Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee

  Agenda Item   50

       

Subject:                    Anti Racism Pledge Update

 

Date of meeting:    12th January 2023

 

Report of:                 Executive Director Housing, Neighbourhoods, Communities

 

Contact Officer:      Name: Jamarl Billy

                                    Email: Jamarl.Billy@brighton-hove.gov.uk

                                    Tel: 01273 292301

                                   

Ward(s) affected:   All

 

FOR GENERAL RELEASE

 

1.         PURPOSE OF REPORT AND POLICY CONTEXT

 

1.1          The initial report on actions being taken by the council towards becoming an anti-racist council was presented at TECC committee on 29th July 2020 and an update was presented on 19th November 2020. At this meeting officers were instructed to provide brief updates as a standing item at every TECC committee meeting. This report provides an update on actions since the progress report to TECC committee meeting.

 

2.         RECOMMENDATIONS: 

 

2.1          That committee note the report.

 

3.             CONTEXT/ BACKGROUND INFORMATION

 

3.1          The report to TECC Committee on 19th November contains the full background and details of actions taken up to that date and this report should be read in that context.

 

3.2          Updates are noted where specific activities or progress has been made.

 

3.3          Anti-Racism Strategy Document

 

3.3.1      Work continues on developing the council's Anti-Racism strategy document and action plan. A phase of internal engagement has now been completed. The strategy is currently in external engagement phase, where we are seeking input from external community groups and residents. The details of this engagement are outlined in 3.6.

 

3.4          Education

 

3.4.1      The anti-racist education strategy was funded in April 2021 and now in it’s second year work is continuing at pace. A full annual report is provided to the Children and Young People’s Committee at the end of each financial year

 

3.4.2      In September we were pleased to welcome five Anti-racist lead teachers to the team. The lead teachers are all currently working in education settings in Brighton and Hove and are seconded to work for the strategy for 1-2 days a fortnight. This is a significant expansion of the capacity of the team and will enable the strategy to build momentum and to ensure the work is embedded into schools, nurseries and colleges rather than being a ‘paper exercise’. The lead teachers are Dulani Kulasinghe (Patcham Infants), Shareen Hone (Cardinal Newman), Anoushka Visvalingham (St Luke’s), Flo Sparham (Goldstone) and Elohor Knowles (Middle St). Angela Simmonds (Varndean) who was recently recruited as Lead Teacher for Equality, Anti-racism and Anti- bullying will also be working alongside the team

 

3.4.3      The team are developing a racial literacy spiral curriculum spanning EYFS to Secondary, starting work to develop a comprehensive continuous professional development training programme for teachers and support staff, and providing training and resources around the next phase of anti-racist education review, supporting schools to review their training needs.

 

3.4.4      We are working with national exclusions experts to make sense of our exclusions data with a view to reducing/eliminating exclusions across the city and related to this running a project looking at behaviours and incident response to support education settings to deliver a more meaningful response to families affected by racism.

 

3.4.5      Hundreds more education workers have accessed racial literacy training this quarter and training has also been provided this quarter to Governors, Early Years Network, and a workshop delivered at the Runnymede We Move summit in Leeds.

 

3.4.6      On the 15th October, an ‘Anti-Racist Education in the Community’ event was held at the Lighthouse venue, beneath Afrori Books. This brought together non-statutory agencies and individuals involved in anti-racist education to share their contributions and coordinate with the strategy.

 

3.4.7      The event was a huge success. Attendees shared lived experiences, information about progress made under the strategy and planned next steps. They also heard from partner organisations about the work they are doing to enable better coordination across the city and to ensure we promote the work of local organisations to schools and colleges accurately and effectively. They met one another and celebrated the vital anti-racist education work the community has led on in the city. 

 

3.5          Housing

 

3.5.1      The Community Engagement Team have been engaging with Black & Racially Minoritised tenants to understand more about their experiences in council housing. They recently ran four different sessions specifically aimed at,and advertised directly to tenants with protected characteristics and from Black & Racially Minoritised backgrounds.

 

3.1.1      Business objects is the council's private database that has information about tenants in council accommodation. Information such as ethnicity and contact details can be extracted from this database and used to share information with people about housing updates, events and resources. This was used to identify tenants from Black & Racially Minoritised backgrounds and texts and emails were sent to invite them to the sessions.

3.5.2       Turnout for the sessions was high with many residents commenting on how positive it was to be invited to speak directly about their experiences. Constructive feedback was given about people’s lived experiences in council housing and how their intersecting identities affected those experiences. This included tenants sharing lived experiences of racism in council housing.

 

3.5.3      A new Policy and Training Plan, with a focus on reporting and responding to hate crime, is currently being updated. Among other things, this plan will aim to respond to the nuances and intricacies of how racism and hate crime manifest, upskilling housing staff in how to identify and deal with these situations more effectively. Learning & Development (L&D) members of staff, and the Equalities Business Partner for HNC will be involved in developing this plan alongside Housing staff.

