To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008.

Cllr Gareth Howells declared a personal Interest in item 5 as there was reference to streets within his ward.

Cllr Nicole Burnett declared a prejudicial interest in Item 5 as her parents lived in Picton Gardens and withdrew from the meeting during that item.

Cllr Richard Young declared a personal interest in Item 5 as there was reference to streets within his ward.

Cllr Janice Lewis declared a personal interest in Item 4 as her daughter in law and husband were on the board of governors.

To receive for approval the Minutes of 03/12/2020

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the 03 December 2020 be approved as a true and accurate record

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager presented a report which provided information on racial incidents within schools, as monitored using the Racist Incident Report Form.

She stated that in March 2019, all schools were given guidance on reporting racist incidents within schools and the guidance included notifying the local authority of racist incidents as well as notification to the police where incidents were recorded as a hate crime. As such, schools were provided with an updated Racist Incident Report Form to complete where necessary.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager provided figures for reported incidences during the 2020-2021 academic year, which totalled 10 across 5 different schools, the type of incidents reported were at 4.1.1 of the report with the age of the perpetrators and age of victims listed at 4.1.2. A further breakdown of gender and the range of interventions taking place were listed at section 4 of the report. She added that the proposed Hate Crime in Schools project had been delayed due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the WLGA were in discussions with Welsh Government about the possibility of extending the allocated funding beyond the end of this financial year.

The Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration referenced his past profession as a teacher and stated that casual racism was more prevalent back then, even down to children’s nicknames, so it was encouraging to see progress being made since those times. However, racism whether conscious or unconscious was still occurring, and everyone was capable of it. He asked whether parents were notified of anything that was reported about their child as a matter of caution.

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support confirmed that parents were notified of these issues. The Schools were also required to notify the local authority on an annual basis.

A Member asked if there was a way of anonymising the forms that were submitted so that the Committee were able to visualise them and gain a greater understanding. He explained that many people use the words gay or queer as a way of name calling as well as many other words, without them carrying the same meaning, so being able to visualise the full complaint would give a greater understanding of how these words may be used. The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager explained that part of the Strategic Equality Plan 2020-2024, a review of how reporting of incidences in schools would be looked at. The Corporate Director Education and Family Support added that guidance was issued by ESTYN and Welsh Government which established protocols on how schools reported bullying which he would circulate to all members following the meeting.

A Member asked in relation to the funding for hate crime projects mentioned in the report, if the funding was forthcoming, how would the authority carry out the work.

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support explained that the work must be sustainable and while the authority relied on funding from the excellent work carried out Show Racism the Red  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager presented a report which updated Cabinet Committee Equalities with information on research that had taken place into the use of the name Picton in street names and buildings across Bridgend County Borough.

She provided figures which outlined the number of streets in Bridgend which had used the name ‘Picton’, which was broken down into 4 areas; Bridgend, Porthcawl, Kenfig Hill and Nantyffyllon, these figures were at section 4 of the report.

She stated that Glamorgan Archives were commissioned to carry out research on behalf of the council. It was agreed that the Glamorgan Archives would carry out up to 100 hours research, however due to the restrictions imposed due to Covid-19, a total of 50 hours and 35 minutes research were completed. The report from Glamorgan Archives was attached at Appendix 1, the conclusion of which was at 4.3 of the report.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager that aside from the report received at the last committee meeting, there had been no further information provided from Welsh Government in terms of the Audit they carried out, therefore were unaware of their next steps.

The Cabinet Member Communities stated that the report made it clear how difficult it can be to pinpoint the origin of the street names in Bridgend and thanked everyone involved with pulling the information together in a short timeframe.

The Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration added that the exercise of researching the origin of street names was beneficial to help understand and remember as well as learning history that may had been forgotten. He added that a policy may be required in the future to prevent naming streets after certain people and to broaden the scope of who they can be named after. He believed that housing developers should not be allowed to name streets, and the rights should be for the Council and Town and Community Councils to work collaboratively.

The Leader welcomed the report and thanked everyone involved with the work put in to obtain the information. He said it was fitting to wait for Welsh Governments next steps on the matter.

A Member asked if BCBC had a Race Equality Policy as this would provide a greater understanding and a uniformed approach across the borough including 3^rd sector organisations and help engagement with the public also. She also asked what the engagement in schools in relation to black history was as this would provide more understanding and potentially help with the naming of streets.

