Policy paper

Group diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy 2022 to 2025

Published 27 July 2022

1. Foreword

Diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are at the heart of our culture and values at the Department for Transport (DfT). Having a workforce that reflects our society and in which everyone feels included and motivated to deliver their best is not only good for our people, but also ensures that we make better informed decisions and deliver more effectively for the public and organisations who rely on transport and our services.

This 3-year diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy builds on excellent progress achieved by DfT employee networks, champions and human resource teams since we launched our last strategy in 2017, and will take us closer to being the organisation we strive to be.

Since the publication of the last strategy, DfT has benefitted from an increase in the representation of women and ethnic minorities at senior levels and has made strong progress on improving social mobility. We have reduced our gender pay gap and seen the formation of important new staff networks such as the black staff and allies and mental health networks.  We are proud to have achieved level 2 Carers Confident accreditation.

Through our recruitment strategy, we’re seeing growth in our Birmingham and Leeds offices, supporting our efforts to represent the cities and communities we serve and increasing access to a wider, more diverse talent pool.

We have also seen fantastic work in our executive agencies to progress the work in the socio-economic background space. In-house mentoring schemes have been created to encourage development and progression for colleagues from lower socio-economic backgrounds, promoting a culture of inclusivity and continuing to remove barriers throughout the employee life cycle.

But while there’s lots to celebrate, there’s always more we can do to be the excellent department that we strive to be.

We must continue to attract a broader range of talent from more diverse backgrounds and help colleagues to be confident when assuming positions of leadership in DfT, challenging any notion that these roles are only for a certain type of person.

A person’s background will be seen as an asset that can improve policy making and operational delivery for the public we serve, deployed through our shared civil service values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

We will ensure that those living with disabilities, colleagues from minority ethnic backgrounds and people who have experienced disadvantage can thrive in DfT. We will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and discrimination, guarantee fairness at work and grow a culture that focuses on how people perform - not how they look, who they are or where they work.

We will continue to develop our recruitment processes, training and talent and promotion schemes to guarantee that we are an inclusive employer for whom the most talented people want to work.

Building sustainable options for future ways of working, over both the immediate and longer term, will also be a priority. This includes the opportunity to support teams dispersed across more locations.

We will continue to ensure a robust data and evidence base, ensuring we focus on the actions that have real impact on the improvements we want to achieve. Through mainstreaming our activity into departmental priorities, inclusive practice will become central to delivering better outcomes for transport users.

Everyone at DfT and its agencies can play a part in delivering our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy including by modelling the behaviours which will enable everyone to thrive. By working closely with our employee networks and senior champions, we can make DfT an even more inspiring place to work, enabling us to deliver our strategic priorities and to serve the public better.

I look forward to collaborating with colleagues across the organisation to make even greater progress over the next 3 years.

Bernadette Kelly

2. Introduction and background

Transport impacts everyone in the UK. Our people work hard every day to support the transport network that helps the UK’s businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country, whether it be in delivering projects and programmes like Crossrail, saving lives and making ships safer through the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, keeping our roads safe by ensuring the right drivers and vehicles are on the road at DVLA or carrying out driving tests at DVSA.

This government is committed to levelling up by driving improvements in the day-to-day lives of all citizens, spending taxpayers’ money with care and providing excellent services. This is especially relevant to the transport sector, which is a driving force for growing our economy. As a means of delivering our strategic priorities and better outcomes for all the citizens we serve, we want DfT to have a truly diverse workforce with a broad range of experiences and backgrounds and a culture of openness and inclusivity.

Our group diversity, inclusion and wellbeing (DI&W) strategy is closely aligned to the Civil Service diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy objectives. We have focused on attracting and developing colleagues from a range of backgrounds, experiences and locations, engaging the communities we serve and attracting and retaining the best talent.

We will continue to create a healthy and supportive environment where wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do, where there is zero tolerance for bullying, harassment and discrimination and where our people feel safe to speak up against unacceptable behaviours.

The strategy will be supported by local action plans tailored to the specific issues and needs of DfT and each of the executive agencies.

3. Our vision and purpose

3.1 Vision

A welcoming, healthy and supportive workplace enabling us to attract, develop and retain a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Providing an inclusive environment where everyone can feel a sense of belonging, feel valued, be themselves and is recognised for their individual talents and contribution to the delivery of our objectives.

3.2 Purpose

This strategy sets out a framework that, over the next 3 years, will help us achieve our business goals. It provides a road map for effectively creating and sustaining a workplace culture where we can all work together in respectful and inclusive ways, without fear of bullying, harassment or discrimination.

This strategy comprises 4 overarching priorities, which will enable delivery of targeted action plans at business unit level across the central department and agencies:

• representing the communities we serve – recruiting from a diverse pool that reflects the various communities we serve and providing opportunities to progress locally
• being confidently inclusive – fostering a healthy and supportive culture where colleagues feel confident bringing the full range of their background, experiences and skills to work
• maximising potential for all – creating an empowering environment where everyone feels a sense of connection with the DfT and sees opportunities to thrive and develop their careers
• building a transport network that works for everyone – making our transport system safer, more inclusive and better for all users

4. Representing the communities we serve

4.1 Impact

We have a talented, diverse and empowered workforce that better reflects the communities we serve and that enables DfT to make more informed decisions and solve increasingly complex issues.

4.2 Outcome

• Senior civil servants and staff of all grades are more regionally dispersed to provide a range of opportunities across all communities served.
• improved gender, disability, LGBT and ethnic minority representation in senior, technical and specialist roles, a reduction in unwanted pay gaps and broader representation of staff from under-represented socio-economic backgrounds in all roles and grades
• increased use of apprenticeships and the Civil Service’s life chances programmes (for example, for care and prison leavers) as a route to entry, career development and progression within DfT
• creation of diverse teams in terms of background, experience and thought achieved by recognising the value this diversity brings and removing barriers that stand in the way, measured through more consistently diverse representation at all levels

5. Being confidently inclusive

5.1 Impact

Colleagues feel supported to bring the full range of their background, experiences and skills to work. This leads to improved levels of motivation, creativity, innovation and productivity, which ultimately improves the wellbeing of our staff.

5.2 Outcome

• increased engagement and better staff experience for staff from under-represented groups, as measured by the people survey
• reduction in incidences of bullying, harassment and discrimination as measured through the people survey
• a healthier, more supportive and inclusive workplace as measured through the annual people survey score for “provision of good support services for employee health, wellbeing and resilience”
• create conditions to improve colleagues’ confidence to bring their background, experiences and skills to work as measured through the people survey score for “I think my organisation respects individual differences”

6. Maximising potential for all

6.1 Impact

Everyone feels a sense of connection with the DfT and is supported to seize opportunities to thrive, develop their careers and realise their potential here.

6.2 Outcome

• development and retention of colleagues with a diverse range of skills, experiences and backgrounds as measured through:

  • promotion and career progression data, particularly related to under-represented groups

  • improved people survey scores related to careers, wellbeing and likelihood to remain in DfT

• our people feel their voices are heard in the organisation as measured through people survey scores and feedback from our employee networks
• attrition rates reflective of wider Civil Service priorities

7. Building a transport network that works for everyone

7.1 Impact

By ensuring that our policies are more inclusive and fulfilling our obligations under the public sector equality duty, we help improve transport for the user, enabling more people to access transport and to travel when, where and how they wish.

7.2 Outcomes

• our equality impact assessment process is used consistently to fully assess the impact of change on diverse groups, and our obligations under the public sector equality duty are fully understood and complied with
• we recognise the need to expand the evidence base on the impact of our policies and interventions on different user groups and seek to do so through additions to existing research proposals as well as taking forward bespoke research as appropriate
• we will provide a stronger structure and focus on how we support our staff in meeting this outcome through establishing a transport equalities Centre of Excellence by September 2022