For staff at all levels of the organisation to feel the tangible difference this strategy will make, it is important to understand the roles and responsibilities that various staff groups must play for its success.

What we ask of each member of ICB staff is that they:

• Consider what EDI means to them and how it impacts and benefits their work
• Understand why it’s important to develop a fair and inclusive workplace culture
• Explore and use the resources, tools and training we provide to help create positive EDI impacts, in line with the personal and professional journeys they want to take
• Read and share ICB communications regarding EDI and delivery of this strategy

The ICB leadership and management teams are asked to make staff aware of this strategy and the EDI activities that contribute to delivering it. Staff and their managers are encouraged to use team meetings, one-to-one meetings or the annual appraisal cycle to have regular conversations about EDI.

It benefits ICB teams to identify and discuss opportunities to broaden the team’s understanding or delivery of EDI; especially where it is core to the work a team does or decisions that a team makes.

Senior leaders will have awareness of the aims and objectives of the EDI strategy and they will ensure that actions are taken at senior level to implement it.  They do this through (for example) making funding decisions, dedicating time to share developments and opportunities, and ensuring there is communication, awareness and support for the strategy across their areas of responsibility.

The ICB Organisational Development (OD), Human Resources (HR) and other key teams will identify, create and adopt effective, intersectional interventions and policies which support the delivery of the aims and objectives of the strategy and will report back regular progress on their implementation. The interventions, resources, tools and policies created by these teams are available to staff via the ICB intranet.

Governance

Delivery of the EDI strategy is the responsibility of key leads across SEL ICB:

• The ICB Board has oversight for the delivery of this strategy and will seek regular assurance that the ICB is delivering on the commitments outlined in the roadmap.
• Executive leadership is provided by the Chief of Staff and Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for Equalities. They are the senior champion of the strategy; ensuring it is given visibility and a platform at the highest level.
• The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team is responsible for liaising with key leads to develop or procure evidence-based and impactful interventions and monitor the operational delivery of the roadmap. The team will ensure that best practice initiatives are included, and the strategy is promoted across the organisation.
• The Corporate Operations directorate will implement most strategy actions from its component teams: EDI (as above), Organisational Development (OD), Human Resources (HR) and Recruitment.
• Other ICB teams will be invited to provide additional and/or specialist input and support, where required.

Oversight and assurance of the EDI strategy will follow the current ICB governance structure. Within this structure:

• The ICB Board has overall responsibility to ensure the ICB is discharging its duties under the Equality Act 2010.
• The Executive Committee provides scrutiny and oversight on key equalities areas, including the Equality Delivery System 2022, Workforce Race Equality Standard, Workforce Disability Equality Standard, Gender Pay Gap and Public Sector Equality Duty.
• The Equalities Sub-Committee (ESC) brings together leads from across the ICB to drive and monitor EDI activities to make demonstrable improvements for our staff and population.

To facilitate this, ESC membership includes representatives from ICB Human Resources, Organisational Development, Planning, Engagement and representatives from each of our six boroughs (or ‘Places’) and Healthwatch and is chaired by our Equalities SRO.

The core requirements of our EDI function (as outlined in this strategy) are delivered via actions collated in our Equalities Delivery Plan (EDP). Delivery of our EDP is reported to and monitored by the ESC.