BOROUGH OF POOLE
LOCAL ECONOMY OVERVIEW GROUP
THURSday, 29 aPRIL 2004
Report on the Implementation and Further Development of the Borough of Poole’s Race Equality Scheme
1.Purpose and Policy Context
1.1To present progress to date in implementing the Borough of Poole’s Race Equality Scheme as it relates to the Local Economy theme and to enable consideration of key issues for further development of the scheme in 2004/05 and beyond.
2.Recommendation
2.1That Members note and comment on the progress to date of the implementation of the “Race Equality Scheme” as it relates to the Local Economy theme.
2.2Identify issues and priorities for consideration in the further development of the ‘Race Equality Scheme’ for 2004/05 and beyond.
3.Background
3.1The Race Relations Act 1976 as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 gave a statutory duty to all public authorities to promote race equality. Each public authority must aim to
- Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
- Provide equal opportunities; and
- Promote good relations between people from different racial groups.
3.2In addition, public authorities, including all local authorities, were specifically required under this Legislation by May 2002 to publish a Race Equality Scheme which must:
i)List the functions and policies as assessed as being relevant to the general duty to promote race equality.
ii)Set out arrangements to –
assess and monitor policies in relation to promoting race equality
publish the results of consultation, assessment and monitoring
ensure the public have access to information and services.
train staff in relation to the requirements of the legislation.
3.3The Borough of Poole ‘Race Equality Scheme’ was both approved and welcomed by the ‘Executive Committee’ on 11th March 2003. A copy is available in the Members Group Rooms. In the process of development of the scheme, all Council services were ranked in priority order in relation to the relevance of the service area to race equality on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most relevant. Managers of those services ranked at 5 developed Action Plans for the first published scheme. It was expected that managers of all other services (which includes all those in the Local Economy Portfolio) with relevance to race equality would develop Action Plans for the updated scheme to be published in 2004/05. Appendix 1 shows progress to date with a number of corporate actions.
3.4All services will be expected to develop a relevant and proportionate Action Plan for the up-dated Race Equality Scheme to be published in June 2004.
3.5On 11th March 2003, the Executive Committee requested that throughout the Council, Policy Advisory Groups and Overview and Scrutiny Committees consider both the implementation and further development of the Race Equality Scheme during 2003/04.
4.Information relevant to Local Economy Services and the Borough of Poole’s Race Equality Scheme
4.1The aim of this section of the report is to present elected members with a range of information which may assist them in identifying further issues for exploration and future action.
During 2003, additional up-to-date information has been made available from the 2001 Census on the ethnic background of Borough of Poole residents. Appendix 2 sets out this data and some considerations, which arise from its analysis. It is important to emphasise that in some areas, the very low numbers of residents in particular categories mean that it is hard to develop statistically meaningful analysis.
4.2In January 2003, the Dorset Race Equality Council published the results of an independent research project into the experiences and perspectives of black and minority ethnic people living in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole entitled “Racism and the Dorset Idyll”. This publication looks at people’s experiences across many aspects of their lives including their experiences of Council services. A copy of the full report is available in the Elected Members Group rooms.
4.3There are a range of Performance Indicators, which provide benchmarking information in relation to the performance of the Council in relation to equalities. However, none relate to the Local Economy Portfolio.
5.Key Issues and Development for the Local Economy Theme.
5.1A summary of the areas which are of particular relevance to this area are :
- Ensuring an understanding by staff of issues relating to racial equality and diversity to enable them to carry out their work in a way which promotes equality of opportunity in service delivery and development, information, consultation, etc.
- Training for front-line staff (e.g. in Transportation Services) in managing diversity, dealing with racist incidents, etc.
- Development of specific initiatives to promote equality of opportunity.
5.2Strategic Planning and Economic Development
- A number of staff members have attended the Race Equality Training course and cascaded the information to other staff members. All members of the unit have attended, or are booked on, the Council’s Managing Diversity course.
- The R & I team actively supports the collation and dissemination of information relating to ethnicity.
- The Economic Development team is aware of the need to address the specific issues faced by people from ethnic minorities who are employed or self-employed in Poole and work with other agencies such as Business Link to develop initiatives.
- There is a higher level of racist incidents in take-aways. Consumer Protection Services and the Police are working together on an initiative to counteract this, “Take Away Racism”.
5.3Tourism and Marketing
- The communications and consultation activities of the unit in relation to Race Equality have been reported to ROG.
- The tourism team has worked with Language school suppliers and Police in relation to incidents involving local young people and visiting students (mainly European students it is understood).
- Multi-cultural restaurants have been involved in events such as Taste and the Tourism Panel is assessing the potential for a new event focussed on the ethnic diversity of many Poole restaurants with a view to an event being a celebration of the multi-cultural community that exists in Poole.
- The Marketing and Tourism team has worked with the Town Centre Management Board on events around Easter with a multi-cultural and multi-faith element.
