Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

Councillor Mullin introduced the report on the Strategic Equality Plan (SEP), the purpose of which was to address specific areas of inequalities. 

            The Corporate Business and Communications Executive Officer explained that the SEP was for a 4 year period (2016-2020) as reducing deeply entrenched inequalities would not happen in the short term but would be achieved over a longer period of time.

            The Policy Advisor explained that in 2012 the Council agreed its first SEP and six high level objectives which were as follows: 

·         Reduce health inequalities

·         Reduce unequal outcomes in education to maximise individual potential

·         Reduce inequalities in employment

·         Reduce inequalities in personal safety

·         Reduce inequalities in representation and voice

·         Reduce inequalities in access to information and services, buildings and the environment

Those high level objectives would continue for 2016-2020.

The SEP described how priorities were developed, why each objective was a priority, what the Council intended to do by 2020 and how achievement would be measured.  The measures and actions had been developed to ensure consistency with the Council’s Improvement Plan 2016/17.

In response to a question from Councillor Attridge on the number of reports of hate crime, the Policy Advisor explained that such data was collected by North Wales Police, adding that recent work had been undertaken to encourage reporting of such crimes.

Councillor Bithell commented on the validity of the statistics on people’s ethnic and religious backgrounds as it was not mandatory that such data was included in the responses of individuals. He also commented that he felt further accommodation provision should be made available for men who suffered domestic abuse.

Councillor Kevin Jones asked how hate crime figures could be compared year on year.  The Policy Advisor explained that the Policy would look at peaks in reporting of such crimes.

            RESOLVED:

That the Council’s equality objectives and Strategic Equality Plan (SEP) 2016/2020 be agreed, prior to publication.