Agenda and minutes

(1)    To consider the nomination of a Member to the three Scrutiny Reviews:-

·              Corporate Complaints Review Working Group.

·              Review of Advice Centres.

·              Review of Area Assemblies.

(2)    Timing of Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel meetings.

Consideration was given to the request for nominees to sit on three Scrutiny Review Groups to look at:-

·              Corporate Complaints.

·              Advice Centres.

·              Area Assemblies.

Resolved:-  (1)  That Councillor Whelbourn be nominated to form part of the Review Group to carry out the “Scrutiny Review of Corporate Complaints”.

(2)  That Councillor Austen be nominated to form part of the Review Group to carry out the “Scrutiny Review of Advice Centres”.

(3)  That Councillors Austen, Lakin, McNeely, Pickering and Whelbourn continue with the next phase for the Review Group to carry out the “Scrutiny Review of the Area Assemblies”.

Consideration was given to the timings of future Panel meetings for the rest of the municipal year.

Various suggestions were made, including bringing the start time forward by either one or two hours, or maintaining the status quo.

Resolved:-  That the Democratic Renewal Scrutiny Panel continue to meet at 4.00 p.m. on the scheduled dates in the diary.

There were no Declarations of Interest to report.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

Carol Adamson, Equalities and Diversity Officer, presented a report, which informed the Panel that the Council had achieved Level 4 of the Equality Standard for Local Government (ESLG) at 31st March, 2007 and highlighted areas for continued action to consolidate this achievement and meet the changing requirements of the ESLG and wider equalities and diversity legislation. 

Carol Adamson also gave a presentation, which drew specific attention to:-

·              The Equality Standard as a Performance Management Tool.

·              How this fits with RMBC Performance Management Framework.

·              The Five Levels of the Equality Standard.

·              Four Themes that are assessed, these are leadership and corporate commitment; consultation and community development and scrutiny; service delivery and customer care and employment and training issues.

·              Key Activities to achieve levels 1 to 4

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-        Percentage of employment opportunities advertised externally.

-        Community consultation and involvement with the voluntary/community sector to ensure sustainability.

-        South Yorkshire wide best practice sharing.

-        Measurement of Best Value Performance Indicators.

-        Equality monitoring of complaints and links with the proposed Scrutiny Review.

Resolved;-  (1)  That Carol Adamson be thanked for her presentation.

(2)  That the achievement of the Equality Standard Level 4 be welcomed.

(3)  That the additional requirements placed on Local Authorities in relation to the implementation of the Revised Equality Standard for Local Government be noted.

(4)  That the actions taken to achieve Level 4 and areas for development to facilitate progress to Level 5 of the Equality Standard be noted.

(5)  That further information be sought on the percentage number of employment opportunities advertised externally.

(6)  That the equality monitoring of complaints be considered as part of the Scrutiny Review into Corporate Complaints.

Tom Kelly, Director of Inclusion Voice and Influence, gave a presentation on equality and diversity in Children and Young People’s Service, which drew specific attention to:-

·              What the main equality and diversity objectives and targets were.

·              Every Child Matters.

·              Health Inequalities.

·              Safe Inequalities.

·              Enjoy and Achieve Inequalities.

·              Make a Positive Contribution Inequalities.

·              Achieve Economic Wellbeing Inequalities.

·              Raising the Attainment of Looked After Children, Children from BME Backgrounds and those with Special and Complex Needs.

·              Embedding the Strands of Promoting Age, Religion and Sexuality Equality.

·              Inputs in the Equalities Standards, Corporate Groups and Schools.

·              Equality Impact Assessments and the Outcomes Achieved.

·              Outputs and Addressing the Issues.

·              Outcomes of the Equality Monitoring of Service Delivery.

·              Plans for Rolling out further Equality and Diversity Training.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-        Vulnerable children up to the age of 25 who were victims of homophobic bullying and L.G.B.T. associated issues.

-        Monitoring of the Anti-Bullying Strategy.

-        Planned Events including celebrations associated with L.G.B.T. History Month.

-        Responses to the voice and influence of children.

-        Miss Dorothy.com – The South Yorkshire wide anti-bullying initiative.

-        Disability Equality Scheme, key targets and the addressing of disabilities amongst vulnerable children.

-        Communication and liaison between schools, governing bodies and parents as part of the PFI process.

