Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point in the meeting, the Cabinet Member is asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

The Cabinet Member was asked to declare any personal, prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests other than her registered interests that she might have had in the business on the agenda.

No declarations were made.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Decision Session held on 15 July 2013.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the Decision Session held on 15                July 2013 be signed and approved by the Cabinet                        Member as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak at the meeting can do so. The deadline for registering is Friday 13 December 2013 at 5.00 pm.

Members of the public may register to speak on :-

·        an item on the agenda

·        an issue within the Cabinet Member’s remit;

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

A key Council priority is to improve fairness of opportunity and reduce inequalities for York residents. The purpose of this report is to show outcomes achieved in delivering against our ambition focusing on progress on our equality objectives, equalities improvement plan, and implementation of York’s Equality Scheme.

Resolved:  (i)      That the following be noted;

·        The areas of achievements identified.

·        The areas of continued focus from Taking Stock and initial findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which will be taken account of in the refresh of the York Equality Scheme.

·        The areas of concern and how these concerns are to be addressed.

                   (ii)      That a process to refresh the York Equality                                Scheme by April 2014 be agreed.

                   (iii)     That the peer review under the Equality                                                Framework for Local Government takes place        in                          the week commencing 19 May 2014.

Reason:     To meet our corporate commitments and provide a fair            and equitable service to City of York residents and                         staff.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which showed her outcomes achieved to improve fairness of opportunity the reduction of inequalities for York residents. It also focused on progress on equalities objectives, equalities improvement plan, and the implementation of York’s Equality Scheme.

She complimented work that had been done by Officers already on Fairness and Equalities. However, she felt that more focus needed to be placed on how we develop and support initiatives on race, faith and cultural diversity.

Further comments made in respect of the report included:

·        That a focus on York’s growing cultural diversity needed to be added into the Equality Improvement Action plan.

·        Further information was needed within the York Equality Scheme on what initiatives had been taken on respecting and celebrating diversity.

·        That figures for Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) Claimants broken down by ethnicity should include which specific ethnic groups the claimants came from.

Regarding comments on faith initiatives, Officers reported that since the report had been written further evidence had been collected with regard to relevant actions. For instance, work had taken place with York’s Muslim community with respect to planning permission for York’s first purpose built mosque.

The Cabinet Member stressed the importance of proactive work with respect to faith, culture and race.

Resolved:  (i)      That the following be noted:

·        The areas of achievements identified.

·        The areas of continued focus from Taking Stock and initial findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which will be taken into account in the refresh of the York Equality Scheme.

·        The areas of concern and how these concerns are to be addressed.

                   (ii)      That a process to refresh the York Equality                                Scheme by April 2014 be agreed.

                   (iii)     That the peer review under the Equality                                                Framework for Local Government takes place        in                          the week commencing 19 May 2014.

Reason:     To meet our corporate commitments and provide a fair            and equitable service to City of York residents and                         staff.