Sheffield Council begins anti-racism action in response to city Race Equality Commission report

An action plan presented to the city council’s strategy and resources committee said: “Sheffield is a vibrant, diverse city.

“Our diversity is part of what makes our city a fantastic place to live and work for people from all backgrounds with hundreds of languages spoken in communities across the city and students from all over the globe coming to our universities.

“Diversity is a proud part of our heritage, our values and is critical to our future.

“But, as with many places in the UK, Sheffield experiences significant levels ofinequality and discrimination which particularly impacts on the lives of people from Black, Asian or Minoritised Ethnic backgrounds.

“This level of inequality has a negative impact on the whole city, holding people back, impacting on their health and wellbeing and stopping them reaching their full potential.”

Sheffield Race Equality Commission was set up in July 2020 in response to the killing of George Floyd by police officers in the US.

That led to a revival of the Black Lives Matter movement and saw protests take place in Sheffield and around the world.

The commission, independently chaired by Professor Emeritus Kevin Hylton from Leeds Beckett University, spoke to 165 witnesses and focus groups.

It then made a series of recommendations for action in the city to tackle racism.

In response, the council’s initial action plan focuses on three areas – its staff, its services and the council’s role as a city leader.

‘Tackling prejudice and discrimination’

The council’s 8,000-plus staff include 1,200 from a Black Asian or Minoritised Ethnic background (BAME).

The report said: “We want to ensure that Sheffield City Council is a great place to work, that staff feel valued for who they are and empowered to make the best contribution they can to the organisation.”

The council’s head of policy Laurie Brennan presented the action plan to the committee.

He thanked the commissioners for producing “such a high-quality report which highlights the changes we want to see in this city, particularly tackling prejudice and discrimination.”

He added: “The report sets out a proper aspiration of where we want to be as a city.”

One of the first steps is looking at education and training for staff on tackling racism and discrimination within the council, he said.

On services, the council will be working to rid its systems of bias so that decisions are made in a way that does not discriminate against anyone in future.

The council is also surveying staff and using the data to try to identify any inequalitiesthey suffer and in its service delivery.

Mr Brennan said the council has a huge role as a city leader, and was particularly responsible for establishing the Race Equality Commission.

He said the council will be supporting the commission to “establish a legacy body to provide a real independent challenge to how we operate as a city.”

‘What people are wanting is action’

He stressed that this was just step one. Council staff, including commissioners who work for the council, are putting together longer-term plans.

Council LibDem group leader Coun Shaffaq Mohammed said he attended the commission report launch and there was a genuine buzz: “The work has been documented but what people are actually now wanting is action.

“I’m looking forward to your team, Laurie, and the work you’re going to do and how we’re going to make this happen for the council, but more importantly, for the city, because we can lead on this but if we don’t have our partners on board and they’re not also taking action, we’re not going to succeed.”

In response to questioning by Green leader Coun Douglas Johnson about how the council is looking at staff inequalities, Mr Brennan said that one of the first steps was identifying the race pay gap in the council. The result will be reported on later this year.

Coun Joe Otten (LibDem, Dore and Totley) wanted to know: “What makes this so different that the work is going to be done this time?”

Council chief executive Kate Josephs said she accepted that work had been done on the issue before but no sustained improvements had been made.

She said: “There is a risk that it’s perceived that we’re deliberately moving slowly and it couldn’t be further from the truth.”

‘Make this an anti-racist city’

Stressing that there was a lot of detailed work to be done, she added: “If we see this as once and done, we’ll be missing the point – this is a sustained effort, potentially over quite a number of years, to change the culture in our own organisation, to change the culture in the way we work with organisations that deliver services, to provide leadership alongside the anchor organisations in the city to demonstrate that this isn’t a report that’s going to be shelf.”

She said that the council is working on a more detailed plan to be published in October.

Council leader Terry Fox said: “Listening to Professor Kevin Hylton and those commissioners, with their drive, enthusiasm and real passion and commitment they’ve got to make change, not only within our organisation but within the city, it is quite clear that to move this forward we’ve got to get on with it.

“We’re going to have to deal with this and with the other organisations across the city to make this an anti-racist city.”

Read this: Council improves services for young people after ombudsman’s criticism

Read this: Demand for action by closed park cafe manager