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![View more details for consultation Wrexham Council Draft Strategic Equality Plan [SEP] 2016-2020](http://www.yourvoicewrexham.net/images/purple_arrow_circle.gif) |
Wrexham Council Draft Strategic Equality Plan [SEP] 2016-2020 |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
11 Jan 2016 |
08 Feb 2016 |
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Why are we doing this?
Wrexham LSB partners conducted a consultation in September/October 2015 to establish whether the current Equality Objectives were still relevant, needed amending or if anything should be added. Analysis of
the consultation feedback confirmed that the Council should continue to focus
on the existing Strategic Equality Objectives when implementing or further
developing the Council Plan and the Strategies and Plan that underpin it.
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What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Welsh Language Consultation |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
11 Nov 2015 |
15 Jan 2016 |
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Why are we doing this? To ensure that those who want to communicate with us in Welsh are able to do so |
What we found out
There were two main themes with regard to the feedback. Firstly, those choosing to contact the Council in Welsh via the contact centre stated that they were often disappointed that even though they opted for a Welsh language service that it was not available and that their call would be dealt with in English. Secondly, the lack of availability of Welsh speaking officers to deal with queries in Welsh in Council departments. Many acknowledged that staff were answering phones bilingually but felt frustrated that they couldn’t then continue with the call in Welsh. Even though officers were following the Council’s procedures with regard to dealing with calls in Welsh many of those who completed the questionnaire were dissatisfied with the lack of fluent Welsh speakers in the organisation
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What difference has it made?
Since the survey was undertaken the Council has been served with its Final Compliance Notice from the Welsh Language Commissioner and the Standards have come into force. This has resulted in Welsh speaking customer service advisors being made available in the contact centre, both for dealing with customers face to face and over the phone. With regard to Welsh speaking officers in the workforce the Council continues to seek opportunities to recruit Welsh language speakers and the introduction of the Standards has resulted in a strengthening and improving the Council’s recruitment procedures which in turn will hopefully result in more posts being advertised as Welsh essential and filled by Welsh speakers. The Council has recently updated its list of Welsh speakers and all staff have been made aware of how to deal with calls in Welsh and how to contact our internal Welsh speakers. The Council actively seeks to recruit Welsh speakers and has been using different techniques/methods in order to try and reach as wide a Welsh speaking pool of potential recruits as is can and to provide as many opportunities as possible for Welsh essential posts to be filled by Welsh speakers.
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Equalities Objectives 2016-2020 |
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service |
16 Nov 2015 |
31 Dec 2015 |
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Why are we doing this?
The Equality Act 2010 The General Public Sector Equality Duty (April 2011) The Equality Act 2010 amalgamated previous pieces of equality legislation, harmonising and strengthening equality legislation under one new Act. The Act includes a public sector equality duty that requires public sector bodies, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act;
- Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
- Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
The Equality Act lists a number of characteristics which must not be used as a reason to treat some people worse than others. These are the ‘protected characteristics’. The Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011 There are also associated specific statutory equality duties for Wales (Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011) that enable a public authority in Wales to meet the general duty. The broad purpose of the specific duties in Wales is to help listed bodies in their performance of the general duty and to aid transparency. |
What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Wrexham Play Survey for Parents and Carers |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
09 Nov 2015 |
31 Dec 2015 |
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Why are we doing this? In 2012 the Welsh Government passed a law meaning that every three
years all local authorities in Wales must carry out an assessment of children’s
opportunities for playing in their local communities
An animated video of the findings from
Wrexham’s first ‘play sufficiency assessment’ in 2013 can be found here: www.wrexham.gov.uk/play
Wrexham Council must
now complete and submit a new ‘play sufficiency assessment’ to the Welsh
Government by the end of March 2016.
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What we found out
In the 2016 play sufficiency survey 73% of children rated their satisfaction with their opportunities for play as ‘good’ or ‘great’, 19% rated it as ‘ok but in need of improvement’ and 8% rated it ‘not good or rubbish. This compares with 70%, 20% and 10% respectively in 2013, suggesting an improvement of 3% in overall satisfaction levels. However whilst the 2013 survey included all ages of children, the 2016 survey only involved 9 and 10 year olds (those in year five at school). If only the results from children aged 9 and 10 in 2013 are taken into account then the overall satisfaction levels have increased by more like 5%.
In contrast to children, 36% of parents in the 2016 survey rated their satisfaction with their children’s opportunities for play as ‘good’ or ‘great’, 34% rated them as ‘ok but in need of improvement’ and 30% rated them ‘not good or rubbish.’ This compares with 26%, 34% and 40% respectively in 2013, suggesting a 10% improvement in satisfaction levels.
