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 History in relation to the curriculum.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet Committee Equalities considered the update report and the research report from the Glamorgan Archives and awaited the next steps from Welsh Government Audit.