Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Written Evidence


Memorandum by Leeds City Council (SOC 64)

1.  INTRODUCTION

  1.1  Leeds City Council has been working tirelessly to promote race equality within the authority and also with partners to achieve harmony amongst our diverse communities. Building harmonious communities is a key objective of the Community Strategy for Leeds whilst Leeds City Council's mission and core values aim to promote equality.

  The mission of the authority is:

    "To bring the benefits of a prosperous, vibrant and attractive city to all the people of Leeds".

  Core values that are particularly reflective of the Council's commitment to addressing race equality and community cohesion include:

      —  "Tackling poverty and need"

      —  "Fairness for all"

  1.2  In 2002 the Council launched a new Corporate Plan "Closing the Gap" which details key corporate priorities. Closing the Gap is a key aspect of building cohesive communities, indeed it is our intention to ensure that measures aimed at dealing with equality of opportunity are mainstreamed in all aspects of our work. Leeds City Council Corporate Plan 2003-04 is attached as Annex 1.

  1.3  The Corporate Plan demonstrates the importance placed by the authority on improving the life chances of disadvantaged individuals and groups, however we also recognise the significance of building respect and harmony between communities. To achieve these objectives the authority has developed work on a number of levels:

2.  LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT TARGETS

  The authority has set clear objectives to achieve race equality across the work of all departments. Details of authority wide developments can be found in the Annual Race Equality Report—Annex 2.

  The Local Public Service Agreement targets particularly relevant to the Race Equality Scheme are:

    —  Racial harassment

    —  Educational attainment

  The following section provides up to date information on Racial Harassment and Educational Attainment targets.

  2.1  BVPI 174 "Racial harassment incidents per 100,000 population"
<lh1>

<rcBV174
2002-032003-042004-05 2005-062006-072007-08
Target250 (totalling 1,789 incidents) 366

(totalling 2,618 incidents)
549

(totalling 3,927 incidents)
600

(totalling 4,292 incidents)
650

(totalling 4,650 incidents)
670

(totalling 4,793 incidents)


Actual
179 (1,281 incidents recorded)
5,45 (39 incidents, excluding Education Leeds) (Qtr 1)


Variance
-71 (per 1,000 households) -85.96 (Qtr 1, excluding Education Leeds)





  2.2  LPSA & BVPI 175

  "The % racial incidents that resulted in further action"


BV175
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08


Target
98%
98%
98%
95%
90%
90%
Actual100%
Variance+2%





  2.3  A report has been prepared by the Community Safety Partnership Unit for presentation to Leeds City Council Corporate Management Team (CMT) in August 2003. The report has been deferred and will be tabled in September.

  2.4  The report aims to provide senior management with up to date information on both progress and issues, and in particular to identify concerns in relation to reporting racial incidents. The Community Safety Partnership Anti Social Behaviours Unit have indicated particular concern in relation to the processing of the paper work and also to areas of responsibility. These issues are being addressed within the ASBU, and will form part of the wider discussion undertaken by CMT.

  CMT has a real commitment to ensuring that the city achieves its race equality targets and has requested that a further, fuller report should also be prepared for November 2003. The August report can be made available to the Select Committee on request.

  2.5  Educational attainment LPSA targets:

    "Difference between the % of pupils from BME communities obtaining five or more GCSE's at grades A-C and the average in Leeds:

    (a)  Difference Pakistani & Bangladeshi (15% base line March 2000, target 7.5% by 2005)

    (b)  Difference African/Caribbean (25% base line March 2000, target 15% by 2005)

  2.6  In 2002 the city saw the largest increase in GCSE levels at grade A-C for several years with an increase of 3% to 42.4%. The performance of schools with a high proportion of pupils on free school meals remains significantly below the Leeds average, but saw similar overall progress in terms of pupils achieving five GCSEs at grades A-C.

  2.7  There has been improvement at Key Stage 3 in English, Maths and Science. Leeds is now 1% below the national average in English, but is still 3% below in Maths and in Science. This is in contrast to the figures for 2000 when Leeds was over 4% lower in every subject indicating overall progress across all three subjects.

