Equality and diversity report

What we have achieved in 2024-25

Make Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) a shared responsibility and priority for everyone, at all levels of the Council: leaders, councillors, managers and employees. 

New EDI approach 

We have implemented a new approach to deliver against our agreed corporate EDI policy commitments. This includes establishing a new EDI board to lead on internal decision-making with senior leaders from across the council and a new Corporate EDI network to support developing a cross-council work programme involving all services within the council. 

Women and Girls committee 

Council passed a motion in September 2024 to agree to establish a new member-led Women and Girls formal advisory committee to the Cabinet. The committee met for the first time in February 2025 and is developing its work programme based on the 4 identified priority areas of; 

• Tackling Violence against women and girls

• Addressing the gender pay gap 

• Ensuring equal access to education and training 

• Supporting Women and girls from marginalised communities

Care experience as a protected characteristic 

Council agreed a motion on support for care experienced people, adopting Care experience as if it were a protected characteristic in Gateshead. We are now working with council services to develop an action plan to deliver support to people who are care experienced. 

Embed EDI in all our policies, procedures and ways of working so it is visible in our everyday work

Health in all policies approach 

We have introduced a 'Health in All Policies' approach, including learning for all our staff.   This approach recognises that health and wellbeing is much more than not being ill or having good health services and that our health is shaped by the world around us. To be healthy we need the right building blocks in place like good jobs, safe homes and neighbourhoods, good quality and easy-to-access services, supportive friends and families and more. As a council, we can have a huge influence on these building blocks. The Health in All Policies approach is about considering the (positive and negative) health impacts of policies, programmes, or decisions. It also aims to tackle health inequalities (unfair and avoidable differences in health) in everything we do. 

Public Health Needs Assessments: 

We created a Sexual Health network in response to recommendations from the recent Sexual Health Needs Assessment, attended by health organisations and the voluntary sector. The Network will address system-based issues, provide a space for information sharing, and work together on opportunities for comprehensive care.  The Network has a specific commitment to tackling health inequalities in sexual and reproductive health, with a particular focus on the following more vulnerable groups:  

• Sex workers, LGBTQ+ community, substance misuse service users, Care experienced young people, Older people and Ethnic minority groups. 

Our recent Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment provided an overview of the nature, levels and impact of domestic abuse in Gateshead. This helped the Domestic Abuse Partnership to identify need and demand, emerging trends and gaps in data and service provision. We have agreed a new Domestic Abuse Strategy and Action Plan, which will work to prevent domestic abuse and improve support for the victims

Embed EDI in our decision-making processes, using our Integrated Impact Assessments approach

We have refreshed our approach to analysing equality impact with a new integrated impact assessment tool to support services to consider the potential impact of council activity on equality (people), health and wellbeing, environment and the socio-economic duty (aim to reduce social and economic disadvantage). This will better inform councillors of potential impact and mitigation that can be applied in our decision-making processes.

Implement the voluntary Socio-Economic Duty within the Equality Act, so that we pro-actively consider socio-economic impact to inform our council decisions

As part of our work on new Integrated Impact Assessments, we developed questions and guidance with a focus on understanding socio-economic impact. This will ensure that impacts on residents facing socio-economic disadvantage will be assessed and considered in service design, delivery and in our decision making. 

Prioritise Inclusivity as pledged in our Corporate Plan 

Pride in Gateshead 

We were proud to support the first Pride in Gateshead month-long programme of activities celebrating our diverse communities in August 2024. Organised by Gateshead-based charity Out North East, and supported by partners including Gateshead College, Metrocentre and Lumo. A report published by organiser Out North East has revealed the positive effect on businesses and the lasting legacy of engagement.  A commitment to support Pride in Gateshead 2025 has been made by the Council. 

What we have achieved in 2024-25

Listen to our residents and learn from their experiences, to improve our knowledge and understanding of the needs of all our diverse communities across Gateshead

This year's Director of Public Health Annual Report 2024 shines a light on the impact of lives lost to alcohol, drugs and suicide. Between 2002 and 2022, there were approximately 1,278 deaths by drugs, alcohol and suicide in Gateshead. These are not just numbers, each person left behind grieving families and communities. We wanted to hear from the voices of people with lived experience. 

The report shows the urgent need for action, but also emphasizes the support available to everyone affected. Working with voluntary and community sector partners, several focus groups took place to hear the voices of those who have had been impacted by alcohol, drugs and suicide locally. Threaded through the report are the voices of people with lived experience, which includes anonymised videos produced with Digital Voice.

Community and partner engagement 

Our Locality service work has explored good practice around community voice and participative models. The service actively pursues conversations with local partners that inform and educate and are underpinned by empathy and reflective practice. We worked with partners at Citizens Advice Gateshead to deliver Benefits Uptake Campaign as well as developing targeted provision in areas of highest need and for specific cohorts including Probation service users, our lower paid staff and care leavers. 

