Strategic Equality Plan and Objectives 2020 - 2024

Established in 2015, Transport for Wales (TfW) is the not-for-profit company driving forward the Welsh Government’s vision of a high-quality, safe, integrated, sustainable and affordable transport network.

A reliable, accessible and low-carbon network of which the people of Wales can be proud.

Our vision and purpose

Our vision sets out our future aspirations and our purpose ensures we stay focussed on the reason why we exist.

Our vision

To create customer-focused services through a safe transport network of which Wales is proud.

Our purpose

To provide sustainable transport services that keep Wales moving.

Our values

Being safe Health, safety and well-being - We’re committed to health, safety and well-being in all we do and we want our customers and stakeholders to trust us and feel assured by our commitment.

Being the best, High-performance, pace - Driven by our ambitious mission, we want our customers, stakeholders, partners and the people of Wales to be impressed by what we do and proud of what we achieve.

Being positive: Can do, will do - By empowering our people and working collaboratively we’re listening to our customers and stakeholders to ensure that we win their trust and confidence.

Being connected, Enterprising and networked - Our collaborative approach and focus on building strong relationships helps us to meet the challenges we face in achieving our mission in an innovative way.

Being fair, Integrity and equality - By working collaboratively and building strong relationships, we want to demonstrate that we’re listening to our customers and stakeholders and that we value and take into account a wide range of perspectives in our decision-making.

Creating shared success, Passion for the best deal - The sustainable transport network we’re building will transform the way we travel in Wales. We want our customers, stakeholders and the people of Wales to be excited by this transformation.

At Transport for Wales we value diversity. It makes us stronger, helps us understand our customers better, make better decisions and be more innovative. Everyone’s different and has their own perspective so we’re building a diverse team that mirrors the communities we serve. Through this we’re determined to be one of Wales’ leading inclusive employers. We’re creating an inclusive transport network that everyone in Wales can be proud of.

“Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion underpins all we do at Transport for Wales. By considering a range of perspectives, thoughts, beliefs and ideas in our decision-making we’ll be better placed to make the most of the challenges and opportunities we face as we build a public transport network people can be proud of.”

James Price

Chief Executive

“Equality, diversity and inclusion is integral to our culture and can positively impact every part of Transport for Wales. A diverse workforce is pivotal to our success and we want our employees to feel respected and valued and to be proud to work for us. We’re committed to becoming an employer of choice.”

Lisa Yates

Director of People and Organisational Development

TfW is committed to the principles and practices of equal opportunities and diversity, both as an employer and as a service provider. We’re committed to being an employer of choice and to achieve our commitment we’re making sure that our people are treated with respect and dignity.

We have a clear vision of how equality, diversity and inclusion can positively impact every part of our company and how this will benefit our people and TfW as an organisation as well as our customers and the people, communities and businesses of Wales. Our focus is to ensure that everyone at TfW and in our supply chain feels respected and valued. We’re building a diverse team at TfW which mirrors the communities we serve because we believe it will enable us to provide our customers with a better service.

Building a diverse workforce

We want our employees and partners to be proud to work for us.

We want equality, diversity and inclusion to be integral to our culture and how we engage with our customers, our people and our supply chain.

We believe that a diverse workforce is pivotal to TfW’s success and by embracing differing perspectives, thoughts, beliefs and ideas we’ll be better equipped to face business challenges and make the most of opportunities.

At TfW, we’re committed to being inclusive and welcoming employees of all backgrounds treating them equally. Our values are core to who we are and what we do and we’re committed to health, safety and well-being as well as fairness and creating shared success. We want our customers, stakeholders and people to trust us and feel assured by our commitment. By working collaboratively we want to demonstrate that we listen and take into account a wide range of perspectives in our decision-making.

Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

We’re ensuring that TfW’s activities align to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Act’s seven well-being goals:

• A globally responsible Wales.
• A healthier Wales.
• A Wales of cohesive communities.
• A resilient Wales.
• A prosperous Wales.
• A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language.
• A more equal Wales.

