Annual diversity and inclusion report 2022 – 2023

Executive summary

Welcome to the summary of our Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report for 2022 - 2023. This report focusses on how we have implemented our policies and our work in identifying key actions to support delivery of the aims and objectives in our Gyda’n Gilydd – All Together Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2021 – 2025.

Some of the highlights over the year have been:

• Appointment of Lead Specialist Advisor Diversity and Inclusion
• Developing and implementing our Action Plan to support the aims and objectives in our D&I Strategy
• Contributing towards the Welsh Ministers Report on Equality 2022
• Working with eNGO’s on diversifying the environmental sector
• Inputting into the Natur am Byth and Natur a Ni Projects to help reconnect people to nature and develop a Vision for the natural environment of Wales for 2050
• Implementing our Work and Wellbeing Passport
• Celebrating and raising awareness of diverse days throughout the year

We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Forum with representatives from across the organisation who this year have been more involved in our work around Diversity Inclusion and have provided valuable insight and discussions which helps embed our work across the organisation.

Our 7 Employee Staff Networks play an important role in supporting colleagues and the business. Over the last year, the Networks have played an important part in helping to make our organisation more inclusive by sharing experiences, knowledge and information for consideration when developing our people policies and procedures.

In September, we launched our Work and Wellbeing Passport which was instigated by our Cwtch Carers Network. The Passport can be used by staff to help explain how work has an impact on their personal circumstances or condition to their mangers confidentially. This helps managers to better understand their circumstances, discuss and agree adjustments or flexibilities required to help them to work effectively, and function to their maximum capacity in a supportive environment.

Background

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on public bodies to consider the effect our work, policies and services that we deliver can have on others, including impacts in our own workplace. In summary, public bodies must, in the exercise of their functions, have ‘due regard’ to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against people with a “protected characteristic”. The protected characteristics are:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender Reassignment
• Marriage and Civil Partnership
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual Orientation

We are also subject to the devolved Public Sector Equality Duties Wales as set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011, noting that listed bodies will undertake:

• Annual Monitoring Reports
• Strategic Equality Plans
• Setting Objectives
• Collect and Analyse Equality Information
• Service User Equality Information
• Workforce Equality Information and Workforce Pay Differences
• Consultation and Engagement
• Assessing Impact
• Staff Training
• Procurement
• Accessibility

The Public Sector Equality Duty is part of the Equality Act (2010) and a legal requirement. The broad aim of the general equality duty is to integrate consideration of the advancement of equality, non-discrimination and fostering good relations into everything we do. The purpose of the specific duties is to help in our performance of the general equality duty.

Our duties to promote and use the Welsh language are set in the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011. Our Welsh Language Standards require that the language is considered in all our decision-making processes and is included as a consideration in our Equality Impact Assessment process, ensuring that both languages are treated equally.

EDI Lead Specialist Advisor

In September we appointed a Lead Specialist Advisor - Diversity and Inclusion who will lead and support us in implementing our Gyda’n Gilydd – All Together Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and action plan. In gaining an understanding of the business needs, we will use knowledge and expertise and be proactive in advising on best practices to identify and implement initiatives that will help drive change within the organisation whilst also
working with external organisations through wider Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. The role will also lead on how we develop our Welsh language capability and compliance.

Public Sector Wales Strategic Equality Objectives 2020 – 2024

Our Strategic Equality Objectives were developed working collaboratively with a group of public bodies to unite behind shared objectives as part of the Public Sector Wales Equality Objectives. The objectives in our D&I Strategy link to our Strategic Objectives and actions have been identified to help in delivering the aims of these objectives in the Action Plan to support the strategy.

Our Strategic Equality Objectives are:

• Increase workforce diversity and Inclusion
• Eliminate pay gaps
• Engage with the community
• Ensure equality is embedded into the procurement / commissioning process and is managed throughout delivery
• Ensure service delivery reflects individual need

‘Gyda’n Gilydd - All Together’
NRW's Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2021-25

Our strategy was approved by NRW Board on 28 January 2022 and is set around 6 objectives which were influenced by feedback from stakeholders and learning from external initiatives. The objectives in our strategy are tailored more towards our own priorities and values.

The key 6 objectives are:

• Bring about a shift in our culture by identifying and implementing initiatives that support everyone to actively listen and model inclusive workplace behaviours.
• Improve the quality of data we capture to enable us to make more informed and better decisions.
• Raise the Diversity and Inclusion bar through ‘living our values’ and by supporting and celebrating our own diversity as well as the diversity of Wales.
• Review the way we use language in our policies and practices in order to create a more inclusive and diverse culture.
• Ensure anyone in Wales, including our existing and new customers, stakeholders, and service users are able to shape our services and easily access our spaces.
• Ensure our policies align with our Diversity and Inclusion objectives and develop our people in a meaningful way.

Actions have been identified to help us in delivering the aims of these 6 objectives along with indicators to measure progress over the lifetime of the strategy. The action plan is a working document with some of the actions continuing beyond 2025. Some of the actions
will be achieved by working with other sectors such as Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (eNGO’s).

75% of planned actions to start in year 1 of the D&I Strategy Action plan have been started in 2022 with 100% of year 1 actions started by end of March 2023.

ET and the PCSC will be updated annually on implementation of the Strategy in the our D&I Annual Report for 2023-24.

Welsh Ministers Report on Equality 2022

We contributed towards the Welsh Ministers Report on Equality 2022, responding to their questionnaire on our work in promoting equality, highlighting challenges and what we are doing to address them. The report will cover the period between 2018-2022.

Below are examples of some of the work that has taken place in NRW and shared with Welsh Government:

• We worked collaboratively with 11 other public organisations to develop shared Strategic Equality Objectives for 2020-2024 as part of The Wales Public Bodies Equality Partnership by sharing resources in engaging and consulting on the objectives together.
• Developed our D&I Strategy and equality objectives following engagement with our staff, external stakeholders, and partners, with key actions identified to help deliver our aims, along with indicators to measure our progress in achieving our objectives.
• Embedded the need to consider and Equality Impact Assessment for each project
  as part of the Project Managers Office governance procedure.
• NRW Board Papers ask if an Equality Impact Assessment has been completed for the work/policy/decision being considered for approval.
• The need to consider the Socio-Economic Duty forms part of our Equality Impact Assessment, with a link to the Welsh Government guidance embedded to help staff completing the assessment.
• An Equality Impact Assessment Tracker was developed in April 2022 to capture actions identified in assessments.

