EQUALITIES NETWORK

LGEM

Thursday 4 March 2010

In Attendance

Maria Felton / Ashfield District Council
Lynne Cheong (Chair) / Bolsover District Council
Martin Bloomfield / Chesterfield Borough Council
Jane Dackiewicz / Chesterfield Borough Council
Shilpa Arya / Leicester City Council
Sarah Short / LGEM
Melissa Jordan / LGEM
Melanie Rowe / RIEP
Rebecca Parker / RIEP
Nicola Windley / Rushcliffe Borough Council

Apologies

Sarah Nobbs / AmberValley Borough Council
Steve Brown / Bassetlaw District Council
Lewis Collin / Broxtowe Borough Council
Zoe White / Daventry District Council
Nicky Keep / Derbyshire County Council
SteveCapes / DerbyshireDalesDistrict Council
Janet Brothwell / Gedling Borough Council
Dave Bennett / HighPeak Borough Council
Irene Kszyk / Leicester City Council
Chhaya McDonald / Leicestershire County Council
Kamal Sisodia / Leicestershire County Council
Sandy Zavery / Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service
Margaret Radford / Nottinghamshire County Council
Louise Bennett / North West Leicestershire District Council
Lindsey Ambrose / Northampton Borough Council
Haseeb Ahmad / Nottingham City Council
Elaine Claridge / South Kesteven District Council
Julie Taylor / West Lindsey District Council

1. Welcome and Introductions

Lynne Cheong (LC), Bolsover District Council, welcomed attendees to the meeting.

  1. Notes of the last meeting –10 September 2009

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 September were agreed as a true record.

  1. Matters Arising

Page two, items six of the notes – Sarah informed the group that ‘The Building Society for All Ages Event’ has now been postponed until June 2010. Details of which will be circulated on receipt.

There were no other matters arising from the Notes.

  1. The Work Conducted by RIEP

Melanie Rowe, Lead Officer and Rebecca Parker, Project Manager of RIEP gave an overview of their roles and the work conducted by RIEP. An information pack was distributed to members of the group.

RIEP received funding from CLG to improve performance and efficiency within the East Midlands.

Initially, they conducted a scoping exercise and an Equality and Diversity Survey to which 2/3rds of the authorities responded to. A copy of the results was included within the information pack provided. It was evident from the survey that there was a big issue around capacity, greater buy in from Members and Procurement Officers was required.

The East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership have developed five good practice case studies:-

Generation savings and efficiency through shared services: HighPeak and Staffordshire Moorlands;

Leicestershire County Council takes Positive Action;

Northampton Borough Council: A New Decade of Successful Procurement;

Mansfield District Council leaps into Action with the new Equalities Framework;

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service Improve Services and Working Partnerships for a Safer Community;

There have been a further two case studies identified:-

Nottingham City Council

and

Derbyshire County Council.

EM IEP has put on two procurement events designed for Procurement Officers and Equality Officers, both events received positive feedback. Please click on the hyperlink below to access the slides from the procurement and equalities workshops

discussed in themeeting the event was called 'A New Tool for Successful Procurement'.

EM IEP are now planning to put on three workshops entitled Equality and Diversity in Focus in April 2010 aimed to support Equality and Diversity Officers outlining future changes to Equality legislation.Details of which were included within the packs provided Experian will be coming along to support these events. .

Members of the group attention was drawn to the Reading the Signs, Why People turn off Politics event scheduled for 17 March 2010, this event is for Councillors from across the region with Officers supporting attending Councillors. The event will be held in the Holocaust Centre in Laxton, Nottinghamshire.

The group expressed an interest in the Ann Frank’s Experience to help community cohesion and encourage members buy in.

The West Midlands Forum hasaccess to all the forms for monitoring procurement. The fee for becoming a member of this forum is currently£500.

Lynne thanked Melanie and Rebecca on behalf of the group for their time and very interesting and valuable presentation.

EM IEP is also considering an award scheme for equality projects.

  1. Authority Updates

Ashfield District Council

Ashfield District Council is still moving forward.

Bolsover District Council

The authority remains at ESLG Level 3 / EFLG Achieving level. It is currently revising its Corporate Plan and equality objectives will be set within that process.

Chesterfield Borough Council

The authority is currently looking at the framework and identified the need for more senior buy in and awareness. They are having monthly group meetings to help move the authority forward in this area.

Rushcliffe Borough Council

Rushcliffe Borough Council is currently at level three. The authority has incorporated Equality into PDR.

Leicester City Council

Leicester City Council’s Draft Equality Strategy is currently being consulted on at present.

Their Sexual Orientation policy has just been approved.

6. Any Other Business

Stonewall have just released a DVD entitled FIT, Leicestershire Police are doing a campaign to encourage reporting and have designed posters etc

7. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 9 June 2010 at 10.00a.m. The venue of the next meeting is still to be confirmed, with the possibility of it being held at Leicester City Council.

Bobby Upple from the Network for Black Professionals will be presenting at the next meeting on Diversity in Action Workshops and the Mentor Training.

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