Day: July 5, 2016

Brighton & Hove Fairness Commission publish their findings and recommendations for the city.

The report is the culmination of nine months’ work by the Commission to find out how Brighton & Hove can be a fairer and more equal place to live and work.

The strength of engagement with the Commission’s work was impressive – nearly 1,500 residents, 70 groups and 25 experts submitted their views to the Commission on what they thought was fair and unfair about living in the city together with suggestions for making it fairer for everyone.

Vic Rayner, Chair of the Commission, said: “We would really like to thank the residents and communities who came forward and spoke to us and shared their passion, energy and vision of fairness for Brighton & Hove.  After our engagement with the city we came away with much to think about and many possible ways to tackle unfairness”.

The University of Brighton supported the work of the commission by analysing the evidence that was presented to the Commission.

Debra Humphris, Vice Chancellor at the University of Brighton, said: “Tackling poverty in Brighton & Hove must be a priority for us all. We are one of the largest employer’s in the city and we are also educating the next generation of teachers, nurses, social workers and doctors, so we understand that we do make a big impact on the city. I’m keen to explore how we can work closely with partners to achieve the aims laid out in the report and make early progress in some specific areas.”

The report makes a number of recommendations on ways the city’s organisations and communities can work together to make the city a fairer and more accessible place.

These cover:

♦        Working differently

♦        Housing

♦        Travel

♦        Early years and achieving at school

♦        Living and ageing in the city

The report stresses that the whole city needs to take the recommendations forward, and the changes needed are not in the gift of one partner.

Welcoming the report, Brighton & Hove City Council Leader, Warren Morgan, said: “On behalf of Brighton & Hove City Council, I would like to thank Vic Rayner for her dedication as chair of the Fairness Commission, and the other commissioners for all their hard work over the past year.  The report is a powerful reminder to the city that more must be done to tackle poverty and inequality and I am committed to making Brighton & Hove a fairer place, and doing whatever we can to ensure that everyone shares in our economic success.”

The Commission has urged all partners in the city, as well as the UK Government to consider the recommendations and the Commission will meet in 6 and 12 months’ time to review progress.

Greens have welcomed the final report and say the Council must now ensure the significant contributions of experts and residents do not go to waste, by setting out how they will implement the recommendations put forward in the report.

The Greens are committed to support any proposals to drive forward these recommendations and fight for fairness.

Green spokesperson for equalities, Councillor Leo Littman, said: “We welcome this independent report which shows the scale of the challenge facing us in our efforts to make Brighton and Hove a fairer place to live. This chimes well with the Greens’ priority of increasing fairness. We will work with the Council administration to support the implementation of these recommendations and to ensure the efforts of the commissioners and the many people and organisations which have contributed to this work, do not go to waste.

“One of the key strengths of this report is the level of engagement with the public, and we commend the work of the University of Brighton in bringing these public contributions to the forefront of the debate.  Residents in Brighton and Hove have truly united around the concept of fairness and this report gives us a huge insight into our shared priorities as a city.

“The real test for the Labour administration will be how it implements the recommendations in this report.  In the context of increasing funding pressures, in future the Council must set annual budgets which put the needs of the most vulnerable first.  We will support any real action proposed by the Council to make our city a fairer place for everyone.”

To view the full report, CLICK HERE: