Agenda item

To receive an update from the Wokingham BME forum

The Committee received and received a report, set out in agenda pages 9 to 18 and supplementary pages 3 to 6, which gave an update on the work carried out by the BME forum.

Mark Redfearn, Keeley Clements, Parry Batth (Vice Chairman of the BME forum), and Ramnik Saund (Chair of the BME forum) attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

The report set out the work and achievements of the forum since its inception including celebrating black history month, promoting health and wellbeing within the BME community, liaison with the Local Police Area Commander to answer questions and queries from the BME community on an annual basis, and monitoring of performance of BME pupils within Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) schools.

The direction of the forum was driven by the forum Members, and the forum acted as a critical friend to the Council. The forum met 4 times annually, and celebrated all BME cultures within the Borough. The forum provided WBC with an insight into the diversity of its residents within the Borough, including a number of smaller communities throughout the Borough. There was a danger of grouping a variety of individual groups together, and the forum aimed to promote how each individual community could contribute to the wider Borough community and celebrate the individual aspects of each specific community. The Council’s new Arts & Culture strategy worked to enable both WBC and the BME forum to celebrate black history month in a greater capacity than before.

During the ensuing discussion Members raised the following points and queries:

·           The forum had been ‘hiding’ it’s really good work that had been carried out throughout the years, through no fault of its own. Over the years the winter edition of the Borough News had not featured an article on black history month, with only three covers out of thirty featuring a person within the wider BME community. What would be done in future to further promote the good work of the BME forum, including a feature on black history month within the Borough News, and having more representative features on the front covers of the Borough News. Response given – The forum had a desire to raise its profile, and hoped to work more closely with WBC’s Communication, Engagement, and Marketing (CEM) team in the future. The forum wanted a healthy representation of Members, and hoped that increased engagement with WBC could inspire further people to join the forum and contribute. The Leader of WBC and WBC’s Chief Executive Officer had attended the most recent BME forum meeting, which was an unprecedented step and gave hope of a closer working relationship between the forum and the Council, thereby raising the forum’s profile. It was proposed that an article be included within every Borough News edition, promoting a different culture or community within the Borough, in addition to an annual feature on black history month.

·           Could the forum make use of WBC libraries to further publicise art and black history month? Response given – Black history month exhibitions had been displayed in WBC libraries previously, however a bigger focus would be made to promote these exhibitions across the Borough to reach as many communities as possible.

·           Could WBC tap into the previous ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ scheme once more? Response given – Funding for this scheme had been awarded for a three year period, however the funds had been preserved for a longer period of time until the funds eventually ran out in 2018. The scheme was much valued by the community, and the service was happy to reinstate this scheme should funding be found.

·           How would community groups be supporting the BME community as part of the ongoing response to the C19 pandemic? Response given – Local data regarding particular groups of people affected by C19 had not been gathered up until this point, however data was being gathered going forwards which would allow a more precise local picture to be presented, allowing a more focussed local community response. WBC had been in contact with approximately 10 BME organisations for the past two months, to ascertain issues and concerns within these communities. Specific issues included concerns around collective faith activities not being allowed as lockdown measures were eased. Details of these conversations were shared with groups such as the citizens’ advice bureau in order to allow more specific support.

·           Would the BME forum make use of the town and parish Councils, specifically the ones with larger facilities, to host forum meetings? Response given – It would be good to have forum meetings in a variety of Borough venues, such as the town Council venues.

·           Had the BME forum focussed on equality opportunities in the workplace, to understand what blockages to career progression might be present for members of the BME community? Response given – This had been looked at in the past however not for some time. This would be a good time to look at this topic in a detailed way.

·           How regularly did the local police force liaise with the BME forum? Response given – The police area commander attended the forum on an annual basis. The police regularly supported the forum, and were in contact with other community focussed groups.

·           What could be done to promote a greater calendar of cultural celebrations within the Borough? Response given – Officers would look into ways in which a wider calendar of cultural celebrations might be promoted.

·           Could the BME forum attend a full Council meeting to make all Members aware of the work the forum does? Response given – The forum would welcome the opportunity to update full Council on their work. Committee Members would liaise with the appropriate officers to get an item on a future Council agenda.

·           Would the forum be looking to include other groups within the community, such as those from Eastern Europe, within the forum? Response given – To be representative of the community within Wokingham the forum needed a wide representation. Some specific groups had been approached however they appeared to not want to join the forum at this time. Offers to these groups needed to be specific and relevant in future. Work had been done on a wider scale such as with the Pakistani community centre in Reading, and other groups may be able to be contacted by reaching outside of the Borough. The Executive Member would sit down with officers and try to formulate different approaches to engage with these groups going forward.

·           What could WBC do to continue to support the BME forum and the communities that it served? Response given – Mark Redfearn and the team were very supportive to the forum, and the recent attendance of the WBC Leader and Chief Executive was a very positive move. The forum was looking at how to further improve the relationship between itself and WBC. It was proposed that an update be scheduled to return to the Committee in around six months’ time, approximately February 2020.

RESOLVED That:

1)     Mark Redfearn, Keeley Clements, Parry Batth, and Ramnik Saund be thanked for attending the meeting;

2)     The WBC CEM team continue to help promote the BME forum’s work and achievements, and look for ways to expand this partnership going forwards;

3)     Options be explored to include an annual article in the Borough News to celebrate black history month;

4)     Options be explored to include an article in regular editions of the Borough news to celebrate different cultures within the Borough;

5)     WBC work with the BME forum to look at ways of hosting forum meetings at suitable venues around the Borough such as Town and Parish Council facilities;

6)     A review be undertaken into equality opportunities in the workplace, to understand what blockages to career progression might be present for members of the BME community;

7)     Officers look into how a wider calendar of cultural celebrations might be promoted;

8)     A presentation from the BME forum to full Council be considered, and scheduled if agreed;

9)     The Executive Member in conjunction with the appropriate officers liaise with the BME forum in order to try and formulate different approaches to engage with other groups within the community;

10)  An update on improvements regarding communication and promotion of the forum, in addition to any matters arising, come to Committee in approximately 6 months’ time.