February is LGBT+History Month and we are flying the inclusive LGBT+ flag over Sussex House throughout the month.

Our new EDI Lead for LGBT+ equality and inclusion Dr Paul Boyce has been appointed. Dr Boyce is taking over from Dr Emile Devereaux who was the EDI Lead for LGBT+ equality and inclusion in 2021. He will be driving our work to update our Institutional LGBT+ Action Plan published in 2020. We will be sharing more information about Dr Boyce and the role in due course.

In our vision for Inclusive Sussex we set ourselves the target of achieving a top-100 ranking in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index (WEI) by 2025. Our first application to the WEI was in 2020 and we were ranked 407. We submitted a further application in September 2021 and have now received our headline result: ranked 264th in the 2022 WEI and so a significant improvement.

This reflects our progress in delivering against our Institutional LGBT Equality and Inclusion Action Plan. A key achievement is the introduction of a self-service HR portal that enables staff to update their personal data relating to protected characteristics. As a result we will be able to monitor, analyse and publish staff data in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity to support our equality analysis. We have also published a transitioning at work policy and guidance to support staff and their managers.

David Ruebain the PVC for Culture, Equality and Inclusion said, “The new ranking for Sussex is a good indicator of the progress we are making towards our commitments on LGBT+ inclusion in Inclusive Sussex. It is deserved recognition of the collaborative working between our staff networks, HR and the EDI Unit to address issues identified by our LGBT+ staff. I am grateful to everybody involved and particularly to Emile and the LGBT+ Equality and Inclusion Self-Assessment Team who led the work."

Dr Boyce will be reviewing and revising our Institutional LGBT+Action Plan in collaboration with the LGBT+Equality and Inclusion Self-Assessment Team (which includes representation from our LBGT+ and TransNonBinary Staff Networks) and the EDI Unit.The feedback from our WEI application will form one of the inputs in this process along with the latest staff survey reportsand statistical data sets.