SIA staff networks: activities and funding
Published 3 April 2024
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Request
This is an information request relating to staff networks.
Please include the following information for the following years, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23:
- A list of all the staff networks at the organisation
- Whether each network receives internal funding and, if so, how much (please express annually for the last four financial years)
- How much FTE equivalent staff time each network is entitled to. For example, a staff network may have a chair who’s entitled to spend 10% of their working hours devoted to the network (please express annually for the last three financial years)
- A list of events that each network has held in this financial year so far (April to the present day), including the title of the event, information on any guest speakers and the time of the event.
Response
List of staff networks
From 2020:
- Race (Known as BAME until 2023)
- Wellbeing
From 2021:
- Pride
- Parents and Carers
- Gender
- Disability
Internal funding
The SIA’s staff networks do not receive individual funding, however there is a collective budget.
| Year | Budget Provisioned | Actual Spend |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-21 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021-22 | £20,000 | £14,642 |
| 2022-23 | £20,000 | £16,740 |
FTE equivalent staff
There is no set time allocated or allowed. Any time that is required is to be raised with the individual’s relevant line manager for approval. The time the individual requires will be set aside, unless there is a diary conflict, or deadline which will take precedent.
List of events
Pride
For Pride Network, most of our network activity since April 2023 has taken place within our regular monthly network meetings and our newsletters for SIA staff. Network members attended Pride in London on 1 July 2023, alongside other colleagues from the SIA and representatives from the private security industry.
Wellbeing
15 January 2024: a 1 hour ‘Wellbeing Café’ (held on MS Teams) was facilitated by an external mental health first aider. Staff were given information about the impact of mental health, the effects of mental health on the workplace, where to get help and the importance of having mental health first aiders within an organisation. The cost of this event was £280 plus VAT, funded by the SIA. All other events were facilitated internally so there was no funding required.
19 December 2023: a cost of living workshop (1 hour), where staff could discuss any financial pressures they were facing, with signposting to any support. No guest speakers, facilitated by Wellbeing Network leads.
13 December 2023 (1 hour) and 28 December 2023 (1 hour): drop-in sessions facilitated by Wellbeing Network leads where staff could discuss any mental health pressures they were facing over the festive period. There were no guest speakers. Additionally, there was a drop in session at 10am on 26 December (out of working hours, 30 minutes time given up voluntarily by a network lead).
18 May 2023: a 1 hour ‘Wellbeing Café’ at our office. Drop-in session for staff to come along and meet the SIA mental health first aiders and HR Wellbeing representatives at the SIA’s Head Office. The Café was set up as part of Mental Health Week 2023.
Parents and Carers
This network ran the following events:
- 14 March 2024 – post-16 school leaver event (no cost)
- 13 Feb 2024 – school leaver event (no cost)
- 1 Feb 2024 – 1 hour Princes trust talk (no cost)
- 14 November 2023 – Power of Attorney talk 1 hour (no cost)
- 16 October 2023 – Halloween competition (2 Amazon voucher prizes issued)
- 27 June 2023 – Lunch and Learn 1 hour session (no cost)
Race
No events were run last year due to a re-launch of the network and the election of a new Chair.
In the year financial year 2021-22, the network (then known as BAME) ran 6 MS Teams workshops during Black History Month. They were:
- 11 October 2022 – Cultural Poetry Workshop
- 17, 24, 31 October 2022 – The Diversity Card Game
- 20 October 2022 – Black Women and British Civil Rights Presentation
- 25 October 2022 – Hidden Figures Who Have Helped Shape British Society Today
Gender
No events were run.
Disability
The SIA did not run any events but there are a number of civil service disability networks that hold events that members of the disability network can attend.
[Reference: FOI 0494]