Issue - items at meetings - BHCC Equality & Inclusion Policy

Report of the Acting Executive Director, Health & Adult Social Care (copy attached)

(1)            That the new Equality & Inclusion Policy Statement and Strategy as set out in appendix 1 is welcomed and that the comments of the Committee be noted.

(2)            That Committee recommend the new Equality & Inclusion Policy Statement and Strategy for approval by Full Council.

(3)            That Committee instruct officers to provide an annual update to this committee on progress on the actions identified within the strategy to achieve excellent

50.1    The Committee considered a report which presented the new Equality & Inclusion Policy Statement and Strategy (“the policy”) for the city council (appendix 1). The policy refreshed and updated the council’s previous Equality & Inclusion Policy 2012-2015 and addressed key priorities and city issues from the Corporate Plan 2015-19, and drew on the recommendations of the 2016 Fairness Commission and Equality Framework for Local Government peer assessment of the council in September 2016. The policy described the council’s vision and defined a measurable corporate objective to promote, facilitate and deliver equality within the council and in the city.  High level strategic improvements were also identified within the strategy. Equality and inclusion was a central priority for the city council. This new policy and strategy built on good work and processes already underway, defined a clear corporate objective for the council and defined how the council would achieve this.    The report would be submitted to full council on 26 January. The report was presented by the Equalities Co-ordinator.

50.2    The Chair welcomed Larissa Reed to her first meeting of the Neighbourhoods, Communities and Equalities Committee and asked her to comment on the report, as she would be overseeing the development of this work. The Chair thanked the Head of Communities and Equality who had supported the committee over the last 18 months. She had been incredibly helpful to all members of the Committee.  

50.3    The  Executive Director Neighbourhoods, Communities and Housing stated the work carried out by the Head of Communities and Equality and her team had shown that if the work was carried out correctly, the council would have better performing staff and higher satisfaction from the council’s customers.  She stressed that it was necessary through modernisation work, to embed the principles of the equalities framework for local government within all of the council’s services.  This could not be achieved through an Equalities Champion working in each service. It had to be done by there being an equalities strand working through everything staff did when they came to work. She commended this excellent piece of work carried out by committed and excellent staff.

50.4    Councillor Simson stated in reading the policy that she was struck by the recognition and reliance on the voluntary sector. She was aware that the policy had been written before the draft budget was prepared and asked if cuts could affect the work outlined.  The Chair replied that this was a question for elected members to consider at budget council.

50.5   Councillor Littman considered it a good report and thought that the strategy worked well, was holistic and covered everything. He referred to the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG) report, page 108 – first full paragraph which stated that “There is a sense, by staff, that strategies are committed to but not completed or implemented in a timely fashion, for example on domestic violence and autism.” This point was also raised at the Fairness Commission. 

50.6   Councillor Littman referred to the EFLG report, pages 110 & 111 with regard to the unintended consequences of the huge cuts in funding. “it appears that cuts may be across the board (‘salami slicing’), without consideration of the cumulative effects of changes to service delivery for specific communities….” and “Cumulative impact assessments would help identify multiple negative impacts.”  Councillor Littman referred to the policy, page 91 which stated that “To achieve Excellence: We will better share findings of EIAs between relevant services and monitor planned actions. We will also increase our assessment of the cumulative impacts of changes to service provision, whether commissioned from others or provided by the council.”  Page 99, paragraph 4.2 stated that “We will ensure that actions from strategies are appropriately prioritised, so that they can be implemented effectively and their impacts monitored.”  Councillor Littman asked how these things would be carried out.   

50.7   The Equalities Co-ordinator stated that there was a question about how well the council communicated that there was a strategy and about work being undertaken. There was often a very strong amount of work going on and improvements being made. There was also a great deal of consultation on council strategies but the council were not very good of keeping track of evidence of what it was doing as outcomes. All those things had to be improved. In terms of cumulative impact there was a clear idea of what the budget would mean for the council. The Equality & Inclusion Partnership was committed to get the bigger city picture in relation to cumulative impact of public sector budget savings. 

50.8   Councillor Moonan thanked officers for the report. She wanted to explore the vehicles and the channels the council had for communicating with some of the groups, particularly BME communities. Communicating with BME communities was raised in one of the weaknesses, along with using customer feedback data effectively. Councillor Moonan stated that there were a number of groups who did not know how to complain and their voice was still not heard. She asked for examples of how the council were being proactive in reaching out to some of those communities, to ensure that the council were being inclusive and hearing those voices.  

50.9   The Equalities Co-ordinator explained that there were multiple problems and multiple barriers. She stressed the importance of relationship building which took a significant amount of time and consistency to be properly trusted. In relation to BME Communities in particular, there had been a rather out of date view of the city from some people.  20% plus of the city’s population was non white British, and some people in the council were still surprised by that figure. There was a need to be aware about the diversity of the city as a whole.  There had been a certain amount of loss of trust of the council amongst the BME communities, partly as an employer and partly as a service provider. There was a need to build trust and re-establish relationships. There were also practical difficulties as Brighton and Hove had such a diversity of different ethnic communities. Smaller communities could become isolated and on the margins.

50.10  The Head of Communities and Equality stated that the recent Communities and Third Sector prospectus commissioned infrastructure, community development and community engagement.  Within that was a BME engagement commission and the Community Works Partnership were successful in that bid. For the first time three of the BME organisations had joined that partnership and were working with the other infrastructure organisations. 

50.11  Joanna Martindale was delighted (as Hangleton & Knoll Project) to be part of the successful bid for the whole city.  She was also pleased to hear of the recognition across the whole city of the range and breadth of where the city’s BME communities live and where some of those communities experience the most disadvantages. Ms Martindale stressed that investment made by the city was quite small but the benefit was being maximised by working together. It was the first time she had heard at Committee an acknowledgement that the capacity within some of the BME led organisations had not been there. This was something the partnership had an opportunity to address.

50.12  The Chair stated that consistent development work over time paid off. It was important that that there was a commitment to that aim. The Chair stressed the need to provide a more consistent political leadership and agreement going forward. She was pleased that Councillor Simson and Councillor Littman were always willing to work on Cross Party Working Groups. Within this report there was a recommendation for the annual report to come back to the committee. There would also be ongoing members’ scrutiny. The Chair acknowledged the comments members made about cuts to grants and other budget cuts proposed, and would welcome any efforts to find alternatives. She stressed that councillors from all parties were working hard behind the scene to agree a budget and stated that the focus should not just be on what was being cut but on what was still being provided.

50.13  RESOLVED:

(1)            That the new Equality & Inclusion Policy Statement and Strategy as set out in appendix 1 is welcomed and that the comments of the Committee be noted.

(2)            That Committee recommend the new Equality & Inclusion Policy Statement and Strategy for approval by Full Council.

(3)            That Committee instruct officers to provide an annual update to this committee on progress on the actions identified within the strategy to achieve excellent