Strategic Equality Plan Annual Report 2024-2025

Equalities Performance 2024-25

The Strategic Equality Action Plan Group have reviewed the actions under each of the five Equality Objectives within our Strategic Equality Plan 2024-28. A summary of the performance, evidence to support this and improvement actions are provided below for 2024-25.

 

Q1: Assessment of current performance – how well are we doing?

  • The strategic context of our work on equalities is the Equality Act 2010 and associated Welsh Government Regulations for public bodies. The Strategic Equality Plan 2024-28 is monitored by the Strategic Equality Action Plan Group which meets quarterly.
  • Our Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) process is the vehicle through which we assess the impact of key decisions and proposals. The Councils IIA process has been reviewed during 2024 to strengthen and support decision-making processes by making the IIA process more straightforward, easier to follow and by expanding the range of legislation/policy commitments covered. Broadly, these areas cover economic, environmental, and societal considerations, as well as impacts on particular groups of people. A pilot of the new process is underway to ensure that the framework is robust.
  • Equality monitoring continues to be undertaken as part of Engagement and Consultation. We have reviewed the equality monitoring and Welsh language questions that we ask as part of public consultations which are pre-populated in the Microsoft Forms template ensuring they are consistently used, monitored, and can be compared with national and local statistics e.g. 2021 Census.
  • The Council continues to publish Gender Pay Gap data with the report for 2024-25 published in April 2025. The report provides information on pay for men and women as well as people from different ethnic origins. In 2024-25 based on median hourly pay, women for the Council earnt the same as men.
  • The Equality in Employment Report 2023-24 was published in April 2025, the 2024-25 report is being developed and is being scheduled for the March 2026 Cabinet. The report aims to provide the wider public and stakeholders with information on the Authority’s employment practices, as well as allowing the Authority to establish how it was meeting its employment objectives in its Strategic Equality Action Plan.
  • ‘insport’ is a Disability Sport Wales programme delivered with the support of Sport Wales, which aims to support the physical activity, sport, and leisure sectors delivering inclusively of disabled people. Sport Pembrokeshire and Pembrokeshire Leisure are the first local authority partner nationally to achieve the insport Partnerships Gold standard (December 2024). Achievement of the Gold standard means that an inclusive approach is embedded within strategies, programmes, and thinking. The achievement recognises the efforts in creating opportunities that ensure everyone, regardless of ability, can participate and thrive in physical activity and sport at a level of their choosing.
  • Throughout 2024-25, we continued to provide practical support to refugees and asylum seekers through the Migration Partnership Team. The team organise a range of events throughout the year to support community integration. In the community, the Migration Team events, and integration programmes support this action. The team works closely with multiple services, particularly colleagues in Education, to ensure successful pupil integration. Youth services provide both 16+ and 11+ days out, as well as activities and residentials helping to settle and forge friendships and the DWP, Future Works, Employability and Maximus help families find work. We also work with volunteers, family support and the police, and are working on a programme of wellness events.
  • During 2024-25 we directly employed 75 disabled people with 56 being on the supported employment programme. The programme assists people to achieve greater independence in supported work-based settings that include our factory (Norman Industries), craft workshop, shop, sawmill, and cafes. 
  • Considerable work has been undertaken to identify potential additional pitches to meet the needs of the Gypsy Traveller community. This work is ongoing, and a number of sites have been put forward for consideration in conjunction with review of the Local Development Plan.
  • The Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) continues to fund targeted interventions, support, and activities across Pembrokeshire schools to reduce the impact of poverty. Targeted interventions include literacy and numeracy support and speech and language interventions for pupils. Pastoral and emotional support includes counselling, drama therapy and play therapy, dedicated pastoral and well-being staff and ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants) interventions. Enrichment and extracurricular activities include increased access to sports and arts events (e.g. tennis, music lessons) trips and residential visits. Family and community engagement (FACE) includes adult education courses, family support and parent workshops. Access and equality measures include support in accessing uniforms, revision guides, hygiene packs, breakfast and after-school clubs, mini-bus access to increase take-up in off-site activities and proportional representation in pupil leadership/learner voice groups & wider school activities/clubs.
  • We implemented the Raising Attainment for Disadvantaged Youngsters deep dive as a consistent framework for closing the attainment gap. It reinforced the importance of leadership ownership, targeted planning, and consistent evaluation when supporting disadvantaged learners. We were pleased that outcomes for pupils entitled to Free School Meals in science improved significantly, with their average grade rising by a third, a key success compared to national pattern 
  • We continue to monitor community tensions with regional colleagues including preparing training and awareness events and practical early intervention tools with local authorities. A range of targeted training was developed and delivered regionally, including Victim Support-led sessions in March in response to online hate targeting the third sector.

 

Q2: Evidence – how do we know?

 

Q3: Improvement actions – what can we do better and how?

  • Continue monitoring of the Strategic Equality Plan 2024 – 2028 including work being progressed by the sub-group.
  • Complete the pilot of the Integrated Impact Assessment guidance and template including feedback from users from across the authority to ensure that the framework is robust.
  • Continue to monitor pay gaps and ensure that our recruitment practices enable the council’s workforce to reflect the communities it serves.
  • Progress our revised Local Development Plan (LDP 2) including site-specific allocations that can meet the unmet need for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation and a policy to allow the evaluation of proposals for such accommodation coming forward on unallocated sites (which will mostly be for private sites). This will include going out to consultation on focused changes made in response to the representations received providing an opportunity for representations to be made to support or object to these specific changes only.
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ID: 14741, revised 06/02/2026
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