Our Health Research team supported research into Warm Spaces. This involved listening exercises with users of Warm Spaces to inform future development and support work to improve the accessibility of Warm Spaces and their offer to residents.  The research findings were used to inform the criteria for the Warm Spaces small grants programme to enable providers to extend opening hours, provide a greater variety of support and more effective signposting and partnership with other organisations. 

Community Cohesion  

Our Community Safety Team are members of the North East Anti-Racism Coalition, which includes local authority leaders, the Police and Crime Commissioner, elected members, VCSE organisations, police, and community allies. We received £57,000 from government for the Community Cohesion and Resilience Programme (CCRP), funding 13 local projects focused on countering extremism and building community ties. We hosted The Rt Hon The Lord Khan of Burnley FHEA, Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement, who met with the local project recipients. 

Operational Changes 

• The Hate Crime & Tensions Monitoring Group has been replaced by a monthly Community Cohesion Group, which includes police, council services, and VCSE/community groups. This group reviews hate crime data, monitors tensions, and explores opportunities for collaboration. 

• We are refreshing our Community Tensions Framework to improve our response to local, national, and international events that may impact community relations.

Hate Crime Awareness Training 

We are currently developing a new in-person Hate Crime Awareness training session, which will include a dedicated focus on Mate Crime - a form of exploitation where perpetrators befriend individuals with the intention of abusing or taking advantage of them. This training aims to increase understanding, improve recognition and reporting and strengthen our collective response to hate incidents across Gateshead. 

We are working closely with our Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) networks to address the issue of misogyny, particularly among young people. This work recognises the harm misogynistic attitudes can cause and the potential for these views to escalate into more serious forms of abuse or violence. 

Equality Data - Hate Crime reports: 

• in 2024, 468 hate crimes were recorded by Northumbria Police in Gateshead—a 13% decrease from 2023 (536 incidents)
• despite the decrease, we had anticipated a rise due to improved reporting mechanisms and the rollout of Safe Reporting Centres by Northumbria Police
• race-related hate crime remains the most reported category, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all incidents
• hate crimes are most frequently reported in Central Gateshead, which includes a significant Jewish population
• the only increase was in age-related hate crimes, rising from 1 to 4 incidents 

Actively involve and engage our communities, including our employees, in inclusive consultation and in our decision-making processes. 

Ageing Well Standard

We worked with the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (Housing LIN) to develop the Gateshead Standard for Ageing Well. The purpose of the standard is to set out what our homes should consist of to support us all to age well and thrive in later life whether we decide to stay put or move. We developed this in consultation with local people, and it will be used by commissioners, designers, planners and developers as a tool when considering providing housing for people as they age across all tenure types. Complying with this standard will mean that homes in Gateshead will become better suited to the needs and requirements of people in later life, bringing positive impacts for older adults through improved quality of life, health and wellbeing outcomes.  

Our Neighbourhood Relations Team held a customer workshop to review and inform the refresh of the ASB and Hate Crime, Council Housing Policy. Our Locality team administered the Local Community Fund in partnership with elected members, ensuring funding is provided to grass roots causes in each of the 22 wards. 

Community, Health and Wellbeing developed a Lived Experience work stream and recruited two staff members to support the involvement and engagement of Experts by Experience particularly from marginalised communities.  Initially this engagement will be focused on the development of an anti-poverty strategy for Gateshead and will support wider lived experience work across other Council services. 

We are developing a new Community Cohesion Strategy to replace the existing Hate Crime Strategy. This new strategy will take a broader, more integrated approach to tackling hate crime, extremism, and social division, and promote unity and resilience across Gateshead. 

A consultation workshop has been held with council staff and partners. Further consultations are ongoing with youth groups, locality hubs, and residents. A residents' survey is scheduled for Autumn 2025. We are working with the government's Community Cohesion Unit who have shared national examples of good practice. 

Co-design and collaborate with partners where possible, to deliver for local communities

Co-production work

Our Locality team delivered multi agency events in each area, bringing together stakeholders from across the local community to showcase provision, understand need and identify new opportunities for partnership working. Developed co-located service opportunities at various hubs across the borough, bringing services together both formally and informally to maximise resource and opportunity. Delivered targeted community safety days in collaboration with partners including Police, Fire Service and Housing. 

The Community, Health & Wellbeing team actively involved 12 Experts by Experience in assessment tasks and interview panels for the recruitment processes for the Experts by Experience roles, enabling local people to input into our recruitment decisions for these community-facing roles.   

Co design and collaboration with partners to deliver the Sport England Place Base Project: 

An established group has been set up including representatives from the Local Authority, VCSE sector, Northumbria Violence Reduction Unit, Health and other wider partners/stakeholders to gain further understanding and insight into the barriers preventing residents becoming more physically active. 

Health Research work with autistic children on oral health 

The project has co-designed oral health materials with autistic children and their families to ensure the resources are accessible and relevant, aiming to remove communication and sensory barriers in general dental setting. Easy to read, visual and sensory-informed flashcards resource was developed. Autistic children, parents and caregivers were consulted throughout the design process and research to ensure lived experience directly shaped the research's outputs. The project contributes to understanding how we can adapt services to provide equitable health access. 

