I’m in a Trade Union – Why should I get involved with a Black Members Self Organised group?

 

In UNISON, Black is used to indicate people with a shared history. Black with a capital 'B' is used in its broad political and inclusive sense to describe people in Britain that have suffered colonialism and enslavement in the past and continue to experience racism and diminished opportunities in today's society.

Right here and now, the challenges for both those in and out of work are extreme. With many facing the poison cocktail of both low pay and exponentially climbing bills the future looks at the very best insecure with many households simply at a loss to know what to do.

We know that Black members are likely to be in more insecure and lower paid work. We also know that they are more likely to experience poor outcomes in their engagement with public services as a result of structural racism. Just this weekend there has been another report published about the longer waits that Black communities face for cancer diagnosis. These kind of struggles can only be tackled by organising to challenge inequalities. Organising within workplaces has long been an effective strategy to identify and campaign for improvements in our lives with the support and solidarity of others.

I am inviting Black members of West Northants UNISON branch to a meeting of the Black Self Organised Group taking place on Monday 5th September at 6pm the office at 6 Darnell Way Moulton Park NN3 6RW Northampton. Hot and cold drinks and light refreshments will be available.

There will be a warm welcome whether you are or you are not active member currently.

Discussion will include:

Role holders in the Self Organised Group (Chair, Vice Chair etc)

Future meetings

Future events

2023 National Black Members Conference, 20 – 22 January 2023, The Exchange, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, 150 Morrison St, Edinburgh EH3 8EE, UK

               Motions

               Delegates/visitors

Workplace issues

If you want to have an informal discussion before the meeting, please feel free to get in touch through the branch or directly

Northamptonshire County Council cabinet - July 2019

Over the last few months there have been considerable changes in the Northamptonshire County Council. As with the rest of life this is a mixture of positives and negatives.

Shortly after the implementation of the first section 114 (effective declaration of bankruptcy), Council meeting ceased to be webcast. This has now be re-instated and makes decision making considerable more transparent. The Council's scrutiny committees, which were aligned with the Council’s directorates, were scrapped to have one single overview and scrutiny committee in the autumn. On the positive side, for the first time in fourteen years, (since the administration took control) the chair and one of the vice chair positions were given to opposition councillors. At the beginning of the year, the administration decided that the only councillors that could speak at cabinet would be portfolio holders, the leader and one speaker from each political group. This has the impact of making it quite difficult for back bench councillors to get their voice heard. As a mitigation to this, councillors are now allowed to put questions to portfolio holders on the content of the cabinet papers. These are generally responded to on the day of cabinet, very shortly before the cabinet meetings,  and neither the questions nor the answers are published.

For the cabinet due to take place on Tuesday 9th July, I have submitted the following questions:

1.

I am concerned about the Council’s compliance with the equality act in respect of paying due regard to equality when making decisions.

For this cabinet not one cabinet paper has been equality impact assessed despite two key decisions being made. The administration has repeatedly stressed that it is committed to ensuring that the practice of the Council is of a high standard and delivering good results for all Northamptonshire’s communities. However, I am concerned that there is not transparency in decision making and the way that this impacts the diversity in local communities.

Do cabinet members agree or disagree with this? If they disagree can they advise how they are paying due regard to equality in their decision making?

2. 

There has been a drastic change to the senior management structure of the organisation and a massive reduction in specialists in the authority over the course of the administration’s tenure. These posts would have critically provided support to this kind of analysis to assist cabinet members in taking decisions. I put it that the administration is not paying due regard to equality and this is in breach of legislative requirements.

Do cabinet members agree or disagree with this? Can cabinet member advise how they are getting advice on the equality impact on key decisions and advise how that is documented?

3.

On the establishment of minor works budget for maintained schools, Over the last few years staff have raising in the CCNF concern about the information available relating to asbestos in schools. From the information given by officers event within local authority supported schools there is no clear picture as to the need for action on Asbestos in schools. This is of sufficient priority that not one but all the unions have voiced concern about this. Given this maybe the nature of the activity undertaken it would be salient to ensure that there was an analysis to ensure that decisions about what to under take and where were informed by an Equality Impact Assessment.

Given that this is a key decisions I believe to demonstrate due regard to equality and EqIA is necessary.

 Do cabinet members agree or disagree with this? Can cabinet member advise how they are getting advice on the equality impact on key decisions and advise how that is documented?

4. Corporate Performance Report 2018-19 quarter 4

I express concern about the increase in permanent exclusions

Can the cabinet member provide an analysis of the age/gender/race/disability/SEND breakdown of this? It  has not been supplied in previous requests.

