Equality and diversity report

What we have achieved in 2023-24

Collecting and sharing information

Census 2021

Our Research and Intelligence team have published a series of ward factsheets analysing Census 2021 data across Gateshead on the Council's Census 2021 webpage, and linked to from our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) website. The factsheets analyse published Census data, which covers many protected characteristics, at ward level.

We have also used the Council's Census 2021 webpage to make ONS' build a custom area profile (opens new window) tool available. The tool enables users to create custom areas and view Census 2021 data, including many protected characteristics. The geographical building block for the tool is Output Area, of which there are 705 across Gateshead and on average have a population of 278 people. Protected characteristics are therefore available for these small Output Areas.

Equalities Profile

The Equalities Profile (PDF, 112 KB) for Gateshead has been updated with the latest population data and is published at Appendix 2.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)

Our JSNA website continues to be maintained by the Research and Intelligence Team in conjunction with Public Health. The JSNA is updated throughout the year on a rolling annual basis. The 'Headline Data' pages for each topic include protected characteristics where appropriate, and each topic aims to include a narrative with a 'Groups Most at Risk' page where potential inequalities can be highlighted. The JSNA contains key evidence for developing the policies of the Council and wider partners.

Analysing and using data and information

Public Health Needs Assessments

Sexual Health Needs Assessment

We have recently completed a Sexual Health Needs Assessment. This is a priority area for action in Gateshead to tackle inequality and ensure equality. To ensure the voices of our community are incorporated we held focus groups with groups classed as more vulnerable to sexual health issues (for example, where cultural influence could mean gaps in knowledge around certain aspects of sexual health). These groups included a diverse range of representatives, for example the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority community, our young people's drug and alcohol service, Gateshead College and other stakeholders. There was a range of diversity in the individuals who participated, ensuring we evaluated the sexual health service's accessibility and inclusivity. For example: 8% were transgender, 20% were Muslim, 24.4% were bisexual and 26.7% had a physical or mental illness or disability expected to last beyond 12 months.

We also carried out a survey to see how our residents would want to improve our sexual health service, such as changes to the opening hours to make it more accessible or making information more readable for all abilities. The survey included questions around stigma and support in our services, to provide an insight into whether the service currently feels inclusive of all users, or whether this is something we could improve.

The data provided in the health needs assessment analyses the demographic of the population rather than just looking at overall rate, for example rates of STIs in 15 to 24 year olds or areas which have higher rates of teenage pregnancy, which has helped us identify areas which may need more targeted interventions going forward.

Children and Young People's Mental Health

A Children and Young People Mental Health Needs assessment for Gateshead has been commissioned by the Public Health Team and Integrated Care Board.  The HNA will cover Children and Young People aged 0-24 and tackle health inequalities by scoping population needs across a range of groups as well as preventative opportunities.

Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment  

A Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment has been carried out to get a better understanding of patterns and trends of Domestic Abuse locally and assess the need for all forms of victim support and perpetrator interventions. It will be used to shape the Domestic Abuse Strategy and service design and delivery.

2023 Annual Report from Director of Public Health

Our Director of Public Health produced their statutory annual report for 2023, Profit Before People: The commercial determinants of health and lessons from the tobacco epidemic. The report examines how tobacco came to be the original commercial determinant of health, demonstrating that profit ultimately outweighs health and wellbeing considerations, how a Tobacco Control approach to reduce the harm caused by tobacco has (with great effort) made progress in the last few decades, and most importantly, what now needs to happen to create a smokefree generation and finally end the tobacco epidemic in our area. It also considers the lessons learned from the Tobacco Control success story and what that may mean for some other key commercial determinants of health including alcohol, gambling and ultra processed foods and drink.

Although smoking prevalence continued to decrease between 2016 and 2021, it continued to disproportionately affect those on lower incomes who were more than twice as likely to smoke and less likely to quit. Alcohol related harm disproportionately impacts our more deprived communities. The prevalence of obesity for children in the most deprived areas continues to be more than double that of those in the least deprived areas. In England, the North-East has the highest number of gamblers who are at risk of developing harms from gambling (4.9%). These harms represent a disorder, rather than a disease that directly causes ill health or death, but evidence shows that it can lead to significant adverse health and wellbeing outcomes.