Actively work with our diverse communities to improve our insight and build effective relationships 

We held a meeting with our faith and race community leaders to inform future engagement through the planned relaunch of the Gateshead Strategic Partnership in 2025. Community leaders raised issues which impact on their communities and welcomed the opportunity to work more closely with the Council and its strategic partners to influence future plans for Gateshead. 

Our Refugee and Migration Team 

• Supported 321 refugees to settle in Gateshead via UK Resettlement schemes.

• Supported 26 residents to host 226 migrants from Ukraine via the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

• Supported almost 800 people at the weekly refugee drop in.

• Supported partners in the voluntary sector across Gateshead to develop a multi agency 'Welcome Network', bring resources, knowledge and skills together to support the migrant community in Gateshead.   

• Supported partners to deliver a range of activities during Refugee Week in June 2025, providing opportunities for people in all communities, faith groups and cultures to come together to share food, stories and experiences and promote community cohesion. 

• We supported a wide range of VCSE partners to devise and deliver services that aim to work with the most vulnerable and marginalised, for example refugee and asylum services, community services, men's health groups and mental health support. 

Equalities Data

The Equalities Profile of Gateshead (PDF, 199 KB)(opens new window) has been updated with the latest population data by protected characteristic and is published at Appendix 2.  

What we have achieved in 2024-25

Put EDI at the heart of the design and delivery of our services, policies, systems, procurement, commissioning and facilities, so that they are fully accessible and inclusive, removing any barriers faced by our residents.

Public Health services 

Within our commissioned drug and alcohol services, the growth of our visible Recovery Community being led by our Lived Experience Recovery Organisation - Recovery Connections, is proving to have an important impact to reduce stigma, and encourage the people who need support to engage with Drug and Alcohol Treatment through activities open to the whole community within the Recovery Hub at Leam Lane Library, and the Coffee Bike taken out on the street from the Gateshead Recovery Partnership base on Jackson Street.   

Gateshead Recovery Partnership have employed a Women's Development worker to develop the service offer for women and to collaborate with other organisations and services offering support for women. 

We commissioned an Integrated Sexual Health Service following completion of a health needs assessment and focus groups with key population groups.  The Serce contract is driven by its recommendations focussed on inclusion health groups (people who are socially excluded and may experience multiple overlapping risk factors for poor health) enabling access and support.   

Corporate Commissioning and Procurement

We have developed in partnership with the Digital Team a set of IT standards equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for all new public facing systems. We have updated the Councils Corporate Social Responsibility Pledge to include EDI. We have updated our market engagement questionnaire to ask providers if they need any adjustments (in line with protected characteristics) in order for them to take part in market engagement, to increase inclusion and diversity of our providers. 

Current commissioning exercises for Supported Housing and SEND Information, Advice and Support Service contracts we have carried out extensive consultation with their service users as part of developing new service delivery models. 

Arts Development Programme 

The annual Arts Development programme is designed to ensure that activities reach and reflect Gateshead communities, often working with partners to develop new audiences. Targeted work includes project with older residents, LGBTQ+ activities, and reflecting and celebrating Gateshead's diversity through schools' projects and events. 

Libraries and Heritage services 

Our Reading for Wellbeing team runs a monthly 'Let's Talk Stories' session at 3 libraries in Gateshead - Blaydon, Leam Lane and Gateshead Central Library. The sessions use books, poems and historic articles from the 'Gateshead Post' as a starting point for conversation. Most participants have been referred to the groups by Community Link Workers who have identified people who are socially isolated or have low level mental health problems. There were 198 attendances at these sessions in 2024/25. Some sessions run outdoors, for example in Chopwell Woods and Saltwell Park, using stories and poetry as a conversation point alongside a walk to improve wellbeing. There were 108 attendances of reading for wellbeing sessions of this type in 2024/25. 

The Reading for Wellbeing team continues to work with older people on an outreach basis, to encourage engagement with reading activities for those who may be socially isolated. Through a programme of creative sessions in assisted living accommodation and at luncheon clubs the team have worked with 787 people.  

With funding from Natural England, Libraries ran the Welcoming Nature engagement project to bridge the gap between newly arrived communities and the natural world. The project helped asylum seekers connect with nature locally, improving their sense of belonging in Gateshead and their wellbeing. Local artist, Megan Randall, worked with attendees using natural materials gathered on walks, with sessions held in six different parks or woodlands, including Saltwell Park, Chopwell Woods, and Watergate Forest Park. We also held a session at Gateshead Central Library to show new arrivals the facilities there. We used stories as a way to boost wellbeing whilst in these outdoor spaces and a meal on each visit. Most sessions were held on Saturdays to ensure children and families could participate. The sessions were delivered in partnership with the Alive Church. 