5.4Transportation Services
- Since October 2003 the Unit has been monitoring all official complaints by the complainant’s ethnic origin. This information will be reported to the Members as part of the corporate complaints monitoring programme.
- During 2003/04 all staff have received a Staff Information Sheet giving details of how to report and record racist incidents. In addition, 2 Section Managers have been trained on racial harassment and the agreed procedures for dealing with racist incidents.
- An intensive programme of training in managing diversity has commenced in the Unit. During 2003/04 60 members of staff attended bespoke training sessions held on Saturdays. These training sessions were targeted at front line staff with school crossing patrols, passenger transport assistants and Parking Attendants attending. In addition, the Unit’s Business Plan includes for the training in diversity issues of all staff by 2008. This involves the training of approximately 40 members of staff per year. During 2004/05 all the Roadmen will receive this training together with the remaining school crossing patrols and passenger transport assistants.
5.5Building Consultancy
- Building Consultancy is undertaking a quality management assessment which will include evaluation of the delivery of the service in relation to Race Equalities issues. Race Equalities issues are actively considered by the unit in developing their business plan and equalities is one of the guiding principles of the unit.
- The service is considering making application forms available in different languages relevant to the local community in order to improve service access.
- Staff are encouraged to attend Race Equality and Diversity training and the unit actively devotes resources to improving equality of practice, for example support of the Managing Diversity Group.
6.Further development of Poole’s Race Equality Scheme
6.1While there has been considerable work undertaken in 2003 to develop an effective approach to race equality and diversity issues, there is still more work to be achieved at corporate and service unit level.
6.2Elected Members may wish to identify priorities and issues for further exploration or action in this area and may also wish to consider if there are training and development needs for Elected Members which should be included in the Race Equality Scheme.
Bernie Topham
Policy Director
THE RACE EQUALITY SCHEME
Theme / Function / Reference5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Learning and Skills / Special Educational Needs at School /
Learning and Skills / Special Educational Needs Not at School /
Learning and Skills / Admission/Exclusions - Admissions Appeals /
Learning and Skills / Admission/Exclusions - Attendance /
Learning and Skills / Admission/Exclusions - Home to School Transport /
Learning and Skills / Admission/Exclusions - Free Meals/Transport/Uniforms /
Learning and Skills / Schools Strategic Management /
Learning and Skills / Pre School Education /
Learning and Skills / School Improvement /
Learning and Skills / Support for Students /
Learning and Skills / Community Education /
Learning and Skills / Adult Education /
Learning and Skills / Libraries /
Learning and Skills / Arts Development /
Learning and Skills / Museums/Archives /
Learning and Skills / Youth Services /
Care / Older People /
Care / People with Physical or Sensory Disabilities /
Care / People with Learning Disabilities /
Care / People with Mental Health Needs (Inc other Adult Servs) /
Care / Children and Family Services /
Care / Youth Justice /
Care / Service Strategy (Statutory and Regulatory Functions) /
Care / Supported Employment /
Environment and Prosperity / General Needs Housing Management /
Environment and Prosperity / Overall Mangement of Council Housing Stock and Homeless Hostels /
Care / SSMSS (Social Services Management and Support Services) /
Community Information and Support Services / Corporate Management and Initiatives /
Community Information and Support Services / Community Safety /
Learning and Skills / Individual School Funds /
Care / Housing Benefit Administration /
Care / Strategic Housing Role (Excluding the Council’s Landlord Function) /
Care / Affordable and Temporary Accommodation /
Environment and Prosperity / Sheltered Housing /
Environment and Prosperity / Repairs and Maintenance /
Environment and Prosperity / Open Spaces /
Environment and Prosperity / Recreation and Sport /
Environment and Prosperity / Cemeteries and Crematorium /
Environment and Prosperity / Environmental Health /
Environment and Prosperity / Consumer Protection /
Environment and Prosperity / Public Transport /
Environment and Prosperity / Tourism /
Environment and Prosperity / Building Control /
Environment and Prosperity / Community Planning/State of Poole /
Environment and Prosperity / Transport Planning Policy and Strategy / /
Community Information and Support Services / Democratic Representation and Management /
Community Information and Support Services / Elections /
Environment and Prosperity / Flood Defence and Land Drainage /
Environment and Prosperity / Economic Development /
Environment and Prosperity / Development Control /
Environment and Prosperity / Planning Policy /
Environment and Prosperity / Environmental Initiatives /
Environment and Prosperity / Local Tax Collection /
Community Information and Support Services / Emergency Planning /
Environment and Prosperity / Coast Protection /
Environment and Prosperity / Waste Disposal /
Environment and Prosperity / Waste Collection /
Environment and Prosperity / Street Cleansing /
Environment and Prosperity / Highways / Roads (Structural) /
Environment and Prosperity / Highways / Roads (Routine) /
Environment and Prosperity / Lighting /
Environment and Prosperity / Traffic Management and Road Safety /
Environment and Prosperity / Parking Services /
Community Information and Support Services / Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages /
Community Information and Support Services / Local Land Charges /
Appendix 2
Ethnicity : 2001 Census
- The 2001 Census
The 2001 Census included questions on people’s ethnicity. For the following summary, Poole residents have been grouped into six ethnic groups: white, mixed, Asian or Asian British, Black or Black British, Chinese and other. The following summarises the key findings relating to demography, economic activity, tenure and qualifications.
