This meeting of the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee will see the committee receive reports on the Council’s workforce equality data, a strategic review of community engagement, and community cohesion.

Workforce Equalities

The committee will receive the Council’s Annual Employment Profile for 2023-24. The report pack contains a great deal of analysis about the diversity of the council’s workforce by age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and grade band. It also summarises the findings of the Staff Survey that was conducted in October 2024.

In particular, the report pack highlights that the reintegration of Lewisham Homes¹ into the council in 2023 led to an increase in the number of men working for the council. The council’s workforce is now 58.7% female. The report also highlights that the average age of Lewisham Council employees is 47.9.

Lewisham Homes is an Arms Length Management Organisation that was set up in 2007 to manage Lewisham Council's housing stock.

The report also describes how the council publicises its Whistleblowing Policy, the process for handling complaints of sexual harassment, racism, and other discriminatory behaviour, and breaks down HR casework by protected characteristic.

The report mentions that the council intends to introduce an ‘Anonymous Reporting’ service in the final quarter of the 2024-25 financial year, saying “This initiative has been discussed and agreed with the recognised Trade Unions”.

Strategic Review of Engagement

The report pack says the committee will receive a report about a strategic review of the council’s work on community engagement following a decision to end the Local Assembly programme as a cost-saving measure.

The report mentions that this review was requested by Mayor Brenda Dacres after the decision was made, and that the review will report to Mayor Dacres and Councillor Edison Huynh², Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities, by summer 2025.

The report highlights the importance of effective community engagement, saying it is:

crucial to foster a more democratic, transparent, and inclusive approach to decision- making, where the voices of local residents can influence policies that directly affect their lives.

The report goes on to mention a number of positive outcomes of positive community engagement, which include building trust, increasing accountability, improving decision-making and promoting social cohesion.

The report also notes the distinction between community engagement and community development, and mentions that the review board will also be considering the council’s approach to community development.

The report says that in the immediate term the council will need to replace the lost community engagement capacity of the Local Assemblies from April 2025.

Community Cohesion

The report pack says the committee will review a report about community cohesion in Lewisham.

The report mentions the July and August 2024 disturbances in Southport, and describes how the council will coordinate its various approaches to promoting community cohesion, which include:

• A civic events programme, which brings the whole community together, for example by marking Remembrance Sunday or The King’s Coronation.
• A cultural programme, which “celebrates the diverse make up of Lewisham's residents” through events at The Broadway Theatre, libraries, and by Adult Learning Lewisham. The report mentions the council’s work on the SEEN Lewisham festival and says that Adult Learning Lewisham classes:

bring people together who would not talk to each other on a bus, who would not be friends or colleagues, who would not have been brought up in the same country, who would not share the same values or belief systems, who were not born in the same decade, who would not have the same first language at home.

• The Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review (BLACHIR), which “is a collaborative initiative focused on addressing health inequalities experienced by Black African and Caribbean communities in Birmingham and Lewisham”.
• The Borough of Sanctuary workstream, which supports those seeking sanctuary by “promot[ing] relationships of friendship and solidarity between communities through” activities like Refugee Week, a ‘schools of sanctuary’ working group, community action and awareness raising. The report says that the Borough of Sanctuary workstream follows the City of Sanctuary principles:

• Offer a positive vision of a culture of welcome and hospitality to all
• Promote relationships of friendship and solidarity between local people and those seeking sanctuary
• Recognise and encourage partnership working
• Identify opportunities for practical action and work on common cause issues to effect change within and across communities.

• The Prevent duty, which “is part of the national counter-terrorism strategy and aims to stop people being drawn into or supporting terrorism”. The report mentions that “Lewisham Prevent are available to assist agencies in complying with their Counter Terrorism Act duties”.
• The Safer Neighbourhood Board (SNB), which is an independent forum in which communities can meet the police and other partners to “discuss local policing and other aspects of community safety”.
• The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE), which “is made up of four groups to reflect different local faith communities and a wide range of interests and talents”. The report says that Lewisham’s SACRE “has developed Lewisham’s high quality RE syllabus for schools in the borough”.
• The Interfaith Forum, which is an informal group made up of faith leaders. The report notes that the group’s “activity level has been varied for the last few years due to fluctuating resource to coordinate activity from within their own ranks and limited capacity at the council to drive”.

The report highlights that the council is considering closer working with the Interfaith Forum, possibly via the Lewisham Strategic Partnership. The report says the partnership was:

established in 2022. This partnership brings together public, community, and private sectors to improve services and outcomes for everyone in Lewisham. In July 2024, the partnership launched a Community Action Plan outlining long-term objectives to enhance community cohesion.

The report concludes by saying that officers “welcome the Committee’s contribution to these considerations”.