COMMISSION DRAWS UP MEASURES IN A BID TO TACKLE CHILD POVERTY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Councillor Rory Palmer, Deputy City Mayor & Chair of Leicester Child Poverty Commission

Commission draws up measures in a bid to tackle child poverty

About 160 politicians, business leaders and charity bosses met yesterday to discuss ways of tackling child poverty in LeicesterThe Leicester Child Poverty Commission held its second annual conference at St Martin's House, near the cathedral.

According to Government figures, 30,000 children in the city are classed as living in poverty and the commission has drawn up 66 measures it hopes will help struggling families.

Commission chairman and deputy mayor of Leicester, councillor Rory Palmer, said: "We have made some important progress but a lot has happened in the past 12 months.

"The impact of the Government's welfare reforms is now being felt by some of the less well-off people in society. The employment situation remains challenging.

"However, we have made some important progress by implementing some of the measures set out."

Coun Palmer said the council had agreed to give its lowest paid staff the so-called Living Wage of £7.45 an hour for adults, rather than the minimum legal rate of £6.19.

He also said the council was getting on with signing up all nursery-aged children as library members to boost their educational chances, promoting credit unions over loan sharks or payday lenders and helping to co-ordinate the city's 15 food banks.

Coun Palmer added: "We are not complacent. We know there is a lot of very hard work still to do and things are going to remain difficult before they get better.

"There are a huge number of people who are hovering just above the poverty line as well."

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, Catherine Stretton, head teacher of Marriott Primary School on the Saffron Lane estate, and Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth were among the speakers.

Coun Palmer said he would speak to his colleagues about whether to hold a third conference next year.

LEICESTER CHILD POVERTY COMMISSION CONFERENCE

This morning I'm at St Martins House, Peacock Lane, where the Leicester Child Poverty Commission conference is taking place in the Grand Hall. I'm glad to see Cllr Manjula Sood, Assistant Mayor with portfolio for Community Involvment, Partnerships and Equalities (and Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) here today.

This is the second annual event on this topic. The first was held on 25 May 2012 at De Montfort University and was reported in the Leicester Mercury.

Today's conference is opened by Rachel Dickinson (Strategic Director, Children, Leicester City Council) opens the meeting - and chairs the rest of the day.

Cllr Rory Palmer (Deputy City Mayor and Chair of Leicester Child Poverty Commission) welcomes delegates. Here are a few extracts from his letter of welcome included in our packs:

Since last year's conference the Leicester Child Poverty Commission has published 66 recommendations, a number of which have been implemented. Significant work is taking place across the public, private and voluntary sectors to make progress in implementing all of the recommendations. The Commission has continued work with partners to raise awareness of child poverty in the city, to develop new thinking on how to address this challenge and how to monitor the impact of public spending cuts, welfare changes and falling household budgets. Amongst other activities the Commission make a formal response to the Government's consultation on how child poverty should be measured, we held a meeting with businesses and employers to talk about the economic impact of pverty and thge role of the private sector in tackling poverty, and we have worked to ensure child poverty is an issue discussed by other key organisations like the new Health & Wellbeing Board.

The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, gives the keynote address. I am always impressed by what Bishop Tim has to say on the subject of poverty. He gave the keynote address at the 2012 Annual General Meeting of Leicester Council of Faiths, with the title, "The Recession and its Effects on Inter-Faith Relations". He has been in print on the topic many times and put in a memorable appearance on BBC2's Newsnight in January 2012 where he more than held his own in the face of a rigorous interrogation by Jeremy Paxman about opposition from the Bishops in the House of Lords to the Welfare Reform Bill.

After Bishop Tim's keynote address, we move on to workshop discussion. We're asked to consider the role of communities and organisations in combating child poverty, facilitated by Voluntary Action LeicesterShire. There are two questions to help focus our discussions:

• What practical things can you do to support the recommendations of the Child Poverty Commission?
• What do you need the Child Poverty Commission to do to help you achieve these things?