I express concern about the increase in electively home educated children

Can the cabinet member provide an analysis of the age/gender/race/disability/SEND breakdown of this? It  has not been supplied in previous requests.

I express concern about Delayed Transfers of Care (DTOC)

Can the cabinet member provide an analysis of the age/gender/race/disability breakdown of this?

I express concern about the reduction in referrals to Children’s Social Care and reductions in rate of child protection plans

What action is the cabinet member undertaking to address the causes of this?

UPDATE

No response was received before the meeting although one cabinet member (Cllr Fiona Baker - Childrens services portfolio holder) did assure me that she would email a lengthy response. 

You can view the Cabinet meeting here.

Are you in or have children in Abbeyfield, Northampton Academy, Northampton International Academy, Northampton School for Girls, Duston School and Thomas Becket Catholic School

At the Northamptonshire County Council Cabinet meeting on 9^th April 2019 a decision is being taken to spend nearly £2 million on additional school places.

An additional 30 places will be in each of Abbeyfield, Lings Academy, Duston School and Thomas of Becket. There will be an additional 20 places in Northampton School for Girls and an additional 60 places will be hosted in Northampton International Academy.

The Council accepts that creating more school places in this way is not good value for money and will not create the best environment for all the places. Northampton International School will go from being a ten form entry (ten classes 28-30 of new students coming into the school every year) to an eyewatering 12 form entry school.

Of course, the need for additional places in Northampton has been predicted for over five years. It is generally accepted that the town requires an additional two secondary schools. However, because the decisions were not taken at the right time in the last few years, the Council is having to take this expensive and poor solution. This is all the more critical since the council has only just got it’s finances under control after effectively declaring itself bankrupt twice last year.

So who’s fault is it? What Education portfolio holder failed to ensure the very basic issue of enough school places in Northampton was addressed an action which is a statutory requirement for the Council?

Would it be a surprise to find out the Councillor who failed to act to ensure that there were enough places for every child to be educated in the town is the Councillor who is now leading the Council.

As Councillors are no longer allowed to speak in Cabinet meeting unless appointed by their group, I submitted a question about the failure to consult over the Equality Impact Assessment that is meant to inform the decision. You can find the question and response (which doesn’t seem to address the question) here.

It seems incredible that such a serious decision affecting so many schools all of which are independent of the council can be taken without any consultation on the impact of equality. Over the last few years there has been the promotion of the myth that the paucity of school places is as a result of immigration. This is a clear illustration that the paucity of school places is as a result of poor management of public services and poor policy making.

Race in the future - organising and support

Less than a handful of years ago there were close to 200 racial equality councils (REC's) in the United Kingdom. A recent survey undertaken on behalf of the East Midlands Racial Equality Consortium by Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council has identified only 41 remaining historic racial equality councils in England, Scotland and Wales with only 33 of them in England. Most organisations have changed their name to take on the breadth of the equality act agenda although some remain as racial equality councils. Their activities still reflect doing one or more of discrimination advice, immigration advice, hate crime monitoring and good relations/community cohesion activity. Historic REC's in the devolved nations seem to be doing well and report good staffing and volunteer numbers. For instance, Edinburgh and the Lothians Regional Equality Council have 13 staff and SEWREC (South East Wales Racial Equality Council) have 20 staff. The functioning of REC's which have not gone under is very variable. Some are just existing with committed volunteers with no paid staff support at all.

Some areas of the country such as the North East and Cumbria have no historic REC's left.
Is it that there isn't a need? Is it because there are low BAME population numbers there? Or is it that the gap has been filled by generalist equality VCS organisations? There is evidence to show that the need for REC services is just acute in areas of low populations numbers. When our REC provided racial harassment support in Wellingborough and East Northants, the numbers of race hate incidents in both areas were often the same despite a very much larger BAME population in Wellingborough than East Northants. The indication was that if you lived as a BAME family in East Northants you were more likely to experience racism that if you live in the more urban and diverse area of Wellingborough. In Cumbria, the race disproportionality of stop searches even attracted the attention of the Equality and Human Rights Commission blowing apart the myth that racial equality advocates are only needed in areas where there are high BAME populations .

Could part of the picture be the erosion of the environments that REC's have traditionally worked in? Discrimination advice service users now have the added barrier of tribunal fees of at least £250. This situation has resulted in an 80% reduction in tribunal applications. That put together with the imposition of early concilliation by ACAS and the abolution of the Equality Act questionairre, send a cold, harsh message to communities facing discrimination and shout loud and clear that the odds are being stacked against them.

For those REC's working on issues of hate crime, the austerity agenda has meant massive cuts in investment in dedicated services like Hate Crime Units are well as other sources of support such as community safety partnerships and budgets. The message right across the country is that where in the past there was an acknowledgement that expertise was required to resolve such issues quickly and effectively, it is simply unaffordable now.

Immigration services are also seeing over the last few years the racheting up of criteria in the baying for blood of those trying to address the "immigration problem". The introduction of the £18,600 income threshold to bring over a single dependant relative has meant that migration of people uniting families is not a trickle but an occasional drip.

In this kind of operating environment, is it any wonder that REC's struggle? All the more reason to celebrate and support those that are still alive.

List of historical racial equality councils still functioning:

London

Barking and Dagenham Racial Equality Council
Ealing Equality Council
Enfield Equality Council
Haringay Race and Equality Council
Harrow Equalities Centre
Hounslow Race and Equalities Council
Kingston Race and Equalities Council
Rights and Equality in Newham
Redbridge Equalities and Communities Council
Sutton Centre for Equalities
Waltham Forest Racial Equality Council


East of England

Cambridge Ethnic Minority Forum
Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality


East Midlands

Charnwood Equality and Human Rights
Derby REC
TREC
NREC


North West

Cheshire Halton and Warrington Racial Equality Council
Manchester Community Relations Council
Preston and Western Lancashire Racial Equality Council


South West

The Council for Racial Equality in Cornwall
Plymouth and Devon Racial Equality Council
Wiltshire Racial Equality Council



West Midlands

BRAP
East Staffordshire Rights and Equality Council
Rights and Equality Sandwell
Warwickshire Racial Equality Partnership


South East

Herts Equality Council
Kent Equality and Cohesion Council
Milton Keynes Equality Council
Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality


Yorkshire and Humberside

Equality Leeds
York Racial Equality Network


Scotland

Central Scotland Equality Council
Edinburgh and the Lothians Regional Equality Council
Fairness Race Awareness and Equality Fife
Grampian Regional Equality Council


Wales

Rights Equality First
Swansea Bay Regional Equality Council
SEWREC South East Wales Racial Equality Council
The Valleys Regional Equality Council


North East

______

Some times the unexpected happens

Last week I wrote about the proposals to remove section 3 of the Equality Act and amazingly enough following a defeat in the House of Lords, the minister in charge,  Jo Swinson announced that she was U-turning. Of course I told my children that this was as a direct result of my blog post ... but I really wonder why it was possible to get a change of heart on this from Minsters and not on other issues  like cuts in legal advice for discrimination complainants, the destruction of the National Health service or the Bedroom Tax to name but a few.

Did it make a difference that the proposals were being debated in the middle of a series of local authority elections? Did it make a difference that the removal of section 3 would have potentially had not only national but international implications. Whatever it is I really wish we could bottle it.

Spiking Section 3 of the Equality Act

The Government has had its eyes on the Equality Act for quite some time. Last year, I attended a consultation at the Government Equalities Office in Victoria about the future of discrimination advice. By the time I had left the building the Governments Red Tape Challenge had been launched with a plan to scrap the general duty. For the longest while they seemed to talk about launching a consultation without actually launching one when they did actually launch it is came with a raft of other proposals relating to the Equality Act. 

The consultation responses to keep the General Duty outnumbered those to scrap it by six to one.  However still like a thief in the night the proposal is not only here, but voted through parliament on a vote of 310 – 244 in that 66 vote difference 41 Liberal Democrat MP’s voted. In the 2010 election, the Guardian was urging many to vote Lib Dem to keep a Tory Government out to protect a core set of values about civil liberties. Here those same Lib Dems were vote en mass to remove the General Duty. Jo Swinson argued that it was unimportant. The governments briefing on the reasoning to remove it was it argued creating unrealistic expectations.

A significant proportion of Lib Dems at their own conference expressed concern over the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill and there seemed to be some concerted lobbying to try and get Lib Dem MP’s to at least abstain. It therefore comes as a surprise that the Conservative Peter Bottomley felt able to rebel on this issue whilst only David Ward was the only Lib Dem to do so. If you are still unconvinced about the need to oppose the changes watch the video. If you want to do something about it write to your MP using this site here. If Peter Bottomley can be on the forces protecting Equality perhaps there's still hope.

As local elections draw closer, the Lib Dems are trailing behind UKIP on many polls. In the Borough elections two years ago, they suffered heavy losses in Northampton. Some of the greatest of those were in student areas such as Trinity and St. Georges. With overwhelming more Conservative County Councils being defended in this election, and UKIP polling to get up to 20% of the Conservative vote, the May elections are expected to bring significant change.  It need not have been so for the Lib Dems. They sold their souls for a Proportional Representation referendum and still feel the need to pay for it.