Surrey County Council has a statutory duty to publicise the equalities and diversity profile of its workforce annually, at a minimum, as per the Equality Act. However, the County Council have failed to do so.

The Council last publicised these statistics on its website in February 2016 – over 3 years ago now. That is why the Lib Dem Group at County Hall have submitted a question for the Cabinet meeting taking place on Tuesday to find out why.

As well as the long-overdue equalities and diversity profile of Surrey County Council’s workforce, the Council has also more recently failed to publicise statistics about the workforce Gender Pay Gap which was due to be published at the end of March 2019.

The fact that the Council have failed to publish vital statistics such as these just highlights the lack of transparency at County Hall. It does not promise an equal and diverse workplace when the statistics are hidden from the public.

I am disappointed in the Council for failing on their statutory duty to publicise these statistics, especially as promoting equality and diversity is something close to my heart as a core value of the Lib Dems. We can only hope that moving forward the Council becomes more transparent and accountable to residents by publishing in a timely manner.