Themes have been allocated to different groups of tables:

• Early years (five tables)
• Income, personal finance & housing (four tables)
• Health & wellbeing (three tables)
• Economy, work & transport (three tables)
• Policy & governance (two tables)

Our table, at the back of the hall, is shown on the diagram, but it doesn't have a theme allocated to it. I guess ours would be "latecomers" or "nearest the coffee". We're allowed to pick our own theme, so we go for "Early years". I do half an hour on this one (during which we're joined by Dr Katherine Duffy, one of the 11 members of the Leicester Child Poverty Commission). For the second part of this session I move to another table to discuss "Income, personal finance and housing". Then coffee, I'm glad to say.

The workshops prompt a couple more questions that will fit in the Resilience Audit I'll be conducting with places of worship and faith-based community centres in Leicester over the next few months on behalf of the Council of Faiths.

After the break there's a panel on stage, discussing issues surrounding child poverty from their own areas of interest and positive examples of actions taken so far.

• John Willets (Project Director, FareShare Leicester)
• Imran Hussain (Head of Policy, Rights and Advocacy at Child Poverty Action Group)
• Jon Ashworth MP (Labour, Leicester South)
• Catherine Stretton, Head Teacher, Marriot School

Each has the opportunity to speak briefly, then respond to questions from the floor.  This fills an hour of the programme.

Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester, makes the closing remarks. I managed to write down a few of the things he said, from a short speech that was both rousing and reflective: "Poverty affects many people in this city in ways which many other people in this city find repulsive. [...] it has sometimes been said that communities in Leicester lead parallel lives - this is true, but not along ethnic, racial or religious lines; in more practical, meaningful terms, this is determined by differing levels of income." If I was able to transcribe faster, I'd have written down more.

Today we heard about a recent study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that the number of children living in poverty would increase by 50% by 2020. I searched for this online and found an article in the London Evening Standard (7 May 2013) part of which I quote below:

More than one million more children will fall into poverty in the UK by the end of the decade, new research has predicted.

The assessment by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the projected increase from 2010/11 to 2020/21 will reverse the reductions in child poverty rates witnessed in the previous decade.

As I leave the conference, I reflect on what has more power to change things. You can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have the will, the desire to make a difference, what good can it do. Now that the money that we were all getting used to being available is being taken off the table, we have to fall back on the power of that will and desire. And to judge by what I have heard today, there's plenty of that on tap.

TV STAR WOULD RETURN TO "FRIGHTENING" CITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

TV star would return to "frightening" city

Clarissa Dickson Wright has refused to apologise for "hurtful" comments about the city's Muslim community – but says she would return to the city.

In her new book, the celebrity cook described a visit to Leicester "as one of the most frightening experiences of my life".

The 65-year-old wrote that she came off the ring road to escape a traffic jam and found herself lost in a part of the city she described as a "ghetto" where she felt like a "complete outcast and pariah".

Ms Dickson Wright was invited to defend her views by BBC Radio Leicester yesterday and said: "I'm not going to apologise. I'm not saying it's entirely accurate for the whole of Leicester, but I am describing an experience that I went through.

"I know other people who have had a similar experience, not necessarily in Leicester."

In her book, Clarissa's England: A Gamely Gallop Through the English Counties, the cook dedicated a chapter to Leicestershire's culinary and cultural merits.

"I found myself in an area where all the men were wearing Islamic clothing and all the women were wearing burkas and walking slightly behind them," she wrote.

She said none of the men would talk to her when she tried to find out where she was and how to get out of there, because she was an English women and they "would not talk to women they did not know".

"Here I was, in the heart of a city in the middle of my own country, a complete outcast and pariah," she wrote.

Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, described her comments as hurtful.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester, he invited Ms Dickson Wright to come back to the city and have dinner with his family.

"I would be delighted to host her at my home and take her to meet real Leicester people," he said.

Deputy city mayor Rory Palmer also invited her to return – and apologise for her comments.

