Human Rights and Equality Disappointments - The need to get off our knees

Finding myself at this time of year unusually outside the space of electoral politics, I have had time to focus a little harder on the other things around me. This afternoon the shocking revelation of the failure of the criminal justice system to obtain a single conviction for sixty people living in Kettering being kept in near slavery-like conditions leaves many of us with all too many questions. Many of these people were trafficked from their homes. Speaking earlier on in the year to a police officer involved in the investigation, it seems it was through investigating the theft of charity bags in the with second hand clothing that had alerted the police to the conditions that these workers were living and working in appalling physical abuse, threats and harassment. More than 20 of the workers were crammed into a three-bedroom terraced house with a single toilet that did not work.
This situation continued for four years with no one coming forward to the police or to report the situation to any other agency. There are various parties that share the blame for this including the Gang Master Licensing Authority that issued the license to the employers, the multi-million pound supermarkets that bought the produce. It is situations like this that highlight the real need for advice that reaches the individuals in greatest need. However, with drastic reforms and cuts to legal advice, one can’t help feeling that things are just going to get worse. Check out the campaigns on this here and here. This all comes together with the Government Equality Office releasing a consultation paper earlier this month, clearly stating that they wish the Equality and Human Rights Commission to cease funding their legal grants programme from 2012. They seem to think that this in the future could be funded by legal aid regardless of the fact that legal aid will not fund tribunal representation. With respondents generally only really motivated to settle cases as the tribunal date approaches, any respondent that is aware that the claimant in their case is supported by legal aid is likely to play hard ball to the end, increasing the number of tribunals that taken place and increase in the costs of justice for all of us. Perhaps the icing on the cake was the newly released proposals for equality regulations. These have been re-issues after initially being issued at the start of the year (hummm ... like that did take more resources at a time when I thought we are all mean to be tightening our belts) and significantly waters down the obligations on public bodies to demonstrate that they are doing all they can to elimination discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations and just to make sure that we are on a generally uphill struggle the Equality and Human Rights Commission is having 55% of its budget cut. In such circumstances it is all too easy to not fight back when it comes to the bad news. However with decisions being changed nationally and locally all the time with the right kind of pressure at the right time, it’s all the more reason to hope and make ourselves heard. Join me and fight against the EHRC cuts by signing this.

Cuts and the recession

The cuts are the big news at the minute with the reality of what will go finally emerging. In the County and the the Borough.

This is the first set of budgets that I have seen that have clear evidence that there has a least been an attempt to equality impact assess either through referencing in reports or through full publication like the County Council. However, these documents have clearly been carried out in some haste with some having completely inadequate data sets to inform them. Some of them are very poor pieces of work with others not recognising the leverage that small amounts of investment can have particularly in the voluntary and community sector. Investment of a few thousand for the County Council can assist levering in tens, even hundreds of thousands from other sources for some organisations in this sector. All this at a time when there is in addition to these local cuts decisions, national cuts decisions that are a complete assault on the vulnerable in our communities. This is a must see for all. The disabled women presenting in the film highlights the focus from some in the voluntary and community sector "picking the carcass of the welfare state". It is reference to the hours, often days of time trying to apply for a plethora tenders and contracts to see some future after 31st March rather than putting the kind of energy that is needed to challenge the cuts. All too true. The cuts locally are difficult to see as much of them are hidden in debris of enormity of the cuts. For instance, in the £2,772,000 cut known as SC016 the complete axing of all advice work in the County lies. This will in particular hit Cleggs alarm clock Britain. It is those who have always worked for a living who perhaps now find themselves in hard times through redundancy, ill-heath or bereavement that will feel this the most as the services that have previously guided these people in need through an unfamiliar and complex welfare system disappear.

The recession and the cuts that exacerbate them are about inequality. Figures released last week show only one in five under 24 year olds are in work with an increasing proportion never having experienced work in the last two years. Over 50% of Black under 24 year olds unemployed, our nation is failing an entire generation. Since the Fawcett Society's attempted challenge on the governments budget the case for the gender equality implictions of the cut carries on growing.

So what is the answer? the only one that I can think of is about resistance. There are many ways of doing this, talking planning objecting but overall making the job of implementing cuts as hard as possible. The demonstration on 26th March should be a highlight of the campaign. Why don't you commit to going along too.

