Inclusion and diversity success stories

Although the official deadline for the scheme was 30 June 2021, late applications are permitted for those who can show a justifiable reason why they could not comply with the deadline. Some of those applications involve people who lack capacity and need assistance to make an application, those lacking biometric identification, from their EU member state of origin and children, who were omitted from a parental application.

At the end of June 2022, the total number of applications submitted by Kirklees residents, stood at 18,180, of which 8,980, were accorded settled status, 7,430 pre-settled status, with a further 980 being refused. Those with pre-settled status must apply for settled status, once they can evidence five years' residence in the UK, while those refused, are subject to an appeal procedure. In both cases, ongoing support is needed, to prevent people becoming, 'No Recourse to Public Funds' and, there is an ongoing need for such support in the years to come. These will need to be tailored to the specific need of each applicant or appellant - depending on such factors as: whether they are applying on a child's behalf, joining family members in the UK, they are making a late application and need to show reasons for this, or where they have experienced difficulties evidencing their status, using the online UK Visas and Immigration account. The council, its community champions, Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) partners and faith groups, are continuing to work with the Home Office, to raise awareness and provide much needed support.

The issue for Kirklees and partners moving forward, is to continue their support and advice to individuals, particularly those who currently have pre-settled status.

Kirklees Council coordinates and administers the local Partnership Executive. This is a high-level group, where senior representatives from local partners update one another while sharing information and insight. The Executive aims to supplement the work of other partnerships (e.g., the Communities Board, Children & Young People's Partnership, and Joint Health & Wellbeing Board) by identifying and addressing cross-cutting issues. Its current priorities are: enabling digital inclusion, empowering young people, and being inclusive employers.

Fellow partners within this executive group include Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust, Locala, the University of Huddersfield, Kirklees College, Kirklees secondary schools network, Mid-Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, West Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, Third Sector Leaders, The National Trust and Yorkshire Housing.

The group revisits local population indicators annually. Following a recent presentation from Kirklees Council colleagues, the group has provided feedback on how the Partnership Executive can effectively use data in the future, to have a series of discussions about making progress across group member organisations.

The Partnership Executive meets bi-monthly, however, this shifted to weekly meetings during the covid pandemic. Partners were able to work together with a joint approach and community response, which galvanised the district and led to the sharing of resources, both formally and informally, from lateral flow testing kits to spaces. It also provided a place for leaders to come together and support one another in a particularly challenging time.

The group has considered how it can replicate the community response seen at the height of the pandemic and if it could be useful in other ways post-pandemic.

Members are considering a more connected, local response to the current cost of living crisis. As a partnership, cost-of-living support is high on their agenda and they are committing to sharing information and resources, collectively supporting each other and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) recognising that it may have a detrimental impact on people's finances, but also on their health and wellbeing.

The Executive agreed to review its priorities at a July away day. Work has begun on this by reviewing progress against existing priorities (which are all relevant to inclusion) and analysing each partner's existing corporate plan to identify cross-cutting issues and opportunities. An update will be provided to the Executive at November's Partnership Executive.

An independent study into the housing needs of older people from ethnic minorities (OPEM) produced its final report in February 2022 and will help us shape a new approach to tackling inequalities and meeting residents' needs in the future.

The study itself was commissioned after projections showed that the number of older people in the district is set to increase by 40% over the next ten years, higher than the national average. As people from ethnic minorities represent almost a quarter of Kirklees residents, it was felt that it was important to understand the needs of this community, consulting with community organisations and local community members, focusing primarily on older people from south Asian and African or African Caribbean communities.

The study found that the needs and wants of older people from ethnic minority communities, were similar to the wider population and included a need for improved access to aids and adaptations, information, advice and the provision of more housing and rental options. There were some distinct differences as well, including the need to broaden the offer of specialist housing and amenities, as well as services to cater for cultural and or religious needs.

Recommendations from the study have been put forward, including short, medium and long-term views on how to accommodate the needs of older people from ethnic minority communities better. Learning from this study will help us continue to work with local communities, to shape and influence existing and future housing and support strategies.

The recommendations in the report have been categorised into three key themes, Place, People and Services. Examples of how the recommendations are likely to be enacted across the organisation include:

1. Place - Staying put and the role of adaptations - extending the information, advice and range of adaptations available.

Existing specialised housing services for older people - Ensuring that existing specialised housing, including the language and terminology used, is culturally and or religiously competent and reflects the housing and services offer.