He said: "I read the comments she made in her book in the Mercury and I was lost for words – and I am rarely lost for words.

"They are unwarranted and not the Leicester I know.

"Perhaps she ought to stick to what she knows – making pies and souffles.

"I think, given the reaction to her comments, that she ought to be prepared to make an apology.

"I'm not going to be rushing off to write her a letter of invitation, but if the opportunity presents itself in the future, I am sure we will all show her the real city."

Speaking on the radio, Ms Dickson Wright said: "They want me to come back? Yeah, of course I would accept."

SOLAR POWER AT SIKH TEMPLE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Solar power at Sikh temple

A Sikh temple is harnessing the sun's rays to supply its electricity.

Leicester's Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, in Evington, has installed 400 solar panels on its roof in what leaders believe is a first for any temple in England.

The £125,000 environmental project has been funded entirely by worshippers and the city's wider Sikh community.

Surinderpal Singh Rai, general secretary of the Gurdwara, in East Park Road, said the temple's spiralling electricity bill had forced them to take action.

He said: "It's a huge four-storey building which used to be a shoe warehouse.

"Our electricity bill was pushing £1,700 a month and it was becoming a real burden."

The temple welcomes more than 25,000 visitors a week for daily prayers, community meals, after school classes, a day care centre for the elderly and respite care for the families of adults with learning difficulties.

Mr Rai said: "The costs were becoming prohibitive and so when we saw this opportunity we went for it.

"The panels will power the whole building and save us about £600,000 over the next 20 years.

"They will have paid for themselves within a matter of years and the result is we can use the savings to invest in services for the community.

"On top of all that, we are also doing our little bit to help protect our environment."

Mr Rai said he wanted to thank supporters who had helped raise funds.

"We would like to thank the whole community for rallying around us," he said.

"We've been taken aback by their enthusiasm and generosity. It is a wonderful achievement and something everyone should be very proud of."

The panels were fitted by Midlands Solar Panels Ltd.

The Gurdwara has been praised by environmental campaigners for setting an example to other organisations and businesses across the city.

Gavin Fletcher, conservation team leader for environmental charity Groundwork Leicester, said: "You often see people who have lots of money invest in solar panels, but for a community to come together and pool their resources in this way is fantastic and a great example of what can be achieved.

"We'd love to feature the temple's story in our Eco-House in Western Park."

Rory Palmer, deputy city mayor with responsibility for the environment, said: "I would like to congratulate the Gurdwara for this ambitious and inspiring project, which will reduce their carbon emissions and energy costs.

"It's just the sort of action we want to see from organisations in the city as we look to cut our carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2025. The temple is setting a great example."

CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON NEED TO TACKLE RISE IN CHILD POVERTY

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Conference focuses on the need to tackle rise in child poverty

Business leaders, charity bosses and politicians have met to discuss ways of tackling Leicester's growing child poverty rates.

De Montfort University hosted the city's first Child Poverty Conference on Friday, which was attended by more than 200 delegates from across the country.

It was hosted by the Leicester Child Poverty Commission, which will launch a city-wide action plan on child poverty later this summer.

Deputy city mayor Rory Palmer said: "At the last count, there were about 27,000 children living in poverty and that number is probably closer to 30,000 now. It's something we urgently need to address.

"As a city council there are things we can do, such as ensure people are on the right energy tariffs and not paying too much on their bills.

"We can make sure children entitled to free school dinners are getting them, not paying when they should not be, and we can work with businesses to get them to increase wage levels.

"We had many constructive ideas which will help us put together an action plan."

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the national Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said: "We are very glad to be involved and we hope not just to bring our expertise to the table, but also to learn more ourselves as we help develop new ideas and good practice that can spread to other communities."

Not trying to hitch our wagon to someone else's star, but the Council of Faiths was asked to ensure that representatives of the city's diverse faith communities would be in attendance at this event. Several of our Board Members were able to attend, including our Chair, Assistant Mayor Cllr Manjula Sood, who holds the Cabinet portfolio for Adult Health and Social Care. This conference took place on Friday 25 May - a busy day for us, as the Council of Faiths was also represented at Time to Shine at Leicester Racecourse and at the launch of the Memory Cafe at Eyres Monsell Community Centre.

