Part Three - Community and Partner Issues

Background to Chester

The City Council is responsible for a district with a population of 118,210 and an area of 175 square miles including the City of Chester, suburban areas and a large rural area of villages and smaller communities.

Chester has historic assets of international significance and is one of the most popular UK tourist centres welcoming 8 million visitors a year.

It has a university and colleges which attract many local, national and international students.

It is also a major regional business, leisure and retail centre. Many people travel into the city to work or study. This greatly adds to the diversity of the district. These features also have an impact on equality issues.

The 2001 Census set the baseline statistics and profile of our local population by ethnic group and also by faith:

 

Total population of Chester at  2001 census 118,218		Ethnic Groups
White British	112,529	Mixed white and black Caribbean	198
White other	2,081	Other mixed	174
White Irish	1,291	Asian or Asian British (Pakistani)	134
Asian or Asian British (Indian)	320	Asian or Asian British (Other)	100
Other Ethnic Group	297	Black or Black British (African)	95
Mixed White and Asian	278	Black or Black British (Caribbean)	87
Chinese	277	Mixed White and Black African	82
Asian or Asian British (Bangladeshi)	248	Black or Black British (Other)	19
Faith Groups
Christian	92,377	Hindu	206
No religion	15,342	Other	206
Religion not stated	9,024	Jewish	132
Muslim	630	Sikh	65
Buddhist	236

Gypsies and travellers are recognised as a distinct ethnic group. No definite statistics are available, but the Commission for Racial Equality estimates that nationally the community is between 200,000 to 300,000.

We also know that there are a significant number of people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who work or visit Chester and who are not included in the census statistics, but need access to our services.

Chester's different cultures, faiths and languages comprise relatively small communities or numbers of people spread across the District. This creates a challenge in understanding and meeting their needs fairly.

Community Cohesion

We are committed to promoting an environment where people feel valued and are able to live in harmony, free from fear or discrimination.

We can help by getting more people involved in decision making. We will work to ensure people have their say on council business and that services are accessible to all.

Gypsies and Travellers

As this revised scheme is being prepared Gypsy and Traveller issues have a high profile locally and nationally.  

Gypsies and Travellers who live in the District of Chester, travel through or stay here for short periods have particular needs. We recognise these and the challenges which can affect their quality of life and that of the settled community.

We will do all we can to promote balance, understanding and fairness for all parties.

Although there is a lack of reliable data we agree that their needs are not always best served. We are encouraging the public sector partners to work together to address this.

In particular we will be concentrating on the accommodation and welfare needs of Gypsies and Travellers including:

• poor or inappropriate accommodation
• adequate site provision
• access to health, education and welfare services
• services for children and young people

The council is working with the Cheshire Chief Executives' Advisory Group to develop a partnership approach to meet the needs of Gypsies and Travellers, including site provision.

We are also looking at the issue of unauthorised encampments. We are developing a local protocol for dealing with unauthorised activities which we hope will be adopted countywide.

Faith and Religion

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity on the grounds of religion and faith for our customers and employees.  We recognise that for many people religious identity is as important as racial or cultural identity.  We recognise that many people will highlight their religious identity before their ethnic identity.  We acknowledge that religion is a strong influence on our local culture and we aim to understand this better.

Although Article 9 of the Human Rights Act gives people the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion specific legislation prohibiting religious discrimination currently applies in only limited circumstances.

While some faith groups have limited statutory protection we do not see this as a barrier and will consider faith issues in our approach to equality. This is also reflected in our commitments in our Corporate Equality Plan.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Chester City Council is playing a full role in the North West Consortium which was set up to take a strategic lead in providing accommodation and support for asylum seekers. We are committed to playing a full part in assisting with the nation-wide dispersal of asylum seekers.

We are consulting on our Housing Strategy which sets out further information on the housing allocation for asylum seekers and refugees.

Dealing with racist incidents

We use the broad definition of a racist incident defined in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report: -"any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person".

National research suggests that most racist incidents go unreported. Without adequate information we cannot understand the extent of racial harassment locally, and therefore cannot respond appropriately.

The City Council has a role to play in encouraging people to come forward and report racist incidents to help agencies understand the extent of racism in Chester.  We must work in partnership to ensure that action is taken to help the victims of racism, reduce incidents and deal with perpetrators.

We use a racist incident reporting scheme which is common across Cheshire. The scheme is publicised at all our premises, on our website and articles are published in the local media at regular intervals.

We are working in partnership with the Cheshire, Halton and Warrington Race Issues Group, a joint agency panel, to develop a common approach to handling race crime and racial discrimination.  In addition we work closely with the West Cheshire Race Equality Partnership to progress and resolve individual cases, monitor local incidents and promote victim support.

Racist incident reporting is covered in equality training for employees and Councillors.  Guidance notes and reporting forms have been issued to all Councillors and these are distributed to employees at equality training sessions and induction. They are available from all reception areas.

As an employer we also have a separate Anti-bullying and Harassment Policy.

Wotking with black and minority ethinic communities

We want all local people to have their say in local life and on the things that affect them. We support and work with local community and voluntary groups.

The local groups we shall continue to work or develop relationships with include:

• Chester Asian Council
• West Cheshire Multi-Cultural   Women's Group
• Chester Bangladeshi Welfare Association
• Chinese Local Network
• Gypsy Groups
• Cheshire Halton and Warrington Race Equality Council
• Cheshire Halton and Warrington Race Issues Group
• West Cheshire Race Equality Partnership

Partnership and joint agency working

We recognise that by working with others and playing an active role in partnerships we can promote race equality more effectively.

A lot of our business is done through partnership working. Although partnerships are not bound by the race equality duty we are responsible for making sure that any of our functions or policies that are relevant to the general duty and carried out by a partnership, meet the duty.

To do this, where we are working in partnership, we will apply the principles and procedures laid down in this scheme and in our Corporate Equality Policy.

Procurement of services provided on behalf of the council

Alternative methods of providing council services will become increasingly common. The Council already has a number of services provided on its behalf by contractors or by the voluntary sector.

In these circumstances we remain responsible for complying with the general duty and will apply this scheme and our Corporate Equality Policy.

We currently make enquiries about contractors' equality procedures and their recent track record on equality issues.

Details of how we assess and monitor procured services are included in our procurement policy.

Workign with voluntary organisations

We will encourage voluntary and community groups to adopt the principles of equal opportunities so far as appropriate.

The council makes a significant funding contribution to external organisations. We will encourage applicants to consider how their work can contribute to diversity and equality, particularly to promote access to voluntary sector activities by people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

We will encourage direct applications from organisations that represent black and minority ethnic communities.

Voluntary and community groups receiving financial or other support from the council will, where necessary and appropriate, need to develop policies and practices to meet statutory requirements.

Review

This scheme will be regularly reviewed to ensure it remains fit for purpose as the role of the council and equality expectations change.

The scheme will be fully reviewed every three years.

Documents prepared by Chester City Council are available in large print, Braille, on audio cassette or computer disk.  We can also provide information in languages other than English

Chester City Council is registered with "Language Line" to ensure our services are accessible to all our customers.