2. People - Social isolation and loneliness - ensuring that OPEM can access cultural and religious amenities; that the housing, care and support services provided, are culturally and or religiously competent.

Engagement and involvement of OPEM, in the development and management of housing - engaging with OPEM to ensure new housing developments are culturally and or religiously competent and have participative elements of community-led housing models, such as housing cooperatives.

3. Services - Housing information and advice - developing a comprehensive information and advice service that is culturally and or religiously competent, including, building relationships with the community and third-sector organisations, who can best deliver this service, as trusted organisations and work with them, to agree terminology of language used, to describe housing suited to OPEM.

Provision of Care and or Support, including technology - ensuring paid-for care and support services are culturally and or religiously competent, promoting the role of assistive technology in specialised and mainstream housing.

Through the 'Community Plus' work, supporting diverse projects, Street Bikes (charity) were awarded £9,660, 'Do Something Now' funding, in 2021-22, to deliver six months of women-only bike rides, predominantly to benefit Muslim women in North Kirklees but open to any women with fully serviced bikes, helmets, hi-vis vests available and with weekly rides, led by qualified women ride leaders. The success of these rides has been phenomenal, with oversubscription at both ride sites in Spen and Dewsbury and participation from women aged from 14 to 75.

This project has upskilled the participants, boosting their confidence, fitness and mental wellbeing. It has created friendship, brought local communities together and boosted community cohesion, by uniting many varied cultural backgrounds in a social environment, sharing a love of cycling and enjoying the local greenways.

The funding was secured for six months for the women-only bike rides. It is hoped that, given the success and oversubscription of the sessions, they could be continued in the future.

'Community Plus' grant funding of £4,720, was awarded to the Rainbow Baby Bank (charity) which supplies families and mothers-to-be with new and pre-loved baby equipment, nappies, toiletries, clothing up to ten years old, baby food and formula. The baby bank also supports midwives, health visitors, family support and social workers, housing officers, GPs, schools, local domestic violence refuges, New Hall Prison and Palm Cove Society - a halfway house that supports victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Their aim is to alleviate the effects of social deprivation relating to poverty, domestic violence, unemployment, housing and addiction issues, asylum, human trafficking and imprisonment, within the Kirklees area.

The project has had some impact achieving its aims. The 'Community Plus' grant funding has allowed the baby bank to increase its outreach, engagement and communication with residents of Kirklees, by raising awareness through multi-lingual leaflets, posters and roller banners. These were distributed through GP surgeries, schools, community centres, other charities, mosques, churches, hospitals and supermarkets.

Rainbow Baby Bank was the winner of the Inclusive Third Sector Organisation of the Year at the Kirklees Diversity, Equality and Innovation Awards, in September 2022, recognising their impact and achievements.

The charity is really proud of its work to translate support and information leaflets into five community languages and hopes to do more to disseminate information more broadly in the future.

Mencap in Kirklees received £4,999 'Do Something Now' funding, to deliver a 12-month project, supporting people in north Kirklees with complex needs, including learning disabilities and autism. 'Super Tuesdays', run at Jo Cox House in Batley and have proved to be a vital lifeline for those who attend, including people who often find mainstream groups stressful to join but are not funded to attend activities funded via direct payments or state funding of other types.

'Super Tuesdays', offer a safe space that reduces feelings of isolation, boosts confidence and offers opportunities to learn new activities, including crafts and life skills, such as cooking and eating well. The sessions are fully subscribed and generated examples of people talking about their worries, creating a space where safeguarding concerns can be detected, such as exploitation.

"I came here because I was lonely. I've re-connected to the community that became strange to me during the pandemic and I feel much happier and healthier. I've met some lovely people and made some new friends"

'Super Tuesdays' continue to run in north Kirklees, at least until the end of the 12-month funded project.

A 'Do Something Now' grant of £3,420 was awarded to Oasis Care, for Maggie Hanson and her colleagues to run 'Women 2 Women', a project specifically aimed at women of African heritage, living in the Huddersfield area. In Maggie's words: "Healing Conversations…" is a culturally-focused group for women of African heritage, in global response to stress, loneliness and isolation and what it means to be resilient as a woman of colour, in societal and personal relationships.

The 'Healing Conversations' provide women the space to contemplate, reflect and re-evaluate life experiences, by taking time for themselves, "to breath, listen, respect and honour each other".

"It was inspiring. I learned that I could really help myself."

The project is currently promoting its final cohort of sessions for later in 2022.