"STOP ABUSE OF THE DISABLED"

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

"Stop abuse of the disabled"

Police have launched a campaign to protect disabled people from abuse while they are travelling on buses.

Leicestershire's Chief Constable Simon Cole said people with various disabilities have told his officers they are sometimes singled out for abuse on public transport.

Two of Leicestershire's largest bus companies, Arriva and First, have now agreed to display the Stamp It Out campaign poster in their vehicles.

Police hope the posters, which are part of a wider campaign to highlight hate crimes, will encourage victims and witnesses to come forward, to help bring perpetrators to justice.

Mr Cole, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers on disability issues, said: "If you carry out any consultation with people who have disabilities, they will tell you about problems they have experienced on public transport.

"This has a knock-on effect on their lives which the rest of us should be ashamed of.

"Public transport puts people who don't know each other in a confined space and that sometimes leads to incidents.

"This campaign will raise awareness of this issue and encourage people to report any bullying or harassment incidents to us and we will do something about it.

"The campaign is called Stamp It Out for a good reason. There is no place for any form of hate crime in Leicester."

A number of people who use services provided by learning disability charity Mencap attended yesterday's launch in Upper Brown Street, Leicester city centre.

They also spoke of their own experiences of bullying while using public transport.

Darren Bakewell, 48, of Braunstone, Leicester, said: "I was abused on a bus once. A man pushed me off and I fell on the ground.

"I was hurt and didn't know what to do, but a woman who was on the bus and had seen what happened called the police for me.

"The police dealt with him for what he had done to me."

Ranjit Singh, 46, who lives in the Narborough Road area of Leicester, said: "It is important the police take this seriously – everyone should be able to travel on a bus in peace."

Steve Smith, area business manager for Arriva in Leicestershire, said: "We're urging all bus companies, their workers and passengers to be community spirited and report any abuse experienced on buses, whether directed at them or another person."

Deputy city mayor Rory Palmer said: "There is no place for anti-social behaviour on buses or anywhere else.

"Abusive and bullying behaviour will not be tolerated.

"By working together in partnership, across the council, police and transport providers, we will stamp out this unacceptable behaviour."To report hate crime, contact Leicestershire police on 101 or, in an emergency, 999.

Alternatively, you can visit: www.stamp-it-out.co.uk

I posted about my own experience of this launch event on the blog yesterday. I can be seen in the photo above - if you know what you're looking for! 

STAMP IT OUT ARRIVA!

Hurrying to Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living this morning, late for a meeting of REDP's Core Partners scheduled to start at 0930, I see a single-decker Arriva bus parked in Upper Brown Street, just across the road from LCIL. Nothing out of the ordinary there, although it's not a bus route and there's no bus stop at that spot. Then I notice Sophie and Tej from LCIL photographing (and, it turns out, tweeting the pictures of) people boarding the bus. On closer examination, I recognise some of them - quite a lot of them, actually - including Steve Cooper, in whose office our 0930 meeting is supposed to be taking place!

This bus, provided by Arriva, is there to promote Leicestershire Constabulary's Stamp It Out! anti-hate crime campaign, challenging verbal abuse, bullying and violence. Covering the full range of Protected Characteristics, today's Stamp It Out! event is especially focused on people with learning difficulties.

I persuade Diversity Officer Darren Goddard and Chief Inspector Rich Keenan to pose for a photo, then they bundle me on to the bus, where Deputy Mayor Cllr Rory Palmer, Chief Constable Simon Cole and a select band of other local luminaries are gathered. A photographer form the Leicester Mercury is there, getting a better class of picture than I've been able to. (An article and photo appeared in the Leicester Mercury the next day, which I also blogged here).

A nice opportunity to get involved in a worthwhile occasion - and proving that there can be a good reason to be late for meetings, once in a while!