We also have a legal duty to contribute positively to a fairer society by advancing equality and good relations in our day-to-day activities. The public sector equality duty ensures that equality considerations are built into the design of our policies and our service delivery and that these are reviewed and measured to achieve better outcomes for all.

The Equality Act 2010

By publishing our objectives and sharing our performance we can be transparent about how we apply the legal framework of the Equality Act 2010 to meet our responsibilities to our people and customers as well as for creating a fairer Wales for everyone.

The Equality Act 2010 brought together and replaced the previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, the majority of which came into force on 1 October 2010. The Act includes a public sector equality duty (the ‘general duty’), which came into force on 5 April 2011 and replaced separate duties on race, disability and gender equality.

Our commitment is to develop a culture with our people at its heart and where they are respected and included for all their attributes. This commitment and TfW’s values are core to our Strategic Equality Plan and we’ve set objectives which will mean that we’ll operate as a fairer organisation for all of our people and provide the best service to all of our customers.

Developing our strategic equality objectives

To develop our equality objectives, we engaged with our people and used relevant information, including Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance, and the results of internal diversity surveys.

We developed our objectives using:

• the findings of our latest survey
• relevant external research
• shared best practice

We undertook further consultation on our draft objectives to helps us finalise our objectives.

We want equality, diversity and inclusion to be integral to our culture and how we engage with our customers, our people and our supply chain.

1. Equality for all in the attraction and retention of our employees and their career development.

To improve the recruitment, retention, progression, development, and experience of the people employed by TfW from all groups, to enable the organisation to lead as an inclusive employer of choice.

2. Being reflective of the diversity of the Welsh population and the communities we serve.

To close the pay gap for protected characteristics and improve in particular black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME), female, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (or questioning) (LGBTQ+) and disabled staff representation within the Transport Sector as a whole.

3. Educating our people.

To have a leadership plan enabling all leaders at TfW to lead and motivate teams and demonstrate our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

4. Provide an appropriate framework to advocate for diversity and inclusion.

To ensure equality in all key organisational processes and policies, supply chain and service delivery.

We aim to be an organisation where all employees are confident to be themselves at work. Our focus is to improve the recruitment, retention, progression, development, and experience of the people employed by TfW, to enable the organisation to become an inclusive employer of choice.

Actions

• To develop a learning and development strategy which promotes equality, diversity and inclusion across the whole of TfW regardless of those who may or may not be affected by a protected characteristic.
• To deliver an open in-house training and development programme to all TfW employees. This would be available to colleagues and based on the objectives set by line managers to reflect colleague development needs.
• Continue to limit the impact of unconscious bias in our recruitment practices through the continued use of blind sifting for all internal and external recruitment.
• Continue to advertise all posts externally and use social media to raise awareness of our vacancies to candidates from under-represented groups. We will work collaboratively with our communications team to understand where unrepresented groups congregate online, promoting posts in those areas.
• To design and deliver a school ‘educate the educators’ programme to influence choices made by young girls in school with an aim to steer them towards a career in transport.

Success criteria

• To establish a pay and performance model which supports reducing the gender pay differential and working towards pay parity.
• To develop a talent management approach which delivers a 50/50 gender split at Executive and grades 1 and 2 whilst paying regard to the other protected characteristics.
• To have no equal pay claims.

We intend to improve the representation of BAME, female, LGBTQ+, disabled employees and employees with parental responsibilities within the transport sector, to ensure that we more accurately reflect the diverse population of Wales and the communities we serve.

Actions

• Increase the opportunity and awareness for flexible working and part-time working arrangements by positively promoting our flexible working policy, considering job sharing and other flexible contract types.
• Engage in outreach programmes and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics events in hard-to-reach and socio-economically disadvantaged communities.
• Offer development opportunities, such as shadowing senior leaders and future senior leaders, targeting groups that are under-represented in our workforce.
• To seek external review, challenge and accreditation of TfW’s actions as an employer by actively participating in relevant equalities standards and benchmarks (e.g. the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, the Disability Confident Standard, the Workplace Well-being Charter, etc.).

