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Black History Month takes place every October. During this month Sefton Council will be celebrating the incredible history, achievements and contributions of black people in our communities and across Merseyside.

Throughout the month, we will also be shining a light on some of the people and organisations who are striving for equality and diversity in our Borough.

There is a range of exciting events happening across the Borough, some of which are based on this year’s national campaign TIME FOR CHANGE which encourages people from our black communities to share their own personal and unique stories.

Cllr Trish Hardy, Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing at Sefton Council, said:

“Throughout Black History Month and beyond we are proud to be celebrating our black communities. As a council, we are incredibly grateful for the contributions black people continue to make to not only our Borough, but across the UK.

“I’m looking to continuing conversations on how we can build a stronger, more united society. This month is a time for people to come together and hopefully learn lessons for the present and the future.”

We’ll be keeping people updated about these activities but firstly for this years Black History Month we’d like to share some exciting news about:

The World Reimagined Globe Sculpture Project

During BHM we’ll be highlighting our trail of uniquely painted Globes which run throughout Sefton

These globes have been designed by artists and the local community to illustrate and transform how we understand the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its impact on all of us.

This work is a collaboration with Sefton, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the World Reimagined, an organisation which promotes racial equality through learning projects. Find more information on the World Reimagined at www.theworldreimagined.org

Explore Sefton’s Globe Trail

Sefton’s main globe which has been designed by artist, Any Bourbon. It’s Located at The Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Upper level. Find information on the Strand and opening hours at www.strandshoppingcentre.com

There is a community globe designed by Southport Against Racism – a group in Southport who promote community cohesion, and Christ the King School in The Atkinson Centre in Southport. Find information on The Atkinson Centre and opening hours at www.theatkinson.co.uk

At Crosby Library in Waterloo, you will find six thought-provoking globes, created by local schools in Sefton.  As part of the education project to teach young people about the impact of the Slave Trade. Find information on Crosby Library and opening hours at www.sefton.gov.uk

More information on the globes can be found at https://mysefton.co.uk/2022/08/31/the-world-reimagined-art-education-project-comes-to-sefton/

Come and join us as we showcase Sefton’s Community Globe at and event at The Atkinson Centre on Saturday, 22nd October 12pm – 3pm. This open event includes Discussions from Southport Against Racism and CK school about the development of the globe. Also poetry readings and singing performances. Free tickets can be booked at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-history-month-event-tickets-428807884927?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

An event is also being planned at The Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle. More details are to follow soon.

Other activities and projects across Sefton

Nwoko Arts presents Sweet Mother

A verbatim play written and directed by Maria Paul. The play tells the story and celebrates the strength of white women who fell in love with and married black men in the 60s and 70s.

Taking place at Lock & Quay, 2 Irlam Road, Bootle, L20 4AH on Wednesday, 26 October. The play is also returning for another performance at Lock & Quay on Wednesday, 16 November.

Tickets can be booked at > https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sweet-mother-tickets-432391934917?aff=ALLEVENTS

Different Voices Shared Lives

Sefton’s libraries have been involved in an extensive creative writing programme, delivered in partnership with the City Region’s six Library Services. 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.

The book launch is taking place Thursday 27th October at Central Library in Liverpool. Find out at https://writingonthewall.org.uk/myevents/different-voices-shared-lives-book-launch/

The Unselfish Selfie Art Exhibition

The Atkinson is working with guest curator and artist Nahem Shoa to present the exhibition.  Alongside historic self-portraits, the exhibition shines a light on self-portraits by contemporary artists, who traditionally have not been given an equal voice and remained largely invisible, particularly women artists and artists of colour. The exhibition is hosted at the Atkinson from 8th October until 4th March 2023. Find out more at https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/the-atkinson-the-unselfish-selfie/

At the Library

These events are ongoing, and are not exclusively Black History Month events.

The Colour of Pomegranates

A collaboration between with Venus and the Red Cross to offer women learning English a space to practice their English speaking and listening skills with native speakers, through creative activity and conversation. An ongoing project, the sessions are taking place on Saturdays 15th October and 29th October at Bootle Library. Find out more at https://atthelibrary.co.uk/projects/the-colour-of-pomegranates/

Chopping Club

Community lunches at Bootle Library, cooked and eaten together in the library. These lunches are communally prepared and cooked in one pot, always in the library itself. Everyone chops, so everyone has made lunch for everyone else. Find out more at https://atthelibrary.co.uk/projects/chopping-club/

Training and Development

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

To celebrate Black History Month 1st – 31st October 2022 Sefton Corporate Learning Centre (SCLC)  are offering the following eLearning courses at a reduced rate of only £15pp (usually £25pp):

• Equality and Diversity Awareness
• Equality and Diversity for Managers
• Unconscious Bias

Anyone enrolling onto any one of the courses above (or all!)  from the 1st October and completing them by the 31st October will be eligible for the discounted price quoted.

