Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2015/005

Contact: Alison Finnimore, Senior Policy Officer Tel: (01865) 815214

Report by Head of Policy (CA15)

Oxfordshire County Council is committed to making Oxfordshire a fair and equal place in which to live, work and visit. We want our services to effectively meet the needs of all local residents, including those in rural areas and areas of deprivation. We also aim to ensure that our staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the diverse needs of customers, that our services are accessible, and to encourage supportive and cohesive communities through our service delivery.

These goals are integral to the work of the council and are ones that we aim to meet regardless of the requirements presented in legislation. The obligations under the Equality Act 2010 present us with an opportunity to highlight examples of our on-going activity in relation to these goals and reinforce our commitment to them.

In 2012 we launched our Equality Policy setting out how we meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010.  In January 2013 and 2014 we published our annual updates on our progress. Both documents can be read here: http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/equality-and-cohesion. A third annual update is included in this report in Annex 1.

We have also refreshed the actions against which we are measuring our progress, to ensure that we are reflecting the work of all our service areas and the priorities of the council, as set out in the latest Corporate Plan and directorate Business Strategies. These new actions are the focus of Annex 2.

The council is also required to show it has an adequate evidence base for its decision making. We hold extensive data sets about the Oxfordshire population, which are publically available,  on Oxfordshire Insight: http://insight.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree to the new Equality Policy Actions for 2015/16 (Annex 2)

Recommendation agreed.

Oxfordshire County Council is committed to making Oxfordshire a fair and equal place in which to live, work and visit. We want our services to effectively meet the needs of all local residents, including those in rural areas and areas of deprivation. We also aim to ensure that our staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the diverse needs of customers, that our services are accessible, and to encourage supportive and cohesive communities through our service delivery.

In 2012 Oxfordshire County Council launched its Equality Policy setting out how we meet obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Cabinet had before them a third annual update together with updated actions against which to measure progress.

Councillor John Christie, Opposition Deputy Leader, supported the recommendations and highlighted the need to kep under review the Joint gic needs assessment and to improve the way in which service and community impact assessments (SCIA’s) are done.

Councillor Hibbert Biles, Cabinet Member for Public Health and the Voluntary Sector indicated that the JSNA was a living document and went into a lot of detail.

Councillor Rose in moving the recommendations stated that the Council had done well in the past but must continue to do well.

RESOLVED:           to agree to the new Equality Policy Actions for 2015/16 (Annex 2).