Voscur Reps Reports - March 2007
Equalities Action Group | South Bristol C21 Group | Safer Bristol Partnership
Equalities Action Group
The Equalities Action Group (EAG), which is an umbrella advisory group to the Bristol Partnership (BP), has been without officer support for 3 months so Voscur has been assisting the BP to cover the post in the interim period of recruiting a new member of staff.
The Equalities Action Group:
- Supports, briefs and monitors BP progress and its Delivery groups so that equalities outcomes are identified and effectively delivered.
- Nominates, supports and steers BP Equalities partners to ensure that an equalities and community cohesion. perspective is promoted and is integral to BP thinking, planning and decision making.
- Facilitates the delivery and sustainability of the Bristol Equalities Network.
The recent key focus of the EAG has been the Local Area Agreement (LAA). We were fortunate to have the council officers responsible for parts of the LAA at the last meeting to discuss how they will ensure LAA targets bring effective benefits to equalities communities. The process has, yet again, highlighted the absence of significant equalities data and monitoring among statutory agencies - a main cause being that in some cases data collection is spasmodic and where data is collected it is not always appropriately used or shared. The outcome is that some LAA equalities targets are very basic, or will only be sampled in specific parts of the city in order to begin a process of measuring improvement. Minutes of the meeting can be found on the Voscur website - www.voscur.org/networks/equalities
As well as concentrating on the LAA, the EAG has also influenced local, new strategies and action plans relating to Community Safety and Hate Crime, as well as Community Cohesion and Health, to ensure that the needs of equalities communities are considered and responded to.
The new BP website (www.bristolpartnership.org) includes specific equalities pages, any examples of good equalities practice, or projects taking place to promote on the site would be welcomed.
The Bristol Equalities Toolkit (download the current issue at www.voscur.org/resources/equalities) is being updated and will include information on Community Cohesion and Local Area Agreements.
Discussions are still ongoing to formalise an effective structure for Equalities partner representation on the BP and this will be announced in due course. If you feel you could represent Equalities communities and influence decision-making please consider standing for these essential roles.
Alex Raikes, Voscur’s Rep on the Equalities Action Group.
South Bristol C21 group to end?
As the Voscur newsletter goes to press I have been informed by email that the South Bristol C21 group is being disbanded in light of 'developments'. The Bristol Partnership established the C21 group in 2005 as a new strategic planning group to design a masterplan for regeneration success in South Bristol. The primary task of the group was to develop, steer and manage the delivery of a holistic regeneration plan for South Bristol.
The decision to disband the steering group seems to have been taken unilaterally without consultation with the BP management group. The basis for the decision is apparently that there is no longer any need for C21. This announcement still leaves unanswered questions about how to ensure that there is effective contribution from partners across South Bristol (including resident, community and voluntary groups) into strategic planning and long-term regeneration. I will be raising questions at the next Bristol Partnership.
Simon Bale, Voscur rep to the Bristol Partnership
The Safer Bristol Partnership (SBP)
The SBP spent a lot of time recently focussing on the 10 crimes that they are required by Government to be target and which are part of the Local Area Agreement. There is a mixed picture of crime levels in the city some crimes like burglary are going down while others are on the increase such as assault and cycle theft. This leaves relatively little focus on other crimes, however the SBP is planning to look at specific issues including rape and serious sexual crimes and through the Equalities Action Group of the Bristol Partnership VCS involvement has been secured.
A new commissioning year for services is being planned and anyone wanting to know more about the process can contact me.
David Maggs, Voscur rep to the SBP