Please go to www.seftonclc.co.uk to login or register. Or email training.services@sefton.gov.uk or Tel:  0151 934 2872

Businesses across Sefton will be hit hard by the national cost of living crisis the Council’s Cabinet meeting heard today.

In the summer, Sefton Council started pulling together a response to help households and businesses across the Borough deal with the national cost of living crisis.

Worrying questions

Aware that people faced with the hugely worrying questions about how they are going to pay rocketing gas and electricity bills and meet steeply rising prices in shops this winter, Sefton Council put information on support and advice in one place on its website at www.sefton.gov.uk/cost-of-living.

Recognising that there are those who do not have easy access to digital information, the Council has also produced and distributed an easy-print factsheet. It contains advice about support available as well as a reminder that there is free computer and Wi-Fi access at all Sefton Council Libraries. People just need to visit their local branch to find out more.

The Council’s Contact Centre can also be contacted on 0345 140 0845 or and there are One Stop Shops, in Bootle and Southport. The factsheet can be downloaded from www.sefton.gov.uk/factsheet.

Challenges

The report to today’s Cabinet meeting says that businesses across Sefton are facing a range of challenges including fuel prices, rising costs, changes in household spending patterns, supply chain issues and, for some, recruitment. It also says the Council will continue to engage with local businesses, a process recognised as an area of good practice in a recent Local Government Association review of the authority.

Sefton Council will also do what it can to maximise Levelling Up opportunities support regeneration and growth across the Borough. And it will continue to engage proactively with Government at both regional national levels.

“Another crisis”

Introducing the Report Cllr Marion Atkinson, who is Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said: “Here in Sefton businesses, like other businesses up and down the country, are facing yet another crisis. One of many they have faced over the last 10 years.

“Firstly, there have been the significant challenges of a Government programme of 10 years of ideological cuts to our public services.

“Those same public services that underpin the many reasons why businesses want to set up and grow in our Borough – good schools, good infrastructure, good quality housing, a beautiful coastline and green spaces, safer communities, good access to hospitals and GPs.

“In Sefton, we have seen a £230 million reduction in grant funding from the Government. That’s 50% of our budget gone in 10 years.

“hamstrung”

“But despite being hamstrung by this Government we and our hard-working staff continue to support businesses as best we can.

“Now, in order to protect the significant shareholders dividends, salaries and bonuses of the few, I fear more cuts in public services are on the way and this will again impact on our businesses.

“Secondly, the impacts of Brexit on supply chains, the labour and skills market and the economy, and the failure of this government to deliver on the promises it made of an ‘oven ready deal’.

“The tragic fact is that the country now can’t afford to heat the oven to bake whatever half-baked plans they had ready anyway.

“Here in Sefton our hospitals, nursing homes, hospitality, and agriculture sectors have all felt the impact of shortages in staff and the availability and rising costs of goods.

“Years and years to prepare for Brexit, but simply nothing ‘oven ready’ about it.

“Thirdly, a pandemic that has left many businesses fighting for survival.

“too little too late”

“I acknowledge that there was some government support for businesses in Sefton, but it was often too little and too late to help some of our businesses. Despite this, staff in our Finance Department and Invest Sefton service worked day and night, weekends and Bank Holidays to get the little support that was available out to businesses, because they knew families, homes and communities relied on them.  

“There was, however, from the Government an abundance of dither and delay, an abundance of broken promises of support, and plenty of money for PPE contracts being awarded to friends and family who delivered unusable goods wasting eye watering sums of our money.

“And fourthly, on top it all this, a cost of living crisis created by spiralling energy costs.

“Not just down to a war in Ukraine as this Government’s narrative would have you believe, but down to corporate greed and this Conservative Government’s unwillingness to tax that greed in order to protect the businesses, and the residents of this Borough.

“protect the poorest”

“Even the Chief Executive of Shell is calling on the Government to tax oil and gas companies profits to protect the poorest. Mr van Beurden said ‘You cannot have a market that behaves in such a way that damages significant parts of our society’.

