Agenda item

11.            

Annual Equalities Report 2019-20

The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagementreported that the report had been due to be presented at the June 2020 meeting, which had been cancelled due to Covid-19. The Action Plan will be brought to CLLC in 2021 as part of the annual cycle.

Cllr Conway commented: 

·       It may be useful to bring together different communities so that they could feed their views into this piece of work. She added that the term ‘BAME’ is currently being debated as a suitable term to use.

·       There has been a long delay in the Committee having a dialogue with the Communities Together Network. She suggested adding an item with a theme such as mental health or housing might help people to engage with this.

·       (2.2) Location inequality is not considered in the report, even though male life expectancy is several years lower in some wards in Barnet than in others.

·       (3.14, 3.15) Should the Equalities Champions Network be externally focused, if it isn’t already? A briefing on the Action Plan by a representative from the Network would be helpful. 

·       (3.3) How often does the Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group meet, who sits on the Group and can residents can provide input into it?

·       (3.5) A more specific focus on diversity and inclusion may be needed  and a Citizens’ Enquiry might be appropriate.

·       (4.2) Cllr Conway welcomed the fact that Barnet staff are offered pro bono support and recommended that community groups are also offered this.

·       (4.6) It is positive that 500 young people had been included in the survey. How were they engaged, and could a breakdown of their area and diversity be provided?  Also when would the Life Chances Strategy be published?

The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement noted that the Equality and Diversity Steering Group publishes papers and details of its membership on the Barnet website. The Group has an external focus but monitors the Action Plan and receives reports from the Workstream Leads. The Group also provides reports to the Council Management Team. Barnet Equality Allies will report to the Policy & Resources Committee (P&R) in October in response to a Member’s item from Cllr Mittra. They could also be invited to present to CLLC.

The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement reported that the Equalities Champions have an internal procedural role to assist people to carry out an equalities impact assessment on any policy change.

The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement agreed to address the other points outside the meeting.

The Chairman commented that he would welcome any contributions from the Barnet Equalities Allies and other organisations that have a contribution relevant to a future agenda item, to inform the Committee before it considers items. 

Cllr Narenthira stated that the term ‘BAME’ applies to a wide section of the population so it may be better to refer to different groups individually. She asked about the vacancy since the previous Equality Officer left the Council. The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement responded that conversations were ongoing internally about which term to use and whether ‘BAME’ continued to be appropriate. The Equality Officer post was deleted in 2018 but the responsibilities had been distributed throughout the organisation and this had also raised its profile.

Cllr Weeden-Sanz noted that the Jewish and Muslim faith communities are underrepresented in Council staff so asked whether others were overrepresented.  The data did not appear to be accurate as the total figure is 78%. The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement responded that the survey was ‘opt-in’ so some had not completed it. He would check the figures again after the meeting. Cllr Weeden-Sanz requested that this be added to future reports so that it is clear what percentage did not respond. He continued that it is concerning that the Jewish community appears to be underrepresented given that Barnet has the largest Jewish population in the country. The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement offered to look into this. 

Action: The Deputy Head of Strategy - Strategy and Engagement

RESOLVED that the Committee agreed:

To note the Annual Equalities Report 2019/20 and that it will be published on the Council’s website.