Agenda item

Cabinet Portfolio: - Corporate Services and Finance

Strategic Directorate: - Assistant Chief Executive

Consideration was given to a report that was submitted for pre-decision scrutiny ahead of the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 23 November 2020 in respect of the report Equalities Review – going for “Excellent” accreditation. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services and the Head of Policy, Performance and Improvement attended the meeting to present the report.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to reducing inequality and in creating a Borough that was based on equality and social justice where all residents had a good quality of life and were able to achieve their potential. 

The Cabinet Member stated that the report being submitted for consideration brought forward a comprehensive and wide-ranging programme of action that had been structured around achieving a nationally accredited status for equalities. The Cabinet Member advised that the proposed activities would be closely aligned with a range of measures to tackle inequalities, discrimination and prejudice in  Rotherham, and that these would be carried out in partnership with other organisations and communities across the Borough as set out in the Council’s Year Ahead Plan.

The Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence advised that in order to work towards achieving the “Excellent” accreditation under the “Equality Framework for Local Government” that a multi-faceted programmed approach would be employed. It was noted that the work that would be carried out to obtain the accreditation would move the Council away from a process driven approach to managing equalities and towards a fresh approach that was based on outcomes.

The Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence advised that the work that would be carried out in order to work towards the accreditation would look at what the Council already did well with regard to equalities as well as where it could improve. It also noted that the review would seek to ensure that considerations surrounding equality issues were central to everything that the Council did by creating a wider understanding of equality issues right across the Council. An action plan and full details of the activities that would be undertaken in order to achieve the “Excellent” accreditation were included in the officer’s report.

The Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence noted that a wide consultation process would be conducted as part of the planned activities that would enable different groups from across the communities of Rotherham to contribute to the co-design of the processes that improve equality and social justice across the Borough.

Members welcomed the proposed review and the central role that community groups and voluntary organisations across the Borough would have in the proposed activities. Members asked for further information on the Council’s relationship with different voluntary  and community groups through Voluntary Action Rotherham. The Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence advised that the Council had a an excellent working relationship with voluntary organisations, noting that this relationship had been strengthened by the work of the Council’s Community Hub throughout the pandemic that had demonstrated the effectiveness and value of the Council’s relationships with both large and small voluntary organisations. It was noted that the results of the evaluation of the operation of the Community Hub throughout the pandemic would be fed into the work surrounding the equalities review. 

Members asked for further information on the data sources that would be used to inform the activities that made up the work that would be carried out in order to obtain the “Excellent” accreditation. The Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence provided information on the data sources that would be used and assured members that thorough data reporting and intelligence procedures would be followed when conducting the review.

The Chair noted that a report that detailed the activities and recommendations from the sub-group of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on equalities was included at a later point on the meeting agenda.  The Chair proposed that the Board should make its recommendations regarding the Cabinet report on the Equalities Review – going for “Excellent” accreditation after consideration had been given to that report.

Resolved: -

That the Board make its recommendations regarding the Cabinet report on the Equalities Review – going for “Excellent” accreditation after consideration had been given to the report of the sub-group of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on equalities.