MD3265 Workforce Integration Network Design Lab

1.1. The Workforce Integration Network (WIN) was established in 2018 as part of "All of Us", the Mayor's strategy for social integration. WIN works with employers to address the structural barriers that prevent underrepresented groups from accessing and progressing into good work. WIN seeks to achieve this through: direct employer engagement, partnerships and business support; the development of practical research and resources; and initiatives to create links between employers and underrepresented groups.
1.2. WIN takes an intentionally intersectional approach. It recognises the importance of tailoring interventions to the interlocking needs of different groups that experience barriers to workforce inclusion. Drawing from the latest data and insights, WIN identifies the following groups as being especially impacted by labour market inequality and lack of access to good work, prioritising them for bespoke support:
• Black men (16-24; and 50 and over)
• Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black women.
1.3. Data also shows socio-economic status and disability as key intersecting factors that impact on individuals' ability to access good work.
1.4. The 2022-24 WIN Design Lab is an advanced equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and anti-racism programme. Each cohort will receive support over 10 months. It is one of the GLA's main offers for large employers in London to build a fairer and more equitable city. The programme provides a bespoke package of support to businesses to explore the causes of underrepresentation in their workforces in an evidence-driven way; and to design and test approaches to tackling them. The programme builds on the 2021-22 WIN Design Lab, approved by MD2859. This supported 28 businesses in the construction and infrastructure, and technology sectors to develop action plans to build diverse and inclusive workplaces. Surveys conducted before and after the programme showed that, on average, companies increased their EDI score from 44 to 65 out of 90. Companies were assessed against 18 indicators of organisational approaches/attitudes/maturity regarding EDI, and young Black men specifically. Most businesses improved data recording and analysis: employers on the programme are now recording more information about the ethnicity of their workforce.
1.5. The second phase of the programme builds on learnings from the first, and places emphasis on systems change and design thinking to identify new ways to address labour market inequalities. The WIN Design Lab includes company and sector-level workshops, one-to-one coaching, peer learning, and planning on EDI to embed equity into organisational structures and policies. Workshops use equity-centred design: an innovative pro-social organisational change methodology tailored to promote equity.
1.6. The programme delivers the following elements to participating businesses across 10 months:
• sector induction: online workshop with 10 industry peers to assess common underrepresentation challenges in each sector
• company immersion: an all-day online workshop with a cross-section of the participants' workforces; participants assess where their company is on the anti-racism spectrum using ethnographic data, and develop an action plan to tackle underrepresentation
• coached action-planning: one-to-one sessions to refine the action plan and begin developing pilot projects
• sector development workshop: participants share best practice, learn from peers and get input on their project ideas
• latest research, including new ethnography
• a Mayoral symposium event, which includes an awards ceremony to share projects' progress and recognise businesses.
The 2022-24 WIN Design Lab
1.7. The 2022-24 WIN Design Lab aims to support 60 businesses, in cohorts of 10 employers across six sectors (health, creative, green economy, social care, digital and hospitality). The programme was allocated £600,000 from the Mayor's Skills Academies (MSA) budget over two years (2022-23 and 2023-24), approved by DD2590, to deliver the programme.
1.8. The programme has been successful so far. Recent achievements include the following:
• 28 companies signed up, including national and global brands.
• Health cohort employers have completed the programme and developed 13 projects with the potential to impact more than 100,000 London employees. Participants include 11 of the largest NHS trusts in London, including Great Ormond Street Hospital, King's College Hospital and Imperial College NHS Trust.
• Creative cohort employers have progressed through 80 per cent of the programme and will graduate in September. They have multiple interventions in development targeting over 10,000 employees. Participants include 11 large employers in post-production, media and cultural organisations such as the National Theatre, Framestore and ITN.
• The green economy cohort launched in April 2024. Participants include six large employers in clean construction, engineering and green spaces, such as Lendlease, Ferrovial UK and idverde.
• The GLA and delivery partners have engaged industry organisations to promote cross-sector learning, and ensure it is aligned with industry initiatives. The programme is working closely with NHS Employers, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and C40 Cities to disseminate learnings more widely and share best practice.
• The WIN team is developing a legacy offer to ensure continuity of Design Lab projects and collaboration amongst participants. We will share learnings from the programme with other businesses, so they can learn from initiatives to tackle entrenched workplace inequalities.
• The WIN Design Lab green economy cohort has been selected as a pilot in C40 Cities' Visible project. This harnesses the power of cities to decarbonise their built environments in a way that is just and economically viable. The WIN Design Lab will serve as case study of how cities can promote innovative EDI initiatives for a fairer, equitable transition. The aim is that pilots will pave the way for replication and scale up, as lighthouse projects that inspire similar action by other stakeholders locally and other cities globally.
• There is a growing community of practice, with more than 500 newsletter subscribers and a calendar of events to bring members together. The next event is scheduled for September 2024.
1.9. The WIN team requests that an exemption to section 9 of the GLA's Contracts and Funding Code (the Code) should apply. This is on the grounds cited in section 10 of the Code, concerning the continuation of existing work that cannot be separated from the new project/work. The following discussion details how the exemption complies both with the Code and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the PCR).