NRW EDI Policy

Our current EDI Policy has been in place since 2015. Following the work over the last 3 years in developing our Strategic Equality Objectives and our D&I Strategy, we will be refreshing this policy during 2023.

Our new policy will take into consideration our D&I Strategy aims and ambitions to achieve a sense of belonging for all colleagues with differing backgrounds and experiences, rather than just including them.

Equality Impact Assessments

The need to consider an Equality Impact Assessments has been embedded into the Project Management Office (PMO) Step 1 of the project initiation process. This acts as a central function in providing oversight and assurance of programmes and projects. This has helped to ensure assessments are carried out when key changes which might include,
strategies, policies, projects, programmes, key financial change, function change, introduction, or withdrawal of a service, all which could impact staff, customers, public or stakeholders.

Considering the need for an assessment at this early stage in our work helps to ensure that we seek targeted feedback from those likely to be impacted at an early stage in the process. This helps to identify how positive impacts can be improved and potential adverse impacts mitigated or eliminated and not disadvantage any protected groups which is our duty under the Equality Act 2010.

A total of 31 Equality Impact Assessments have been completed over the last year, with 64 project briefs assessed which did not require an assessment to be completed for the intended work.

Ensuring anyone in Wales, including our existing and new customers, stakeholders and service users can help to shape our services and easily access our spaces is one of the 6 Objective in our D&I Strategy.

Equality Impact Assessment Tracker

An Equality Impact Assessment Tracker was developed in April 2022 to capture actions identified in assessments. The tracker will help us in identifying trends and areas we need to improve in our understanding when developing projects and policies and in the way important decisions are made.

Some trends identified have been: 

• The need to gain a better understanding of the demographics and diversity of our communities in the planning of our work prior to consultation.
• Identify who we are not engaging with and find ways to communicate effectively with them especially our lesser heard communities, ethnic minority groups and those from different socio-economic backgrounds to better inform our decisions and creating services which suit user needs.
• Consider the implications of decisions made when providing services on those from different socio-economic groups.
• Ensuring that Equality Impact Assessments are used as live documents and updated throughout the planned work, with the information and evidence gathered used as part of the decision-making process.

Having the tracker in place also helps us in relation to the Socio-Economic Duty to help reduce inequality resulting from socio-economic disadvantage and helps us in being able to demonstrate how this has been considered in our decision-making processes.

Developing a tracker is one of the actions in our D&I Strategy Action Plan.

Website Accessibility – making our online services more accessible

We continue to champion and improve accessibility to all our services by:

• re-writing content so that it’s clear for more people to understand
• publishing most content as web pages, as they are more accessible than PDFs
• testing new services, application forms and documents to make sure they compliant with accessibility standards
• continuing to develop and improve guidance to staff so that everyone in the organisation is considering accessibility when creating content for people.

Here is a list of improvements we’ve made to make the website more accessible. [currently being updated]

Our accessibility statement for Natural Resources Wales will continue to be reviewed and updated.

Diversifying the Environment Sector in Wales

In March 2022, we led a scoping exercise working collaboratively with other eNGOs (environmental non-governmental organisations) to understand what work is taking place working with ethnic minority groups to diversify the environmental sector. The aim is to build an understanding of the barriers that prevent ethnic minority groups from engaging fully with nature and the environment and provide support to those communities in accessing and increasing their connection with nature.

In November 2022 a facilitated workshop was held with senior leaders from environmental organisations across Wales to explore new ways of working and develop long term actions to engage with Black, Asian, and marginalised Ethnic groups in Wales. This work will complement the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan which calls for a collaborative approach to this work and actions we can take collectively immediately and in the long term.

Welsh Government published the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan (ARWAP), in June 2022 with a vision of ‘A Wales which is Anti-racist by 2030’. ARWAP sets out to tackle institutional and structural racial inequalities in Wales in order to make ‘meaningful and measurable changes to the lives of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people by tackling racism’.

In developing the action plan, Welsh Government have focused on 6 ways in which racism impacts on the lives of ethnic minority people:

• experience of racism in everyday life
• experience of racism when experiencing service delivery
• experience of racism in being part of the workforce
• experience of racism in gaining jobs and opportunities
• experience when they lack visible role models in positions of power or influence
• experience of racism as a refugee or asylum seekers

As Welsh Government focus on delivering the plan, collaboration from members of Welsh society, including NRW, will be key.

We are currently working on a programme called Natur am Byth. The Natur am Byth partnership is Wales’ flagship Green Recovery project. It unites nine environmental NGO charities: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bat Conservation Trust, Bat Conservation Truest, Buglife, Bumblee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Plantlife, Marine
Conservation Society, RSPB and Vincent Wildlife Trust who will work closely with us to deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme to save species from extinction and reconnect people to nature.

We are also working on a programme called ‘Natur a Ni – Nature and Us’ to involve the people of Wales to develop a shared vision for the natural environment for 2050. We’ve been hosting a national conversation – collating voices from people across Wales, and making extra efforts to ensure ethnic minority and marginalised people are involved. The shared vision will be used as a compass for us and other organisations working together to tackle the nature and climate emergencies.

In addition to the ARWAP, Welsh Government are developing a more comprehensive action plan to include work on climate change, rural affairs and environment, based on evidence from data and from the ‘lived experiences’ of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people from across Wales. As a key stakeholder, NRW are also working closely with Welsh Government on this.

Collaboratively work with eNGOs to address and improve diversity across the environment sector forms part of our D&I Strategy Action Plan.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Forum

The EDI Forum met four times in 2022 to discuss equality and diversity matters. Each of our Staff Networks is represented at the Forum as well as representatives from our Board, Executive Team, each of our 8 Directorates and Trade Union.

