Only ONE director from a BAME background at Greater Manchester Councils

Whilst all councils are obliged to list salaries of senior leadership teams they do not reveal the make up of those staff. We requested the numbers of those staff who were earning more than £50,000 or were employed as service managers.  

At Bolton Council of the 72 staff earning more than 50,000 only four were classed as coming from BAME background. A further five staff are earning more than £100,000 but none of those were from a BAME background. Here is the most recent organisational structure at Bolton Council.

At nearby Bury Council no person from BAME background earns more than £100,000.

At least 28 people who are earning more than £55,000 at Bury Council and iafter and FOI request it can be revealed that only one from a BAME background takes home a salary above that figure. The organisational structure and pay can be viewed here.

At Rochdale Council 12.98% of the workforce are from a BAME background. This excludes school staff. According to the organisational structure at Rochdale Borough Council there are no individuals from a BAME background. Eleven declared their ethnic origin and two did not.

There are 13 individuals whose pay is said to be £67,280 to £92,926 (page 6) and further 5 whose pay is listed as being above £100,04. There are no individuals from this cohort from a BAME background (4 declared ethnic origin, 1 did not declare).

At Oldham Council no members appear to be from a BAME background amongst the Senior Leadership team. The structure as of 17 August 2020 features 18 staff who are classed as ‘Senior Management team’.

After an FOI (Freedom of Information) request we can reveal that only 9 staff members from a BAME background are paid over £50,000. This is out of 101 Employees who earn more than £50,000.

At Salford City Council Muna Ibrahim Abdel Aziz is listed as Director of Public Health part of a 22 member Senior Leadership Team. Shoaib Mohammad is listed as Assistant Director Technical Services. Further details have been requested from Salford City Council.

Manchester City Council confirmed it does not have British, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff at the highest, senior management team levels.

According to an organisational structure 34 individuals are paid more than £50,000 (above grade SS4) at the Council of which four were from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background. This works out around four per cent.

Politically two Executive (cabinet) Members, Cllr Rabnawaz Akbar and Cllr Luthfur Rahman are of Asian heritage.

In adjoining councils the investigation found Lancashire three councils have service directors from a black/Asian/ethnic minority (BAME) background even in areas which have a high BAME population. Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire Country Council and Blackpool Council had someone from a BAME background at director level while the remaining authorities had none. Burnley Council's Chief Operating Officer, effectively second in command is from a BAME background.

A Bolton council spokesperson said: “The council has four officers who have classed themselves as other than white British and who earn more than £50,000.

“As an employer, the council strives for a workforce which is reflective of our local community, and aims to create a culture where diversity is respected and celebrated. We aim to make sure that all our policies and processes are fair and help to advance opportunity between staff from all groups.

“We are working towards having a workforce which is broadly representative of the local population in the long-term. In the short to medium term, the council faces difficulties because the workforce has shrunk and recruitment minimised because of the national economic position.

“However we are making sure that all senior managers are aware of and have the training and information they need to fulfil their obligations under equality legislation, and that all staff have the appropriate training to support and respect the differing needs of our diverse communities. 

“We aim to create an environment in which employees from across the range of protected characteristics feel satisfied with and supported in their work.”

In June Manchester City Council published a review which it commissioned last year to assess its approach to race equality among its staff. The report, by independent expert David Codner, was commissioned as part of that commitment to enable the council to take stock - and take positive actions.

The report notes that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff at the time of writing represented around 20% of all staff, compared to around 33% of the city's population being non-white.

Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said: "We are determined to ensure that representation at all levels within the council, but particularly among senior officers, better reflects the ethnic diversity of this great city.

"While we have a number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff in management positions, including at director level, we are determined to develop and attract more talent so we can go further faster.

"Transformative action is underway and progress is being made. This includes measures such as a development programme aimed at Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic with the potential to be leaders to help them fulfill it and increased diversity on recruitment panels.
"We are looking at a whole range of quick, medium term and longer-term measures to make a lasting difference across the organisation."

A spokeswoman for Rochdale Borough Council said: “Rochdale Borough Council embraces equality and diversity and we want to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of our borough’s community. 

“We have recently held listening events with our BAME staff across the organisation and we are working with them on our offer for staff. Our plans include developing our leadership development offer to be more inclusive to ensure greater diversity in our leadership team.”

READ: Diversity in Lancashire Senior Leaderships teams