-        Disability Award Scheme in conjunction with the local P.C.T. and N.H.S. Trust.

Resolved;-  (1)  That Tom Kelly be thanked for his presentation.

(2)  That Tom Kelly bring an update report to this Panel with regard to the new Community Cohesion agenda in schools with detail on the progress that had been made.

Consideration will be given to:-

§  What are your Directorate’s main Equality and Diversity objectives and targets?

§  How is your Directorate embedding the additional strands of promoting age, religion and sexuality equality into equality work?

§  Provide an update on equality impact assessments and outcomes achieved.

§  Provide a summary of the outcomes of equality monitoring of service delivery you have carried out under the RMBC Equality Monitoring Policy and Guidance 2005. 

§  What are your Directorate’s plans for rolling out further equality and diversity training to employees?

Paul Broadberry, Jill Dearning and Abi Dakin attended to provide information to the Scrutiny Panel on R.B.T.’s progress on the delivery of equality and diversity training.

AbiDakin gave a presentation, which drew specific attention to:-

·              R.B.T. Progress.

·              Training and Development.

·              Equality Impact Assessment Outcomes.

·              Equality Monitoring.

·              Registrars.

·              Welfare Rights and Money Advice.

·              Flexible Working.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-                 Welfare Rights and Money Advice to Adults and the General Public.

-                 Performance Management of the Equality Standards and the links to other available benefits.

-                 Accessibility of benefit information across the board.

-                 Extended opening hours for Registrars to take account of the registration of deaths for different faiths and holiday periods.

-                 Further consultation of older people to maximise customer satisfaction in the customer service centres.

Resolved;-  (1)  That Paul Broadberry, Jill Dearing and Abi Dakin be thanked for their presentation.

Councillor Hussain, Cabinet Member for Communities and Involvement, presented a report, which outlined the findings and recommendations from a report published by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion which made clear that the impact of growing diversity was locally specific and, therefore, needed local solutions that addressed everyone in communities, regardless of their background.

The Commission for Integration and Cohesion was announced by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the 28th June, 2006.  The Commission was a fixed term advisory body set up to consider how local areas could make the most of the benefits derived by increasing diversity, but would also consider how they could respond to the tensions it couldsometimes cause. 

The latest report was published on the 14th June, 2007 by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, ‘Our Shared Future’.  The Commission had adopted four key principles:-

·              A sense of shared futures that bound communities rather than divided them.

·              A model of rights and responsibilities that created a sense of citizenship and the obligations that went with membership of a community.

·              An emphasis on mutual respect and civility, on the basis that mutual respect was fundamental to integration and cohesion.

·              Visible social justice, prioritising transparency, fairness and trust in institutions.

Key elements of the report and recommendations for Councils were outlined.

Councillor Hussain also gave a presentation, which drew specific attention to:-

·              Adoption of the Four Key Principles.

·              Key Elements.

·              Progress in Rotherham.

·              Community Cohesion Group and Action Plan.

·              Measurement of Cohesion.

·              Muslim Safety forum.

·              Tension Monitoring Arrangements.

·              New Migrant Communities Needs Assessment and Mapping.

·              Calendar of Cultural Events.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and clarified:-

-                 Promotion of equalities and reducing inequalities within the Rotherham borough.

-                 Engagement of local media to report responsibly.

-                 Costs associated with cohesion activity and the need to consider funding issues long term

-                 Eradication of general myths and the promotion of cohesion for E.U. migrants.

Resolved;-  (1)  That Councillor Hussain be thanked for his presentation.

(2)  That report and the recommendations of the Commission be noted.

Pauline Walker and Janet Spurling, Equalities and Diversity Officer, presented a report, which provided an update for the Panel on the development of Rotherham Women’s Strategy and highlighted the main priorities and key objectives that the Strategy intended to address.

Further information was provided on the rationale for the strategy and a summary of the priorities and key objectives.

Resolved;-  (1)  That report and its contents be endorsed and supported.

(2)  That the areas listed as the key issues be progressed within the Rotherham Women’s Strategy.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th July, 2007 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman, subject to Debbie Heath be included in the list of apologies.

The Scrutiny Panel noted the minutes of the meetings of the Performance and Scrutiny Overview Committee held on 13^th and 27^th July, 2007.

The Scrutiny Panel noted the minutes of the meeting of the Asylum Seekers Working Party held on 26^th July, 2007.