Agenda item

To scrutinise the annual update on the Council’s Equality Plan.

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 59 to 72, which provided an update on progress against the targets in the Council’s Equality Plan.

Rachel Bishop-Firth (Executive Member for Equalities, Inclusion and Fighting Poverty) attended the meeting to present the report and answer Member questions. Also in attendance were Sally Watkins (Chief Operating Officer), Emily Higson (Head of Insight, Strategy and Inclusion) and Bryony Gibbs (Senior Specialist – Equality, Insight and Inclusion).

The report stated that, in March 2021, the Council approved the Equality Plan 2021-25 to deliver a programme of improvements against the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG). The EFLG is a framework of continuous improvement designed help local authorities build equality into all aspects of service delivery and employment.

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee received a report, at its meeting on 23 February 2022 on the progress achieved in the first year of the programme, together with the action plan for 2022/23. This report presented an update on progress made in 2022/23 against the annual Action Plan and set out proposed actions for the 2023/24 Action Plan. A cross-party working group had been set up to provide strategic oversight of the programme throughout the year.

The report stated that a self-assessment against the EFLG conducted in December 2022 indicated that the Council was at the ‘Developing’ level of the framework. This meant that the organisation had established the building blocks for progression, had made an organisational commitment to improving equality and was putting in place processes to deliver on equality issues. Delivery of actions in 2021/22 and 2022/23 had consolidated this position and was supporting progress towards the ‘Achieving’ standard. The action plan for 2022/23 comprised 11 actions, as set out in the report. The proposed action plan for 2023/24 was appended to the report.

In the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points:

The Equality Forum was now up and running – were there any plans for the Equality Forum to interact with the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees, for example by sending a representative to a Scrutiny meeting? It was confirmed that the Equality Forum be asked if it wished to send a representative to a future Overview and Scrutiny meeting.

How did WBC ensure that contractors and suppliers met the Council’s equality requirements? It was confirmed that equality requirements were included within contract documents. Work was also ongoing to develop a charter setting out the Council’s corporate social value expectations. The Equality Forum acted as a critical friend to the Council in areas such as this. It was suggested that the draft corporate social value document be submitted to the Committee for scrutiny and feedback.

Did the Equality Plan and supporting documents use “plain English” which would enable all residents and local groups to engage with the process? It was confirmed that this point would be considered with a “plain English” review of the key documents.

Whilst there was good progress on the various actions, was there a plan and timeframe for moving to the “achieving” standard set out in the Equality Framework for Local Government? It was confirmed that the Equality Framework for Local Government was very detailed, with 17 targets under four improvement modules with three levels of achievement – developing, achieving and excellent. Further progress reports would be submitted to Members as the Council progressed to the next level – “achieving”.

Was the former BME Forum still operating? It was confirmed that, as far as officers were aware, the BME Forum had ceased to operate. The new Equality Forum had sought to be independent from WBC. It was suggested that Members receive an update on the terms of reference and operation of the new Equality Forum.

RESOLVED That:

1)     Rachel Bishop-Firth and the supporting officers be thanked for attending the meeting to present the report;

2)     progress on delivery of the Equality Action Plan and the proposed actions for 2023/24 be welcomed;

3)     Members receive an update on the new Equality Forum;

4)     the Committee receive further updates on progress in due course.