Agenda item

This report provides an update against the Corporate Equalities Action Plan and also proposes the creation of a joint officer and member equalities group as a mechanism for providing additional focus on equalities matters.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       The Portfolio Holder for Community was very supportive of the report and thanked fellow Councillors and officers for their work in raising the concept to be adopted.

·       Councillors requested clarification on the current position with the Taunton Deane Disability Discussion Group and whether they were still holding meetings.  They also congratulated the public speaker for her work on the action group.

The Strategy Specialist advised that the group still met twice a year and had met since the creation of Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) but he was not sure if they had met during lockdown.  He also advised they were still funded by the Council.  A review was being carried out on funding for voluntary groups, which meant that the funding for groups such as Compass would be reviewed.

·       Councillors queried the items marked as ‘not yet progressed’ and whether those items would be picked up by the Working Group once it was formed.

The Strategy Specialist advised that the action plan was a ‘living’ document and subject to change, the deadlines on each item were flexible and had been impacted by the Covid Pandemic.  The Working Group would assist on some of the items but there were some challenging pieces of work to be carried out which would take time.

·       Councillors queried whether the officer role would be a full time position or whether it would be filled by an existing member of staff.

The Strategy Specialist advised that it would be filled by several existing officers as part of their job roles, who would work with Councillors on the Working Group.

·       Concern was raised on the work to be carried out to identify a location for a pitch/provision for travellers and that no action had been taken yet and that Councillors wanted to see results.

The Strategy Specialist advised that there had been some longstanding issues on some of the sites that had been identified and that once the Working Group had been formed, they could investigate those issues in more detail.

·       Councillors requested clarification on the items that were showing as cancelled.

The Strategy Specialist advised that those items were being led by other organisations, who had advised they were no longer going ahead.  SWT were only assisting with the publicity of those items, so were not aware of the reasons.

·       Councillors queried whether the Working Group would be held in public session to allow for greater inclusion and feedback from the many different action groups and organisations.

The Strategy Specialist advised that because the Working Group was not a decision making body and could only make recommendations to Council, they had planned to hold the meetings internally, however, he welcomed the inclusion of any of the action groups and organisations to assist with the work to be carried out.

·       Concern was raised that extra resource had not been given and that it was a legal requirement but it was expected to be added on to an officer’s existing role.

The Strategy Specialist advised that resource was being given to the work and that it would be part of many officer’s roles as they had already been carrying out the work but that the Working Group would help the progression of many of the items on the action plan.  Equality Impact Assessments should be carried out on any projects the Council undertook, which would highlight the resource required.

·       Councillors were disappointed not to have an ambassador already implemented as a culture change was required.  They were pleased to see that the Working Group would be non-political and were keen for this work to be carried on into the future.

·       Councillors thanked the officers and the Portfolio Holder for Community for their work on the report and looked forward working together with the public.

Resolved that the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee:-

·       Noted the position with regard to the Corporate Equalities Action Plan;

·       Supported the creation of the joint Officer and Member Equalities Group; and

·       Approved the terms or reference of the Group.