1.10. In 2022, the GLA ran a competitive procurement procedure (in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) to procure a service provider to deliver the Design Lab. At the conclusion of that competitive procurement, the design agency, David Kester and Associates (DK&A), was awarded the contract; date December 6th, 2022. The contract is still running and is due to expire on December 5th, 2024. The original value of this contract was £600,000.
1.11. The WIN team is seeking approval of £170,00 in order to vary the GLA's contract with DK&A so as to allow for the continuation and finalisation of delivery of equity-centred design workshops and coaching for businesses in the creative and green economy cohorts in 2024-25. The variation of the contract falls within regulation 72(1)(b) of the PCR; namely a variation for additional services by the original contractor that have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement, where a change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority, and where the value of the additional services does not exceed 50 percent of the value of the original contract.
1.12. Securing the buy-in of businesses to partake in the programme has taken considerably more capacity and time than anticipated, which has affected the cost of programme delivery. Further details about the recruitment challenges are outlined in at sections 1.17 to 1.19, below.
1.13. The exemption from section 9 of the Code and the variation under regulation 72(1)(b) would ensure uniformity in the offer, and timely delivery of the programme for those who are currently enrolled and participating in programme activities. It would also mitigate damaging consequences to programme outcomes, trusted relationships with businesses enrolled in the programme, and reputational risks to the GLA that arise from pausing the programme or stopping it abruptly.
1.14. The programme has been designed by DK&A to meet businesses' needs. Participants in the creative sector have been working with DK&A since September 2023, and committed to a set of activities during the 10 months. Upcoming activities are informed by ethnographic research conducted by DK&A; and build on learnings and discussions from previous workshops. It is not feasible to separate new works from existing delivery, as participants follow a methodology to develop and advance projects through the duration of the Design Lab. Participants in the green economy have also started activities, and begun scoping challenges they would like to address through their projects.
1.15. If a new service provider was procured, it would need to redesign the programme offer based on the activities already delivered by DK&A. It would need to learn the methodology used for the Design Lab and how to apply it; learn about projects that participants have been developing; and build relationships with businesses before commencing. The time needed for a new service provider to prepare for implementation would duplicate the GLA's costs unnecessarily. Finally, the value of the variation falls within the 50 percent cap set out in regulation 72(1)(b). In addition to the exemption from the Code, the WIN team will liaise with TfL's Procurement & Commercial Team in order to obtain approval for the variation via a Variation Recommendation Form.
1.16. Continued support for the creative and green economy cohorts is vital. Over 200 employees from participating businesses are working to actively develop new EDI interventions. These projects are at an early stage, and subject to development in the coming months. Participants' projects aim to tackle entrenched inequalities in their workforce. The creative and green economy sectors lag behind in their representation of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic workers. In the creative industries, only 3.9 per cent of jobs are held by Black Londoners, compared to the city's 9.1 per cent average. In the green economy, only 26 per cent of workers are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, compared with 36 per cent of all workers in London.
Recruitment challenges
1.17. The GLA commissioned DK&A to deliver the programme to six cohorts from 2022 to 2024. Delays in the procurement process shifted the start of programme delivery from April 2022 to December 2022. Challenges with business recruitment led to an increase in programme spend by DK&A on staffing costs, due to the capacity and time required to get large employers on board. Additional funding was thus required to deliver the remaining sector cohorts to target.
1.18. The WIN Design Lab requires commitment by chief executives to enrol in the programme. Initially, the plan was for DK&A to recruit businesses affiliated with the MSA Hubs. However, relationships between hubs and businesses were in their infancy at the beginning of the programme, and contacts were mainly operational. Time and capacity were required to establish trust and build partnerships to increase uptake of the programme. As recruitment through hubs was slow, DK&A repurposed the recruitment strategy to connect directly with businesses and through industry organisations.
1.19. This round of the Design Labs programme targeted new sectors with which WIN did not have existing relationships. Up to that point, the programme had focused on the construction and digital technology sectors. The DK&A programme team had to spend a great deal of time building these relationships. This involved conducting, on average, two to three calls per business to establish contact, explain the programme offer and convince them to join. Multiple calls were needed as initial contacts were not decision-makers. Once operational contacts were established, calls with senior HR teams were needed to close the deal.
1.20. After ongoing discussions with the WIN team, in May 2024, DK&A advised the GLA that they would require an additional £149,800 to complete delivery of the creative and green economy cohorts already recruited to the programme. We are requesting £170,000 through this Mayoral Decision (MD) to account for any additional costs that may arise.
1.21. Delivery of the programme for the social care, hospitality and digital sectors will be brought in-house and delivered by the WIN team to reduce costs.
Delivery to date
1.22. DK&A has delivered the following activities and items to date, as stipulated in the contract. This amounts to £600,000 of expenditure.

