Newport City Council recognises that much work has been undertaken in the last decade in Wales to measure and improve the diversity of councils. More work is in the pipeline in preparation for the 2022 elections. There is a national communications campaign to encourage people from underrepresented groups to vote, engage with local democracy and stand for office. New mentoring programmes are being delivered with the Womens’ Equality Network Wales and the Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team Wales. Stonewall Cymru and Disability Wales will also soon be offering mentoring programmes. The Welsh Government and Senedd Commission are working with Councils, schools and youth councils and developing resources to encourage 16 and 17 yr olds to get involved and vote. The WLGA has a new Be a Councillor website and, is part of the Pan UK civility in public life campaign and are working with Councils to continue to improve the range of support and development provided to members.
Newport City Council commits to being a Diverse Council.
We agree to:
· Provide a clear public commitment to improving diversity in democracy
· Demonstrate an open and welcoming culture to all, promoting the highest standards of behaviour and conduct
· Continue to take forward the recommendations of the WLGA Diversity in Democracy working group
The motion is to be proposed by the Leader of the Council, J Mudd and seconded by Baroness D Wilcox.
Minutes:
The Council considered the following motion, for which the necessary notice had been given. The motion was moved by the Leader and seconded by Baroness Wilcox.
Newport City Council recognises that much work has been undertaken in the last decade in Wales to measure and improve the diversity of councils. More work is in the pipeline in preparation for the 2022 elections. There is a national communications campaign to encourage people from underrepresented groups to vote, engage with local democracy and stand for office. New mentoring programmes are being delivered with the Womens’ Equality Network Wales and the Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team Wales. Stonewall Cymru and Disability Wales will also soon be offering mentoring programmes. The Welsh Government and Senedd Commission are working with Councils, schools and youth councils and developing resources to encourage 16 and 17 yr olds to get involved and vote. The WLGA has a new Be a Councillor website and, is part of the Pan UK civility in public life campaign and are working with Councils to continue to improve the range of support and development provided to members.
Newport City Council commits to being a Diverse Council.
We agree to:
· Provide a clear public commitment to improving diversity in democracy
· Demonstrate an open and welcoming culture to all, promoting the highest standards of behaviour and conduct
· Continue to take forward the recommendations of the WLGA Diversity in Democracy working group
Comments from Councillors:
In seconding the motion, Baroness Wilcox comment that, on Friday 5 March this year on the eve of International Women’s Day, the WLGA Council endorsed a series of significant recommendations from a cross-party working group, which included the use of voluntary quotas, local targets, and council declarations to become ‘Diverse Councils’. This was as a result of the setting up of a cross- party working group on underrepresented groups under Baroness Wilcox’s former leadership of the WLGA and Baroness Wilcox was pleased to chair it until November 2019 when its initial proposals were delivered to the WLGA Council.
The WLGA agreed to take steps to advance gender equality and diversity in Councils before the 2022 elections. This was in recognition of the lack of diversity in Welsh Councils. The group’s remit was to explore broader underrepresentation in democracy and bring about change through a series of actions and pledges.
Local communities were diverse in their life experience, priorities, and needs. Councillors from all parties should reflect this diversity in the skills and experience that they bring to council.
This was not simply a matter of equality, important though that was, but a need for council chambers to be filled with people who had a diverse range of life experiences and different aspirations; better diversity will lead to better decision-making.
Councils and councillors played a critical, central and prominent role during the COVID 19 pandemic. Councils demonstrated that they were uniquely placed at the heart of their communities and public service delivery and councils and councillors had invariably been the first port of call for the most vulnerable or those in need of support or assurance.
Taking the ideas of the working group forward, the WLGA in consultation with Welsh Government had therefore developed an action plan covering a range of ideas including awareness and the value of the role Councillors play in their communities, introducing more measures to deal with Councillor abuse, which has grown exponentially in recent years with the growth of anti-social media, progress greater training and development for Councillors including mentoring schemes, making greater provision for flexibility and job-sharing at all levels and supporting individuals with protected characteristics.
In conclusion, Baroness Wilcox was delighted to second the Leader’s motion that this Council committed to being a Diverse Council and that it agreed to provide a clear public commitment to improving diversity in democracy, demonstrate an open and welcoming culture to all, promote the highest standards of behaviour and conduct and set out a local Diverse Council Action Plan ahead of the 2022 local elections.
Councillor M Evans advised that on behalf of his group the motion and the recommendations were welcomed and after the last elections a record number of people were selected from ethnic minority backgrounds and were keen to encourage more women to stand in the forthcoming elections. They were not keen on giving 16-17year olds voting at the recent elections but supported diversity in democracy and would do everything they could to get them involved, although they could not stand in elections. It was however the electorate that would decide on who would be voted in and not the political groups. An open culture, high standards and good conduct was welcomed. However their candidates were selected on merit first and whoever stood had to represent their communities to the best of their abilities and ultimately it was up to the electorate to decide. The would not however give the WLGA a blank check in relation to their plans on diversity and democracy as they did not know what would be planned for the future. Although they respected that Baroness Wilcox views on equalities, they did not support women-only short-lists. Therefore, Councillor M Evans advised that his group would abstain from the vote.
The Leader paid tribute to Baroness Wilcox on her work and leadership role with the WLGA. The Leader also mentioned that the WLGA had full cross party support on this work and that Monmouthshire County Council had already addressed this and had approved it at full council recently. This was an important motion and it was democratic that all councillors had their say on this issue. The Leader stressed that Newport was at the heart of democracy and that this was one further step in moving Democracy forward.
Agreed:
That the Diversity in Democracy Motion be carried.