Kirklees is a place of welcome. Over the past few years, there has been a strong partnership approach to ensuring those new to Kirklees can settle, orientate, have the best start in education, aspire to and achieve the outcomes they want and, integrate into life in our communities; we call this approach '#KirkleesWelcomes'.

The past two years have seen an increase in refugees needing sanctuary and support, because of conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and, more recently, Ukraine. Once again, this partnership has come together to meet the increased humanitarian demand.

In 2021-22, '#KirkleesWelcomes' welcomed and settled hundreds of people from Afghanistan and Ukraine. In addition, continuing support was given to people arriving as refugees from Syria and asylum seekers from a wide range of other countries.

'#KirkleesWelcomes' has the following objectives:

• Settle, orientate and support refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who have arrived in Kirklees.
• Ensure that those who arrive in Kirklees, are welcomed to their local community and can gain confidence and settle into their new life.
• Support children and young people to have the best start in Kirklees and progress their education.
• Offer all arrivals the opportunity to engage with services, so that they can develop and gain new skills, develop their English, have access to health services and to ensure they thrive in Kirklees.

In the past year, to achieve the objectives above, '#KirkleesWelcomes' has:

• Commissioned a Welcome Mentors Team - over one hundred volunteers, who have supported over two hundred individuals.
• Supported new arrivals from Refugee Resettlement and Afghan Relocation Programmes.
• Produced geographically based, translated, welcome packs, helping new arrivals feel a sense of 'belonging' as soon as they come to Kirklees.
• Overseen the council's website develop an embedded translation function, so individuals can access advice and support in a method which is easiest and most accessible to them.
• Established the International New Arrivals Team (INAT) a team of bilingual staff, supporting over two hundred families, to understand education, life in the UK and start nursery, school and college.
• Worked with the Clinical Commissioning Group, to develop 'Safer Surgeries' and improve pathways to key services, especially mental health.
• Supported throughout the covid pandemic, communicating and translating health messages and, testing and vaccination uptake.
• Provided English as another language assessments and progression. The team have strong links with the Council's Employment and Skills Team, to support people into employment.
• Partnered with the voluntary sector, to provide access to IT kits, which has been invaluable in tackling isolation and loneliness during the pandemic.
• Created a dedicated housing team working to prevent homelessness (a high risk for asylum seekers).

'#KirkleesWelcomes' plans to continue developing support for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, also being ready to respond to humanitarian crises.

In 2019-2021, the Kirklees suicide rate was 11.2 per 100,000. This is lower than the Yorkshire and Humber rate of 12.5 per100,000 but higher than the England rate of 10.4 per 100,000. Like the national picture, 75% of the deaths from suicide in Kirklees are male. Our local suicide audits help us to understand what risk factors are present in the people who die by suicide, and we use this insight to help inform what preventative action we need to take.

The public mental health theme has received funding over the past three years to help tackle suicide at place. This funding has been used to fund early intervention, place-based projects in communities, working with men who have risk factors for suicide. We have funded:

• A men's walking group in Batley, led by Batley Sporting Charitable Foundation.
• A volunteer coordinator at Platform 1 to help support volunteer wellbeing.
• A 'Money on Your Mind' project led by S2R Support to Recovery, an independent mental health charity, to help raise awareness of reciprocal link between financial pressures and mental health risk, targeting areas which come into contact with men.
• A men's mental health video, led by Men's Talk, to raise awareness of local support services available.

Measuring prevention is difficult, but what we do know is that Kirklees was the only local authority area in West Yorkshire whose suicide rates did not increase in the latest data release. But, we have much more to do to make suicide prevention everyone's business, and every suicide is one too many, leaving devastation and destruction for those impacted.

Some of the impacts from the funded project include:

• One of the men accessing the walking group was a recluse and unemployed. Since joining the walking group, they have made new friends and are doing more regular exercise. They have also started attending the rugby matches and helping as a volunteer on match days.
• The volunteer coordinator at Platform 1 has been able to support one man reconnect with his skills around woodwork, connecting with his passion and meeting new people. By supporting them in this way, it has opened other doors to seeking employment.
• The Money on Your Mind project has managed to engage with local gambling outlets, who were keen to partnership work and learn more about how they can support their male clients who might be struggling with their mental health.

Working with communities to understand how we make suicide prevention more culturally sensitive.

Strengthening the minority mental health consortium to better understand how we can help mental health services become more accessible to ethnic minorities and to coproduce solutions.