The Children and Young People's team worked in partnership with Gem Arts to support a homework club each week at the Central Library. The club is for GCSE students from a migrant/refugee family. It offers a safe, supportive social space to study and work with experienced tutors and engage in creative activities. Gem Arts secured funding for transport to bring pupils to the Central Library directly from Kingsmeadow school, and to pay for an ESOL tutor to support their studies. Parents and carers are also invited along and the attendees are encouraged to use the library independently at other times also. 

Gateshead Archive continues to work with the African Lives in the North Project to highlight the contribution of residents of African & Caribbean descent. In 2024 the project piloted a new black history walk for Gateshead schools and newly researched histories of Gateshead's 19th century Caribbean residents were added to the project website. 

The Archive supported a Roma heritage project working with residents to record their memories and share them with others through a new heritage leaflet. Work began with Gateshead's Pakistani community on a project to record their history in coming to Gateshead with a leaflet also due to launch in June. Work has also begun with the Jewish community to identify material about the community's history within the Archive collections. For Holocaust Memorial Day the Library Service took part in the promotion of books and resources relating to the Holocaust and other genocides. 

A new LGBTQ+ heritage group is meeting at the Central Library and working with the Archive team to identify unknown histories from Archive collections. 

The Libraries Digital team gifted 150 SIM cards and 20 devices to those in need, taking referrals from Community Link Workers and the resettlement team, plus through ongoing partnerships. The team also supported Comfrey Project and 2Way Tenancy to become databanks also, to extend access to free data for residents who seek support from these groups. 

The digital team's community work provided targeted workshops to Cedars Academy, Unity, Hertfordshire House men's mental health group, Edberts House Women's Wellbeing Group, Youth Groups NE and youth groups which meet in the Edberts House community houses. 

Working Gateshead 

Over 1000 Gateshead residents took up the offer of ongoing, intensive employment support from Working Gateshead to help them prepare for, return to and progress in work in 2024/25. The reach of the service is extensive and targeted engagement is undertaken within a range of communities, council services and through social media channels. All support is tailored to the individual and based upon a firm understanding of need and employment goals. 

•  25% of our new customers presented as being non-White ethnicity. This includes 5% Black, Black British or African 
• 45% of our new customers were women 
• 20% of customers declared a health condition 
• Targeted engagement of young people led to 3% of new customers being care experienced and 5% aged 16 to 18 and NEET   

The UKSPF funded Youth Matters project provided support for 36 economically inactive care experienced young people to move closer to and into work. Sustaining engagement with these young people can be challenging but the project overachieved on engagement targets by providing specialist job coach support in a supportive, safe, multi-agency environment whilst building in routine, increasing confidence, motivation and time-keeping. Eight young people were helped to secure their first job and 22 began to actively search for work.  

83 refugees started work after receiving specialised employment support to identify transferable skills, boost work experience and gain an understanding of employer expectations in the UK. 

Support was provided for 44 residents experiencing multiple and complex issues that were impacting upon their ability and availability to look for and secure employment. Following holistic support, six of these engaged with the benefits system, 50% started looking for work after previously considering this was not an option, six engaged with non-mainstream health services, such as recovery support, and nine started work. 

A total of 420 residents were helped into work, achieving 475 job starts as further support was required for those falling out of work to secure alternative employment. 

Education, Schools and Inclusion 

Our School Admission and Fair Access teams play a vital role in supporting ethnic minority families, particularly those arriving through designated Home Office programmes. These teams provide tailored advice and guidance on school admissions and offer support during initial school meetings. In addition, referrals are made to the Ethnic Minority and Achievement Service (EMTAS), ensuring that newly arrived pupils receive up to four weeks of targeted in-school support to aid their transition and integration. 

The Fair Access team collaborates closely with schools to maintain a transparent and inclusive Fair Access process, ensuring that all children and young people in Gateshead are supported appropriately. The Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) team develops strategies to help children experiencing school-related anxiety, working with both families and schools to improve attendance and engagement. Similarly, the School Support team provides essential services for pupils unable to attend school due to medical needs, helping them to continue their education and achieve positive outcomes. 

Our EMTAS team works directly with pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL), supporting both their academic progress and social-emotional development. The team partners with school leadership and voluntary sector organisations to extend support beyond the classroom, promoting initiatives such as the Schools of Sanctuary accreditation. This recognises schools that actively support pupils from diverse ethnic backgrounds. EMTAS also advises on curriculum planning and instructional strategies to enhance learning for EAL pupils, including those from Traveller, Roma, and Gypsy communities. Schools with a high proportion of ethnic minority pupils (20% or more) benefit from a dedicated officer, and families are signposted to enrichment opportunities through third sector organisations. 

The Learning and Skills team ensures that post-16 learners from diverse backgrounds have equitable access to education. This includes the use of Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), which incorporate Gateshead's SEND Thresholds to identify and address specific learner needs. Curriculum planning is co-designed with learners to reflect both educational and personal development goals. Staff foster a safe and respectful learning environment, challenge inappropriate behaviour, and regularly gather learner feedback to inform practice. Ongoing professional development, including recent training on Trauma Informed Practice, supports staff in delivering inclusive education and has informed updates to behaviour policies. Learner participation is monitored and equitable success and progression rates for learners from different backgrounds, ensuring that all learners succeed. 

