Standards Authority's standards of good regulation which requires that we understand the diversity of our registrants and others who access our services, and ensure our processes and practices do not negatively impact individuals based on their protected characteristics. 

We look forward to working and engaging with everyone who has an interest in social work and our work as the regulator to realise this action plan as we develop our next corporate strategy.

The context to our work

Since our launch in December 2019, the context against how we have grown as an organisation and regulated social workers in England has changed.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on people, families, and communities across England and the United Kingdom. Social workers and healthcare professionals were at the forefront of national response efforts unlike any experienced in living memory. In May of the same year, George Floyd’s murder in the United States reignited the global Black Lives Matter movement, highlighting pervasive structures of racism and inequality.

These events have generated important and deeply reflective conversations about society. Social workers, as professionals who challenge injustice, inequality, and oppression, have spoken openly about their work supporting people, including those who face multiple and intersecting discriminations. Our Social Work in England: First Reflections report explores how COVID-19 affected the way social workers interacted with the individuals they support and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on the profession.

As the specialist regulator, we share common values with the social workers we regulate. We are a young, values driven organisation and we recognise the responsibility we have to ensure our work is fair, and the importance of using our platform to promote national conversations about the role of social work in addressing inequality. This is our duty as we continue to grow and improve.

[Note 1] https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-and-insights/listicle/the-five-business-benefits-of-a-diverse-team/

Our work so far

We began our journey into regulation during a pandemic and like many organisations, we have areas in which we need to improve and grow.

At this halfway point in our first corporate strategy, it is appropriate to take stock of our progress so far to consider where we have realised improvements, and where we need to focus our efforts in future planning. Building on the progress outlined in our statement of intent, we have actioned the following.

• We have expanded the membership of our National Advisory Forum to reflect the diversity of those most impacted by our work.
• We have appointed a dedicated lead for equality, diversity and inclusion to our senior leadership team.
• We ran an anti-racism survey alongside partners and leaders in social work to understand the prevalence, impact, and general awareness of racism in social work [note 2].
• We co-hosted a roundtable discussion with Skills for Care about anti-racism in social work.
• The University of Greenwich were commissioned to undertake a study into education and training in England, focusing on the experiences and perceptions of students and newly qualified social workers based on their protected characteristics, as well as the inclusion of anti-discriminatory practice in their training.
• We have commissioned Woodnewton to undertake a study into public perceptions and experiences of raising a fitness to practise concern about a social worker, including specific questions around equality, diversity and inclusion.
• We introduced our new education and training standards, including requirements around supporting students and embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in course design and delivery.
• We launched diversity monitoring on social worker online accounts to build a clearer understanding of the social work register. This will enable us to analyse, understand and, if necessary, make changes to our processes and policies
• We held Social Work Week 2021, which included equality, diversity and inclusion as a key theme, including a keynote about anti-racist practice and education by Professor Prospera Tedam in an all-female line up to mark International Women’s Day.
• We launched This Is Social Work, a podcast featuring people with lived and learned experiences of social work, including an episode exploring social justice, recognising diversity and the importance of challenging disadvantage and discrimination.
• We became an associate of the Staff College’s Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI) Network.
• We established the UK social work/care regulators equality, diversity and inclusion forum and continue to be active members of the joint healthcare regulators’ equality, diversity and inclusion forum.
• We established Ark, a network hub and space for our staff networks to share, support, and collaborate. Ark also acts as a conduit between the networks and our leadership teams.
• We reconfigured our equality, diversity and inclusion steering group to ensure representation from across the organisation to champion and embed equality, diversity and inclusion across our work.
• We used the talent inclusion and diversity evaluation benchmarking tool from the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion to identify areas for improvement.
• We co-produced a new approach to our equality impact assessments and commenced staff training on the importance of assessing the impact of their work.
• We published our first gender pay gap report.

[Note 2] The survey was created out of a partnership between the Anti-Racist Steering Group, comprised of representatives from the Principal Social Workers’ Network for Adults and Children and Families, the Department for Education, Social Work England, Office of the Chief Social Workers Department of Health and Social Care and What Works for Children’s Social Care.

Our journey to 2023

At this point in our corporate cycle, we want to focus on the following equality, diversity and inclusion priorities for the remainder of the 2020 to 2023 period. We will review our organisational progress against these priorities every quarter to consider whether the objectives continue to be appropriate and relevant. We will also set additional objectives where needed or when new priorities emerge.

Objective 1: Carry out our regulatory functions fairly

• Build a more accurate picture of the workforce to better understand the makeup of the social work register
• Use available diversity data to identify and monitor any disproportionate impacts of our work on different groups and take steps to understand and deal with potential bias and discrimination
• Use our education and training standards to proactively embed equality, diversity and inclusion principles in education and training courses

Objective 2: Develop our culture as an inclusive organisation that attracts, develops, supports, retains, and fully engages diverse talent

• Implement measures to embrace and facilitate diversity of our workforce, and ensure equality throughout the organisation
• Treat all our employees with equality, fairness, and respect
• Embed equality, diversity, and inclusion into our culture by increasing understanding of equality issues, and be responsive to the needs of those who use our services

Objective 3: Proactively deliver communications and engagement activity in a way that is diverse, relevant, and accessible to all

• Review, test and develop our communications and engagement activities to ensure inclusivity
• Co-produce our work with people with a range of protected characteristics to improve our products and services

If you are a social worker, it’s important that you respond to our call for diversity data on your online account. This information is vital for us to understand the profession, including how reflective it is of the public it supports.

Diversity data also helps us understand where and how people may experience our work differently, including where our processes and systems could cause inequality or disadvantage.