Apply the lens of inclusion from a mental health perspective; shift our understanding of mental health from a deficit model to understanding what people with lived experience can bring; empathy, compassion, understanding and personal resilience.

Help others to understand their role in tackling men's mental health inequality and suicide.

This was introduced by the council this year as part of its overarching People Strategy. The aim of the pledge is to ensure a supportive and caring working environment for those employees experiencing the perimenopause and menopause.

Colleagues are encouraged to talk about their symptoms and are given support to manage them, both at work and at home.

Being a 'menopause friendly' employer, means listening to and supporting individual needs sensitively, including the management of menopause related absences and the need for appropriate responses from management. The pledge also encourages education and familiarisation for all employees, about menopause, along with the need for open and honest communication with line managers and HR.

In terms of support, the following measures have been put in place:

• Management referral to employee healthcare for advice and guidance on reasonable adjustments. Reasonable adjustments (a desk fan, a seat by a window in an office, consideration of alternative materials for uniforms, if possible, i.e., lighter materials or looser fit, location near a bathroom etc.).
• A reasonable adjustment passport.
• Counselling referrals to employee healthcare.
• Care First for independent support, available 24 hours a day.
• Flexible working arrangements (such as consideration of more regular breaks away from work or different working arrangements).

Two of the employee networks - the Women's+ Network and the Wellbeing Network - are planning to undertake some joint promotion of the 'Menopause Pledge'.

This year, a 'gender identity pledge' has been introduced, demonstrating Kirklees Council's commitment to providing an inclusive and welcoming workplace, where all colleagues feel comfortable to be themselves, are treated with dignity, respect and fairness in the workplace. The aim of this pledge is to provide support and increase confidence in colleagues around gender identity, with particular emphasis on those whose sex they were assigned at birth, does not match the way they feel about their gender identity.

The impact of this policy can be seen in different areas:

• Recruitment - the pledge includes guidance on when or how to raise the subject of gender identity.
• Supporting colleagues - recognising that a colleague may wish to hold a conversation about their gender identity, at any time in their employment and that it can be a huge, life-changing event for an individual. Support should be colleague led, with the manager showing respect and empathy towards any decisions the person makes.
• Everyday inclusive support - the guidance has helped managers to appreciate that they may not always know the answers but being supportive, upfront and honest, will build up confidence, mutual respect and trust.
• Practical support - the guidance helps managers to take useful steps that make a real difference to someone's sense of 'belonging', such as changing Skype names, identity badges and email addresses.

The practical nature of developing a workplace pledge, where the organisation can set out its ambition and values and, from that, identify steps where we can make a difference to someone having a positive work experience, is something that can and should be developed in other areas.

We continue to highlight and take part in National Inclusion Week (NIW) with this year's theme being, 'The Power of Now'. The week began with the Chief Executive's blog, highlighting the range of identities of Kirklees Council staff. Five individuals shared their stories, discussing important elements of their identity, from their Traveller heritage to their role as a working carer, from their non-visible disability, to combining faith and feminism.

Activities during the week included a panel discussion, where managers could meet Employee Network chairs, to explore how they could support their staff to be active network members, the launch of the new 'Inclusive Learning Framework' (including a webinar from Inclusive Employers) a discussion and associated learning about allyship, a series of 'More Than A Book Club' discussion groups, looking at the importance of 'belonging' at work and the return of 'Coffee Roulette', where people were 'matched' with other colleagues from across Kirklees, to have an inclusion-based conversation.

The activities during the week really shone a light on the diverse workforce we have at Kirklees and how we can better understand one another, through listening to stories, sharing our identity and continuing to have ongoing conversations. Colleagues have been frank about their experiences and open with their thoughts on how we can work together, to become a more inclusive workforce. Comments from colleagues included:

"C: I think sharing these stories really impacts on staff wellbeing, I was always slightly phased by how big the council is and just how many colleagues work across it but sharing these stories really brings people together and makes the council seem somewhat smaller, which makes me enjoy coming to work."

"E: Isn't it amazing how you can sit beside colleagues at events and never know how deep and rich their lives are? I love this journey we are on together toward a place where everyone brings all their richness into every event and meeting with them and where our organisation blooms through that diversity."

"P: I've been in post three and a half months and can say that Kirklees has been one of the most welcoming, supportive, and accommodating workplaces I have ever experienced in my 30-year career working in the public, private and third sectors."

We hope to take part in National Inclusion Week in future years, growing the events and activities open to colleagues, particularly those in the frontline workforce.

