Issue - items at meetings - Discussion with Cabinet Member for Community Affairs, Inclusion and Internal relations

72.1    The Chairman welcomed Councillor Dee Simson to the meeting.

72.2    Councillor Simson outlined her roles which included community relations and equalities and inclusion; these were challenging and involved all services areas. She reminded the meeting that although the local economy was relatively strong, the Reducing Inequalities Review indicated that there were pockets of deprivation in all areas of the city. Prevention work was especially important, such as employment and training for young people and reducing teenage conceptions. A great deal of work was done in the City by the Voluntary Sector.

72.3         The Community Engagement Framework had now been agreed and the Social Enterprise Strategy, with which she was partly involved, had been launched.

72.4         The City Inclusion Partnership had been established and would be taking a strategic overview of inclusion across the City. It would work with the new Equalities Coalition, which would focus on more individual, day-to-day issues.

72.5         Councillor Simson said was pleased that the Communities Team of officers was now established. She had taken over the Community Safety remit, which would give greater coordination with City Inclusion matters within the Cabinet. 

72.6         Some Members were concerned at possible effects of transferring funding from wider areas traditionally regarded as deprived to individually targeted initiatives. 

72.7         Answering questions Councillor Simson said she did not anticipate that her Chairmanship of the Community Safety Forum would change in this administration, and this would give more continuity than before.  A new analysis and data system Brighton & Hove Local Information System BHLIS, would shortly be able to identify the types and areas of deprivation in the City to help enable targeting of services.

72.8         Asked for further details on the potential weakening of the voluntary sector and possible effect of the recession on the Social Enterprise Strategy and funding of youth support work, Councillor Simson said these lay more directly within other cabinet portfolios.

72.9         The BHLIS data system would shortly enable searches by postcode and by ward.

72.10    The Chairman said that the Commission would be interested to hear more about the Equalities Coalition in due course, and thanked Councillor Simson for her interesting update on her wide and complex remit.