During the last year, Forum Members have been more involved in our work around Diversity Inclusion and have provided valuable insight and discussions which helps embed our work across the organisation.

Some of the work that the Forum members have been involved with: 

• Discussions on how our Staff Networks could work closer together to have more impact especially in raising awareness e.g. Teams Channel for discussions/sharing news and activities, monthly virtual catch up over a coffee, Network space at #TeamNRW Day, Network Day at a NRW venue South, Mid and North.
• Discussion and ideas shared on how Network Leads/members can access support or advice e.g., counselling or mentoring, in supporting staff who approach the Leads confidentially.
• How to incorporate D&I into the Managers Took Kit Training.
• Providing information in readiness to update our EDI pages on intranet.
• Provided feedback to Corporate Planning Team on the draft Corporate Plan.
• Discussion had on training requirements for Managers on EDI to help embed our values and expected behaviours within their teams.
• Implementing the Anti-Racist Action Plan Wales and how NRW can contribute to achieving the aims and objectives.

Employee Staff Networks

We currently have 7 Networks in place who play an important role in supporting colleagues and the business. Each Network has a lead, or the role is carried out jointly with another
member of staff. These roles are carried out voluntarily and provide staff with a safe space and someone to contact when support is required.

Our Networks in place are: 

• Neurodiversity Network
• Cwtch Network (for Carers)
• Dementia Friends
• Muslim Network
• Christian Fellowship Network
• Calon Network (LGBTQ+)
• Assisted Technology User Network

Over the last year, the Networks have played an important part in helping to make our organisation more inclusive by sharing experiences, knowledge and information for consideration when developing our policies and procedures.

Some of the work the Networks have been involved with is:

• Provide feedback during consultation on our People Policies
• Hosted Caffi Cwtch space at #Team NRW Day.
• Mental Health First Aid course purpose was explained to Forum.
• Worked with the EDI Team in developing and promoting the Work and Wellbeing Staff Passport

Guidance is currently being drafted which will outline the aims and objectives of Networks
and role of Network Leads. This will provide a framework to support their
mental health and wellbeing and to balance their day job and role as Network Leads.

Proactively celebrate our diversity in NRW by supporting, empowering and
promoting our active Staff Networks forms part of our D&I Strategy Action Plan.

More information can be found on the work of our Staff Networks in Annex 1 of this
report.

Team NRW Day

Team NRW Day took place on 15th June 2022 at Aberystwyth Art Centre. The emphasis of the day was to provide an opportunity for staff to reconnect with colleagues and friends following the Covid period. “Caffi Cwtch” was created by our Staff Networks and Trade Union as an informal space to provide staff the opportunity to pop in and find out more about our 7 Employee Staff Networks and Trade Unions during the day.

“Caffi Cwtch” proved to be a very popular space on the day with members of our Board, Executive Team and Leadership Members popping in to show their support for the work of our networks and unions. Having the opportunity to meet face to face helped to build up a real rapport when discussing matters with the networks and union, which is always easier than online when discussing issues close to one’s heart.

A space for “Caffi Cwtch” has been requested at future events to help in continuing to build on the work of the Employee Staff Networks and Trade Unions.

Work and Wellbeing Passport

In September 2022 we launched our Work and Wellbeing Passport which was instigated by our Cwtch Carers Network following good practice shared by Employers for Carers UK who NRW joined as members in 2021.

Following completion of an Equality Impact Assessment it was found that the Passport could benefit a wider group of staff and was developed as our Work and Wellbeing Passport.

The Passport is to be used by staff to help explain how work has an impact on their personal circumstances or condition and to help facilitate a confidential conversation between staff and their line manager to discuss how best to balance their work and personal life in a better way. This will help managers to better understand their circumstances, discuss and agree adjustments or flexibilities required to help them to work effectively, and function to their maximum capacity in a supportive environment. The conversation will involve balancing their needs with the needs of the business. The Passport is helpful when moving roles and changing manager, helping the new manager understand the adjustments or flexibilities previously agreed, avoiding the need to begin the process again for the staff member.

We plan to review the effectiveness of the Passport in 2023 in consultation with staff who use the Passport and their Managers.

Implementing the Passport forms one of the actions in our D&I Strategy Action Plan.

Diversity and Inclusion Calendar

The Equalities Team and Staff Networks were involved in raising awareness of some of the activities below on Yammer, Intranet, and social media:

• LGBT+ History Month and launch of Gender Pronouns Video – February 2022
• Neurodiversity Week – March 2022
• Muslim Month of Ramadan – April 2022
• Dementia Awareness Week – May 2022
• Carers Week – June 2022
• Annual pilgrimage in Makkah, Saudi Arabia (Hajj) – July 2022
• Pride Cymru – August 2022
• Raise Awareness of Neurodiversity Network – October 2022
• Black History Month UK – October 2022
• Islamophobia Awareness Month – November 2022
• Transgender Awareness Week – November 2022
• Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 2022
• Carers Rights Day – November 2022
• International Day for the Eliminations of Violence against women – November 2022
• World AIDS Day – December 2022
• International Day of Disabilities – December 2022
• International Day for the Abolition of Slavery – December 2022

Celebrating key diversity festivals throughout the year with input and support from staff/stakeholder groups and our Staff Network Groups forms part of our D&I Strategy Action Plan.

Recruitment Applications

From January 2022 until December 2022, we received 3278 applications in total, 1087 of these were from internal candidates.

As part of our commitment to the EDI strategic objectives and the D&I Strategy, our aim will be to attract applications across our communities to best reflect the diversity of our population in Wales. A breakdown of our external recruitment statistics for the period above can be found in Annex 2 this report. The statistics are based on questions asked on our external application form titled ‘Equalities Monitoring Form Recruitment”.

The statistics show, from those who self-declared, that the highest percentage of applications are:

• 31% aged between 25-34
• 54% are male
• 78% declare they are from white or white mixed ethnicity

The least percentage of applications were received from:

• 6.5% from LGBTQ+
• 5% from ethnic minority groups

Disability Confident Employer

“Disability Confident” is a scheme that is designed to help us recruit and retain disabled people for their skills and talents. This ensures that those with disabilities are guaranteed an interview when applying for vacancies within our organisation where they meet the minimum skill criteria requirements for the role. We successfully achieved Level 2 re-accreditation to this scheme until May 2021 until April 2024.