The 'Tackling Inequalities' Programme Board reformed in March 2022, with responsibility for driving, leading the vision and ensuring achievement of the organisation's 'Tackling Inequalities' Programme objectives. The board's key workstreams are:

• Data and Intelligence.
• Embedding Inclusion.
• Inclusive Services.
• Understanding and Working with our Communities.
• Inclusive Organisation.

Through the council-wide membership, the board ensures links between strategic principles and operational practicalities, to ensure that the work of the board resonates with staff and encourages culture change.

The board is currently furthering its remit, to provide a governance route for the 'Inclusion and Diversity Hub', on strategic or council-wide discussion points and raise actions upwards appropriately.

The board will continue to progress its work programme and will continually evaluate how inclusion and diversity is strategically being advanced and embedded across the organisation.

The Inclusive Communities Framework (ICF) was adopted by the council in July 2022. The ICF was commissioned by partners on the Communities Partnership Board and is the product of partnership working and engagement, supported by council officers. The ICF provides a partner-produced, strategic approach, to building cohesive communities. It acts as a guide to all Kirklees partners to play their part, in talking and listening to communities and, where possible, working out together, how to address challenges and unequal access; to build on what works. It is guided by the following principles, the pillars of working inclusively:

1: Belief that communities hold solutions, with skills and knowledge that is valuable and will help us achieve our shared goals.

2: Build belonging and trust with and between our diverse communities, on shared interests and challenges, celebrating what is good in local places.

3: Care about what matters to local communities and own our shared actions that give us a collective purpose to make a change.

In addition, to support implementation, the ICF provides a toolkit consisting of underpinning knowledge; links to useful reference material; our five 'Inclusive Approaches'; statements; examples; checklists; and a self-evaluation tool to enable reflection on practice and a continuous learning loop.

The ICF is one of four, 'top-tier', strategic documents currently in development, setting out how we will achieve our shared outcomes in partnership. The other four are:

• The Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy,
• The Economic Strategy, and
• The Sustainable Environment Strategy.

As well as the other 'top-tier' strategies, it will also support the delivery of:

• Our Council Plan (2021-23) especially action under the 'Safe and Cohesive', 'Shaped by People' and 'Efficient and Effective' outcomes.
• Inclusion and Diversity Strategy (2021-23) particularly strategic priority 3: Building Resilient and Inclusive Communities. It will do this by enhancing cohesion and inclusion in programmes of work.
• Communities Partnership Plan (2022-27) by complementing its focus on changing the way the council works, with a focus on external engagement and partnership working.

The links to inclusion and diversity in the ICF are crucial. Inclusion cannot be seen in isolation. Inequality plays a direct role in undermining efforts to create inclusive, cohesive communities. Inequality impacts on a person's sense of belonging, by creating barriers to work, good health and a clean and safe environment to live. The active use of the 'ICF Toolkit', will undoubtedly help promote inclusive ways of working among communities, across the Kirklees district.

The ICF is currently being applied to the council's four 'top-tier' strategies, to ensure they embody and further the objectives to create more inclusive communities. It is also being applied to some initial pilot projects and services. Once this has been completed and evaluated, wider implementation plan will begin.

In July 2022, council approved two separate motions:

• To adopt the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims' definition of Islamophobia, and
• To adopt the definition of Antisemitism, as set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

The first was driven from the acknowledgement that Islamophobia is a growing issue, both locally and nationally, as Muslims were targeted in 45% of all religious, hate-crime offences recorded in England and Wales, in 2020-21, meaning they experience far more religiously motivated, hate crime than any other group.

The second noted that there had been a huge increase in antisemitic hate crime, in 2021 and repeated the council's belief that everyone is equal, irrespective of their race or religion and forms of hate crime must be condemned.

These policy changes demonstrated that, in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, the council must give due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and advance equality of opportunity for members of communities with a protected characteristic, including Muslim and Jewish people, such that they are able to participate in society, on an equal footing with others. By approving these policies, it put in place a series of actions to begin to work with communities and all relevant stakeholders, to both raise awareness of the issues and to challenge and tackle instances of Islamophobia and antisemitism.

Now these motions have been approved by council, a working group has been formed to address how to apply them to our strategies, other policies and service delivery.

There are implications across the organisation for what we might do differently and opportunities, in both 'Islamophobia Awareness Month' and the 'Holocaust Memorial', to restate our position and launch initiatives to embed practices across the organisation and within communities.