The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has launched a five-year diversity and inclusion strategy, detailing plans to achieve year-on-year increases across all areas of diversity.

The organisation said it will also seek to ensure that at least 85 per cent of staff hold a strong belief that PPF is a diverse employer that supports inclusion, while it also aims to be externally recognised as innovating in this area by doing more than just supporting established initiatives.

The organisation admitted that it does not currently have a workforce that reflects the diversity of its local area, while it also said not enough women held positions of seniority or in high earning areas and only a minimal number of staff declared a disability.

Almost a quarter (24.1 per cent) of PPF employees and 15.4 per cent of PPF senior managers are from black or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, though this does not reflect the 50.7 per cent BAME population of Croydon, where the organisation is based.

In 2018 the PPF signed the Women in Finance Charter and set a target of having 40 per cent of its senior roles filled by women by the year 2021.

The organisation has now met this goal, with 27 (41.5 per cent) of its 65 senior manager roles now being held by women, but commented that it was still working hard to improve the inequality.

Around 2 per cent of total employees declared that they had a disability, while a further four declared a medical condition.

In order to support its goals, the PPF aims to review its internal processes from a diversity and inclusion perspective, while also using apprenticeships to introduce more diversity at entry levels.

The organisation said its other plans include a mentoring programme, becoming a disability leading by the end of the 2021/2022 tax year and developing its Member Forum to gain insight into how processes can be adapted to meet member needs.

PPF chief executive officer, Oliver Morley, commented: “We believe that treating people equally, fostering diversity and being inclusive are morally and socially the right thing to do. We all have a responsibility to help level the playing field and a part to play in creating a culture where everyone feels able to be themselves.”

To measure its success in achieving its new goals, the PPF said it would use employee demographic information held on its human resources database, employee feedback and external standards such as the Race at Work Charter.

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