Over the last year we have received 86 requests for interviews under this scheme’s guaranteed interview process. Of the 86 requests, 3 requests were from internal staff and 83 from external candidates, with 56 candidates invited to an interview. The other 30 did not meet the minimum criteria requirement for the roles in questions and were declined an interview on this occasion.

Progressing from Level 2 Disability Confident Employer to Level 3 Disability Confident Leader standard forms part of the D&I Strategy Action Plan. This will help to attract more disabled people to apply and be successful in securing roles within our organisation.

Staff Self-Disclosure

Staff can self-disclose voluntarily personal details such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, faith, belief or no belief and caring responsibilities confidentially in our central MyNRW HR and Finance system. We ask and encourage staff to self-disclose as this helps us to understand the makeup of our workforce, however it is at the discretion of the
employee how much or how little information they declare. Self-declaring helps us to ensure we have the right policies and procedures in place to support our staff as well how reflective we are as an organisation of the population and communities we serve in Wales.

The current figures show, 68% of our staff have self-disclosed some or all information voluntarily, this appears to be decreased by 3% since last year, with 32% of staff who have not self-disclosed. According to figures 308 new members of staff started with us with 176 members of staff leaving the organisation between January and December 2022.

Highlighting the benefits of self-declaring and work to remove any barriers, working alongside our Staff Networks forms part of our D&I Strategy Action Plan.

Self-Disclosure Completion Rates – January 2022

Directorate Disclosure Stats	Number completed disclosure	Number not completed disclosure	Total	Percentage completed disclosure	Percentage not completed disclosure
Operations	877	>443	1320	66%	34%
Evidence, Policy and Permitting	451	169	620	73%	27%
Finance and Corporate Services	124	68	192	65%	35%
Communication, Customer and Commercial	76	40	116	66%	34%
Corporate Strategy and Development	86	35	121	71%	29%
Overall Total	1614	755	2369	68%	32%

More information can be found in Annex 3 on our staff self-disclosure statistics. Disclosure includes ‘prefer not to say’ option.

Gender Pay Gap at 31/3/22

-	2019	2020	2021	2022
Mean	5.3%	2.5%	2.0%	2.3%
Median	12.1%	3.1%	3.1%	6.4%

 

Quartiles	2020 Male	2020 Female	2021 Male	2021 Female	2022 Male	2022 Female
Lower Quartile	54%	46%	53%	47%	53%	47%
Lower Middle Quartile	53%	47%	54%	46%	52%	48%
Upper Middle Quartile	52%	48%	51%	49%	53%	47%
Upper Quartile	62%	38%	62%	38%	62%	38%
Total Workforce	55%	45%	55%	45%	55%	45%

Our gender pay gap information is captured on 31 March each year to comply with The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 methodology.

Analysis of Gender Pay Gap

The gender pay gap measures the difference between average (median) hourly earnings of men and women, usually shown by the percentage men earn more than women.

Our gender pay gap information is captured on 31st March each year and reported on the Gender Pay Gap Service on .Gov to comply with The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 methodology.

From figures captured in March 2022 analysis shows that the mean gender pay gap has increased slightly to 2.3% and increase of 0.3%. This means that females earn 97.7p for every £1 males earn when comparing hourly pay.

Our median gender pay gap has increased this year to 6.4% with an increase of 3.3%. This shows that females earn 93.6p for every £1 males earn when comparing hourly pay. This is due to an increase by 2% of males in the median salary range and a reduction of 2% of in the number of females in the upper middle quartile.

The upper quartile remains the same as last year with a higher proportion of males at 62% in comparison to females at 38%. The percentage of males and females working in the organisation has also remained the same as last year with 55% being males and 45% women.

Whilst the median pay gap shows a difference of (93.6p to every £1), the average does show that “on the whole”, the hourly salaries aren’t too far apart (97.7p to every £1). This gap does not mean that males are paid more than females for carrying out the same type of role. There are several factors that impact the pay gap, for example:

• 55% of our workforce are males
• 45% of our workforce are females
• 92.4% of our male workforce work full time
• 75% of our female workforce work full time
• 7.6% of our male workforce work part time
• 25% of our female workforce work part time
• 62% of our upper quartile hourly salaries are males
• There are more males than females in all our quartiles

With the introduction of our new Working Styles policies, this may help to reduce the gap in providing more opportunities for our colleagues to work around responsibilities if they so wish.

The UK pay gap for 2022 for full time employees has increased to 8.3%, this is an increase of 0.6 from 2021. This is due to a several changes in working practices and the impact of retention schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic which affected earnings and accuracy around reporting.

Complaints

Over the last year we received 4 complaints in relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as follows:

Complaint 1

One complaint was received when the complainant reported that wheelchair and mobility scooter users were unable to go through the specially designed kissing gate at Fforest Fawr. The gate was designed to be opened by means of a RADAR key which allows disabled people access to locked facilities. A section of the car park closest to the forest also has access without a boundary fence to the footpath.

The complainant obtained a RADAR key.

Complaint 2

In relation to Complaint 1 above, a second complaint was received from the complainant who having obtained a RADAR key was unable to gain access through the specially designed kissing gate due to the dimensions of the wheelchair/mobility scooter used.

It was explained to the complainant that due to anti-social behaviour, particularly off-road motorbikes, restricted access to unlawful users was necessary and the challenge in allowing access to legitimate users with a RADAR lock which allows access to disabled people through the gate. This was the best solution at the time the gate was installed.

To help ensure that the gate does not cause further problems, plans were put in place to replace the gate with a standard K Barrier, with further work to ensure that the approach is level and free of obstructions. This replacement will enhance the access for anyone using mobility scooters, families with pushchairs and wheelchair users. The new barrier was ordered and fitted, and work carried out as explained at Fforest Fawr.

