Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council: Shining a light on the superpowers of adults with disabilities and long-term health conditions

SHINE was set up as a disability staff network, originally made up of colleagues from Cumbria County Council and Cumbria Fire and Rescue service in Cumbria County Council. This was prior to the Local Government Reorganisation and Cumbria splitting into Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council. 

Run by and for Disabled staff, it started as a safe space for Disabled staff and those with long-term health conditions, all driven by personal experiences. Advocating for the Social Model of Disability, SHINE has been able to create meaningful change across Cumbria County Council, now split into Westmorland and Furness, and Cumberland Council. The SHINE team act as a point of contact for all things disability related. They support policy and procedure development, assist staff with Access to Work applications, support staff with reasonable adjustments and are a valuable peer-to-peer support group. 

It has become a central point to advocate and influence policy across the council. This has ranged from supporting with community engagement, such as auditing websites and buildings, to introducing coaching champions for staff.

In March of 2024, the SHINE team won the Diverse Cumbria Award. Nominated in the ‘Public Champions’ category, this was the first staff award that has been won by either Cumberland Council or Westmorland and Furness Council and was a huge achievement and recognition for the team.

The Disability Employment Gap in the United Kingdom was 27.9 percentage points in the last quarter of 2023, and has remained stable over the past four years. Before SHINE, it was recognised that more needed to be done to support disabled colleagues at work. 

The original staff network group meetings had a maximum of two people attending, as well as a member of staff from human resources, who had helped to establish the network. The meetings were not initially popular, and it was clear that the network could not continue in the same form.

Two members of staff with lived experience then volunteered to chair the disability staff network with support from colleagues in the HR team. Attempts to increase uptake included involving the corporate communications team, sending targeted emails and posters around the council. This new approach gave staff a safe space to share their experiences and a number of other employee lead staff networks were developed.  

The meetings started to gain momentum and ‘terms of reference’ were refined for the group. SHINE not only supports staff with a variety of accessibility issues and peer support but has also become a key point of contact for disability across councils.

Due to its reputation, and the influence that it has been able to have across the County Council, SHINE has now become a central point to advocate and influence policy across both new councils. 

One of the key successes of SHINE has been the fact that they are a central contact point for all staff and services on disability.

SHINE support staff with practical applications like Access to Work, assisting employee in identifying and requesting reasonable adjustments or supporting staff as they go through diagnoses. They are also consulted regularly by policymakers on policy decisions around disability. 

SHINE has supported the development and review of the recruitment process ensuring that it is accessible, by using their own lived experience, facilitating training days and gathering case study examples to evidence good practice. They also support the local authority by auditing websites and assessing buildings, which has been particularly impactful during the Local Government Reorganisation. 

At the start it was difficult to get staff to engage and join the network, and find the time to put in the work necessary to get the numbers up. When people are so busy, it can be difficult for people to find the time to attend meetings. To overcome this holding different kinds of meetings, and experimenting around timing, has given people real choice in how they engage with the network.

Resistance around change due to the local government reform was another barrier. The SHINE team has overcome these doubts by using survey data on staff experiences and being persistent in highlighting issues and building relationships with senior leaders. 

SHINE has been somewhat impacted by the local government reorganisation, as the network now has split in order to operate over two different local councils, with different directions of travel in relation to employee engagement and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. 

Although being led by people with lived experience is a key strength of the network, the staff network chairs do this role alongside their day jobs. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is a strong part of the new councils culture, and managers are supportive of staff undertaking EDI activities alongside their roles, though this can be seen as a barrier to progressing as quickly as members might like.

Champions in the executive team being supportive has been a key enabler, as well as employee engagement leads who assist in making progress. One team also has different subgroups, such as a Deaf Awareness Group for example, and this co-produced work makes a huge impact on outcomes

The SHINE network survived the local government restructure, which is a testament to the work that has been put in, as it has continued under challenging circumstances. Some teams have been split, however, and the new councils have taken different approaches to supporting the network.

Be resilient. Prepare for the long-term to ensure that co-produced work is sustained. Don’t give up and don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. Find passionate people to staff your teams. Build connections and nurture relationships with senior leadership and HR teams. Senior support can help initiatives thrive even within the context of organisational change.