The Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES) is a data-informed improvement programme which ensures action planning is locally relevant and that impact is evidenced over time. Reflecting on data gathered against the nine metrics of the SC-WRES provides a powerful window into your organisational culture, processes and practices which can drive improvement in the key areas that shape workforce equality.

1. Leadership (metrics 1 and 9)
2. Staff voice (across all metrics)
3. Culture (across all metrics)
4. Progression and staff development (metrics 2 and 5)
5. Recruitment and retention (metrics 2 and 8)
6. Performance and fairness (metrics 3 and 4)
7. Community impact (metric 9)

The SC-WRES pays particular attention to the quality of dialogue and decision-making through which strategic actions on workforce equality are developed, especially how co-produced, evidence-informed and accountable this is.

Reflection on the metrics generates causal and system questions which may not have been considered before and fosters sustainable solutions.

This report will take you through the stages of action planning we expect the organisation to establish.

Step 1: Preparing the ground

Establishing a SC-WRES project group and lead member is the first step. The project group should include representatives from across the organisation, drawing on different areas of expertise as needed through the planning process, and develop a communication plan. Group members could include staff representatives, Principle Social Workers, human resources (HR) partners, equality diversity and inclusivity (EDI) leads and communications leads. It should hold the authority to convene meetings for action planning, set up consultations and support sign-off plans.

It’s important to inform staff at all levels of the process and consider your current culture for engagement.

Skill for Care 3 A’s Model is a useful tool to help staff to understand why it’s important for everyone to engage in open and courageous conversations. It begins by helping people to become aware of the issues experienced by others. That can be in your organisation or in any sphere of your life and working practices. It also helps you to appreciate your own starting point. That will support you to be clear about where you want to get to so that you can explore the action that you can take to achieve this.

3 A's Model

Awareness

To increase understanding of ethical and racism in society.

To help managers and workers understand where we are now and why.

Appreciate

To bring people together by fostering a better understanding of the different perspectives and starting points that people have in relation to ethnicity and racism.

Action

To set out ways of intervening and developing strategies to challenge racism.

Step 2: Metric analysis and sense making

(SC-WRES project group lead)

Here the data from the nine metrics are discussed and preliminary findings are considered in the local context. Key messages and topics are identified for wider discussion. The following model illustrates the data collection and action plan process.

How to – data flow: Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES)

Step one - Each local authority returns their data

• Signed data sharing agreement + Populated data collection

Step two - Data quality is checked

• Data quality checked by Skills for Care
• Secure OneDrive folder
• Applicable edits made by local authority (LA)

Step three - Monitoring and improving outputs

• Skills for Care SC-WRES report + Local authority action plan
• Measured improvements towards race equity

Step 3: Checking findings and developing actions

(Wider consultation with staff and others)

The findings are shared widely within your organisation at all levels to gain feedback and potential solutions are gathered.

There are opportunities for SC-WRES leads to share emerging ideas within the monthly thematic sessions, SC-WRES Teams channel and other peer-to-peer support. You’ll consider wider evidence and support available in relation to your issues and themes.

Step 4: Final action plan

(SC-WRES project group lead with selected staff advisor and other key decision makers)

There is deeper reflection on the preliminary decisions about solutions and how the organisation knows that what it plans to do will work and what success looks like. There should be interrogation by stakeholders to make this robust and sustainable.

Discussion would consider what interventions have worked in the past, what the evidence base is and issues of cost vs impact. Specific interventions, e.g. leadership programmes and training, should be explored. A final priority list should be signed off, which forms a comprehensive plan.

Step 5: Evaluation/continuous improvement

You establish an agreed approach to monitoring and gathering feedback on the impact of your action plans ensuring that this involves consultation with staff.

Summary how this action plan will be evaluated/continually reviewed

Bexley’s 2024 action plan is set as a continuation from the submitted 2022 plan, we have rolled over some of the specific actions that is yet to be fully achieved, we explored new and more effective approaches that will ensure success in cycle 2024/25.

Bexley’s focus with this plan is to be able to measure success, carefully monitor impact and gather evidence, this will allow us to closely monitor the progress or ensure that we keep up with any issues that may arise and offer urgent attention.

The monthly WRES steering group meetings will be used to closely examine each objective’s actions, the named leads for the actions will present an update on proceedings, request support and highlight successes and achievement.

We have included prospective completion time to each action to hold ourselves accountable and to closely monitor the plan throughout the year, the suggested completion time could be moved to a later or earlier date.

Most of the actions listed below have an expected achievement date of July 2025, there will be a WRES workshop meeting at the six-month mark ( February 2025) to ensure there is movement with all the actions listed in the plan.