“I will share with cabinet some real-life examples of the increases that businesses in Sefton have already been hit with:

“A Bootle based manufacturer that employs over 90 staff and occupies four industrial units has seen its gas and electricity costs increase by over £250,000 per annum. Gas increased 700%, electricity increased 300%. 

“A family-owned Bootle based pet food retail & wholesaler that employs five people and occupies a single industrial unit has seen its energy costs doubling to £3,863 per month.

“A Waterloo restaurant & bar that employs 12 has seen its energy costs increase from £600 to £2,100 per month.

“A recent report published by Liverpool City Region states that ‘77% (of respondents) said they had been negatively impacted by rises in the cost of living, with 61% of respondents citing energy price rises as being the expense that had increased the most.

“mental health”

“Bills and savings were the most common areas that respondents pointed to as being affected as a result of rises in the cost of living, but over a third of responses cited their mental health being impacted.

“This Government’s economic policies and strategies are failing our residents who own businesses, work for businesses or use businesses. But the government will shout out that there is support well two of those I referred to earlier are not eligible because of the sector they are in.

“Whilst I welcome the Government announced support for businesses, in reality this six-month cut to energy bills will not cover the costs of the rise in fuel prices for our businesses. And it still places the burden of paying back that support on those businesses for years to come.

“You will hear the mantra of tightening our belts, dipping into savings, and pulling on reserves.

“What do the government think businesses have been doing – for the last three years in particular?

“cupboards are empty”

“For most of our businesses the cupboards are empty, rather like this Government’s economic ideas, which have just seen the value of the pound slump to an all-time low and sent markets into a spin.

“I hope for the businesses of Sefton’s sake that the Government see sense and raise a windfall tax on energy companies to pay for this support.

“To put it simply, we need more support for businesses in Sefton from the Government.

“We need a government willing to put the needs of the people at the heart of its decision making. We need to invest in clean renewable energy, and to ensure we are not reliant on other countries to power our industries and warm our homes, which has been allowed to happen under this Government.

“As recent polls have shown, what we need is a Labour government.”

You can find the agenda and papers for the Cabinet meeting here.

Sefton Council is using funding secured from the Government to employ two people to help ensure landlords are meeting national Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) at properties they let.

MEES Regulations set a minimum energy efficiency level for domestic private rented properties. Landlords letting a property must have an energy performance certificate (EPC) to show tenants how energy efficient the property is.

Fines

Under MEES, the lowest EPC rating allowed is an E. Properties with an EPC rating of F or G cannot be rented out without a valid exemption. Landlords who don’t comply with the regulations can be fined up to £5,000.

Later this month, the Council’s two new employees will start working with landlords to ensure they understand and are meeting the requirements. They will also advise on the funding that may be available to help them meet the MEES standards.

Keeping bills down

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “At a time when people are facing significant rises in heating costs, despite the Government providing households with a loan to keep bills down, it is important that tenants in private rented accommodation can benefit from properties that are fuel efficient.

“Securing this funding will enable Sefton Council to work with landlords to put the MEES Standards in place, which can include help from grant funding, but also to take enforcement action against those who refuse to support their tenants by complying with the legislation.”

Sefton Council secured the funding of over £41,300 by participating in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Compliance and Enforcement Competition. The competition supports local authorities to raise awareness of the PRS Regulations to both landlords and tenants as well as building capacity to tackle the identification of non-compliant landlords. The funding can also be used to support local authorities to create processes to enforce the PRS Regulations.

The £6.3 million competition is funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and managed by the Midlands Net Zero Hub.

Requirements

Michael Gallagher, Head of Midlands Net Zero Hub, said:
“Midlands Net Zero Hub is delighted to be supporting local authorities across England and Wales through the PRS Enforcement Competition, funded by BEIS. This competition will assist a further 26 local authorities to implement and enforce the requirements of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations.

“Through improving the quality of housing stock, the whole project looks to target over 95,000 of the worst-performing private rented homes with the ultimate aim of tackling fuel poverty and reducing carbon emissions produced by the domestic housing sector.”

Success

The second round of the PRS MEES competition will see a further 26 local authorities receive funding to improve the energy efficiency standards of domestic properties in the private rented sector. This iteration builds on the success of the previous scheme, which saw 59 local authorities supported.

Cllr Hardy added:

“As well as helping reduce tenants energy costs and helping landlords find funding, improving the affected properties’ energy rating will contribute to Sefton Council’s commitment to tackling global warming by reducing carbon emissions.