VCS CEO LEADERSHIP NETWORK

An early start this morning with a breakfast meeting of the Voluntary and Community Sector Chief Executive Officers (VCS CEO) Leadership Network. We're meeting at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL), starting at 0745. I've been in Caffe Nero, Market Street, since half an hour before, going over the paperwork.

I've mentioned before that we don't have a Chief Executive Officer at Leicester Council of Faiths. It might appear daft if we did, with only 1.5 full time equivalent (FTE) staff (the likely CEO being the 1). However, not all the organisations involved in this network (certainly not all of those here this morning) have someone with the actual title of CEO, so I'm not the only one in this position (also, I've got the agreement and support of our Chair to do this).

When I attended the last meeting of this network, I was the only one (well, the only male) not in suit and tie. In keeping with that well known phrase, "If you can't fight, wear a big hat" (a good piece of wisdom that I first heard from one of my ex-mothers in law) I've decided to raise my game, sartorially, for this one.

As well as ourselves, there are ten VCS organisations represented here this morning:

• Action Deafness
• Action Homeless
• Apex
• Care and Repair
• Community Advice and Law Service
• Emerald Centre
• Giving World Online
• Leicestershire Aids Support Service (LASS) 
• LeicestHER Day Trust
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Lighthouse Learning
• MRC Community Action
• The Race Equality Centre (TREC)
• Stride

We review notes of our meeting with the Mayor (Sir Peter Soulsby) and Deputy Mayor (Councillor Rory Palmer) at our last meeting (at LASS on 18 August) and a number of actions decided on then and shared among the members.

Beyond these, we discuss what this network is for and how it should go about achieving its aims as it expands. When asked to consider the question, "Why are we here?", these are the answers that spring to mind from my perspective with the Council of Faiths: Leicester's faith communities are often isolated - not only from each other, but also from other agencies, groups and organisations in the city; even the networks that faith communities have established among themselves tend to be isolated from other networks; faith communities are too big, too important and make too distinctive a contribution to the image, life and reputation of Leicester to continue to be isolated in this way. They should have someone here who can represent them and speak up for them.

This network may work best by sharing support and learning for its members. We consider how formal it might need to be in order to serve these ends. in the end, we agree that it's better for us to be driven by interest and action rather than the "gubbins" of running an organisation.

We finish shortly after 0930 - just in time to dash across the road to Voluntary Action LeicesterShire and join in the latest in a series of meetings on Transforming Local Infrastructure.

VCS CEO LEADERSHIP NETWORK WELCOMES MAYOR

First meeting of the day: 0800 at Leicestershire Aids Support Service (LASS), Regent Road. This breakfast gathering of the Voluntary and Community Sector Chief Executive Officers (VCS CEO) Leadership Network is meeting with Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Rory Palmer.

Leicester Council of Faiths doesn't have a Chief Executive Officer; it would be a bit mad to have a CEO in an organisation with 1.5 full time equivalent (FTE) staff - including the CEO. But I have the backing and blessing of our Chair to be here this morning and no one protests at my presence.

I came to the first of these meetings, perhaps as long ago as two years back, but then missed several on the trot and eventually dropped off the invite list. As well as ourselves and LASS, there are ten VCS organisations represented here this morning:

• Action Deafness
• Action Homeless
• Apex
• The Centre Project
• Community Advice and Law Service
• Giving World Online
• Lighthouse Learning
• Network for Change
• The Race Equality Centre (TREC)
• Stride

A sub group has been working on concrete proposals to put to the Mayor, aimed at strengthening relations between Leicester City Council and the Voluntary and Community Sector. These are focused, innovative and practical and they're all well received by Sir Peter and Councillor Palmer.

All in all, I'd describe this as a happy, positive and warm meeting, where everyone wants to work together to achieve the best outcome for the city and the sector: which are not mutually exclusive. I was glad to be a part of the Forum this morning and I look forward to being involved on a regular basis.