Complaint 3

One complaint was received from a complainant in the manner they had been referred to in email correspondence, who had been referred to by their proper name, nickname, or alias which the complainant felt referenced their ethnicity during investigation work carried out by NRW staff.

The team concerned were instructed to use proper names when referencing others in future and all the team were required to complete Equality and Diversity and Unconscious Bias Training.

The complainant’s allegation that ethnicity played a role in the decision by Legal Services to prosecute was investigated by NRW Legal Team and no evidence was found in the statements served on the complainant to support this allegation.

The complainant was advised of their entitlement to contact the Ombudsman if they wished.

Complaint 4

A recent complaint was received in relation to making it mandatory to add a title to an individual’s name when creating an account on our Waste Carrier Licence service.

The complainant is questioning the need for this requirement to be mandatory and claims it to be discriminatory that the field should be optional requirement.

This complaint is in the process of being deal with following our Complaints procedure in place.

Conclusion

Over the last year we have made progress in developing and in starting to implement an action plan to support the delivery of our D&I Strategy. This work will continue over the next 3 years and beyond in further embedding D&I into our policies, procedures, and ways of working, but also in finding better ways of engaging with the diverse communities across Wales.

From figures captured on 31 March 2022 analysis shows that the mean gender pay gap has increased slightly to 2.3% an increase of 0.3%. This means that females earn 97.7p for every £1 males earn when comparing hourly pay. This is due to the fact that 62% of our upper quartile hourly salaries are males. As a comparator the ONS report that the UK pay gap for 2022 for full time employees has increased to 8.3%, an increase of 0.6% from March 2021. This is due to a several changes in working practices and the impact of retention schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic which affected earnings and accuracy around reporting.

Analysis of our staff profiles shows that the diversity of our workforce remains unchanged on the whole as in previous years. Work in attracting a workforce that is more reflective of the communities we serve has been identified in our D&I Action Plan. We also need to encourage more of our staff to self-declare so that we have a better understanding of the true diversity of our workforce.

We are very pleased with the implementation of our Work and Wellbeing Passport and feedback from some of our staff and managers has been positive, with managers having a better understanding of circumstances, discuss and agree adjustments or flexibilities required to staff to work effectively, and function to their maximum capacity in a supportive environment.

Annex 1

Staff Networks Information

Neurodiversity Network

The Neurodiversity Network was set up by a group of staff to give other neurodivergent colleagues, their managers and colleagues who have neurodivergent family members, access to useful information and a place to ask questions. The network is open to anyone, neurodivergent, neurotypical or undecided! The Network have a Neurodiversity News group on Yammer and a private Neurodiversity Network Group for discussion, both open to all. The aim is to create an inclusive workplace to:

• put into practice NRW's commitment to diversity and inclusion
• reduce the stigma around being neurodivergent
• make staff feel safe, empowered, and informed

In 2022 the network:

• trialled the wellbeing passport and gathered feedback for ODPM on how well this worked and what could be improved
• put together a document library about reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent staff and their managers
• used Yammer to raise general awareness about neurodiversity. We ran a series of posts during neurodiversity week and on ADHD in October, which helped increase network membership to almost 80 (from around 35-40) at the start of the year
• ran a survey about staff experiences with neurodiversity and work (results to be written up in early 2023)
• through the Yammer group we provided a place for neurodivergent staff & allies to discuss issues and experiences and find support from other network members

Calon our LGTBQ+ Staff Network

The Network provides support, guidance, and networking opportunities for NRW’s LGBT+ staff members and allies who wish to support LGBT+ equality and inclusion.

The network migrated from contributors of legacy bodies and was the first official staff network group of NRW in April 2013. To date there are 50 formal members, with 150 following the network on Yammer.

To date:

• Calon has continued to develop its Yammer presence and emphasise engagement with members through posts and topics for discussion.
• A stand representing Calon was arranged for Team NRW Day in Aberystwyth and an informal meeting up was arranged for the Pride celebration in Cardiff.
• Calon commemorated Transgender day of Remembrance (TDoR) with informative posts, an intranet post and an interview completed with a colleague whose child is transgender. The aim was to explore the challenges associated with identifying as transgender, how parents can help their children understand this process and generated awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people.
• Calon concluded its activities for 2022 with the Calon Christmas Quiz that took place over Microsoft Teams.

The network will be meeting further in January to discuss its plans for 2023, celebrating days of awareness, planning online and in person activities.

Muslim Network

The network was launched for anyone in the organisation who is a Muslim or would like to find out more about the Islamic faith, meet new people and simply show support as an ally.

It is important for the Muslim staff network to exist so it can raise awareness in order for people to have a better understanding about Islam and dispel the negative and prejudicial exposure the faith encounters in order to build community cohesion.

Activities between 1st January and 31st December 2022:

• Contributed towards using Islamic identity video via comms in the “Nature and Us” campaign
• Raised awareness about Islamophobia: The Dinner Table Prejudice Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain Dr Stephen H. Jones and Amy Unsworth
• Contributed an article for the NRW staff on “Belief and Natural Resources in Islam”
• Promoted “Visit My Mosque” national event for NRW staff
• Supported the Recreation Team around inclusivity of Muslim Identifying the natural environment by participating in a Photoshoot for Estate Recreation and Access Promotion.

Dementia Friends Network 2022-23 EDI Annual Report

Since February 2022, Dementia Friends has attracted 51 new dementia friends members via virtual sessions. The sessions comprise the Dementia Friends Awareness session, followed by a short discussion about NRW’s journey to becoming a Dementia Friendly Community, the resources that are available to staff and the expectations we have of them to be ‘Dementia Friendly’ in their work.