Success criteria

• To have a clear and published events calendar which promotes TfW’s activities and celebrates all protected characteristics.
• Improved representation of under-represented groups across grades and roles, including within our Senior Management Structure.
• Accreditation by an external body by recognising TfW’s focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, specifically, Stonewall’s Equality Index.
• Evidence in policy amendments that disability support will include all areas of disability including Mental Health, Neurodiversity and Dyslexia which may not be reported upon by employees.

We’ll focus on a leadership plan which will support all leaders in the organisation to lead and motivate teams and demonstrate our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. We’ll establish relationships with a range of equality organisations to help support us in delivering our commitment to our employees in respect of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Actions

• Training and masterclasses run for the business to include equality, diversity and inclusion and the promotion of the Welsh Language.
• Continue to increase awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion through communications and training sessions run by specialists.
• Promote knowledge and understanding of the general and specific duties in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty. This would be delivered to all members of our Senior Leadership Team and our Board and would subsequently be cascaded to senior managers and policy decision-makers.

Success criteria

• Appointment and training of 5 FIR Ambassadors – to drive Fairness, Inclusion and Respect in the Workplace and with our suppliers.
• Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to implement and report employment information annually and present it under each of the protected characteristics.

We’ll review the equality impact of key organisational policies in areas such as: recruitment and selection, learning and development, supporting attendance at work, respect at work (anti-bullying and harassment); talent management; Annual Performance Review, disciplinary, grievance and job evaluation.

Actions

• To ensure that we measure the experience of TfW employees through our employee survey and other relevant feedback mechanisms, is analysed for variations based upon protected characteristics and for improvement actions to be taken.
• To improve the capability of TfW’s employees and others to understand and address the legal obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty by providing the relevant training to the necessary senior teams.
• To ensure that the general equality duty is complied with before and at the time a policy is under consideration and evidenced.
• To respond fairly and equally to the priorities identified by the Welsh Government in relation to addressing Prosperity for All: the national strategy. Specifically focussing on the Well-being of the Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Gender Reform Review.

Success criteria

• Successful publication of policies demonstrating our compliance with the general equality duty.
• Our talent management matrix (9-box grid) will reflect our inclusive workforce.

We want to demonstrate TfW’s actions contribute to a fairer Wales and we’ve developed TfW’s objectives in line with:

• ‘Is Wales Fairer?’, the Welsh Government’s equality objectives
• the well-being goals in the Wellbeing of Future Generation (Wales) Act 2015.

Increase workforce diversity and inclusion - 2 + 3 - Our organisations will be a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone feels valued and can have equal opportunities to fulfil their potential.

Eliminating pay gaps - 1 + 4 - Disclosure of information is part of our organisational culture and our colleagues understand why data is collected, ensuring that we only collect the data we need.

Engage with the community - 2 + 4 - Diverse communities throughout Wales will be actively engaged in our organisations’ work. We’ll work collaboratively when developing strategies and policies. People’s experiences and views will shape our organisations.

Ensure equality is embedded into the procurement /commissioning process and is managed throughout delivery - 4 - Equality is embedded into TfW’s procurement principles which are operational and evidenced.

Ensure service delivery reflects individual needs - 3 - People and shared good practice actively influences delivery of services to meet individual needs.

We’re committed to undertaking meaningful actions within TfW, our supply chain and with our customers to achieve our statutory equality duties.

We report the progress we’re making in achieving the objectives we’ve set out in this plan monthly to our senior leadership team and quarterly to our People Committee, which is a sub-committee of our board.

We’ll also publish an Annual Equality Report to fulfil our statutory duty in line with the publication of our Annual Report.

We’ve also launched an equality, diversity and inclusion working group which meets monthly and includes volunteers from across TfW who collaborate to drive inclusivity forward.

Led by Senior Human Resources colleagues, the working group reports progress to our board. This group is pivotal in helping to deliver our strategic equality plan and achieve our objectives.

Made up of a cross-section of our people who are passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion champions. While a number of members have protected characteristics, all are personally committed to promoting positive action and cultural change.