The SEND and Educational Psychology teams provide expert guidance to schools and settings, promoting inclusive teaching methods and curriculum design. Their work ensures that all learners, regardless of barriers, have access to high-quality education. These teams support the assess-plan-do-review cycle, helping schools set and achieve ambitious outcomes for pupils with SEND. Their services are accessible to all children and young people in Gateshead, including those not currently attending school, and they offer evidence-based interventions to support emotional wellbeing and prosocial behaviour development. 

The Schools and 0 to 5 Service delivers bespoke in-school support to ensure all pupils access a broad, inclusive, and well-sequenced curriculum. Specialist support is also provided to Early Years (EY) settings, including assistance for asylum seeker and refugee children aged 2 to 4 in securing early education. Early Years Area SENCos work with schools and private, voluntary, and independent (PVI) settings to promote inclusion and equal access for all young children. 

Finally, our Sports and Music Services offer a wide range of inclusive activities throughout the year. The Musician in Residence scheme brings professional live music experiences to children from socio economically diverse backgrounds. Conductive Music delivers technology-based workshops in our specialist provisions, and the Cantina Band includes pupils with a variety of additional needs and vulnerabilities, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to participate in enriching cultural experiences. 

Recognise our residents are individuals and provide services to meet their needs, in some cases this will mean doing more to support those who are disadvantaged by who they are or their experiences. 

Service Redesign  

We carried out a range of customer engagement activities to understand lived experiences across the social housing lettings journey. These included direct interviews, surveys, and targeted focus groups. A key part of this engagement focused on accessibility and inclusion. We partnered with Your Voice Counts, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, to run a focus group reviewing the online social housing application form. Participants shared detailed feedback on how the language, structure, and interface created barriers for people with learning difficulties. Their insights directly informed proposed improvements, including simplifying the layout, avoiding jargon, and ensuring the process can be completed with minimal support. This work not only ensured the voices of people with learning disabilities were heard, but also strengthened the accessibility focus across all service redesign workstreams 

Social Housing Application Process 

This project focused on improving the accessibility and inclusivity of the social housing application process. Survey responses provided detailed feedback on each step of the process, from setting up a My Housing Account to completing the form and accessing support. In-depth follow-up interviews were also conducted to gain a greater understanding of potential barriers faced by vulnerable applicants, including those with low digital confidence, learning disabilities, or limited English. As a direct result, we are introducing a series of improvements including; simplified and clearer guidance throughout the application, improved signposting to support options, more accessible language and new formats for key information, tailored to different needs, e.g. Easy read versions. This project laid essential groundwork for future improvements in digital accessibility and support pathways, ensuring the application process is more inclusive for those who may struggle with traditional online forms. 

Housing IT Services 

During 2024/25 ICT Housing delivered a wide range of EDI initiatives to support customers in accessing housing services and to enable colleagues to continue to deliver excellent services. The team has also provided digital training to a range of support organisations such as Oasis and Citizen's Advice, to upskill them to be able to support our tenants when working with them, accessing and using their housing account successfully. We also worked 121 with some digitally excluded customers, teaching them how to set up a 'My Housing Account' and showing them how to use it, for example, how to report a repair online. 

Local Authority Housing Fund  

The Council received funding through the Local Authority Housing Fund to acquire homes for families with housing needs who have arrived in the UK via the Afghan and Ukrainian resettlement and relocation schemes. In 2024/25 the Council purchased four properties through this scheme, building on the 17 homes delivered in 2023/24. These homes, and the support provided by the Council, will help to welcome and integrate families into Gateshead.

Communicate in accessible ways and provide information, advice and guidance about our services in appropriate formats, in order to fully meet the needs of all our residents

Tenants Multi-Storey Safety group  

The Multi-Storey Safety Group comprises of tenants and leaseholders who share their personal experiences of living in this often-complex housing type. The group works with officers to help ensure their homes are safe to live in, and that we provide relevant and up to date information to residents in accordance with the Building Safety Act 2022. The group influenced a range of building safety activities including; developing a tenant inspector programme for multi-storey blocks, engagement with the scrutiny review of communications and undertook a fire risk assessment in St Cuthbert's Court to understand what's involved. Evacuation assistance communication was also developed to ensure people who have a long or short-term disability that would impact on their ability to evacuate the building, will receive the help they need.  

Tenant and Customer Equality Diversity and Inclusion Group  

The EDI group ensures our services and customer communications are accessible. They also create awareness raising projects on matters such as hate crime and mental health. The group began a programme of work around how we use customer profile data in practice across our housing services. Colleagues from the Anti-Social Behaviour, Repairs, Leasehold and Investment teams shared examples of how they utilise the data we hold to tailor services for our customers. Customers will use this information to test how this works in practice and identify any barriers that may exist to help us improve service delivery.  

