Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

The Chair invited Members to declare at this point any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

The following Members declared personal, non-prejudicial interests in the general business of the Working Group and asked that these be noted as standing declarations at each meeting of the Group:

• Cllr King – as a member of the Access Group
• Cllr Potter – as Older People’s Champion
• Cllr Scott – as Young People’s Champion

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Panel’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 25^th July 2006 at 10am.

It was reported that Sue Lister, of the York Older People’s Assembly, had registered to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.  She was invited by the Chair to participate in the general discussion at the meeting rather than confining her comments to Public Participation.

This report introduces the paper: “Social Inclusion Working Group, Questions and Answers”. Its purpose is to give an overview of the purpose of the SIWG, its relationship to other bodies and how it can develop to achieve its purpose.

Members considered a report which provided an overview of the purpose of the Social Inclusion Working Group (SIWG) and its relationship to other bodies and invited them to discuss the way forward for effective development of the SIWG.  The Chair invited all those representatives of community forums who were present at the meeting to participate in the discussion.

To assist the discussion, the Equalities Officer had produced a “Questions and Answers” document, providing information on the purpose and membership of the Group, the type of issues it would discuss and how it could involve community representatives.  Members were advised that, as a Working Group, their role was to advise the Executive.  The Group had no powers to co-opt members or incur expenditure and must comply with the protocol on Councillor Working Groups (pages 369-371 of the Council’s Constitution).

During their discussion, Members and representatives raised concerns about the gender and ethnicity balance of the Group.  They were strongly in favour of appointing co-opted members, with voting rights, to the Group, although it was recognised that such appointments would have to be made by full Council.  The opinion was expressed that if the Constitution did not enable non-statutory co-optees to have voting rights, then it should be revised.  To ensure gender balance, there should be two co-optees from each representative group, even if this increased the membership to 20 or more.  Meetings should be facilitated by dividing into small “breakout” groups for initial discussions.  However, the results of these discussions must be reported back to the full meeting in order to comply with legal requirements for meetings and decisions to be transparent and publicly accessible.  It was agreed that further information was needed before deciding which community groups should be invited to nominate representatives / co-optees on behalf of younger people.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the Executive be advised that the Group wishes to co-opt two members to represent each of the following equality strands:

·        Disability

·        Ethnicity

·        Older people

·        Younger people

·        Faith groups

·        Sexual orientation.

(ii) That the Equalities Officer write to the following community groups inviting them to nominate representatives to attend future meetings of the Group, with a view to these representatives being appointed by Council as the co-opted members of the Group:

·        The Disabled People’s Forum (once it has been set up)

·        The BME Citizens’ Open Forum (ethnicity)

·        The Older People’s Assembly

·        The LGBT Forum (sexual orientation)

·        The Inter-Faith Forum (faith groups)

(iii) That the Equalities Officer report back to the Group with suggestions as to which organisations might best represent younger people.

(iv) That, until and unless the nominated representatives can be appointed by Council as co-opted voting members, the following voting procedures be applied:

a) When a proposal has been moved and seconded, the Chair will invite all Members and representatives present to vote on the proposal, in order to gauge the views of the group as a whole;

b) Group Members will then vote on the proposal and take the decision.

(v) That a report be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

This report informs the Social Inclusion Working Group of the budget allocated for its work and invites the Group to consider how this can be most effectively used.

Members considered a report which invited them to consider how the budget allocated to social inclusion issues could most effectively be used.

The budget allocation was £7,240.  It was suggested that this could be used to make meetings more accessible and inclusive, support engagement within the wider community, facilitate forum meetings or support initiatives prioritised by the Group.  It was explained that, technically, the Group could not make budgetary decisions and the Equalities Officer had control of the budget allocation.  However, his decisions would be guided by the Group’s advice. 

Members discussed the approach they should take to advising on the use of  the budget and whether more funds were likely to be needed.  It was agreed that a structured approach was needed and that it would not be appropriate to seek further funding until concrete proposals for spending the current allocation had been developed.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the Group develop specific proposals, with defined outcomes, for spending the budget allocation.

                        (ii)        That the Equalities Officer, when writing to community groups to invite their nominations, also invite them to bring suggestions to the next meeting as to how the budget might be used to help them engage effectively in the Group’s work.

This report suggest items that the Social Inclusion Working Group (SIWG) may like to consider at future meetings. The SIWG are invited to agree a forward plan.

Members considered a report which suggested items for discussion at future meetings of the SIWG and invited them to agree a forward plan.

It was suggested that the Group might wish to discuss:

• The Centre for Inclusive Living Feasibility Study
• The Local Development Framework
• The Pride in Our Communities Equality Strategy Update and Review
• York’s Changing Black and Minority Ethnic Population
• Inspection Report – Learning Disability Services
• Diversity in the City of York Council’s Workforce
• York Central.

Members also considered standard items, to be included on the agenda for every meeting.  It was noted that, in order to comply with legal and constitutional requirements on access to information, agenda items should normally be accompanied by written reports.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the following items be included on the agenda for the next meeting of the Group, on 20 September 2006:

·        Diversity of the City of York Council’s Workforce – to receive the views and ideas of community representatives and, in the light of these, advise on actions to be included in the Council’s Employment Equality Improvement Plans.

·        Voice and Influence Work – to invite the Voice and Influence Co-ordinator from the Youth Service to attend and provide further information on the work being done to reach out to young people and how this can best link with the Social Inclusion Working Group.

·        Report of the Head of Civic, Democratic and Legal Services – to explain how co-opted members can be appointed and involved in the Group’s work without breaching the Council’s Constitution or legal requirements.

(ii) That the following item be included on the agenda for a future meeting:

·        Centre for Integrated Living Feasibility Study – to receive a presentation from Lynn Jeffries on the methodology and results of this study, consider the findings and advise on the next steps in the development of inclusive living services for disabled people.

(iii) That the following be included as standard items on every agenda:

·        Community Forum Reports and Feedback – to receive notes or minutes from meetings of those community forums involved in the Group’s work.

·        Forward Plan – to agree items for future meetings of the Group (this should be the last item on the agenda).