Article

Harman: Black and Asian women are the 'missing voice of local democracy'

NEWS DISTRIBUTION SERVICE News Release (Government Equalities Office) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 3 November 2008

Issued by News Distribution Service on behalf of Government Equalities Office

New data shows ethnic minority women are chronically under-represented in local government

Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equalities, will stress at a reception in Westminster today the need for local councils to have more Black, Asian and minority ethnic women as new data shows numbers have fallen back since 2006.

This year only around 149 out of 19,617 councillors across England are minority ethnic women, compared with 164 in 20061. This represents less than one per cent of all councillors, when minority ethnic women make up more than five per cent of the population. To fully reflect society the number of female minority ethnic councillors would have to rise nearer to 1000.

The number of white women councillors across England however has
increased by 283 since 2006 to 5,606 - making up nearly a third of all councillors. While progress has been made, white women are still under-represented as they make up about 45 per cent of England's population.

Wales and Scotland2 have no female black or Asian councillors at all, despite having a BAME women population of 30,510 and 49,769 respectively3. This compares with white women making up 25 per cent of councillors in Wales and 23 per cent in Scotland.

Ms Harman said:

"Our local democracy needs to be fully representative - but it's not. It lacks the voice of Black and Asian women at a local level.

"For local government to make the right decisions it must be representative of, and rooted in, its local communities. Black and Asian women are the missing voice in our local democracy.

"Our local councils need to understand the different communities that
make up diverse modern Britain. You get better informed decision making when all members of the community are involved."

A new 'BAME Women Councillors Map' shows that London has the highest proportion of BAME women councillors, at 82, which is nearly five per
cent of all councillors in the area. However the BAME women population
of London is more than threefold higher at about 15 per cent.

To address this under-representation, Harriet Harman launched a
taskforce in May 2008, chaired by Baroness Uddin (the first female
Muslim peer), which aims to increase the number of minority ethnic
women involved in local politics.

The cross-party taskforce has 16 members (councillors and ex-councillors) from all over the country. It is taking action by going into communities and hosting events to tell women about their own experiences and explaining how to get involved. The taskforce will also provide mentoring and ongoing support to BAME women interested in putting themselves
forward to become councillors.

Baroness Uddin said:

"I believe women are uniquely positioned to find solutions to the challenges that face all our communities and without their presence our democratic institutions are less credible. The members of the Taskforce and I will ensure that all our efforts push for a fundamental change in the make-up of our local and national democratic structures."

Motivations and barriers

To gain a better understanding of the motivation and barriers faced by BAME women entering public life, the Government Equalities Office commissioned Plymouth University to survey local election candidates.
Some of the key findings of the research are:

* A majority of BAME women believe that more representation of local communities would encourage higher voter turnout at elections.

* BAME women are more likely to be younger, work full time and have a career within one of the professions than local election candidates
from other groups.

* Positive encouragement is very important if women from ethnic
minority communities are going to put themselves forward as councillors. Only 20% of women declare that the initial decision to stand was
entirely
their own compared to 33% for men.

* Among all groups, women from ethnic minority communities receive the most support from their employers to stand for election.

The Government is committed to tackling under-representation in public life, and earlier this year the Prime Minister proposed a year long Speaker's Conference, which will explore and make recommendations to address the issue of under-representation in the House of Commons.

In July, Ms Harman and Ed Miliband, then Cabinet Office Minister, announced new measures to increase the number of women, disabled people, and black, Asian and minority ethnic people appointed to the boards of public bodies, so that they reflect the wider population. Steps include targets for women, race and disability, and a stronger diversity role
for the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

For further information on how to become a councillor, BAME women should contact: womencouncillorstaskforce@geo.gsi.gov.uk

- Ends-

Available upon request:

Photography of Ministers, taskforce members and guest at the reception.
Map showing the proportion of female ethnic minority councillors by region.

Fact-sheet on BAME women councillors, women in public life, ethnic minority women in the UK and a chronology of key dates in politics are also.

Further details on the IDeA/LGA data and Plymouth University research

For regional, specialist and all other media enquiries please contact Lucy Emele or Harika Chadha on 020 8902 5575 or email lucy@mediamoguls.com / harika@mediamoguls.com

Notes for editors

* On Monday 3rd November Harriet Harman will be hosting an event in the House of Commons for over 100 women from across the UK, to encourage more ethnic minority women to enter public life. Speakers at the event include Baroness Uddin, Chair of the BAME Women Councillors Taskforce, Diane Abbott MP and Dawn Butler MP.

* The National Census of Local Authority Councillors was commissioned by the Improvement and Development Agency for local government and the Local Government Association, and conducted by the National Foundation for Education Research. The figures showed that female Black, Asian and ethnic minority councillors make up only around 0.8% of all councillors in England. The census provides estimates based on responses from a sample of councillors that have been weighted to be representative of all councillors. Because the numbers of BAME councillors are small, caution should be applied when using these figures which should be treated as estimates only.

* The survey into 'Understanding the BAME candidates, their motivations and the Barriers to Success' was conducted by the Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre at the University of Plymouth in association with the Improvement and Development Agency for local government (IDeA).

* For more information about the Speaker's Conference visit: http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/principal/speaker/speakers_conference.cfm

About the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic Women Councillors Taskforce

* Ms Harman announced in July last year that increasing representation in public life of Black, Asian and minority ethnic women was one of the Ministers for Women's priorities. The other two are: supporting families, particularly as they bring up children and care for older and disabled relatives; and tackling violence against women and improving the way we deal with women who commit crimes

* The taskforce is taking practical action to address under-representation, such as:

Holding outreach events in communities to make the role of councillors more widely known and better understood

Providing mentoring to women interested in becoming a councillor

Working with organisations such as the Local Government Association,

Operation Black Vote and the Fawcett Society to develop awareness training and to encourage more women to step forward for roles in public life

Establishing networking groups

Supporting building stronger data on BAME women councillors; and Working with local councils, political parties and organisations like IdeA to improve the recruitment, training and selection and support given to candidates.

* Members of the BAME Women Councillor's Taskforce include:
Cllr Lurline Champagnie: London: Harrow, Cons
Cllr Maya de Souza: London: Camden, Green
Cllr Meral Ece: London: Islington, Lib Dem
Cllr Anwara Ali: London: Tower Hamlets, Lab
Cllr Humaira Javed: S/East: Windsor and Maidenhead, Lib Dem
Carol Francis: Former Cllr South West: Gloucester, Lab
Cllr Mimi Harker: East of England: Chiltern District, Cons
Cllr Manjula Sood: East Midlands: Leicester City, Lab
Cllr Salma Yaqoob: W/Midlands: Sparkbrook, Birmingham City,
Respect
Cllr Svetlana Rodgers: Yorkshire & Humberside, Lib Dem
Cllr Mia Jones: North West: Chester City, Lib Dem
Thea Khamis: Former Cllr North East: Derwentside
Yvonne Jardine: Former Cllr Wales: Swansea, Lab
Neelam Bakshi: Former Cllr Scotland, Lab
Cllr Lorna Campbell: London: Lambeth, Lab
Cllr Sherma Batson MBE: Stevenage, Lab

1 Please note caution should be applied when using these figures which should be treated as estimates only.

2 Source: Welsh Assembly Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

3 2001 Census of Population, ONS