SEND Youth Forum 

Equality, acceptance and inclusive practice is at the heart of everything delivered for the Gateshead SEND Youth Forum. At the request of forum members sessions have been hybrid for the past couple of years, meaning that the young people can access them either in-person or virtually. This is to ensure that sessions are accessible to anybody that wants to join regardless of any physical or sensorial conditions a young person may have. This also aims to reduce any anxiety which a young person may feel when joining a session - forum members can choose to turn off their camera and/or microphone if they wish to. Additionally, SEND Youth Forum agendas are written in simple English and are always sent well in advance of the meeting so that the young people can prepare anything they would like to bring up, with support if necessary. In order to try and make them as accessible as possible to everybody, meeting minutes are disseminated in a simple animated form with audio and subtitles. Accessible minutes from all meetings can be found on Gateshead's SEND Local Offer website or on the newly developed SEND Youth Forum YouTube playlist. 

Improve our customer knowledge and understanding through data collection, to improve access to and take-up or our services.

Early work on collating data on poverty and disadvantage across Gateshead and amongst particular groups of residents has commenced to inform the development of the Anti-Poverty Strategy.  This will also be used to refresh data and information on the JSNA website and will improve our customer knowledge and understanding.  

Prioritise Customer Experience as pledged in our Corporate Plan 

Resident Engagement Accreditation 

This year, we achieved accreditation status for resident engagement in housing services from TPAS. Following their rigorous assessment, including an evidence-based self-assessment and interviews with a wide range of customers and colleagues. This is the only independent accreditation scheme for resident engagement. It demonstrates our dedication to driving service improvements and provides assurances to our customers, colleagues and councillors that it is embedded in our practices. Their assessment criteria reflects the Housing Regulator's consumer standards, which requires us to listen to the resident voice, know who our customers are and tailor services to meet their needs.  

Customer Scrutiny Review  

Our Housing Resident Influence Panel commissioned a scrutiny review around communications, specifically how we inform our residents about housing services. Part of this review had an additional focus on how we provide information to our residents living in multi-storey flats due to the implications around safety, which included communal areas. This review paid particular focus around how accessible the information is, both printed and digital, such as where the information can be found and whether it is clear to the recipient. Following an in-depth review, residents presented their report and recommendations to our Overview and Scrutiny Committee citing their recommendations. These were fully accepted and an action plan is being implemented. 

Social Housing Regulatory Inspection  

In January 2025 Housing Services were inspected by the Regulator of Social Housing. They conducted a robust inspection programme around their consumer standards, requiring us to complete an in-depth, evidence based self-assessment against their inspection criteria followed by on-site interviews with colleagues and customers. Their Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard has a particular focus around the importance of knowing our customers and tailoring services to meet their needs. Achieving a C2 rating meant we had a good understanding of who our customers are and could show how we have tailored our services to meet the needs of individuals, but there are still some areas for improvement. The action plan resulting from this inspection will help to address their recommendations over the next 12 months. 

What we have achieved in 2024-25

In 2024, the Council approved our Workforce EDI Strategy, Workforce EDI Policy and short term delivery plan that sets out our vision and commitments to our employees in regard to being an equal opportunity, diverse and inclusive employer. 

We present progress made against our 3 strategic commitments which are: 

1. Understanding our workforce through data, insight and analysis
2. Developing our workforce to create an inclusive culture and better understand the needs of our communities/service users

3. Creating transparency and implementing scrutiny measures to enable service improvement

Our approach to achieving equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion in our borough will have many similar themes, but the strategies we adopt and programmes of work we undertake for our workforce will differ due to our legal obligations as an employer.  

Our workforce strategy and policy set out the Council's Vision and Commitments to eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and promoting good relations between different groups. It has been designed to ensure that there is a consistent approach across the Council to all areas of equalities work, with a commitment to making EDI a shared responsibility and priority, with a policy review every three years.  

We have much to be proud of in the progress made and over the last 12 months, and whilst there have been some notable achievements, there remain challenges we must continue to overcome, as well as new ones being presented. 

Key Achievements for 2024-25  

• Participated in our first ever Gateshead Pride events. 

• Launched our Workforce Wellbeing Choir. 

• Launched our Menopause Policy.  

• Rebranded our Learning at Work week to, Learnfest, focusing on inclusive and accessible learning opportunities. 

• Ranked 16th in the list of top 25 big companies to work for in the UK. 

Strategic Commitment 1: We will understand our workforce through data, insight and analysis

Gender Pay Gap 

All public sector organisations employing 250 people or more are required to report on their Gender Pay Gap (GPG) by 31st March each year. This enables us to assess levels of equality in our workforce and put in place an internal action plan with measures to address the GPG, whilst also ensuring we meet our legal obligations set out by the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations. 

Gateshead Council 2024-25 gender pay gap report (opens new window). In summary, our mean gender pay gap is 4.2% and our median gender pay gap is 10%. This is a reduction on the previous year 2023/24 where the median pay gap was 13% and mean pay gap was 6.2%. 