Early outcomes and findings from the Health sector
1.23. The Health cohort graduated in March 2024 and employers presented their projects in a Mayoral symposium event at City Hall. The GLA commissioned an independent evaluator to produce a report tracking programme outcomes by the end of 2024-25. (It is expected that changes in organisational culture and establishment of EDI projects have a longer timeframe to produce people outcomes.) However, preliminary findings show the following employer outcomes to date:
Outcome 1: Innovative practice/intervention
1.24. Development and implementation (e.g. via prototyping/piloting) of innovative practice(s) or reform(s) that measurably improves EDI in their organisation.
1.25. Evidence: employers developed a total of 13 projects through the Design Lab across the following sector themes:
• community engagement: improving engagement with local communities
• ripping up the recruitment process: creating more inclusive and de-biased recruitment processes
• smashing the glass ceiling: addressing barriers to progression
• equity and anti-racism as core business: creating organisational change to embed EDI and anti-racism.
1.26. For example, Great Ormond Street Hospital developed a career development and sponsorship programme for staff from Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic backgrounds to address underrepresentation at senior levels, involving all members of their C-suite as sponsors. The pilot will match a group of 10 Black, Asian, and minority ethnic staff with their executive team over 12 months.
Outcome 2: New EDI knowledge and skills
1.27. Programme participants develop new evidence-based EDI knowledge, awareness and skills that they apply directly to their specific organisation.
1.28. Evidence: Preliminary evaluation findings show that increased awareness among senior leaders of the strengths and gaps in their organisation, in relation to EDI. Most felt this increase resulted from the programme.
1.29. Preliminary evaluation findings and feedback surveys show a high level of satisfaction with the organisation, management and content of the programme. Workshops and strands were considered valuable, and one-to-one coaching was seen as a key strength of the Design Lab. Participants also reported that the peer-learning element was beneficial for their organisations, enabling them to work collaboratively with other trusts experiencing similar challenges.
1.30. Participants rated the knowledge and experience of the coaches 4.5/5 on average and the overall content of the workshops 4.1/5 on average. The average recommendation rate for the programme was 93 per cent.