• As well as these “standard” sessions, the Network has been approached to run some individual / bespoke discussions this year.
• The Dementia Champion requirements have changed from November 2022, and our existing Champions need to complete further training to achieve the new role of Dementia Ambassador and deliver our future training sessions.
• We currently have one accredited Ambassador and 2 applications ongoing.
• Our Dementia Friendly work continues to be represented at our ongoing EDI Forum meetings, Carers Network (Cwtch) calls and a ‘caring for elders’ virtual cuppa.
• We are sharing details of our Dementia Friendly Community work on a suite of Intranet pages.
• NRW continues to participate in a Wales-wide ‘blue light’ dementia group to share learning and best practice. This is co-ordinated by the ambulance service and
  includes representation from police and fire. Forum members provide updates about their dementia friendly initiatives and share best practice.
• We also join the Carmarthenshire Dementia Community Coalition calls, as a result of our participation in the Carmarthenshire PSB.
• As a member of the Health, Education and Natural Resources team one of our Organisational Leads is able to feed into policy development and projects that require knowledge and understanding of people living with dementia and their carers. She also supports the ‘Health’ specialists within this team.

Christian Fellowship Staff Network

The Network is a welcoming and joyful place where people can come and share needs, joys and engage in discussions about issues of the day from a biblical perspective. It is open to everyone, and all are welcome whatever your background and without any obligation.

• The Network currently has 26 members, with between 5 and 10 members also involved in regular virtual meetings which take place weekly for short prayer and praise sessions. Members also share worship songs and words of encouragement through this.
• We have been blessed to have daily reflections and amazing photos shared by a member to the Yammer page which often relates specifically to individual’s situations and brings about encouraging conversations.
• We also meet every 2 weeks, interchanging between bible study sessions brilliantly led by a member and monthly sessions monthly colleagues in Welsh Government. We regularly pray into the work of NRW and for the staff, both individually where we are aware of particular issues that staff members are facing or more corporately for the work of the organisation. We have seen real encouragement between members and a real spiritual growth as we learn from each other.
• We have continued with our link to Transform UK this year and are hoping to be involved in further activities with them in 2023 – including a possible Transform UK (Wales) conference.
• We have continued to regularly present in the new starter induction programme which again has been well received.

NRW Carer’s Network (Cwtch)

Our Carer’s Network (Cwtch) group was established in 2019 with the aim of doing more to recognise, support and value our colleagues who care for a loved one. The Network now have around 30-35 on our meeting group membership, and more in our wider yammer network.

• Fewer meetings have been held over the year with the aim to make the meetings held more meaningful for attendees. Between 10-20 people regularly attend. The meeting includes a section called “Me Time” which involves a guest speaker joining and sharing with us e.g., Mindfulness.
• Our Yammer group is active with 85 members, and a Network intranet page with guidance and support available for staff from NRW and through our membership of Employers for Carers.
• “Carers Cuppa” sessions are held monthly to provide members to chat informally in a supportive environment.
• One of the Network leads has completed the carers Wales Workplace Carers Champion course, with the two leads providing support on a one-to-one basis to staff who seek support in their role as a Carer and employee.
• The Network worked closely with the Equality Team on the development and launch of the Work and Wellbeing Staff Passport and have provided feedback on NRW people policy consultations.
• Activities took place to promote Carers Rights Day and Carers Week 2022, including training sessions
• Produced a document highlighting places colleagues can go for support as a Carer

In 2022 we raised awareness by: 

• Celebrating Carers week in June 2022 on the intranet with carers blogs and a series of Wellbeing walks around the country for member to join.
• Celebrated Carer’s Rights Day in November, by hosting workshops focusing on identifying a carer, support for carers and issues surrounding caring.

In 2023 we plan to:

• Focus on Carers Leave policies in 2023.
• Apply for the Carers Confident Level 2 award and will start the process of gathering evidence for this in 2023.

Assisted User Group ICT and Telephony Network

The Assisted User Group ICT and telephony Network has 33 members and provides a focal point for matters relating to accessibility. The group are responsible for ensuring NRW is using standard up to date tools and consistent versions, working with ICT governance for management and delivery of any changes by:

• Helping to test new software
• Escalate risks and issues to ICT or relevant member of leadership team
• Share learning, tips, and tricks between users of assisted technology
• Group review of further training and guidance needed from outside the organisation
• Review of progress on current projects relating to assisted user technology
• Raise awareness of assisted user’s ICT and Telephony needs to all parts of the business
• Ensure assisted technology requirements are included in new projects from the outset

The work the Network has been involved with over the year – Rolling out the updated Dragon software to the Dragon users. Testing various applications such as Hornbill to ensure accessibility and where it’s not working with project managers on a resolution.

In 2023, the group will be meeting with Welsh Government about their accessibility work and assisting ICT with the testing of the MS Surfaces and Windows 11.

Annex 2

External Recruitment Statistics for January 2023

What is your age group?

Age group	Total
16 - 24	503
25 - 34	1008
35 - 44	634
45 - 54	434
55 - 64	135
65+	3
Prefer not to say	43
No record	518

What is your Gender?

Gender	Total
Male	1755
Female	1486
Non-binary	3
Prefer not to say	17
No record	17

Does your Gender Identity Match the sex you were assigned to at Birth?

Gender Identity	Total
Yes	2706
No	22
Prefer not to say	33
No record	517

Are you currently married or in a Civil partnership?

Married or Civil Partnership	Total
Yes	918
No	1762
Prefer not to say	82
No record	516

What is your sexual orientation?

Sexual orientation	Total
Heterosexual/Straight	2376
Gay	41
Lesbian	35
Bisexual	112
Other	22
Prefer to use own term	2
Prefer not to say	171
No record	519

What caring responsibilities do you have?

Caring responsibility	Total
Primary Carer of a Disabled Adult	3
Primary Carer (under 18)	511
Primary Carer (over 65)	14
Secondary Carer	111
Assist in caring	2
None	2037
Prefer not to say	77
No record	523

Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

Disability	Total
Yes	23
No	119
Prefer not to say	29
No record	3107

Guaranteed Interview requests

Requested	Total
Yes	86
No	11
No record	3184

 

Guaranteed Interview offered

Interview offered	Total
Yes	56
No (No offer due to not meeting minimum required criteria)	30

 

What is your religion or belief?

Religion or belief	Total
Have faith or belief	725
Have no faith or belief	1806
Other	19
Prefer not to say	207
No record	521

What is your ethnicity?