Council Workforce Data 

We understand that a workplace which embraces diversity and equality of opportunity is more likely to attract, recruit and retain talented people. As part of the Equality Act 2010, we are required under the Public Sector Equality Duty to demonstrate how we are meeting our responsibilities as an employer, including a requirement to publish information regarding our workforce. 

Our workforce data for all council employees (excluding local authority-maintained schools) is included in Appendix 2 to this report. The workforce data is a snapshot of employee headcount (not posts) taken on 31 March 2025.

Strategic Commitment 2:  We will develop our workforce to create an inclusive culture and better understand the needs of our communities/service users

Employee Support Networks 

Our strategic commitments and objectives were designed by our people to represent who we are. The strategy and policy have been vital to support the implementation of key workstream deliverables to begin to understand and support equity in the workplace. For example, the imminent introduction of our workforce Networks, which includes Disability, Health and Wellbeing, Age, Gender and Sexual Orientation.  

Apprenticeship Strategy 

Work continues on the Apprenticeship Delivery Plan; embracing a health and safety culture; development of robust succession plans; development and delivery of management development and leadership programmes; and embedding the hybrid working model.  

We are committed to building a workforce that not only embraces diversity but actively contributes to an inclusive and equitable culture. As part of this commitment, we are developing clear and accessible career pathways using apprenticeships to nurture talent, address future skills gaps, and support the personal and professional growth of our employees. 

These pathways are designed to remove barriers to entry by offering routes into employment that do not rely on prior qualifications or traditional academic backgrounds. This approach opens up opportunities for young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), career changers, returners to the workforce, and individuals from low-income or underrepresented backgrounds. 

Through partnerships with inclusive training providers and by offering tailored support—such as mentoring, reasonable adjustments, and flexible learning—we are working to ensure our apprenticeship programmes and career pathways are inclusive by design and accessible to all.. 

Learning, Development and Progression

Health and Safety culture 

An internal process has been created so we make our corporate H&S documents more accessible.  Readability scoring is now being used. The Safety Climate Survey is being piloted within Construction Services in July.  An IIA was completed so careful consideration was given to how we will ensure anonymity of respondents.   A H&S Culture video has been created to be used as part of the 'Welcome to Gateshead' sessions.  Both male and female voices were used for the narration and diversity reflected as part of the animation. 

Performance Management culture

The Council's current approach to appraisal and development (A&D) has been in place for a significant period and does not accommodate the diverse needs of different roles and teams. The current approach is currently being reviewed to ensure it remains relevant, aligns with our strategic ambitions, and works for every employee.

Strategic Commitment 3: We will create transparency and implement scrutiny measures to enable service improvement

Values and Behaviours 

To ensure we are an employer of choice, and the Council is a great place to work, it's essential that we have a set of corporate values and behaviour framework that reflect our current needs and priorities and how we want our employees to interact with each other, our customers, our members, our partners and our stakeholders, recognising that everyone is an individual. The Council's current corporate values have been in place since 2015; however, the needs and priorities of the Council and the community have evolved since these values were implemented. Therefore, work is underway to refresh them along with a behaviour framework for our employees and managers that will bring our values to life across the whole employee lifecycle, embedding and fostering a culture of equity, equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Attracting and Selecting Talent 

Over the past year the Council has taken significant steps to modernise and embed inclusive recruitment practices across the organisation. We have established a dedicated recruitment team, including a Recruitment Manager and three Recruitment Business Partners, to support all service areas and ensure consistency in our approach.  

A new Recruitment and Selection Policy is being developed to place fairness, openness and transparency at the heart of our hiring practices. This policy will underpin our commitment to equity and help us attract talent that reflects the communities we serve.  

Central to our transformation is the implementation of a new Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in partnership with Jobtrain. The system is currently being built and configured, with a pilot due to launch in August 2025 in Construction Services and Children's Social Care. Following refinement, a full council-wide rollout is planned for January 2026. This system will streamline recruitment processes, reduce administrative burden for hiring managers, and improve the candidate experience.  

The recruitment team is also building strong relationships across the council to raise awareness of the support available and ensure the service is responsive to organisational needs. Looking ahead, we will focus on enhancing our recruitment data and metrics, strengthening our employer brand and employee value proposition, and positioning Gateshead Council as an employer of choice in the Tyne and Wear region.  

Lived Experience 

The Community, Health & Wellbeing Service specifically targeted candidates from Gateshead's refugee community for Experts by Experience Support Officer role.  We conducted 4 community-based information sessions on the role and worked with the Refugee Employment Advisors in Working Gateshead team to reach potential candidates.  We successfully recruited from this community which will enable us to be more effective in our engagement with refugees and asylum seekers. The learning from this has been shared with the new Recruitment team, to influence future practice and ways of working 

A local volunteer, resident and participant on one of our Play On sessions was supported through a level 2 then level 3 apprenticeship programme in Community Sport and is now a paid member of staff within the team - this was delivered in partnership with the Hattrick project. We have recently recruited another local resident to start their Level 2 apprenticeship with the Play On project. 

