Agenda item

The Leader presented the Council’s Strategic Equality Plan for 2024 -2028.

Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities in Wales were required to develop and publish Strategic Equality Plans (SEPs) that set out the objectives they wanted to achieve over a four-year period.

This plan set out the Council’s strategic vision, priorities for the next four years and contained Equality Objectives that supported us to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The Council’s Equality Objectives were developed in partnership with key internal and external stakeholders and were subject to extensive community engagement. The involvement of grassroots communities ensured that whilst our Plan delivers a strategic vision for equality in Newport, it also ensured tangible outcomes for communities.

The Strategic Equality Plan for 2024-2028 was reviewed by the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee on 8 March and their comments were included in the report considered by Cabinet.

The last four years presented significant challenges to staff and communities across Newport, including unprecedented difficulties caused by the global pandemic, international conflict, and the cost-of-living crisis. These events also disproportionally impacted specific groups and further highlighted the inequalities that existed within communities.

As a Council, we must learn from the emerging challenges and continue to strive to deliver equitable public services for all residents.

The Strategic Equality Plan presents an opportunity to build on the Council’s achievements as an employer and service provider, look to the future, and identify priorities to advance equality for everyone who lives or works in Newport.

The Equality Objectives within this Strategic Equality Plan build on the work delivered in previous plans and identified clear outcomes and actions taken to deliver equitable public services.

Our Equality Objectives strike a good balance between internally focused objectives based on self-reflection, such as the commitment to improving representation at all levels of the organisation and externally focused objectives aimed at improving equality in key areas of society, improving community cohesion across the city.

The Leader referred to the recent unanimous council motion to adopt care experienced as a protected characteristic and was proud to say this was embedded within the delivery of the plan.

The strategy represented a positive step forward for Newport City Council and supports the vision of a more equal Newport, where everyone is treated fairly, and the needs of residents from all backgrounds are considered.

The Leader thanked Councillor Batrouni, the Cabinet Member for Organisational Transformation, for his contributions to the development of this plan and the Council’s Strategic Equality Group.

Comments of Cabinet Members:

§  Councillor Batrouni thanked the Leader and added that it would not have been possible without the Leader steering the Council during the tough global events faced by  residents.  Councillor Batrouni also thanked everyone who had been involved in the plan, including staff, community partners and residents.  The outcome of the plan over the four years had shown inequality in society but is also showed what more could be done to improve the lives of those who faced injustice. The Council had listened carefully, and improved the plan. Stronger focus had been placed on digital inclusion within customer services and strengthening services to prevent residents from falling into poverty.  Councillor Batrouni also thanked his Cabinet colleague, Councillor D Davies for the great work being done in schools around poverty and embedding a social model to deliver support for those experiencing barriers for their disability.  Councillor Batrouni was confident that the plan over the next four years would build on the work developed in previous plans and looked forward to a more equal and just society in Newport.

§  Councillor Lacey gave examples of work that the Strategic Equalities Group had undertaken. Councillor Lacey sat on the Committee as LGTBQ+ Champion and recently, Newport City Council had signed up to become a Fast Track city on 20 November 2023 and was the second city in Wales to do so.  This was a global initiative, with the aim of ending HIV transmission and AIDS-related deaths by 2030. Councillor Lacey wanted to say a special thank you to Janice Dent, Policy and Partnership Manager, Donald Mutale, Senior Equalities Officer and Joseph Chambers, Welsh Language Officer, who all sat on the Strategic Equalities Group, for the work that they did on Fast Track, which went above and beyond what was required within their job roles.

§  Councillor Marshall referred to the Notice of Motion to Council earlier this year regarding adopting care experienced as a protected characteristics and the work behind it. Members of all political persuasions supported the motion. Councillor Marshall was pleased to see this work come to fruition to improve the lives of those young people and ensure that they had a voice.

§  The Leader echoed thanks and contributions of her Cabinet Member colleagues and added that it would be remiss not to acknowledge the contribution that Councillor Hourahine had made to the care experience policy development.

Decision:

Cabinet recommended to Full Council that the attached Strategic Equality Plan be adopted by the Council.