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October’s Black History Month, has been an opportunity to celebrate the incredible history and contributions of our Black and ethnically diverse communities. As the month comes to a close, I want to reflect on the fantastic work that has been going on across our Borough to promote equality, inclusion and empowerment within the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community.

In The Strand Shopping Centre, The Atkinson and Crosby Library we are hosting art installations as part of The World Reimagined project. These are beautiful globes that tell the public about racial equality and black history. Events have also taken place in conjunction with groups such as Southport Against Racism, with talks and performances by musicians and poets.

Sefton’s libraries have also been involved in an extensive creative writing programme called Different Voices Shared Lives. In this, Members of our ethnically diverse communities came together to work with professional writers to take part in creative workshops to write their stories about their background and experiences. Many more activities have taken place, and it’s been brilliant to see the Borough come together for such an important month.

I want to reiterate that as a Council we are completely committed to driving forward the race equality agenda, as an employer, service provider and as a partner both locally and regionally.

I would also like to take this opportunity to give an update about some of the strategies and projects we are currently involved in that will enable us to tackle race inequalities.

Sefton has a Corporate Equalities Group made up of representatives from across the organisation. The Group, which is chaired by Executive Director, Stephen Watson of our Senior Leadership team, supports the Council in making sure equality and diversity is at the top of our agenda, internally and externally.

Representatives from the Corporate Equalities Group (CEG) have been working with neighbouring authorities since late Autumn 2021 to commission jointly a training provider called EqualiTeach, and to work with local stakeholders to develop a high-quality bespoke race equality training product, with the aim of building a collective level of racial literacy and inclusivity.

Two, 3-hour, face-to-face pilot sessions took place during October to help shape the content and this included representation and attendance from our Senior Leadership Board.  Both pilots were very well received and the feedback will inform the on-going design, development and delivery of the programme.

In addition to this, Sefton has established Sefton’s Diverse and Ethnic Background Group. The group provides a safe and confidential space for Black, Asian, Minority and Ethnic employees to share experiences and support development and empowerment.

Feeding back into Sefton’s Corporate Equalities Group, members offer solutions and recommendations about the issues that affect them and the organisation. This includes improving employee progression and empowerment through training and development opportunities, as well as consulting in new or existing policies, practices, procedures and strategies in areas such as Employment and Human Resources.

With the involvement of our Black and Ethnically Diverse Staff Group, Sefton is committed to our ‘Race Equality Declaration of Intent’, which ensures our dedication to promoting equality within our organisation and across the Borough. The Declaration outlines areas of focus including employment, retention and development to leadership within the Council. It also sets priorities, targets and timescales highlighting how we will monitor progress and achieve the actions agreed.

Our Learning and Development team continue to offer a comprehensive, mandatory Equality and Diversity training programme to all staff at Sefton. This includes Equality and Diversity Awareness, Equality and Diversity for Managers as well as Unconscious Bias.

There is still a lot of work to be done locally and nationally but working together with our partners across the whole City Region, we will be committed to being proactive in our fight to overcome racial discrimination.

If you have any feedback or perspectives you would like to share on this important subject, or would like to get involved with the work of the Corporate Equalities Group or its more focused sub-groups, please contact the CEG Chair Stephen Watson at Stephen.watson@sefton.gov.uk

Engineering work that was expected to affect services on Merseyrail’s Southport, Kirkby, Ormskirk and Hunts Cross lines next month, have been cancelled.

Scheduled to take place from Sunday 6^th  to Wednesday 9^th  November, the work at Liverpool Central station, has been delayed due to industrial action by Network Rail maintenance staff.

The RMT has announced that its members will be taking industrial action from 2am on Saturday 5^th  to 1:59am on Sunday 6^th  November, from 2am on Monday 7^th  to 1:59am on Tuesday 8^th  November, and from 2am on Wednesday 9^th  November to 1:59am on Thursday 10^th  November.

Merseyrail services will remain as normal throughout Sunday 6^th November but will be affected on Saturday 5^th, Monday 7^th  and Wednesday 9^th November due to the planned strikes.

A future date for the work at Liverpool Central station will be publicly announced when decided.

Further information about how the industrial action will affect Merseyrail services will be announced soon.

You can find out more about Merseyrail here.

Sefton Council has been awarded a prestigious ‘best in the region’ award for its support for the local small business community.

Sefton scooped council of the year in the COVID-19 Support and Recovery category which is a testament to its fantastic work supporting businesses during the pandemic.

Biggest impact

It was among 250 councils in England who entered the inaugural Local Government Awards run by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the UK’s ’s biggest business representative group, ultimately emerging triumphant. Sponsored by Maybe, the FSB’s inaugural Local Government awards, were aimed at celebrating and recognising those that had made the biggest impact on local SMEs during the Covid crisis and beyond.

At a virtual online final on Friday, 14 October, Sefton Council was named as the North West regional champion, with judges being impressed by the council’s work to help the local small business community during the pandemic.

Delighted

Responding to the news, Cllr Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “During the COVID pandemic, our Invest Sefton and Business Rates teams paid out a total of over £100 million in grants to hundreds local businesses to support them, so I am delighted that work has been recognised through this FSB award.” 

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulatory Compliance and Corporate Services said: “It was an unprecedented time and I am so proud of the way our teams adapted quickly to enable them to provide so much this financial and practical support to local businesses.”

High-quality field of entries

FSB Area Leader for Merseyside and Cheshire, Michael Sandys – himself based in Southport – said he was pleased Sefton Council’s hard work had been recognised amid a high-quality field of entries by local councils.

“It is really pleasing to see Sefton Council rewarded for its hard work and effort to help local SMEs through what has been a very challenging couple of years,” he said.

“Both the quality and quantity of entries from this region and beyond was incredibly high so Sefton should feel very proud to be among the winners. We look forward to continuing to work with Sefton – and all our other business-supporting councils – to ensure we can build a vibrant and strong local SME community.” 

Businesses can find out more about the support and advice available from Sefton Council here.