  2.8  In relation to ethnic minority pupils Indian pupils performed particularly well with an increase of 9% which now stands at 17% above the Leeds average.

  2.9  The LPSA targets for closing the gap between the Leeds average and priority ethnic minority groups at Key Stage 4 are being met for African-Caribbean pupils, but not for Pakistani/Bangladeshi pupils. The gap between the achievement of Pakistani/Bangladeshi pupils and the Leeds average increased in 2002 by 6%, from 9% in 2001, missing the LPSA target of 12.5% by 2.5%. The gap remained the same for African-Caribbean pupils at 19%, which is 2% below the target of 21%.

  2.10  Education Leeds is taking strenuous action to address the short fall in the attainment levels of Pakistani/Bangladeshi and African Caribbean pupils. The Education Development Plan 2003-07 places particular emphasis on meeting the LPSA targets. Plans are currently being implemented in relation to partnerships with schools aimed at improving approaches to target pupils and communities in the priority groups.

  Additionally good partnerships have been developed with community based organisations. For example, the partnership with Leeds Children's Fund has led to the publication of a "Feasibility Study Report; Improving the Educational Attainment of BME Children in Study Support Environments"

  Pro active steps are being taken to develop closer working between supplementary and mainstream schools in recognition that pupils from the priority BME communities require additional support both within schools and also within the community.

3.  LEEDS CITY COUNCIL PROGRESS ON RACE EQUALITY

  3.1  Corporately, the Council has established comprehensive race equality systems and approaches to monitor and improve our performance as an employer, in the delivery of services and in relation to political and organisational leadership. These developments are outlined in the Annual Race Equality Report 2002-03 attached as Annex 2. Chapter 5 "Progress by Education Leeds" sets out a range of initiatives adopted by Education Leeds to address race equality as part of a wider package of support for BME and other disadvantaged pupils.

  3.2  Externally, the Council has established mechanisms for consultation with stakeholder and communities through the Race Equality Advisory Forum which has direct lines of communication to decision makers at the highest level within the Council through the Executive Board.

  3.3  We enjoy a positive and close working relationship with the Leeds Initiative; the city's Local Strategic Partnership and with Leeds Race Equality Council. In this context we have worked with the LSP to link community cohesion and equalities champions across a wide range of organisations and sectors including BME groups and faith institutions.

  3.4  To demonstrate the good working relationship between Leeds Race Equality Council and Leeds City Council joint work is well established in relation to the Home Office Race Equality Support Grant; "Connecting Communities". The Council Equal Opportunities Unit was instrumental in successfully applying for Connecting Communities funding and continue to work closely with Leeds REC to deliver the project. Additionally the Council has supported the REC through support for the neighbourhood based "Community Cohesion and Achievement" project. Support for these and other initiatives provides an indication of the importance placed by the Council on meaningful consultation and close work with BME communities.

  3.5  Additionally we have worked in partnership with the LSP to develop the Community Strategy; 15 year strategy for Leeds—VISION for LEEDS II (2003 to 2018). The strategy aims to identify objectives for improving the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the city but critically recognises the importance of addressing the issue of diversity and equality. The VISION therefore recognises that Leeds is both a dynamic and a diverse city with a rich mix of faiths and communities. A key theme of the VISION for LEEDS II is to build harmony across communities. A summary of the VISION for Leeds II consultation document is attached as Annex 3. More detailed documents can be made available to the Select Committee if helpful.

  3.6  In developing work in designated neighbourhood renewal areas in the city, the authority and partners have ensured that community cohesion approaches form and integral part of the work of the Neighbourhood Renewal Teams. In particular plans are in place to test performance indicators on the cohesiveness of communities living in neighbourhood renewal areas through "Building A Picture of Community Cohesion in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas in Leeds". The draft audit document is attached as Annex 4.