The report makes recommendations to reduce harm across these commercial determinants of health. These include; to support and advocate for the reduced age of sale legislation, to reduce the negative impact on future generations and to support and enforce vape regulation, including reducing the appeal and accessibility to children.

Stop Smoking Service

We recently completed a health equity audit of our stop smoking service to better understand if the provision we were offering met the needs of our communities. As a result of this, we are currently re-designing our stop smoking service offer to ensure what we offer is equitable and inclusive for all.

Effective community engagement

Council Consultation opportunities

There were 58 public consultations or consultations targeted at specific groups publicised and/or run through the Council's consultation portal or subsequent corporate consultation system in 2023-24, with more than 17,400 responses received (Note: total responses will be higher as some responses are received outside of the consultation system due to varying methods used). These consultations included surveys on the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy, the Budget 2024-25 Survey, Leisure Service Consultation, Gateshead International Stadium Stakeholder Engagement, Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, Gateshead Libraries Annual Customer Survey 2023, Further Development of the Gateshead Housing Standard for Ageing Well, Safer Gateshead Survey, 0-19 Services Partnership Agreement with the NHS, School Admission Arrangements and others.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We consulted on our draft Equality Diversity and Inclusion policy. The consultation ran for 5 weeks in Winter 2024. We received over 200 responses to the online survey and engaged with trade unions, partners, tenants, our workforce and residents. Analysis of the respondent profile showed that demographics are broadly aligned with what we know about our population, although of those, people with disabilities and caregivers were over-represented and young people were under-represented.

75% of consultees agreed or strongly agreed with our vision for Equality Diversity and Inclusion and approximately 75% agreed with our commitments within each policy theme.  The results of the Consultation feedback report (opens new window) were considered by Cabinet when the final policy was recommended for approval.

Suicide Prevention

 Gateshead Suicide Prevention Network event was hosted in March 2024 which was co-hosted by Public Health and local charity If U Care Share. The aim of the event was to include the voices of people living and working in Gateshead in the creation of Gateshead's Suicide Prevention Plan.  Over 90 people attended the event including 12 VCSE organisations representing the following communities in Gateshead: Jewish community, LGBTQ+, young men, veterans, women, homeless and people with substance misuse addiction. There was further representation from council services, Ambulance service, Police and Fire and Rescue, alongside people with lived experience of suicide. Workshops were held to gather knowledge, expertise, thoughts and opinions on how to reduce the suicide rate in Gateshead and how best to support those affected by suicide and self-harm.

People's Voice - Adult Social Care engagement

Our ASC service worked with the National Development Team for Inclusion, to ensure our People's Voice reference group is representative of our local communities and key work is taking place to ensure those whose voices are often seldom heard are encouraged to sign up to People's Voice. This work includes working with 'Haref Allies' through' Connected Voice', which helps improve how services work with ethically marginalized communities and those with learning disabilities.

Developing our approach to Resident Influence

Within housing services we work closely with customers and offer a wide range of accessible opportunities for as many residents as possible to engage, provide feedback and influence decision making. The framework includes three groups as well as task and finish groups that meet when required.

Resident Influence Panel

Including tenants, leaseholders and housing services, the Resident Influence Panel has two main aims:

• to make sure that residents' experiences are influencing service design and delivery
• to make sure we act on what customers tell us through formal engagement, but to also make sure that we proactively listen and gather feedback from the wider resident base

Activity carried out during 2023-24 includes:

• commissioning a scrutiny review of stage 1 formal complaint responses. This review led to a number of recommendations including; improving the letter template to ensure clarity and consistency, ensure language used is easy to understand and free from jargon, ensure contact details of the investigating officer are included and easy to find, to deliver further training to colleagues on complaint handling and to improve the quality of customer service.
• Commissioning a focus group to develop an Annual Report for social housing in line with regulatory requirements
• Engagement with our self-assessment against the new Transparency, Influence and Accountability Regulatory Standard
• Commissioned us to undertake the TPAS accreditation through our membership, to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to resident engagement across housing services.

Multi-Storey Safety Group

This group aims to make sure we deliver multi-storey housing that is safe to live in and that we provide relevant and up-to-date information to residents. Tenants, leaseholders and housing services work together to oversee how we deliver on the resident engagement requirements of the Building Safety Act.

