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Equality, diversity and inclusion

We recognise that great minds don’t think alike.

Contents

 

Our approach

We believe great minds don’t think alike, and diversity is a strength. Differences in background, lived experience, culture and perspective can enrich our working environment and help us deliver world-changing work.
We continually challenge ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation, building a culture where everyone feels included, valued, respected and where difference is embraced. 
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy sets out our vision and aligns with the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, which defines actions to build a Civil Service that understands and draws from the communities it serves, is visible to everyone, is flexible and welcomes talent from wherever it comes. 
We partner with a number of initiatives or organisations and use their expertise to implement good practice, some have recognised and awarded our approaches to building an inclusive workplace 
The Met Office values reflect who we are and the work we do now and in the future, and the Civil Service Code sets out the values and behaviours expected of all civil servants.

Employee Networks

Our Employee Networks are safe spaces where employees with a shared identity or life experience can find a sense of community and allyship. 
They are an important part in how we are building an inclusive culture. They provide feedback and work with us to put solutions in place. The networks consistently raise the visibility of diversity and inclusion through a range of events to celebrate key moments in the diversity calendar. Each of our networks is sponsored by a member of the Executive Team.

Equality Objectives 

As a public body, we are required under the Equality Act to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). This means we must give due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. 
Our equality objectives for 2024-2028 are: 
Equality Objective 1: Evolve our workplace and practices to be more inclusive of people with disabilities.
We want the focus of this objective to be on creating a more inclusive workplace for our current disabled employees, as well as future employees.  
Equality Objective 2: Build an inclusive environment, where all employees feel valued, respected and fairly treated.  
We want to focus this objective on building a workplace that fosters a sense of belonging and celebrates difference but also takes action to address unacceptable and poor behaviours including harassment and discrimination.   
Both objectives have a detailed action plan and we will report our progress in our annual ED&I progress report. 

ED&I governance

Our ED&I committee provides oversight on the delivery of the ED&I strategy and action plan. The committee reports to the People Committee, who provide strategic leadership on all people related matters across the Met Office. 
Alongside the ED&I Committee, our Diversity Council is a forum for staff network leads to meet, collaborate and support each other. It provides staff networks with a stronger voice that can influence best practice across the organisation, helping to enhance ways of working.

Equality Impact Assessments

Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) help us to ensure our decisions, policies and practices are fair and do not  inadvertently discriminate against protected characteristic groups. 
We use an evidence based approach that includes analysis of data and feedback from protected groups and others, which helps us to understand the actual or potential impact of changes on these groups. We believe that Equality Impact Assessments are a credible tool for demonstrating due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
For more information or if you have any questions about our completed Equality Impact Assessments, please contact [email protected]

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Annual Progress Report

Each year we produce an annual progress report, this focuses on how we have implemented our ED&I strategy.
Some of our highlights for 2023-2024 have been:

  • 94% of our employees have consistently shared their diversity data over the last year. 
  • Launching workplace adjustments passport for all employees, as we recognise that we all may need workplace adjustments at some point in our working lives. 
  • Launching Corporate Essentials – a new way to deliver mandatory training. 
  • Continuing to publish our successful and popular ‘walking in my shoes’ stories on internal networks which builds awareness and empathy through employees sharing lived experiences. 
  • 547 young people across a range of demographic groups completed our online work experience programme  in 2023. 

Our published reports include previous annual progress reports

Gender Pay Gap Report 

Gender Pay Gap legislation, introduced in April 2017 requires all employers of 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap for workers in scope by 31 March of each year.
The reports show the difference in average pay between men and women in the Met Office for the stated periods. Our published reports include all our gender pay reports. 
 

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