4.  LSP COMMUNITY COHESION—PROGRESS

  4.1  Leeds City Council has been actively involved in developments with the LSP to ensure community cohesion is addressed at all levels of the work of the Partnership. The authority has demonstrated leadership and commitment by providing senior staff resources to support the LSP in developing community cohesion work across the city.

  4.2.  The current reorganisation of the City Council has enabled the authority to give detailed consideration to increasing the level of support available to progressing the community cohesion agenda through the LSP.

  The LSP agreed three key priorities to deliver community cohesion in Leeds:

    —  Developing strategic leadership, including political leadership

    —  Developing youth leadership

    —  Developing inter-faith leadership

  Progress against the three priorities are outlined below.

  4.3  The stratgic leadership theme has led to the inclusion of BME and faith representatives on the LSP from July 2003.

  A BME Strategy Group has been established in the city to support and guide the work of the LSP in developing a more cohesive city. City Council staff have played a key role in enabling and supporting this development. Members of the Strategy Group are from both public and community/voluntary sectors.

  The BME Strategy Group is represented on the Neighbourhoods and Communities Partnership, Learning Partnership and the Leeds Initiative Board. Targets have been set to ensure inclusion of BME representatives on the other Leeds Initiative strategy and partnership groups.

  4.4  Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships are area based partnerships overseeing work in neighbourhood renewal areas. The Partnerships are currently developing "Resident Network Forums" which will include representatives of BME and other communities. Forum representatives will be invited to join the Partnership Boards to ensure the views of local people, including BME residents, are included in decision making thus ensuring inclusion and community engagement. Similar processes are being developed to ensure representation from faith communities.

  4.5  Other leadership actions on community cohesion include the development of employment projects in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas to link skills development programmes to employment opportunities in other parts of the city.

  A city-wide, strategic Employment Task Group has been established to bring together key employers and other partners such as the Chamber and Job Centre Plus and Business Link, to address the issue of economic inclusion. The Task Group aims to link labour market demand with labour supply to ensure employability developments in neighbourhood renewal areas are supported strategically through work with growth sector employers.

  4.6  Youth leadership programmes have been tested in one Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership area. The pilot engaged a large number of young people who live in the area and from a range of different ethnic backgrounds in the production of a video of the area.

  The final production team of 15 young people edited and presented the "video diary" to the Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership as a new approach to sharing young people's thoughts and views about the area with decision makers. This is a significant development in relation to community cohesion enabling young people's voices to be heard. It is perhaps more significant that a large number of young people from an area that faces considerable disadvantage have found a means to share their views. The area, Harehills is amongst the most disadvantaged wards in the city and is ranked third in relation to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. A copy of the video can be made available to the Select Committee if required.

  4.7  This approach to consultation have proven very successful both for the young people and the Partnership Board. Young people have demonstrated an interest in remaining involved in longer-term communication with the Partnership and have also engaged in service specific consultations following the launch of the video diary.

  A number of the young people involved in the "video diary" project have engaged in conflict resolution and leadership programmes following the making of the video. Conflict resolution programmes area also being tested in targeted schools in the Beeston Hill and Holbeck neighbourhood renewal area in south Leeds.

  4.8  The LSP and Leeds City Council have undertaken considerable work to develop existing inter faith projects in the city. The Leeds Faith Communities Liaison Forum is an established inter-faith network involving representatives of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Baha'i faiths.

  4.9  The City Council is currently working with the Forum to secure funds to appoint a consultant to develop the constitution and structure of the Forum to enable it to receive public funds. Additionally, the Council has jointly funded "Faith Together in Leeds 11" which is good example of inter-faith work at neighbourhood level.

  4.10  In November 2002 the (then) Deputy Leader of the City Council, Councillor Wakefield, observed prayer at the Grand Mosque in Leeds and joined the Muslim congregation in "breaking fast". The invitation for the Deputy Leader to visit the Mosque was made during the holy week of Ramadan, during the period that believers in the Muslim faith fast until sun down. A series of further visits to other faith institutions are planned for the remainder of 2003 demonstrating the commitment of elected members to address issues of social cohesion across faiths.