During 2023-24 the group reviewed and developed the building safety information provided to residents of high-rise blocks on our website. Members of the group ensured that building safety is included in the new 'block inspectors' programme alongside checking cleaning standards, to ensure safety checks are also embedded. Members also invited the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to share vital safety information with the group.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group

Tenants, housing staff and partners work together to ensure that the housing services we provide are fair, accessible, and designed around the needs of all our customers.

We welcome members from diverse communities, particularly LGBTQ+, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities, who can share their lived experiences to help us provide housing services that work for everyone.

During 2023-24 members were involved in creating a film to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring our customers provide us with up-to-date personal information and how you can save time and do this online through your 'My Housing Account'. Members of the EDI group feature in the film and share lived experiences of how providing up to date information can enable us to provide a more tailored service to our customers.  

The EDI group were also involved in reviewing and developing the content of the corporate EDI Policy and made recommendations on accessibility, clear and understandable language, ensure it is everyone's responsibility to deliver and available online for all.

Housing Task and Finish Focus Groups

Gateshead Standard for Ageing Well

In 2023 we worked in partnership with Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN) to develop a Gateshead standard for older persons' accommodation. As we recognise that the population of older residents is growing, the purpose of the project was to establish the needs and aspirations of older residents and develop a standard to ensure there were choices available that meet their needs. Two focus groups were established of people aged 55+, those living in sheltered accommodation and those living in general needs housing. Housing LIN also worked with other groups across Gateshead. This was a great opportunity for older people to share their experiences and views on what matters to them with regard to their housing needs. Feedback was incorporated into a final standard for ageing well and will be available for use by stakeholders such as commissioners and other housing providers.

Community Engagement

We recognise the importance of engaging with residents informally in their own communities and during 2023-24 we visited a range of community groups across Gateshead. This provided an opportunity to talk to residents in person and hear what they had to say about their homes and the neighbourhoods they live in. This was a great way of meeting a diverse cross-section of our communities and ensure different voices were captured. The feedback from these sessions was very positive and residents said they liked the opportunity to talk directly with officers from the Council.

Fostering good community relations

Gateshead Community Safety board

The Gateshead Hate Crime Strategy (PDF, 558 KB) and Action Plan2024-26 was approved by the Community Safety Board in May 2024. It states there is no place for Hate Crime in Gateshead. Everyone has the right to be safe and live without fear. A Hate incident is defined as: 'Any incident that does not constitute a criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.' The strategy outlines Gateshead's plans to proactively reduce the harm caused by Hate Crime to individuals, families and communities. It has been informed by Gateshead Hate Crime Analysis 2023, our previous Hate Crime Strategy and co-produced by members of the Gateshead Hate Crime Tensions and Monitoring Group.

Equality Data - Hate Crime reports

Hate crimes and incidents are reported either via Northumbria Police or through the Council's online reporting system.  The majority of reports made to the Council's online reporting system are reports made by schools.  Data has been cross-checked to ensure that all reports are just counted once. 

In 2023-24 reports of hate crime increased by 11% in Gateshead, slightly lower than numbers reported in 2022-23.  Racist incidents continue to be the most common form of hate incidents reported in Gateshead, followed by religious and homophobic incidents.  These have consistently been the most common forms of hate incidents reported in recent years. 

Our refreshed Hate Crime Strategy for Gateshead will be supported by a delivery plan which aims to improve reporting mechanisms and raise awareness of hate crime and hate incidents.

Equality Data - Domestic Abuse 

Police incidents of domestic abuse increased by 10.4% in 2023-24, with 6,490 incidents reported.  From those incidents, 3,406 individual victims were identified.  70% of victims identified were female.  This figure has reduced slightly when compared to the previous year but is in line with the overall figure for the Northumbria Police force area.

The percentage of victims from a Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority background (where ethnicity is recorded) is increasing and now represents 5% of all victims of domestic abuse.  Again, this is a figure that continues to increase, up 30% in the last 12 months.   

2% of domestic abuse victims were aged between 16 and 17, while 14% were aged over 55, figures very similar to previous years.

A domestic abuse needs assessment is being developed.  Initial findings have identified some gaps in recording which will be progressed in the next 12 months.  A domestic abuse strategy will also be produced in the next year, outlining the Domestic Abuse Partnership Board's plans to address domestic abuse in Gateshead.