2.1. The long-term objectives of the programme include:
• participating employers improve their EDI practices so they are more inclusive and represent best practice; and they use their position within their respective sectors to encourage change among their peers
• participating employers improve the representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners in their workforce at entry and senior levels, so it is representative of London's workforce
• more Londoners from underrepresented groups feel able and empowered to access jobs; and are employed in, and progress into, good work.
2.2. The desired medium-term outcomes of the programme are that participating employers:
• implement initiatives and make organisational changes to improve EDI policies, resulting in more employees from underrepresented groups being recruited and retained
• publish EDI initiatives and data
• develop new evidence-based EDI knowledge, awareness and skills that they apply directly to their specific organisation
• align with other GLA initiatives such as Building a Fairer City, the Mayor's Good Work Standard, Mayoral Skills Academies, the London Anti-Racism Collaboration for Health, etc, to address wider structural inequalities
• share their experience and learnings with non-participants through a community of practice.
2.3. The desired short-term outcomes of the programme include:
• participating employers identify challenges in their organisations that lead to underrepresentation in their workforce
• participating employers identify potential solutions and develop an action plan to test them
• participating employers collaborate with peers in their industry to identify sector-level barriers to entry and progression of underrepresented groups
• internal and external stakeholders, such as CIPD and C40 Cities, are engaged in the Design Labs for joint working.

3.1. Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Equality Act), as a public authority the GLA must have due regard to the need to: eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act; and advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. This involves having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic that is connected to that characteristic, taking steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low.
3.2. The relevant protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Compliance with the duty may involve ensuring people with a protected characteristic are provided with all the opportunities that those without the characteristic would have.
3.3. The Mayor's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy sets out how he will work to create a fairer, more equal, integrated city where all people feel welcome and able to fulfil their potential. Equality, diversity and inclusion are subsequently enshrined within the GLA's strategies, programmes and activities. WIN focuses on improving pathways for underrepresented groups in the workplace, particularly those who face the highest barriers, such as Black men; and Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Black women.
3.4. Research shows that Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners in the creative sector face multiple barriers to accessing and progressing into good jobs. While the average annual growth rate in jobs held by White Londoners in the sector has increased post-pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic levels, the corresponding rate for those from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds has actually decreased. Some of the barriers for these groups include financial insecurity, which dictates an inability to take risks such as freelance work or unpaid internships; and nepotism and elitism creating glass ceilings within the sector.
3.5. In the green economy sector, barriers to entry - such as lack of representation at senior levels and non-inclusive workplace cultures - prevent ethnic minorities, women, disabled people and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds from entering the workforce. Further, experiences of covert racism in the sector are common in the construction sub-sector. The level of discrimination was identified to be implicit; as such, there are no obvious trails to be identified except accounts of individuals closely linked to the issues at hand. A recent study by recruitment analytics specialist Hays discovered that, of those Black people who managed to break into the construction sector, 78 per cent claimed they had experienced career restrictions due to their race or other demographic factors such as sexuality or age.
3.6. This Mayoral Decision aims to improve creative and green economy employers' EDI practices by supporting them to develop innovative projects to improve recruitment and progression of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic staff. Projects aim to tackle the sector-specific barriers that Londoners from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds face in the workplace. As a result, this decision is expected to have a positive impact on Londoners sharing protected characteristics.