Ethnicity	Total
White (English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British, Irish, Gypsy or Traveller, any other White background)	2543
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British (African, Caribbean, Any other Black/African/Caribbean background)	34
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups (White and Black Caribbean, White and Black African, White and Asian, any other mixed/multiple ethnic background)	34
Asian/Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, any other Asian background)	58
Other ethnic group (Arab or any other ethnic group)	26
Prefer not to say	65
No record	518

Staff Self-disclosure stats

Age Analysis

January 2021

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	73	3.3%
25 to 35	429	19.2%
35 to 45	654	29.2%
45 to 55	663	29.6%
55 to 65	385	17.2%
Over 65	33	1.5%
Total	2237	100%

January 2022

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	33	1.4%
25 to 35	428	19.0%
35 to 45	636	28.2%
45 to 55	671	29.7%
55 to 65	446	19.8%
Over 65	43	1.9%
Total	2257	100%

January 2023

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	41	1.7%
25 to 35	461	19.6%
35 to 45	688	29.0%
45 to 55	688	29.0%
55 to 65	453	19.1%
Over 65	38	1.6%
Total	2369	100%

Age Profile – Full-Time and Part Time Staff

January 2021

Part time:

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	Below 10	0.0%
25 to 35	38	1.7%
35 to 45	111	5.0%
45 to 55	105	4.7%
55 to 65	72	3.2%
Over 65	10	0.4%
Total	337	15.1%

Full time:

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	72	3.2%
25 to 35	391	17.5%
35 to 45	543	24.3%
45 to 55	558	24.9%
55 to 65	313	14.0%
Over 65	23	1.0%
Total	1900	84.9%

​Total overall: 2237

January 2022

Part time:

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	0	0.0%
25 to 35	37	1.6%
35 to 45	106	4.7%
45 to 55	100	4.4%
55 to 65	76	3.4%
Over 65	16	0.7%
Total	335	14.8%

Full time:

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	33	1.5%
25 to 35	391	17.3%
35 to 45	530	23.5%
45 to 55	571	25.3%
55 to 65	370	16.4%
Over 65	27	1.2%
Total	1922	85.2%​

​Total overall: 2257

January 2023

Part time:

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	Below 10	0.1%
25 to 35	39	1.6%
35 to 45	115	4.9%
45 to 55	98	4.1%
55 to 65	85	3.6%
Over 65	14	0.6%
Total	353	14.9%

Full time:

Age	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Under 25	39	1.6%
25 to 35	422	17.8%
35 to 45	573	24.2%
45 to 55	590	24.9%
55 to 65	368	15.5%
Over 65	24	1.0%
Total	2016	85.1%​​

​Total overall: 2369​

Working Arrangements

January 2021

Working Arrangements:

Working Arrangement	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Full-time	1900	84.9%
Part-time	337	15.1%
Total	2237	100%

Of those who disclosed Working Arrangement:

Working Arrangement by sex	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Full-time - Male	1150	51.4%
Full-time - Female	750	33.5%
Part-time - Male	75	3.4%
Part-time - Female	262	11.7%
Total	1900	100%

 

January 2022

Working Arrangements:

Working Arrangement	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Full-time	1922	85.2%
Part-time	395	14.8%
Total	2257	100%

Of those who disclosed Working Arrangement:

Working Arrangement by sex	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Full-time - Male	1147	50.8%
Full-time - Female	775	34.4%
Part-time - Male	79	3.5%
Part-time - Female	256	11.3%
Total	2257	100%

 

January 2023

Working Arrangements:

Working Arrangement	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Full-time	2016	85.1%
Part-time	353	14.9%
Total	2369	100%

Of those who disclosed Working Arrangement:

Working Arrangement by sex	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Full-time - Male	1178	49.7%
Full-time - Female	838	35.4%
Part-time - Male	82	3.5%
Part-time - Female	271	11.4%
Total	2369	100%

Disability Analysis

January 2021

Disability status	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Yes	70	3.1%
No	1329	59.4%
*Prefer not to say	838	37.5%
Total	2237	100%

*includes those who have not self-declared

January 2022

Disability status	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Yes	83	3.7%
No	1390	61.6%
*Prefer not to say	784	34.7%
Total	2257	100%

*includes those who have not self-declared

January 2023

Disability status	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Yes	85	3.6%
No	1431	60.4%
*Prefer not to say	853	36.0%
Total	2369	100%

*includes those who have not self-declared

Gender Analysis

January 2021

Gender	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Male	1225	54.8%
Female	1012	45.2%
*Prefer not to say	0	0%
Total	2237	100%

 

January 2022

Gender	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Male	1226	54.3%
Female	1031	45.7%
*Prefer not to say	0	0%
Total	2257	100%

 

January 2023

Gender	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Male	1260	53.2%
Female	1109	46.8%
*Prefer not to say	0	0%
Total	2369	100%

 

Sexual Orientation Analysis

January 2021

Sexual orientation	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Heterosexual/Straight	1214	54.3%
Gay	11	0.49%
Lesbian	15	0.67%
Bisexual	17	0.8%
Other	10	0.4%
*Prefer not to say	970	43.4%
Total	2237	100%
% of workforce identifying as LGBTQ+	53	2.4%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2022

Sexual orientation	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Heterosexual/Straight	1288	57.1%
Gay	12	0.5%
Lesbian	15	0.7%
Bisexual	18	0.8%
Other	10	0.4%
*Prefer not to say	914	40.5%
Total	2257	100%
% of workforce identifying as LGBTQ+	55	2.39%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2023

Sexual orientation	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Heterosexual/Straight	1312	55.4%
Gay	18	0.8%
Lesbian	15	0.6%
Bisexual	22	0.9%
Other	15	0.6%
*Prefer not to say	989	41.7%
Total	2369	100%
% of workforce identifying as LGBTQ+	70	3%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

Ethnicity Analysis

January 2021

Ethnicity	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
White	1371	61.3%
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	Less than 10	n/a
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups	14	0.6%
Asian/Asian British	14	0.6%
Other ethnic groups	Less than 10	n/a
*Prefer not to say	832	37.2%
Total	2237	100%
% of workforce who identify as Black, Minority Ethnic	34	1.52%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2022

