Agenda item

The Leader presented the report that confirmed that under the Equality Act (2010), the Council is required to report annually on the progress it has made against the strategic equality objectives contained within its Strategic Equality Plan. The Equality Act also requires local authorities to publish staff equalities data, details of which are contained in the report 

The Leader confirmed this is the fourth and final Annual Report on progress set out in the Strategic Equality Plan 2016/2020 that was approved by Council in 2016.  The Council’s new Strategic Equality Plan was received by Cabinet and agreed at the July meeting and is now published on the Council’s website.

The Leader explained that since implementing the previous Strategic Equality Plan in 2016, the Council has built on its strong commitment to partnership working and has engaged with staff, consulted with external stakeholders and increased its community engagement.  The measures put in place through the nine Equality Objectives were used to indicate successes as well as identifying room for improvement.  The Leader was pleased to confirm that changes made and the path ahead are encouraging; and by reflecting on the learnings from this strategy, the Council is able to move forward with purpose.

The report contained highlights from the past year which include:

• The Apprenticeship Scheme was rolled out successfully and NCC were finalists in the ACT Training Employer of the Year award 2019;
• ‘EU Citizens Meeting’ was established and the Council worked in partnership with third sector organisations as well as local EU communities to develop its work in this area;
• The successful implementation of the B.A.M.E. Network, which continues to be built on and improve to ensure Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic voices are heard in decision making;
• The ‘Work Based Learning Academy’ has created job clubs, training courses and bespoke 13-week training provisions to support young people seeking employment;
• Participation in Oxford University’s ‘Inclusive Cities Programme’ – a knowledge exchange in relation to migrant communities;
• The Lighthouse 55+ scheme for older people celebrated its first anniversary and supported over 250 people in the year ;
• A further nine families (40 people) have been resettled, under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme;
• Preparatory work in 2019/20 for the new supported housing scheme for six young homeless people, paved the way for the scheme to open in early 2020/21. This was only possible due to the excellent partnership working from teams and partners such as Newport City Homes and Llamau;
• The Council completed its statutory consultation on the Schools’ Accessibility Strategy, which aims to improve and upgrade the physical access to schools in Newport;
• Development in the work to  promote the Welsh language within minority communities across Newport has increased, thanks to a dedicated Policy Officer and the recruitment of a Welsh Language Promotion Officer;
• The Council has continued with its commitment to developing Elected Member Champions, with leads for Race, LGBTQ+, Disability and Impairment, and Welsh Language, raising the profile of equality work throughout the year across the Council.

The Leader confirmed the Annual Report was reviewed recently by Scrutiny and the Committee’s comments are included in the report.   One of the issues they raised was the analysis of the data for the Council’s workforce, which highlights key areas for improvement.  This will be addressed in the Strategic Equality Plan 2020/2024 alongside work continuing on the commitment to a representative workforce and the recruitment and retention of under-represented groups. 

The Leader invited the Cabinet Member for Community and Resources to comment who reiterated the Leader’s comments and confirmed this work is not done just to tick boxes but shows the Council’s commitment to a workplace culture and approach to service delivery that values inclusion and diversity.

The Leader invited Cabinet colleagues to comment

Councillor Rahman said that the Council is one of the few local authorities taking an active approach in dealing with systemic racism and echoed the point that this is an ongoing process with work still to do on improving issues such as poverty and inclusion.

Cllr Davies reiterated the previous comments but also noted the socio economic duty that has to be implemented by 2021 and that every decision has to take into account the impact on residents; this work will ensure the Council can deliver on that duty,

Cabinet was asked to:

i)              approve the report and,

ii)             agree to publish it on the Council’s website

Decision:

Cabinet voted and unanimously approved the report and agreed to its publication on the Council’s website in order to ensure that the Council remains compliant with its statutory obligations.