Introduction 

This report proposes equality objectives for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB for 2024-27. This forms part of the ICB’s legal requirement to meet its obligations under the Equality Act (2010), the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and the Specific Equality Duties (SEDs). These duties require the ICB to publish one or more equality objectives, at intervals of no more than four years since the previous objectives were published. These objectives must be specific and measurable, address one or more of the three equality aims in the Public Sector Equality Duty and one or more of the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act (2010).

​​​​By setting equality objectives and targets, the ICB aims to meet its legal obligations while driving strategic and demonstrable equality improvements and improve health outcomes relating to relevant protected characteristics within our resident populations and our workforce.

Equality Objectives 2024-27

The ICB has developed a set of refreshed equality objectives for the ICB to work towards between 2024 and 2027. These objectives are focused on both service delivery and workforce.

Service delivery focused equality objectives

• By March 2025, to demonstrate that maternity and neonatal insight, co-production and engagement (ICE) activity is focused on service users and their families who are representative of the diversity of the local (maternity) population. This will support delivery of “Intervention 6: ensure the MVPs in your LMS reflect the ethnic diversity of the local population, in line with NICE QS167”. This will be demonstrated through:
  • Development and implementation of a robust, system-wide data collection tool for ICE activity
  • Updated population health needs analysis of the maternity population which will include population demographics
  • Delivery of targeted ICE activity with identified cohorts and communities
• To improve completeness and accuracy of ethnicity coding in primary care for patients assessed as having mild-moderate frailty. This will enable us to understand frailty in different ethnic groups, to map need and to tailor services to better reflect needs. The objectives for 2024/25 are:-
  • to have completed an audit of completeness and accuracy by December 2024, to provide a baseline for future improvement for patients within the assessed frailty cohorts.
  • aspiration of 80% having up to date and accurate ethnicity coding for those patients who have received a frailty review by March 2025 
• By March 2025 to have used the 2021 census data to map the LGBTQ population for Lancashire and South Cumbria and to understand the correlation with Core20plus populations.

Workforce focused equality objectives​​​​​​

• Increase the proportion of staff declaring their diversity monitoring information via ESR to enable a better understanding of the diverse composition of the ICB workforce
  • Increase ethnicity sharing rates across the overall workforce from 91.9% to 98% by the end of 2026/27. This will include a particular focus on increasing ethnicity declaration rates at Band 8b and above where declaration rates are currently lowest, and with an aspiration for 100% declaration rates at Band 9 and VSM levels by the end of 2025/26.
  • Increase disability sharing rates across the overall workforce from 59.9% to 75% by the end of 2025/26, increasing to 85% by the end of 2026/27. This will include a particular focus on increasing disability declaration rates at Band 8a and above where declaration rates are currently lowest, and with an aspiration for 100% declaration rates at Band 9 and VSM levels by the end of 2025/26.
  • Increase sexual orientation sharing rates across the overall workforce from 56.6% to 70% by the end of 2025/26, increasing to 80% by the end of 2026/27, with an aspiration for 100% declaration rates at Band 9 and VSM levels by the end of 2025/26.

• Increase diverse representation across all levels of the workforce by:
  • Increasing BME workforce representation from the current position of 7.1% by the end of 2026/27.
  • Increasing disability workforce representation from the current position of 6.3% by the end of 2026/27.
  • Increasing LGBQ+ workforce representation from the current position of 3.2% by the end of 2026/27.
• Improve the experiences of our diverse workforce and reducing instances of diverse staff reporting incidents of discrimination, bullying and harassment by:
  • Undertaking a full reset of organisational values and behaviours by the end of 2024/25.
  • Achieving the NW Anti-Racist Framework Bronze award by the end of 2025/26 with an aspiration to achieve the Silver award by the end of 2026/27.
  • Delivering a programme of cultural learning opportunities (e.g. webinars and listening rooms) via our Belonging workstream.
  • Strengthening and amplifying the voices of our Staff Networks

• Provide targeted progression and development opportunities to under-represented, diverse groups within our workforce by:
  • Implementing a refreshed Inclusive Recruitment Toolkit to be fully rolled out throughout 2025/26
  • Implementing a Reciprocal Mentoring Scheme to be fully rolled out throughout 2025/26
  • Utilising the Apprenticeship Levy to provide targeted development opportunities for under-represented, diverse groups within our workforce.