Agenda item

Interview with the Executive Member for Citizenship, Equalities and Communities: Councillor Adele Morris.

5.1  Written answers to the questions submitted by members prior to the meeting were circulated (see Appendix A). Members were given the opportunity to briefly read these and raise supplemental questions. Key queries raised and the responses given included as follows:

5.2  (1) What percentage of Southwark Council staff have completed Equalities & Diversity (E&D) Training?

5.3  Members asked whether there are plans to increase the 36% of employees who have taken equality and diversity training. Cllr Morris explained that the 36% of all staff is 64% of the target group, which comprises front line staff and managers. It is predicted that by March 2010 50% of Southwark’s staff (90% of the target group) will have received this training. She added that there is often an assumption that new council employees have had no related training before they start at Southwark, when in fact new staff have very often had quality E&D training at another local authority.

5.4  Members referred to the figure of 2810 staff who had completed the e-learning between 2005 and 2006 and asked what proportion of all staff this complement comprises. Cllr Morris commented that she understood Southwark’s staff to total close to 5,500, so that the 2810 was approximately 50%.

5.5  A member stated that this seems to be a small proportion; that he also worked for a public sector organisation where all staff have received E&D training and that this was refreshed biannually. He asked what benchmarking had been done against other local authorities. Cllr Morris responded that the training does take time, is an ongoing process, and that it is not feasible to book 5,500 staff on a training course over a short period of time.

5.6  (2) What work is the Council currently undertaking to promote equalities and diversity in the community?

5.7  Members welcomed the promotion and celebration of St George’s Day.

5.8  Members asked whether the council was looking at the issue of faith groups that have set up places of worship in buildings that are not always appropriate, leading to practical problems. Cllr Morris explained that a booklet produced by planning and community engagement officers will be launched in November. It specifically addresses Southwark’s faith communities to highlight the importance of the planning process.

5.9  In response to a question about what the council is doing to increase community cohesion in Bermondsey, Cllr Morris commented that the South Bermondsey partnership, including representatives from the council, voluntary sector,  police and local communities, monitors local tensions and shares relevant intelligence with the view to alleviate problems and change attitudes.

5.10  3) Are you satisfied with the nature and scope of Equalities Impact Assessments undertaken by the council before it takes major decisions?

  No supplementals.

5.11  4) Can the executive member outline her thoughts on how she thinks community councils should develop in the future, in terms of roles, responsibilities and operation?

5.12  Members commented that they had not seen the draft improvement plans and asked what these included. Cllr Morris suggested that not all chairs had yet shared the draft plans with the rest of the Community Councils (CC) members.

5.13  5) Given the relatively low level of attendance of the public at community council meetings and the high number of council officers who attend them, how can the council redress this balance to get better value for money?

5.14  The chair asked whether the Executive member thought adequate opportunities were taken to promote Community Councils through ‘Southwark Life’. Cllr Morris replied that in her view it is not adequate and that she would look into what had become of plans to use the Southwark Life newsletter to publish the meeting dates and further information.

5.15  Members queried how community involvement in the meetings could be deepened. Cllr Morris related that CC chairs and vice-chairs had discussed suggestions for making the meetings more engaging at a recent workshop, that a lot of work was being done on increased involvement and that more work was now needed on publicity. Members made suggestions such as increasing the visibility of CC information on the council website, adding a footer to council letters asking residents whether they knew about their CC, and extending the relationship with local schools.

5.16  (6) For Cleaner Greener Safer money, some proposals in the last round were put forward to a number of community councils for a proportion of the funds required for a project, potentially creating issues for those projects going ahead where some community councils agreed and others rejected the bid.  How can we better co-ordinate processes between community councils around such proposals?

  No supplementals.

5.17  (7) In her recent interview with the Southwark News, she said that she was proud of the introduction this year of the Highways and Lighting Budget at community councils.  How well has this operated in its first year?

5.18  A member commented that in theory he thought that this was a good idea but that he was unhappy with how the budget allocation had been executed. He mentioned, for example, that the first 3 of 5 highway projects listed for Peckham were not in fact located in that CC area and that there had been similar discrepancies with the Rotherhithe list. Cllr Morris agreed that the listing information needs to be correct and invited the councillor to forward the details of the anomalies to herself and Cllr Kyriacou, whose portfolio covers this work.

5.19  (9) Southwark spends about 50 percent of grant to SHRREB.  Can you describe their role in Southwark?  What are the strengths, weaknesses and challenges facing this organisation?

5.20  Cllr Morris explained that question 8 had been removed as it was not covered by any aspect of her portfolio. She added that question 9 had been withdrawn, as the council was currently in discussions with SHRREB and that it would not be appropriate at this stage to put per views on public record.

5.21  (10) For a considerable period of time you were engaged in auditing community halls in the borough.  What is the current position on that?

5.22  The chair asked whether any monetary efficiencies or savings were anticipated as an outcome of this exercise. Cllr Morris explained that the Executive member for Resources is leading on the review and that tenants halls come under the Executive member for Housing’s portfolio. She noted however, that there has been some regularising of leases where rental values were below market rates; but that there were no plans to sell any buildings used by the voluntary sector, although a couple were being assessed due to their condition.

5.23  (11) How can larger communities like the Sierra Leone and Latin American Communities benefit in future of having a community centre.

5.24  Members asked whether these communities had contacted the council requesting help to identify suitable sites. Cllr Morris said that there had been a deputation from the Latin American group and that they had also been invited to further discuss the related issues with her at a later meeting. She emphasised that the council is not in a position to provide free or rent free premises and confirmed that there was no departure from the council’s traditional policy that rent for all groups should be charged at the market rate.

5.25  (12) What plans do you have for ensuring that youth community councils link in with the main community councils?

5.26  In response to members queries, Cllr Morris stated that she does not believe at all in segregating youth from the rest of the community, but surmised that if she were 18 again she would probably not opt to go to CC meetings.

5.27  (13) Given the current state of the nation’s economy and the inevitable spending restrictions to come, what work are you undertaking to prepare the voluntary sector?

5.28  Regarding the “scope for mergers and consortia development” members asked whether this was simply something for voluntary sector groups to consider. Cllr Morris confirmed that the council is simply encouraging organisations to think about opportunities for sharing premises where they may have surplus space, as a means to reduce costs.

5.29  (14) Can you give us an update on the restructure of your departments?

5.30  The chair queried whether there had been any significant snags so far and whether things were on track for full implementation. Cllr Morris mentioned that there were a couple of staff vacancies that may have a temporary impact, but expected that this would be resolved by the end of the year. She confirmed that full implementation was on track for January 1 2010.