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What difference has it made?
The Welsh Government’s statutory guidance for completing play sufficiency assessments sets out nine ‘matters’ that need to be taken into account each containing a range of specific criteria that Wrexham must offer a progress report against. When considering the above re-developed priorities against each of these matters Wrexham’s second PSA identifies the following key ‘systems’, which together would enable the Local Authority and its partners to work towards securing sufficient opportunities for children’s play across the county borough:
Planning for Play
Playwork as Community Development
Professional Development for Play
Play Development Team
Policies for Play
Partnerships for Play
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Living Healthier, Staying Well |
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board |
17 Jun 2015 |
31 Dec 2015 |
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Why are we doing this? Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
wants to hear views of the people in North Wales on health and healthcare
services.
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What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Active Travel Survey |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
25 Sep 2015 |
11 Dec 2015 |
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Why are we doing this? What is the Active Travel Existing Routes Map?
The Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 places new duties on local authorities in
Wales to produce and publish Active Travel maps. The first stage of the Act
requires local authorities to produce an ‘Existing Routes Map’ that has to be
submitted to the Welsh Government for approval by January 2016. The Existing
Routes Map relates to specific areas in Wales, which are determined by
population as specified in the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013
The Existing Active Travel Routes Maps do not show all walking cycling routes
in the County Borough. The map only includes those routes that meet the
definition of an Active Travel Route as set down in the Active Travel (Wales)
Act 2013. In summary
- Routes suitable for
walking and cycling (including the use of mobility scooters)
- Routes that fall within
or link settlements specified designated localities within the County Borough
of Wrexham. These are: Rossett, Llay, Sydallt, Gresford, Bradley, Tan-y-Fron,
Wrexham, Coedpoeth, Rhostyllen, Rhosllanerchrugog, Ruabon, Trevor and Chirk.
- Routes that fit with
definition of an ‘Active Travel Journey’. Broadly this includes journeys made
to or from a workplace or educational establishment in order to access health,
leisure or other services of facilities.
- Routes that are
considered fit for purpose in line with the requirements of the Welsh
Governments ‘Design guidance Active Travel Wales (Act) 2013.
The timetable put in place by the Active Travel Act is as follows:
- 22 January 2016 Submission of the
existing route maps to Welsh Government.
- 24 September 2017 Submission of the
integrated network map and resubmission of the existing route map to Welsh
Government.
- 24 September 2020 Resubmission of the
existing route map and the integrated network map to Welsh Government.
Further information about the Active travel (Wales) Act and relevant
information documents can be found on the Welsh Governments website.
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What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Your Services Your Choices 2015 |
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service |
21 Sep 2015 |
11 Dec 2015 |
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Why are we doing this?
This is our annual consultation. |
What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Shaping the future of Library and Heritage Services in Wrexham |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
12 Oct 2015 |
06 Nov 2015 |
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Why are we doing this? The Council is required to make significant savings in its budget over the next few years and is committed
to safeguarding education provision and the most vulnerable people in society. These savings are currently estimated at £45 million over the next 3 years. The provision of library services is a statutory requirement under the Public Libraries and Museums Act
1964. This Act requires the Council to "provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons desiring to make use thereof...."
The 1964 Act also enables a local authority to "provide and maintain museums and art galleries". There are also statutory duties on local
authorities concerning Archives to make arrangements for the proper care, preservation and management of their records. The Council is seeking to safeguard important and valued services such as local libraries, museums,
archives and historical sites when there is less public money to do this. It is not about cutting services to the bone but about enabling them to operate more dynamically and with better links with local communities. |
What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Future Plans of the Senedd Yr Ifanc |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
01 Sep 2015 |
06 Nov 2015 |
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Why are we doing this? The purpose of this consultation is to discover the top issues that affect young people in Wrexham. These issues will influence the work of the Senedd yr Ifanc (Wrexham Youth Parliament). |
What we found out
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What difference has it made?
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Difficult Decisions 2016/17 |
Wrexham County Borough Council |
16 Sep 2015 |
27 Oct 2015 |
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Why are we doing this?
We are consulting on the Council's plans to reshape services and meet the financial challenge, by gathering public views on budget proposals for 2016/17 and beyond.
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What we found out
More than 1,700 people took part in the consultation and gave their views about the proposals we made, as well as making some suggestions of their own.
We'd like to thank everyone who took part for their time.
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What difference has it made?
The results from the consultation were presented to Elected Members in order to shape the decisions they made about Wrexham County Borough Council's budget for 2016/17.
The 'You Said, We Did' report details what decisions have been made about each of the proposals presented for consultation.
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