A report on manifesto progress (Neighbourhoods, Communities and Equalities)

A progress report on the manifesto pledges I lead on and contribute to:

Signing up for my East Sussex Credit Union account – please ensure you save with the union!

My role has been to lead on the following aspects of our manifesto:

Enforce existing laws and reduce anti-social behaviour on our streets – New enforcement officers are tackling issues like littering, fly tipping and dog fouling.
Work to reduce the levels of rough sleeping in the city and protect the vulnerable – We have just launched our Rough Sleeping Strategy this week
Establish a cyber safety project to equip individuals and communities to be safe online
Establish a Fairness Commission to tackle the growing poverty and inequality in our city – The Fairness Commission has recently reported and you can read their findings here.
Focus on collective energy purchasing and attract funding for home energy improvements
Set up neighbourhood centres and appoint neighbourhood representatives so that residents can access council services locally. Create neighbourhood teams to tackle community isses – We have established principles of these hubs at committee last November and agreed the first set of actions this week.
Work with the bus company and credit union to provide discounted fares for those who struggle to afford to travel for work. You can find out more here.
Show zero tolerance for hate crime and intimidation for residents and visitors – we have supported the Racial Harassment Forum to become independent and I along with police attend every meeting. In the wake of increased Islamaphobia and Anti-Semitism as well as Brexit I have prioritised liason with BAME and Faith groups this year.
Investigate options for tackling domestic abuse – We prioritised funding for our domestic and sexual violence services despite cuts and the Portal was launched this year.

Speaking at the Dialogue Society’s Iftar Dinner

To ensure that this vision was delivered we established the Neighbourhood, Communities and Equalities committee which is designed to ensure equal leadership and governance is given to communities and tackle the perception of a council delivering for the city centre only. Also, to ensure that we were carrying out our duties in relation to community safety properly and to elevate equalities to the same status as other issues we already had committees for like schools and bins. Because, when you get things right for groups that find it more difficult to access our services…it tends to improve things for everyone else too. I have had the privilege of Chairing this brand new committee.

13083139_624548721043505_312323462775103958_n — Launching the Power of Volunteering

I have held monthly surgeries for the voluntary and faith sectors which have been booked up all year and incredibly useful to me, and I hope has improved confidence from those sectors in the council and our commitment to them.

Mothers Uncovered – just one of the amazing groups I have seen at my surgeries

In addition, we have launched our Volunteering Pledge and agreed a Social Value framework which will ensure that we make our money work better for the city and, enable more residents to volunteer. We are incredibly conscious of the power of volunteering to improve lives (and health), reduce isolation, build skills and make neighbourhoods better places to live.

I have also led our work on supporting refugees. Not only were we the first place in the South East to accept households through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme and the council that offered the most help to a neighbouring county with unaccompanied asylum seekers, we are committed to taking children who need our safety via the new government scheme. We still need homes for households entering the city which aren’t normally available to us at housing benefit levels, if you can help please email refugeehelp@brighton-hove.gov.uk and we need more foster families… the more provision we have for children the better able we are to offer more support. If you have space and child care experience please click here for more information about fostering.

I also travelled in my own time (and expense) to visit and volunteer in Calais at the end of January 2016. I have written three posts about this on this site if you are interested. I took £1000 in donations for The School Bus project and I would urge you to donate to them to provide learning where it is really needed. It was set up by a local mother and teacher and is really excellent. An education really is a right for every child and it provides hope for the future and a break from harsh everyday survival.