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 Card and the hate crime project, there were already key elements that were being undertaken with schools that complement the work of the above-mentioned initiatives. The work was from a multiagency approach with a variety of different parts, for example; an education and engagement team who work closely with schools to advise and guide them on these issues; early help teams who work with schools as well as the parents to support the correct behaviours that were expected; a communication and relationships team who work with children who had specific behavioural and emotional needs. These teams were supported through current funding available.

A Member asked if further figures could be provided on gender specific incidences on future reporting. The Corporate Director Education and Family Support agreed that additional figured for future reporting would be beneficial to gain a greater understanding on the issues and deal with them effectively. BCBC had robust policies and procedures in place and the aim was to drive these to a point whereby there were no incidences.

The Leader asked if in future reports could provide figures on the take-up of the awareness raising and training that had been offered to understand the extent of that and whether as an authority we needed to do more.

The Chairperson expressed disappointment that during the pandemic, with schools having been closed for a large portion of the academic year that there were still cases of bullying being reported. She believed that it was important to receive this report frequently.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet Committee Equalities received and noted the report.