Employee Equality Report 2024

Religion or belief

Key findings

Disclosure 2020 to 2024

the disclosure rate is now at 45%
those choosing to disclose their religion and/or belief at the Council continues to grow, with a 2.1% increase in employees disclosing their religion or belief, including no belief, this year

Our Workforce 2020 to 2024

christians are the largest group at 32%, a 3.2% increase from the previous year
30% of employees state that they have no religion
1% of employees identify as Muslim
2% of employees identify as 'other'

Differences between the local community and our workforce

in our workforce, we have 14.9% fewer employees declaring 'no religion' than in Southend-On-Sea
we have more employees 'preferring not to say', and selecting 'other' than seen locally.
10% fewer Council employees are Christian, than in the local community
3% identify as Muslim, 0% as Buddhist, 0% as Hindu, and 0% as Jewish
1% identify as 'other'

Buddhist

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who identify as Buddhist.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	0.3%
2021/22	0.3%
2022/23	0.3%
2023/24	0%
Southend Census data (2021)	0.5%

Christian

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who identify as Christian.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	26.8%
2021/22	26.1%
2022/23	28.8%
2023/24	32%
Southend Census data (2021)	42.6%

Hindu

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who identify as Hindu.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	0.2%
2021/22	0.3%
2022/23	0.3%
2023/24	0%
Southend Census data (2021)	1.1%

Jewish

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who identify as Jewish.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	0.2%
2021/22	0.2%
2022/23	0.2%
2023/24	0%
Southend Census data (2021)	1.1%

Muslim

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who identify as Muslim.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	0.7%
2021/22	0.9%
2022/23	1.0%
2023/24	1.0%
Southend Census data (2021)	3.0%

No religion

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who are not religious.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	22.1%
2021/22	24.4%
2022/23	28.3%
2023/24	30%
Southend Census data (2021)	44.9%

Other

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who selected other.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	1.9%
2021/22	2.0%
2022/23	2.1%
2023/24	2.0%
Southend Census data (2021)	0.6%

Sikh

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who identify as Sikh.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	0.0%
2021/22	0.1%
2022/23	0.1%
2023/24	0%
Southend Census data (2021)	0.1%

Prefer not to say

Use first column for year and move across for percentage of staff who preferred not to say.
Year	Percentage
2020/21	11.7%
2021/22	10.4%
2022/23	10.1%
2023/24	10%
Southend Census data (2021)	6%

In 2023/24 the percentage of staff whos religion/belief was not reported was 25%.