4.1. The risks, and mitigations, are detailed in the table below:

Links to Mayoral Strategies and priorities
4.2. The WIN Design Lab is aligned with the Mayor's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion objectives. It contributes directly to Objective 9 - "to ensure London's workforce reflects its population at all levels and in all sectors" - by working collaboratively with employers to address underrepresentation in their workplace. It is also aligned with the London Partnership Board's Building a Fairer City action plan, focussed on tackling labour market inequalities.
4.3. The programme supports and builds on Pillar 4 of the Good Work Standard, which aims to set out a commitment to action for businesses on EDI and their recruitment practices.
4.4. It also links to the Skills Roadmap for London to help Londoners access good jobs and live happier, healthier lives. It contributes to action 2: "meeting the needs of businesses and helping Londoners into good jobs".
4.5. The Design Lab's creative cohort aligns with the Culture Strategy's aim "to help increase diversity within the Creative workforce". Participating businesses have been focussing on initiatives to attract diverse talent and enable underrepresented groups to access senior positions.
4.6. The Design Lab's green economy cohort is aligned with the Mayor's Green New Deal, which aims to support a just transition to a low-carbon economy that can provide good green, skilled and local jobs.
4.7. The Mayor is the Chair of the C40 cities network, working to speed up action across cities to tackle climate change and deliver a just transition. The Mayor highlighted that London will lead by example by doubling the size of London's green economy and establishing good, green jobs accessible within communities that need them most. The WIN Design Lab green economy participation in C40's Visible project will serve as an example of how London is leading the way by working with employers to address underrepresentation in the clean construction sector.
Consultations
4.8. The 2022-24 WIN Design Lab was designed incorporating learnings from the 2021-22 programme that were captured by the independent evaluators commissioned to assess its outcomes. The evaluation included interviews with participating businesses and stakeholders. The programme has been developed in response to the issues and challenges that partners and stakeholders raised at the time.
4.9. The offer for the creative and green economy cohorts was scoped in discussion with industry representatives, and is based on specific challenges each sector faces. Ethnographic research, including interviews with workers in the sectors, has been undertaken by the supplier.
Conflicts of interest
4.10. There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

5.1. Approval is sought for the expenditure of £170,000 in 2024-25, for a commissioned provider to deliver services to up to 20 businesses enrolled in the WIN Design Lab programme in the creative and green economy sectors.
5.2. The expenditure of £170,000 will be funded by the WIN Programme budget.
5.3. There is budget available in the WIN programme budget approved for 2024-25 to meet this expenditure.

Power to undertake the requested decisions
6.1. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor fall within general powers of the Mayor in section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of wealth creation and economic development within Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority's related statutory duties to:
• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
• consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
• consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2. In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
Exemption from the Code
6.3. The procurement of the services from DK&A is valued at up to £170,000. Section 9 of the Code requires that the Authority undertake a formal tender process or make a call off from an accessible framework for procurements with a value between £10,000 and £150,000. However, section 10 of the Code also provides that an exemption from this requirement may be justified on the basis that the services the subject of the exemption amount to the continuation of existing work, which cannot be separated from the new work. Officers have set out at paragraphs 1.9 to 1.15 above, the reasons why the procurement of DK&A falls within the said exemption. Accordingly, the Mayor may approve the exemption, if he be so minded.
Variation under the PCR
6.4. The value of the GLA's original contract with DK&A amounted to £600,000. Under the regulation 72(1)(b) of the PCR, an existing contract may be varied during its term where the GLA requires additional services from the original contractor, which services are both necessary and were not included in the initial procurement and where a change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the GLA. The officers have set out at paragraphs 1.9 to 1.15 how those criteria have been met. Furthermore, regulation 72(1)(b) limits variations to a maximum of 50 percent of the original contract value. In this case, the proposed variation falls within that limit. Finally, regulation 72(3) of the PCR requires the publication of a contract notice for all variations under 72(1)(b). To that end, officers are reminded to liaise with TfL's Procurement & Commercial Team in order to ensure that the required contract notice be published.

7.1. The project will be delivered according to the following timetable: