1. Our Approach to Equalities Page 2

Single Equality Scheme

June 2013

Contents

1. Our approach to equalities page 2

o Introduction

o Equality and cohesion policy

2. About Hackney page 3

o Our shared evidence base

o Hackney Profile

o Progress against the Sustainable Community Strategy Priorities

3. How we deliver our equality objectives page 8

For more information contact the Policy Team:

0208 356 4208

1. Our approach to equalities

Introduction

It is vital that every Hackney Council employee places equality and cohesion at the heart of what they do. This is embedded in one of the three Mayor’s Priorities:

Improving services and increasing opportunities for all, raising the life chances of the most disadvantaged.

This scheme sets out all the mainstream actions which the Council is committed to deliver in order to advancing equalities and promoting cohesion. It will be a live document and we will review progress each year and consider new actions which need to be added.

In order to collate this scheme we have considered what we know about key inequalities in Hackney from our statistics, needs assessments and surveys which are brought together as Hackney's shared evidence base and have identified the actions which we will undertake to address these issues.

Equality and cohesion policy

Our Equality and Cohesion Policy was last updated in 2011 to bring it in line with the Equality Act. At the time, we said we would carry out a more detailed review of the policy once we had adopted Equality Objectives. A revised policy has now been adopted that reflects the Equality Objectives and this Single Equality Scheme. The Equality and Cohesion Policy describes and defines Equality, Diversity and Cohesion and the main strategic frameworks which are in place to advance equality and promote cohesion. These are:

• Sustainable Community Strategy priorities

• Corporate Plan

• Equality objectives

The Policy outlines the legislative framework of the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty. It also provides an Equality and Diversity Statement for all staff and describes how our Hackney’s staff code of conduct and People Strategy support the Policy. Finally, the Policy describes how the Council reports and accounts for the Policy and Scheme.

2. About Hackney

Our shared evidence base

The Council maintains an overview of a wide range of information about Hackney and its residents - including statistics, needs assessments, strategies and policies. This information is known as Hackney's shared evidence base . This includes and overview of key facts and figures for the borough which is updated whenever new data is released.

Hackney Profile

The 2011 Census estimates Hackney’s population to be 246,300[1]. This is expected to grow to 316,500 by 2041[2]. Although at 36.2% the White British population remains the single largest ethnic group in Hackney, this group has decreased significantly as a proportion of the borough from 44.1% in 2001 especially in the context of 20% population growth. Out of the broader ethnic groups, the White group (which includes White British, White Other, Irish and Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities) is the largest at 59.4% with 60% growth in the White Other group. The second largest broad ethnic group is Black/Black British at 23.1% followed by Asian/Asian British at 10.5%, Mixed Ethnic Groups at 6.4% and Other Ethnic Groups at 5.3%, a figure that represents a 222% increase from 2001. Hackney is also home to a number of smaller national and cultural communities and it is estimated that over 100 languages are spoken in the borough. Hackney has the largest group of Charedi Jewish people in Europe who predominately live in the north east of the borough and represent 7 percent of the boroughs overall population. Hackney also has a well established Turkish and Kurdish community - 6 percent of Hackney’s residents were born in Turkey – living throughout the borough. Other communities of people include Chinese and Vietnamese, people from African countries and Eastern Europe.

Hackney’s communities also represent a diversity of religions and beliefs. Nearly 40 percent say that they are Christian, 28 percent say they have no religious belief, 14 percent say they are Muslim and 6.3 percent say they are Jewish[3].

Hackney is a cohesive place to live and work; 78% of residents say that Hackney is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together[4]. Hackney’s diversity and multiculturalism are the main factors contributing to residents feeling proud of Hackney[5]. In part this is a result of Hackney long history of immigration and welcoming people into the borough which has resulted in local neighbourhoods that are very diverse where people have an opportunity to mix and meet people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Many people also have personal or family experience of migration and people are welcoming to new arrivals.

Hackney is a young borough with 25 percent of its population under 20 and a further 23 percent aged between 20-29 years old; people aged over 55 make up only 14 per cent of the population. In terms of trends for future growth, Hackney’s young population is likely to experience little change between 2001 and 2041. In contrast, Hackney’s working age population (aged 16-64) is projected to rise significantly by over 45,000 over the next 30 years. The 65+ age group is also projected to rise both in terms of numbers and the proportion of the population, with this population growing particularly after 2021.

We do not have borough level data for people identifying as bisexual, gay or lesbian. However based on estimates for London, we work on the basis that people identifying as bisexual, gay or lesbian account for at least 10 percent of our population. At present, there is no official estimate of the trans population. A Home Office funded study estimated the number of trans people in the UK to be between 300,000 - 500,000. Based on national averages, we estimate there are around 60 people in Hackney undergoing treatment for gender dysphoria.

A key indicator of the size of disability‐related need locally is the number of people claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA). In August 2011 there were 14,890, 6.4% of Hackney’s population, claiming DLA. A much larger number, 35,709 or 14.6% report that they experience long-term limiting illnesses[6]. It is also estimated that there are around 18,000 carers in Hackney that they provide unpaid support to thousands of Hackney residents who are frail, ill or disabled[7].

Progress against the Sustainable Community Strategy Priorities

Hackney sits on the edge of the City of London and is at the heart of East London, an area increasingly under focus for growth and development. It is the third most densely populated authority in England. The population has grown by just under 20% in 10 years with 40% growth in some wards and the borough is attracting young people, in their twenties and thirties. Proportion of population with Level 4 qualifications is over 40% of the population which is an increase of over 30,000 people with this level of qualification since the 2001 Census.

Hackney’s growth and increasing prosperity sits alongside long-standing and significant levels of deprivation: Hackney remains the second most deprived local authority in England on the Government’s Indices of Multiple Deprivation and all wards are in the top ten percent most deprived wards in the country. This changing demographic and rapid economic growth brings new challenges; it threatens to affect cohesion by alienating the deprived population and presents us with the challenge of harnessing the opportunities so that we can create pathways into training, employment and prosperity for all our residents.

In 2012 the Council and Team Hackney, the Local Strategic Partnership, carried out a three-year review of the Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-12 which mapped our significant progress against the strategy’s priorities and considered our ongoing challenges. We have used these findings as the basis for this progress update.

Priority 1. Supporting residents into sustainable employment

Hackney’s unemployment rate has averaged just under 11% since 2004, three percent higher than the London average. Hackney has ranked in the top five boroughs with the highest number of claimants of Jobs Seekers Allowance since 200. However, due to population change, Hackney’s employment rate has been steadily increasing since 2005 and is now above the London average at 69%.

As an indication of child poverty, the borough has one of the highest eligibility rates for free school meals in London; 37% of primary and nursery school pupils and 40% of secondary school pupils are eligible. These rates are above those of Inner London, and far higher than rates for England overall.

We have invested significantly into supporting residents into sustainable employment and promoting employment opportunities, but tackling unemployment and long-term benefit dependency remains a key challenge.

Priority 2. Improving qualifications and raising educational aspirations[8]

We have made significant improvements in early years education: the percentage of children achieving a good level of development at foundation stage has increased 15 percentage points compared to 2010. This has been achieved through strong political leadership and considerable investment; we now have 21 children’s centres which evolved from the 7 Sure Starts in 2000.

We have maximised investment opportunities, such as Building Schools for the Future, and by autumn 2014 all secondary and special educational needs schools and pupils' referral units will be upgraded. We have built a new primary school to accommodate demand and have more school and college places for sixth form students.

Since 2006 there has been a significant upward trend in the proportion of pupils gaining 5+ A* - C GCSEs: 57% of pupils achieved 5 or more A* - C grades at GCSE or equivalent in 2010/11 compared to 43% in 2007/8. Our on-going challenge is to ensure pupils from all backgrounds perform equally well. For example, pupils from English/Scottish/Welsh ethnic group are the highest performing with 66% achieving 5 A*-Cs whereas pupils from the Caribbean group are the lowest performing with 52%, although this is up by 7% from 2011/12. Other groups who perform less well than their peers include Looked After Children, young carers, and Gypsy Roma and Irish Traveller children.

Priority 3. Improving health and wellbeing

Reflecting the high levels of deprivation, Hackney has high levels of health inequalities. The recorded prevalence of severe mental health conditions and depression is among the highest in London.

Despite efforts from a range of local providers to promote healthy eating and active lifestyles, childhood obesity remains above the national average: 14% of reception class children are obese and 13% are overweight. More than one in nine adults registered with a GP in Hackney are obese; this is the fifth highest rate in London. Nevertheless significant achievements have been made.

Teenage conception rates have declined down 33 percentile points from 1999. There has been downward trend in infant mortality from 8 deaths per 1,000 children under one year old in 2001-2003 to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 in 2008-10.

Women’s life expectancy is now above the national average and the gap in men’s life expectancy is now less than a year, whereas historically it has been two years. The improvement in life expectancy can be attributed to concerted effort and demographic change. In 2010, the Male Life Expectancy report was produced along with the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. This found that life expectancy in Hackney is inversely proportional to deprivation and that the main causes of premature, preventable deaths were cancer, coronary heart disease and smoking, which accounted for the main difference in life expectancy between manual and non-manual groups.

A Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board was established in 2012 and agreed four priorities which address the key inequalities highlighted above and will underpin the partnership’s future Health and Wellbeing Strategy and commissioning priorities. These four priorities are to improve health outcomes for children and young people, tobacco control and smoking cessation, mental health and to ensure our services meet the needs of the older population. Continual investment in housing and employment also contribute to improving life expectancy and other health outcomes. Moving forward, our challenge will be to make demonstrable achievements in these challenging areas.

Priority 4. Making the borough safer

Reported crime in Hackney has fallen significantly in recent years which has contributed towards Hackney’s rejuvenation: the borough is now safer which is attracting new residents and visitors. There were 11,250 fewer victims of crime reported in 2010/11 than in 2002/03 and reductions have been seen in serious acquisitive crime, re-offending rates, serious violent crime and gun crime.

Youth related crime has also improved; the number of people on youth justice orders halved between 2007/08-2011/12. Following a number of high profile gang related murders, in 2010 we set up a new team to improve the co-ordination of the partnership’s different gang related initiatives. The team is beginning to make progress; there has been a year on year reduction in serious youth violence since 2010/11 with a 16% decrease in 2012/13.

Despite these improvements, challenges remain. After a decade of declining rapidly, reported crime rates began to plateau and, in 2012/13, began to rise slightly. Additionally Black men are disproportionately represented at all stages of the justice system: in 2012/13 80% of young people who received custodial sentences where BME compared to 20% White. Stop and search is a significant issue, particularly for young Black men, and tackling serious and gang crime remains a priority.

The borough’s changing demographic and changes in national policy, such as Welfare Reform, means that we have become increasingly aware of community cohesion and potential underlying tensions. Hackney was affected by the national riots of August 2011 and these exposed underlying local tensions around Stop and Search, deprivation and lack of opportunities which are now being addressed.

Priority 5. Improving housing

Hackney has the second largest affordable homes programme in London, providing a major boost to the supply of new social rented homes, especially for families and low cost home ownership. An average of 740 additional affordable homes have been delivered over the past three years, meeting or exceeding the planning target in each year.

We have reduced the levels of severe overcrowding on the Council’s Housing Register by 60% since 2007. 70% of Council homes are now decent compared to 25% in 2003. We have an extensive regeneration programme: Woodberry Down is one of Europe’s largest estate regeneration schemes and will transform Hackney’s largest single tenure estates into a mixed tenure community of 4,300 households. Other estate regeneration schemes will deliver 2,300 new homes over the next ten years. This will be complemented by the transformation of Dalston Town Centre, Hackney Central and Hackney Wick.