- Overview
Fewer than 2% of the Borough’s residents come from the ethnic minority population. The proportion of residents that are white is the 155th highest of the 376 local and unitary authorities within England and Wales.
In particular:
- In 2001 there were 138,313 residents in Poole. Of these 132,727 (98.2%) were classed as white.
- Within the ‘white’ classification there were 863 whose ethnicity was described as Irish and 2209 whose ethnicity was described as ‘other white’. These two sub groups account for 0.6% and 1.6% of the total population.
- The largest two minority groups were those of mixed origin[1] and ‘Asian or Asian British’ with counts of 935 and 727 respectively. There were 342 people of Chinese origin and 256 ‘Black or Black British’. A further 254 residents were categorised as ‘other’.
- Age Structure
The ethnic minority groups have a younger age profile than the majority white group. In particular:
- 30.4% of all ethnic-minority groups are aged 0-15 compared to 18.4% of whites.
- Over 50% of the ‘Mixed ethnicity’ group are aged 0-15 and 22% of Asian or British Asian. The proportion aged 0-15 within the Black and ‘other’ groups is below the level within the white group.
- 3% of the Borough’s population aged 0-15 are from ethnic minorities. The proportion within individual wards varies, with the largest proportions of 0-15s from ethnic minorities being in Poole Town (7%) and Branksome East (5.7%)
There are relatively few people from the ethnic minorities aged over 65.
- 5.3% of the ethnic-minority groups are aged 65 plus compared to 20.6% of whites.
- 9% of Chinese are aged 65 plus
- 0.5% of the Borough’s population aged 65 or over, are from ethnic minorities.
Amongst the white population there are significant differences, in the age profile, between those classed as Irish and those white or ‘other white’.
- Only 3.0% of the Irish ethnic group are aged between 0 and 15, compared to 18.6% of the white and 10.1% of the ‘other white’ groups.
- Amongst the white and other white groups, the proportion of the population aged 15-24 is between 9 and 10%, compared to 3.0% of the Irish population
- 31.6% of the Irish population are aged 65 or above compared to between 18 and 21% of the white and other white groups.
- Economic Activity
The proportion of the ethnic minority population aged 16-74 that is economically active is slightly higher than for the white group; 68.2% compared to 67.7%. < caution: the white pop has ore 60/65 plus who are likely to be inactive, need to check this for the 16-60/64 age group where ec act for the minority group is probably lower > The ethnic group with the highest level of economic inactivity is the Irish ethnic group, where 40.5% of the population aged 16-74 are economically inactive.
- Although the numbers are small, the proportion of the economically active who are unemployed varies by ethnic group:
White 3.3%
Irish4.0%
Mixed5.2%
Asian or British Asian4.0%
Black or Black British7.5%
Chinese1.6%
Other3.8%
- Many of the ethnic minorities have higher proportions of their economically active in self employment:
White 13.4%
Mixed13.1%
Asian or British Asian26.8%
Black or Black British7.5%
Chinese27.5%
Other21.0%
- Tenure
There is considerable variation in the tenure profile of the Borough’s ethnic groups. In particular:
- 82.8% of Chinese residents own their own property either outright or with a mortgage, compared to 78.2% of white residents. The proportion of the other ethnic groups living in owner-occupied accommodation ranges from 70.1% for the ‘other’ group to 58.2% for the Black or Black British.
- 17.1% of Asian or British Asians live in the social-rented sector (local authority or HA stock) compared to 10.5% of the white population. The proportion of the other ethnic groups living in the social-rented sector ranges from 10.2% for the ‘other’ group to 3.2% for the Chinese.
- 31.6% of Black Black British live in private rented accommodation. All of the minority groups have proportions living in the private rented sector that are greater than that of the white community. Proportions range from 18.1% (mixed ethnic group) to 12.6% (Chinese). The proportion of the white community living in the private rented sector is 7.6%.
- Qualifications
Members of the ethnic minorities tend to be better qualified.
- The proportion of each ethnic group, aged 16-74, that have either no qualifications or the level of their qualifications is not known, range from 43.1% for the Chinese at one extreme, to 16.9% and 19.9% for the mixed group and Asian or Asian British at the other. 34.5% of the white group have no qualifications.
- The proportion of each ethnic group, aged 16-74, that have higher qualifications range from 42.5% for Asian or Asian British at one extreme to 16.6% for the white community at the other.
1
[1] Mixed race includes white and black caribbean, white and black african, white and asian and other mixed groupings