Agenda

From Cabinet, 30 September 2025

From Cabinet, 30 September 2025

8.1  Written Question – Booklet 1

8.2  Oral Questions to Chairs of Scrutiny Boards/Chair of Scrutiny

  Co-ordination Committee

8.3  Oral Questions to Chairs of other meetings

8.4  Oral Questions to Representatives on Outside Bodies

8.5  Oral Questions to Cabinet Members and Deputy Cabinet Members on any  matter

This Council welcomes the Labour Government’s plan to offer 30 hours of free, government-funded childcare, saving families up to £7,500 a year.

Council recognises the importance of building a future where children come first and ensuring that every child and young person has the best possible start in life.

Council notes that:

•   From September, 30 hours of government-funded childcare will be available, helping to reduce costs for working families.

•   A new wave of school-based nursery provision is opening this autumn, expanding access to early years education.

•   Since April, over two million breakfasts have been provided as part of the new free breakfast club initiative, improving life chances for children and supporting working parents.

•   From next year, 100,000 children will be lifted out of poverty through a major expansion of free school meal eligibility.

Council resolves to:

1    Publicly support and promote these initiatives to local residents.

2    Work with schools, nurseries, and local partners to ensure the successful delivery of expanded childcare and breakfast club provision.

3   Continue to prioritise policies that improve educational outcomes, reduce child poverty, and support working families across the city.

“This Council calls upon officers to find ways of working more co-operatively with Citizen Housing to tackle fly tipping that blights the lives of so many residents across Coventry”

This council notes:

·  Part of Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 required public bodies such as Coventry City Council, to consider how their decisions might reduce or increase inequalities resulting from socioeconomic disadvantage but this has not yet been enacted nationally 

·  In Scotland and Wales, Socio-economic duty is already in force, with more than 20% of local authorities in England already having voluntarily adopted it too.

·  Coventry currently uses Equality Impact Assessments to consider protected characteristics but these do not explicitly outline assessment of class or socioeconomic disadvantage as a requirement 

·  That the “Practical Guide for Local Authority Implementation of the Socio-Economic Duty” (Published by Just Fair and Resolve Poverty) provides a robust framework for local authorities to adopt this duty voluntarily and embed it in decision making. 

This Council welcomes:

·  the commitment in Labours 2024 General election manifesto to bring Socio-economic Duty into force as part of Section 1 of the Equality Act

This Council believes:

·  That the inequality as a result from socioeconomic disadvantage which exists in Coventry is preventable

·  That socioeconomic disadvantage, along with other intersecting protected characteristics, disproportionally disadvantages many Coventry residents

·  It was a mistake of the previous Conservative-LibDem coalition government to not enact Socioeconomic Duty when the Equality Act was introduced in 2010

·  That with no formal timescale yet outlined nationally for enactment that Coventry would benefit from ‘getting ahead’ of statutory implementation. 

·  That by passing this motion we would see more equitable policy outcomes and increase our councils ability to address poverty, inequality and disadvantaged would be strengthened.

·  That all future decisions, strategy, policy and budget proposals should include explicit assessment of socioeconomic impacts in addition to protected characteristics and this should include the use of both quantitative and qualitative data, along with lived experience 

·  That public accountability and transparency would be improved if reports required Council, Cabinet and Officers to include how socioeconomic inequalities have been considered and what mitigating actions have been taken. 

This council resolves to:

·  adopt the Socioeconomic Duty as a requirement for all relevant new and revised policies, plans, strategies and decisions taken by Coventry City Council

·  To incorporate socio-economic disadvantage as a requirement to be included in the existing inequality impact process thereby ensuring that reports demonstrate how it has explicitly been considered and how any negative impacts have been mitigated against

·  Proactively listen and seek out the voices and experiences of those experiencing economic disadvantage, including young people, in addition to looking at quantitative data when developing new policy

·  Formally call upon other bodies the council partners and contracts with to treat Economic Disadvantage as a protected characteristic

·  Provide training and support for officers and elected members on how to assess socioeconomic impacts and use the revised process effectively 

·  To publish an annual overview of how Socioeconomic duty has been applied in Coventry including examples where is has made a positive difference 

Make representations to the Government asking for a timescale for national implementation and urging them to make it a priority.