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support welcomed the suggestion and agreed to take it up with Headteachers as well as Welsh Government.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager explained that BCBC had a Strategic Equality Plan which covered all protected characteristics. BCBC had also signed up to the zero-tolerance policy to eradicate racial discrimination across Wales. The Member asked if the Corporate Director could link in with the Education Welfare Officer as she was doing a piece of work on Black  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager presented a report which updated the Committee on the work completed within the Strategic Equality Plan (SEP) 2016 - 2020 for the period 2019 - 2020.

The SEP aimed to:

• monitor and review progress against its strategic equality objectives;
• review its objectives and processes in light of any new legislation and other new developments;
• engage with relevant stakeholders around equality objectives, providing transparency;
• include relevant updates on equality impact assessments, procurement arrangements and training.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager explained that the annual report (Appendix 1) covered the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. The annual report must be published on the council website/made available by 1 April 2021. She outlined the key points of the report as listed at section 4.3 of the report. She added that within the Appendix detailed further information such as;

• consultation and engagement
• workforce information
• information on gender and pay grade
• job applications
• staff training
• details of employees who had left the Council

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help thanked the team who worked on the report and was looking forward to further progress reports. She mentioned that based on the demographic of the current workforce, the Council benefited greatly from the experienced staff members who had been in the Council for a number of years but these members of staff were older and may retire. She asked what succession planning was in place to cover this.

The Group Manager – Human Resources and Organisational Development agreed that succession planning was important and employees were given opportunities to develop their own skills as well as train new staff and pass down that expertise. She added that professional development programmes were also available to enable existing staff to gain recognised qualifications and open opportunities for them to further themselves. She added that apprenticeship schemes were also in place and increasing by the year to allow for on the job training and recognised qualifications in a variety of areas. There were also plans for graduate programmes and social work secondment schemes.

A Member asked what methods of informal learning could be made available to all staff to give them opportunity to develop in additional ways.

The Group Manager – Human Resources and Organisational Development agreed that all types of learning was necessary and beneficial. She explained that one to one’s with managers as well as appraisals were a good opportunity for staff to talk about their learning needs and personal development. She added that a member of her team was at the meeting today to observe how a committee runs and how the work she had provided was used in a committee format, so this was a good way that staff can also gain experience. She added that a training needs analysis was being undertaken which informed corporate training provision and this was being discussed with managers. She added that training for managers was available both formally as well as informally by being able to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager presented a report which updated the Cabinet Committee Equalities on the implementation of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and the Welsh Language Standards.

She advised that since the last report, there had been no new complaints about BCBCs welsh language implementation, and no existing complaints to resolve. The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations was pleased to see no outstanding complaints as well as no new complaints.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager advised that while there were no incidences to report, it was important to keep reporting regularly to ensure regular monitoring of compliance.

RESOLVED: That the committee noted the report.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager presented a report which sought approval for the proposed Forward Work Programme for 2021–2022.

She explained that Appendix 1 set out the proposal for the committee’s regular business items and key equality issues to be considered from March 2021 to March 2022. The proposal was based on:

• the strategic equality objectives in the Strategic Equality Plan 2020–2024 such as improving community relations in the county borough;

• the consultation on the draft objectives for the Strategic Equality Plan 2020- 2024;

• ongoing monitoring of the Welsh Language Standards’ implementation, including providing updates on service developments;

• suggestions from the committee;

• national and local equality issues;

• established reporting arrangements for the Welsh Language Standards and Strategic Equality Plan;

• consideration of other council priorities and external reports.

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help asked for clarification on an item in March 2022 – Socioeconomic duty – A year on, but could not see any plans for this item before that date. She believed that this was going to become increasingly important and believed that it should be brought to the Cabinet Committee Equalities to provide background on what it was and how it would impact the Council.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager explained that a report on this could be added to the July 2021 meeting. She added that a report which outlined previous topics that had been brought to the committee would be useful to ensure a range of topics were discussed as well as presenting refresher reports on past topics.

A Member asked if an update report could be provided detailing the uptake on equalities training online, to help the committee understand how the staff were taking the importance of the training.

The Leader asked if a report could be provided on the effects of Covid-19 and the pandemic on inequalities, as there was a fear that some of the inequalities may be amplified. He added that If this was the case, the committee may wish to respond to this.

The Consultation, Equalities and Engagement Manager asked whether the committee wished to see the Equalities Work in Schools item as an annual report, or as when required. The Chairperson stated that as that item garnered a lot of interest, she preferred to see the report annually or six-monthly. The committee agreed that an annual report starting in November to cover the academic year and then a report as and when required afterwards would be suitable.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Committee Equalities approved the proposed Forward Work Programme 2021-2022 subject to the amendments listed above.

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None