Ethnicity	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
White	1440	63.8%
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	Less than 10	n/a
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups	16	0.7%
Asian/Asian British	13	0.6%
Other ethnic groups	Less than 10	n/a
*Prefer not to say	782	34.6%
Total	2257	100%
% of workforce who identify as Black, Minority Ethnic	35	1.6%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2023

Ethnicity	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
White	1480	62.5%
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	Less than 10	n/a
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups	20	0.8%
Asian/Asian British	13	0.5%
Other ethnic groups	Less than 10	n/a
*Prefer not to say	850	35.9%
Total	2369	100%
% of workforce who identify as Black, Minority Ethnic	39	1.65%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

Religion, belief, or non-belief analysis

January 2021

Religion, belief or non-belief	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Have no faith or belief	515	23%
Have a faith or belief	587	26.2%
*Prefer not to say	273	12.2%
Total	2237	100%
% of staff who identify their religion, belief, or non-belief	587	26.2%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2022

Religion, belief or non-belief	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Have no faith or belief	650	28.8%
Have a faith or belief	501	22.2%
*Prefer not to say	1106	49%
Total	2257	100%
% of staff who identify their religion, belief, or non-belief	501	22.2%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2023

Religion, belief or non-belief	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Have no faith or belief	675	28.5%
Have a faith or belief	507	21.4%
*Prefer not to say	1187	50.1%
Total	2369	100%
% of staff who identify their religion, belief, or non-belief	507	21.4%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

 

Caring Responsibilities

January 2021

Caring responsibilities	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Have a caring responsibility	739	33%
Have no caring responsibility	956	42.7%
*Prefer not to say	542	24.2%
Total	2237	100%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2022

Caring responsibilities	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Have a caring responsibility	568	25.2%
Have no caring responsibility	783	34.7%
*Prefer not to say	906	40.1%
Total	2257	100%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2023

Caring responsibilities	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Have a caring responsibility	588	24.8%
Have no caring responsibility	806	34%
*Prefer not to say	975	41.2%
Total	2369	100%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

Type of caring responsibility

January 2021

Caring responsibility	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Primary carer of child/children under 18	369	68.1%
Secondary carer	82	15.1%
Multiple caring responsibilities	47	8.7%
Primary carer of person over 65	25	4.6%
Primary carer of disabled child/children	10	1.85%
Primary carer of disabled adult (over 18)	Less than 10	n/a
Total	542	100%

 

January 2022

Caring responsibility	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Primary carer of child/children under 18	381	67.1%
Secondary carer	91	16%
Multiple caring responsibilities	45	7.9%
Primary carer of person over 65	30	5.3%
Primary carer of disabled child/children	Less than 10	n/a
Primary carer of disabled adult (over 18)	12	2.1%
Total	568	100%

 

January 2023

Caring responsibility	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Primary carer of child/children under 18	401	68.2%
Secondary carer	89	15.1%
Multiple caring responsibilities	43	7.3%
Primary carer of person over 65	31	5.3%
Primary carer of disabled child/children	11	1.9%
Primary carer of disabled adult (over 18)	13	2.2%
Total	588	100%

 

National Identity Analysis

January 2021

National Identity	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Welsh	701	31.3%
British	612	27.4%
English	90	4%
Other	48	2.1%
Scottish	16	0.7%
Irish/Northern Irish	Less than 10	n/a
*Prefer not to say	766	34.2%
Total	2237	100%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2022

National Identity	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Welsh	738	32.7%
British	634	28.1%
English	100	4.4%
Other	50	2.2%
Scottish	17	0.8%
Irish/Northern Irish	Less than 10	n/a
*Prefer not to say	714	31.6%
Total	2257	100%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

January 2023

National Identity	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Welsh	776	32.8%
British	642	27.1%
English	97	4.1%
Other	51	2.2%
Scottish	15	0.6%
Irish/Northern Irish	Less than 10	n/a
*Prefer not to say	784	33.1%
Total	2369	100%

* Also includes those who have not self-declared

Welsh Language Ability of Staff

January 2021

Language Ability	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Staff who have self-assessed language skills in MyNRW	2128	95.1%
Staff who have declared they are able to communicate in Welsh at various levels	2041	91.2%
Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	915	40.9%
Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	438	19.6%
Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	310	13.9%
Fluency in spoken Welsh	225	10.1%
Able to discuss some work matters confidently	153	6.8%
No understanding of Welsh	87	3.9%
No return completed	109	4.9%
Total	2237	100%

January 2022

Language Ability	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Staff who have self-assessed language skills in MyNRW	2214	98.1%
Staff who have declared they are able to communicate in Welsh at various levels	2126	92.2%
Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	941	41.7%
Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	458	20.3%
Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	331	14.7%
Fluency in spoken Welsh	222	9.8%
Able to discuss some work matters confidently	174	7.7%
No understanding of Welsh	88	3.9%
No return completed	43	1.9%
Total	2257	100%

January 2023

Language Ability	Number of staff	Percentage of staff
Staff who have self-assessed language skills in MyNRW	2228	94%
Staff who have declared they are able to communicate in Welsh at various levels	2130	90%
Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	991	41.8%
Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	477	20.1%
Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	347	14.7%
Fluency in spoken Welsh	227	9.6%
Able to discuss some work matters confidently	86	7.9%
No understanding of Welsh	98	4.1%
No return completed	43	1.8%
Total	2369	100%

Welsh Language Ability by Directorate January 2023

Language Level	Communication Customer and Commercial	Corporate Strategy and Development	Evidence, Policy and Permitting	Finance and Corporate Services	Operations	Total
0 - No understanding of Welsh	5	2	26	15	50	98
1 - Able to pronounce basic Welsh phrases and names	25	43	282	85	556	991
2 - Able to construct basic Welsh sentences	20	33	140	36	248	477
3 - Able to discuss some work matters confidently	10	5	57	15	99	186
4 - Fluency in spoken Welsh	11	12	48	16	140	227
5 - Fluency in spoken and written Welsh	41	22	62	23	199	347
No Declaration	4	4	5	2	28	43
Total Staff	116	121	620	192	1320	2369