Barriers to employment support 

Community, Health & Wellbeing conducted workshops on barriers to employment and challenges with recruitment processes with members of our refugee and asylum-seeking community.  We used the insights from these workshops to creating an alternative recruitment pathway for Experts by Experience Support Officer role to make the recruitment more accessible and inclusive.  The learning from this has been shared with the new Recruitment team, to influence future practice and ways of working. 

Employee engagement  

We achieved a One to Watch accreditation from Best Companies which makes Gateshead Council an employer with good levels of workforce engagement. Our results will help us understand what we're doing well and where there's opportunities to do things differently, with the aim of making this an even better place to work. 

We have heard the voice of our people through the employee survey which will help us understand what we can do differently to make the Council a great place to work and where our employees stay, grow, develop and prosper. We're pleased to announce that we've been named as one of the best organisations to work for in 2024. Based on employee feedback, the council has been recognised by employee engagement specialists Best Companies as: 

• 16th in the list of top 25 big companies to work for in the UK 

• 20th in the list of top 25 companies to work for in the not-for-profit sector 

• 25th in the list of top 100 companies to work for in the North East 

• "One to Watch" - an organisation whose employee engagement levels show promising signs for the future

• Positions on these lists were awarded based on responses to our employee survey which gave colleagues the opportunity to anonymously share how they feel about working for the Council.  

However, we recognise that whilst the survey results showed that we have a lot to be proud of, they also highlighted some areas for improvement. Human Resources and Workforce Development colleagues have been meeting with teams across the council to share the results in more detail and to discuss ideas for doing things differently. Action plans are being developed to address the issues raised in the survey at both a corporate level and individual group and service level. 

Governance and Consultation 

Last year we made a commitment to review our EDI governance and consultation structure ensuring a diverse approach to meeting our Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). We have developed and implemented an EDI Board, chaired by the Council's Chief Executive to provide accountability and strategic direction within both our corporate and workforce delivery. 

Our governance and consultation structure ensures a diverse approach to meeting our Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) thereby allowing us to provide an outstanding service and ensure we are consulting with groups covered by the Equality Act 2010. The key groups we regularly work with include: 

• Employee Equality Network - Brings together our employee voice. It is providing an opportunity to engage, update, challenge and strengthen our relationships with our  employees. It offers constructive and critical appraisal on strategy, policies, and services with a view to improving service delivery. Work is ongoing to scope the setup of Support Networks to compliment and support this forum. During 2024-25 the network has shaped emerging workforce EDI policies and practice for example our draft domestic abuse policy, Better Health at Work initiatives policy and discussed accessibility to the recent co-pilot trial. 

• Trade Unions - Brings together Trade Union representatives to provide a forum for discussion, feedback and formal consultation. 

Job Evaluation Framework  

We provided an update last year on our plans to start a significant piece of work focussed on evaluating all council posts that are subject to NJC Green Book Terms and Conditions of Service. The project was introduced to ensure that our pay model is fit for purpose and reflects as far as possible the current job market and is attractive to prospective applicants. In terms of progress and learning outcomes we have continued aligning colleagues to the correct posts through data collation, delivered briefing sessions to employees and progressed through evaluations for grades A to H. We are now conducting quality checks on completed evaluations to ensure consistency and accuracy and will continue with the remaining posts to evaluate. 

Key area of focus for 2025-26 will include: 

• Developing a Leadership Development Framework that creates an accessible, clear, consistent and inclusive approach to identifying, developing and supporting current and future leaders across the organisation. By actively investing in leadership development, we can demonstrate a commitment to equity and career progression. 

• Transforming our recruitment process over the next 12 months. Led by our Recruitment Manager, we will build a specialist team, implement a modern applicant tracking system, and new processes and toolkits to support recruitment and selection and ensure a positive candidate experience. Our goal is to create a fair, open, and transparent process that attracts a diverse range of candidates, enhancing our employer brand and making us the employer of choice in the region. 

• Maximising take-up of apprenticeships for current employees across the Council is also a priority which will support career development in the longer term. An apprenticeship strategy and delivery plan are in place and will be reviewed to ensure it is meeting the needs of the organisation and that apprenticeships are available at all levels of the organisation. 

• Reviewing and developing our people metrics, examining and analysing data related to employee demographics and diversity representation. 

• Continuing to review our HR policies such as a Domestic Abuse Policy which supports employees to feel safe and able to access further assistance. 

• We have heard the voice of our people through the employee survey which will help us understand what we can do differently to make the Council a great place to work, stay, grow and develop.

• Undertaking a gap analysis of our approach to EDI and developing a delivery plan to address the gaps. 

(Source: Mid Year Population Estimates 2024, ONS)

(Source: Mid Year Population Estimates 2024, ONS)

(Source: Census 2021, ONS)

(Source: Census 2021, ONS)

(Source: Activities limited -Census 2021, ONS / EA Core or work limiting disabled - Annual Population survey 2024-25, ONS)

(Source: Census 2021, ONS)