New Year

With the new year comes a new accolade with local twitter and hyper-local blog Hunsbury Herald highlighting this blog in it's best of blogs page here.
Although it's always good to have praise, I will point out that my blog is a personal one and not connected to my employment at Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council.

A Better Northampton

I have a deep love of where I live and I do get frustrated when it's not all I want it to be. I'd like less closed down retail units in the town centre, I'd like more people to have work and have the economic power to figure out the changes they would like in their lives and how to get them, I'd also like an environment where there was more chance that my daughters can have relationships with other human beings without some thinking that because they are women that they are lesser human beings. I'd like to bringing my son up in an environment where he does not have to walk past a lap dancing club every time he goes to play warhammer at gamesworkshop, past unclad female images of bill board proportions. The outside of the venue itself is regularly strewn with litter and rotting food which in addition to the graphic marketing tools scream out that our town is not family friendly, and doesn't have a pride in the way in the place we live or the way people can expect to be treated as citizens. My town would be a better town without it. Join with me and others in objecting to its licence.

There is until 11th January 2011 to get objections in.

Objections can be sent by post to:

The Licensing Officer
Northampton Borough Council
Borough Solicitors Division
The Guildhall
St Giles Square
Northampton
NN1 1DE

Or by email to pbayliss@northampton.gov.uk

What's the difference or making a difference

With thoughts turning to the new year and resolutions, it's worth considering what a citizens manifesto for the May elections would look like.

One key concept that hasn't enjoyed much discussion is a Northampton Living wage. This would involve the Council committing to pay staff a living wage rather than minimum wage and also committing to only contract with companies and organisations that paid staff a living wage.

It was a key policy platform that all candidates for the London mayoral elections fought on, however in the face of austerity is it still an aspiration that is deliverable or even able to capture the imagination of the electorate. With so many going into 2011 with uncertainty about the future maybe all people want to hope for is security as opposed to hoping for something better.

Change - anyone else up for it?

With those great guys at 38 degrees fundraising for this and the CWU folk mobilising against the proposals for the post offices and the post, it seems to be activism all round. However the proof of the pudding is in the change it creates or doesn’t as the case maybe. With the key change point being next May, perhaps it’s time to think ambitious in the an alternative coalition ... a coalition for change. Post-Xmas and new year those into electoral politics will be winding up for the target of success at Borough and District Council elections. For those of us that have been here before, in the past it has meant that the better organisation (historically Northampton Town Football Club Supporters Trust), canvassed the opinion of all candidates on their views about the Sixfields stadium. A while back there was the semblance of a coalition for change with the debate in the Guildhall organised by Northampton town football club supporters and Market Traders. Unfortunately, the ruling Lib Dem group declined to have a formal presence with some individual Lib Dem Councillors skulking in the audience. Perhaps it’s time to renew that energy and as citizens make our own manifesto for the town and then ask those putting up for office what they will buy into. What’s certain is that it won’t happen on it’s own but with more than one local community group thinking of hosting a hustings, IMHO should be something that the party pundits should be thinking of their responses to.
Who knows it may even change the stability of the Westminster coalition?

In the fast lane with a whole load of crashes around

I was presenting a statement signed by about a dozen Black and minority ethnic groups and 80 individuals at the Northampton Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Panel tonight. The statement was developed by Voice 4 Change with input from NREC and Council for Ethnic Minorities. The first shocking thing about the experience was the paucity of Councillors in attendance. Although the weather was dire it was traversable and clearly myself and several other members of the public had made the trip out. Having elected Councillors the least that they can do it to actually turn up and represent you or in this case listen to you.
The statement was not news. It was basically the articulation of the frustration that many Black groups have had with not achieving any resource from Northampton Borough Council. The Council’s position is that the applications made by the Black and minority ethnic organisations were simply not robust enough to get through the scoring framework. One could argue a very similar argument used by 21 Oxbridge Colleges here.
The other big news is about the cuts released by the County Council so far but so far very little detail exists on what this means for specific communities. It’s all very well stating that bus route subsidies will have to be re-negotiated but to look at this effectively with an equalities eye, it is really important to identify which ones we are actually talking about and which communities that they actually serve. In the mean time things that were seen as important for vulnerable members of the community now seem to be put on hold