The Consultation, Engagement and Equalities Manager presented a report which updated Cabinet Committee Equalities on the All Wales Race Equality Action Plan and consultation.

She provided background on the All Wales Race Equality Action Plan which was at section 3 of the report. She added that the plan was a large complex document at 147 pages with around 64 goals and approximately 340 actions. It covers 13 policy themes and 5 cross-cutting themes.

The Consultation, Engagement and Equalities Manager stated that a public consultation for the Welsh Government Race Equality action closed on 15 July 2021, and the Council Equality team sought responses from Corporate Directors to fully understand the operational implications of implementing the proposed actions before submitting a formal response to the consultation on behalf of the Local Authority. 

The Regional Community Cohesion Coordinator highlighted the key areas within the Action Plan at Appendix 1 of the report. He drew attention to the diagram in Appendix 1 which summarised the whole approach towards the development of the REAP and that how the Vision-setting and the Goals fit together. He also outlined Local Government Commitment to Zero Racism and were summarised as follows:

• Local government in Wales has always stood firmly against racism and discrimination and is committed to promoting equality and fairness for all communities.
• There is widespread recognition that inequalities remain embedded in Wales and in its communities and that councils, the Welsh Government and public services need to do more individually and collectively to address entrenched inequalities.
• Councils responded to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020, with several establishing race forums or task and finish groups to tackle racism or to undertake reviews of statues or street names.
• The WLGA contributed to several Welsh Government convened groups including the BAME Socio-Economic Advisory Sub-Group and the Welsh Government’s Audit of statues and street names.
• The WLGA is coordinating the Welsh Government funded Hate Crime Project in schools, working with partners such as the North Wales Race Equality Network Ltd, Race Council Cymru, Race Equality Wales and Show Racism the Red Card and SAPERE: Philosophy for Children (P4C), to deliver the Hate Crime in Schools project across Wales, which will deliver training and produce resources on critical, collaborative, creative and caring thinking skills to teachers and others around tackling hate crime.
• Local authorities have a proud record in supporting and welcoming refugees and asylum seekers and in supporting their integration into local communities. All Welsh authorities participated in the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme and the majority have committed to continuing their participation in the further settlement of refugees across Wales. Four local authorities have also accommodated dispersed asylum seekers in their areas and more recently the majority of authorities also agreed to their participation in the future.
• The WLGA Council recently made a commitment to deliver an ambitious ‘Diversity in Democracy’ programme ahead of the 2022 elections to seek to encourage more diverse candidates to stand for election.
• The WLGA and each of Wales’ 22 councils signed the #ZeroRacismWales pledge in advance of the publication of the draft REAP and to mark UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21st March. The pledge sees all councils commit to:

The Regional Community Cohesion Coordinator highlighted the following sections of Appendix 1:

• Leadership and Representation
• Local Government
• Social Care
• Education
• Housing

The Chairperson welcomed the report and iterated that Welsh Government had put a lot of work in this as could be seen from the level of detail provided in the report which showed the commitment from them in eradicating racism from Wales.

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help echoed the comments made and said that it was pleasing to see the detail provided and the commitment from Welsh Government. She stated that social care staff were always needed in Bridgend and anything that can be done to encourage ethnic minority groups into our workforce was a welcomed.

A Member stated that there were a large number of complaints being made with underlying racism and this was something that as a society needed to be dealt with. He believed that a race equality commissioner, similar to that of a Welsh language commissioner, would be beneficial in tackling racism throughout the public and private sector.

The Leader welcomed the report and stated that it was a landmark initiative from Welsh Government. There were a significant number of action points to digest and it was important than this report came back to the Committee on a regular basis. He added that as communities across Wales differ greatly, it was important to tailor the plan to be specific to the Bridgend area to ensure the most is achieved from it.

The Consultation, Engagement and Equalities manager agreed that a report in March of 2022 would be beneficial to review the progress.

RESOLVED: That the Committee considered the report and the attached appendices.