5.  OTHER KEY EVENTS THAT BUILD COMMUNITY COHESION

  5.1  There is a vast amount of work being undertaken across the city to support relationship building and better understanding between communities. A few examples are outlined below and further information can be provided on any of the initiatives outlined below if required.

  5.2  The work of Leeds City Council Department of Learning and Leisure is an exemplar of best practice in working with communities, young people and across ethnic and geographic divides. A copy of Arts @ Leeds; celebrating creative communities, is attached as Annex 5.

  5.3  The Arts @ Leeds Team actively celebrate diversity by supporting a festival programme including the Asian Mela, West Indian Carnival and Irish Festival.

  5.4  Additionally, the work introduces other cultural traditions to often largely mono-cultural areas, developing knowledge and understanding of the many culturally diverse art froms that exist in the city. This work includes "Talking Reality" which is a festival of cultural diversity and the "Breeze" festival involving large numbers of young people from a number of different ethnic backgrounds.

  5.5  The team play an active part in encouraging a sense of belonging by providing opportunities for all communities within the Leeds boundary to be involved in city-wide projects and to showcase their work in the city centre by use of the Town Hall and other central venues.

  5.6  Arts @ Leeds also plays an active role in involving young people in decisions about events and activities, enabling them to play a leading part in activities aimed at the younger generation. One example of the work undertaken is the Children and Young People's Film Festival where a strong emphasis is placed on recruiting young people as consultants to give direction and leadership to the programme.

  5.7  Other relevant community cohesion activities undertaken in the city include work undertaken by voluntary organisations funded through Leeds City Council to progress the work of building cohesive communities.

  5.8  Examples of work include the use of church facilities by Asian girls of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian origin to familiarise themselves with the environment of the Christian faith. Management committee training for residents of some of the city's most disadvantaged communities to build skills and confidence. Exchanges between African Caribbean girls from an Evangelical church with Asian girls from a local Mosque. Other work has provided opportunities for Pakistani boys and white boys to exchange experiences; football projects have been established with African Caribbean and Asian male workers leading an Asian girls football project. A visit has also been undertaken by adult members of a black Catholic church to a Mosque in the same area of the city.

  5.9  Whilst some of the work outlined above is on-going, others are one-off initiatives. It is however important for the Select Committee to be aware that work in the city is being undertaken at a number of levels and across all parts of the city.

6.  CONCLUSION

  6.1  Leeds has over achieved on taking further actions in dealing with racist incidents. However whilst the City Council failed to achieve the LPSA targets on reporting racial harassment incidents in 2002-03, the authority has a clearly outlined timetable to engage in detailed analysis of the target to identify rectifying actions. Leeds City council Corporate Management Team will be instrumental in addressing the deficiencies to ensure the city is well placed in meeting the target in future years.

  6.2  In relation to the Educational Attainment LPSA targets the city has seen the largest increase in GCSE levels grade A-C for several years with an increase of 3% in 2002. However, the performance of Pakistani and African Caribbean pupils although improving remains below average and the performance of Bangladeshi pupils fell in the same year.

  Education Leeds has produced an Education Development Plan 2003-07 titled Closing the Gap. Programmes have been developed in inner city high schools to raise the aspirations of BME pupils and additional support is being provided through the Excellence in Cities programme in other inner city schools. These and other developments are highlighted in the Annual Race Equality Report—Annex 2.

  6.3  The information provided in paper provides a flavour of the types of strategic and action based initiatives encouraged by the city Council. These activities and others aimed at building better understanding will be promoted and further enhanced through the Community Strategy and the City Council in demonstrating leadership in community cohesion and equalities issues in the city.

  6.4  It is clear that the city still has a lot of work to undertake to achieve equality of opportunity. The information included in this submission provides a snap shot of the types of approaches the City Council and our partners are involved in trying to deliver community cohesion.

  6.5.  Further information can be provided to the Select Committee on any of the initiatives, strategies or actions referred to in this submission on request.





 
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