 

3.6          Engagement with Communities

 

3.6.1      The most recent Community Advisory Group meeting was held on the 15th December. The topic for the meeting was Economic Development (ED). Assistant Director for Economic Development & a members of their team presented an update on their work and fielded questions from community CAG members. This was the first time ED had presented to CAG, and CAG members had questions aboutDETAILS TO FOLLOW the role of the Economic Development team and how the council’s Economic Strategy impacted their lived experiences. CAG members also hadother questions about the anti-racismtraining of ED staff and how the ED team aims to embed anti-racism best practice into the service. The ED Council Officers presenting spoke about the remit of their work, the limits of their influence on the local economy and what their roles entail. They also spoke about the Business & Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) and how it can support new businesses. It was clarified that the ED team will have actions as part of the forthcoming Anti-Racism Strategy.

 

3.6.2      Engagement with other community groups about the Anti-Racism Strategy is also taking place on a 1:1 basis. This gives those who are unavailable for the CAG an opportunity to have a say on the development of the strategy and ensures a diverse range of voices are part of the development process. Being flexible in how we engage with Black & Racially Minoritised communities is vital in building trust and confidence, which is a key component of our Anti-Racism Strategy. Embedding this best practice into the development of the strategy creates a solid foundation of engagement on which we can build upon once the strategy is complete.

 

3.7          Community Voluntary Sector

 

3.7.1      £110,000 of the underspend reallocation from The World Reimagined (TWR) has been reallocated to the Communities Equality and Third Sector team (CETS).strengthening the community and voluntary sector. Tthe Anti Racism Project Officer is now in post. This role will project manage the external organisation that will be engaging with communities about how to effectively use the underspend to support the infrastructure of Black & Racially Minoritised voluntary sector organisations in Brighton and Hove. It is vital that the engagement be done as thoroughly as possible to ensure community voices are involved from the very start in the decision making process. Engagement with a wide range of organisations will ensure community voices are involved from the very start in the decision-makingprocess. It is expected that this engagement will take place between January and March 2023, with recommendations being available in late April to early May.

 

3.7.2      The funding for the Anti Racism Project Officer and the external organisation has come from the underspend reallocation from TWR. The Project Officer budget is £4,300. The engagement funding is £7,200. This totals as £11,500. This leaves £98,500 left of the TWR underspend reallocated funding to invest in the outcomes of the engagement.

 

3.7.3      The deadline for the BME fund – a ring fenced portion of the Communities Fund specifically for organisations that serve or a lead by Black & Racially Minoritised people – has now passed. In total, we have received 10 bids from 9 organisations requesting over £17,000. Bids are now being appraised and successful applicants will be informed shortly.

 

4.             ANALYSIS & CONSIDERATION OF ANY ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

 

4.1          The progress outlined above is on actions undertaken in response to the council’s pledge to become an anti-racist council, anti-racism Notices of Motion and petitions accepted by full council/committees and previously Member agreed work under the Fair & Inclusive Action Plan.

 

5.             COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & CONSULTATION

 

5.1          Engagement is as outlined above in Section 3.

 

6.             CONCLUSION

 

6.1          TECC committee requested a standing item on every agenda updating on progress towards the council’s anti-racism commitments.

 

6.2          This report updates on progress and the contents are for Members to note.

 

7.             FINANCIAL & OTHER IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1          There are no financial implications arising from this report, which is for noting..

 

            Finance Officer Consulted:            Mike Bentley                                     Date: 13/12/2022

 

8.             LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1          There are no legal implications arising from this report which is for noting. All of the actions proposed are in line with the Council’s powers and duties, in particular under the Equality Act 2010.

                                                                   

            Lawyer Consulted: Joanne Dunyaglo                                      Date: 15/12/2022

 

9.             EQUALLITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

9.1          The intention of this work is to address identified racial inequalities and racism experienced by people who live in, work in and visit the city. The range of engagement planned with people who share other characteristics in addition to their ethnicity will ensure that perspectives are heard from a wide range of people. This will enable the development of tailored and bespoke actions to address all forms of racism, where it is based on ethnicity, skin colour or any other attribute.

 

9.2          The work is central to the council’s legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between communities, as well as to encourage civic engagement by under-represented groups. It also complements and supports the council’s Fair & Inclusive Action Plan in addressing the findings of the review of race diversity by Global HPO.

 

 

10.          SUSTAINABILITY IMPLICATIONS

 

10.1        No implications arising from this report.

 

11.          SOCIAL VALUE & PROCUREMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

11.1        There are no direct social value and procurement implications that arise from this report

 

12.          CRIME & DISORDER IMPLCATIONS

 

12.1        Crime & Disorder implications are covered in section 3.10 & above

 

13.          PUBLC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

 

13.1        As outlined in 3.7.5 engagement around the topic of the Covid-19 vaccine has provided us with clearer data on uptake of the vaccine. This will inform all of our COVID and vaccination related actions going forward and may lead to changes in our current methods of engagement around the COVID 19 Vaccine and Public Health in general.No implications arising from this report.

 

14.          OTHER IMPLICATIONS

 

14.1        There are no other implications that arise from this report.