Our progress to date

Components

Diverse representation, equal pay and inclusion

We have increased representation across the majority of our target characteristics.

The percentages of ORR colleagues who are female or recording a disability have increased and the proportion who are as minority ethnic matches the national average.

Protected characteristicORR 2023 percentageORR 2020 percentageCivil service 2023 percentageEngland and Wales Census 2021 percentage
Female

44%

Up from 40% in 2020 

55%

51%

Minority ethnic

19%

Up from 18% in 2020

15%

18%

Disability

7%

Up from 5% in 2020

16%

18%

LGBTQ and other

6%

Up from 5% in 2020

6%

3%

Actions that have made a positive difference

Our increase in representation has, in part, been achieved by improving our recruitment process. We have broadened our criteria in job descriptions, used recruitment channels with wider coverage and improved the diversity of our interview panels.

We set an expectation for everyone to have a D&I objective and provided mandatory and non mandatory D&I training.

We have also refreshed our values, making inclusivity explicit. These are promoted across the organisation, with formal recognition of where individuals demonstrating them have made a difference.

Continuous improvement

We have developed this refreshed strategy learning lessons from the last three years.

For example, we have:

  • made the D&I themes simpler and more engaging, to increase buy-in
  • ensured responsibilities for delivery are clear, with no gaps and overlaps
  • reflected the pace that D&I policy is developing and factored in learning on topics such as intersectionality

This strategy was also informed by the rich and varied set of responses and suggestions we received from engaging with colleagues and our D&I network.

We have 371 employees at the Office of Rail and Road and 364 of them are located in six offices: 33 of them in Glasgow, 31 in York, 31 in Birmingham, 33 in Manchester, 31 in Bristol and 205 in London.  There are 159 employees based in offices outside London, and 205 of them based in our London head office.  In our Civil Service people survey from 2023 we scored 81% for inclusion and fair treatment.  Our 2022 to 2023 gender pay gap report highlighted a median pay gap hourly rate of 2.9% in 2023 in comparison to 17.4% in 2020, and a mean pay gap hourly rate of 7.1% in 2023 in comparison to 17.9% in 2020.  The same report highlighted median pay gap bonus payments of 16.7% in 2023 in comparison to 25% in 2020, and mean pay gap bonus payments of 16% in 2023 in comparison to 7.2% in 2020. Our gender pay gap report is published at https://www.orr.gov.uk/about/diversity-and-inclusion