CABINET OFFICE News
Release issued by The Government News Network on 23 July 2008
Black, Asian and
Minority Ethnic (BAME) women from across London will take part in
the first in a series of Government events today, which aim to
encourage them to become councillors in local government -
ultimately making councils more representative of the communities
they serve and enable more informed decision making.
Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, recently
launched the Taskforce - a working group of 14 current and former
councillors from across Britain, each from different ethnic
backgrounds and political parties.
The Taskforce is chaired by Baroness Uddin - the first Muslim
woman in the House of Lords and a prominent figure in the Black
and Asian community. It aims to take practical steps to help women
from ethnic minority groups enter public life. The Taskforce
members are fully committed to supporting and advising women
interested in becoming a local councillor.
The pilot event, being held in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, East
London, is the first in a series of regional events across the
country, which aim to raise awareness of the role and benefits of
being a local councillor, encourage more Black, Asian and minority
ethnic women to consider stepping forward, and providing advice on
how to find out more about becoming a local councillor.
Launching the event, Barbara Follett, Deputy Minister for Women
and Equality said, "We need our local councils to better
reflect society. This is not only because BAME women are vastly
underrepresented as local councillors - there are only around 168
across England, when there should be about 1000 - but also because
we'll have more informed local decision making if all members
of the community are involved.
"Today's event is just one of a number of ways in which
the Taskforce will encourage and support minority ethnic women to
become a councillor - but it's not just about getting them
involved, it's also about making sure they have an ongoing
support network and mentoring which this taskforce will provide."
Theresa May MP Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow
Minister for Women, commented, "I am delighted to support
this excellent event. It is vital that we encourage people from
all backgrounds to get involved in politics at every level and
make government, whether local or national, representative of the
communities it serves. I am sure this will be a very successful
event and look forward to more in the future."
Baroness Uddin, said, "Whilst there are over 2.3 million
ethnic minority women in this country, the number in local
government roles is shockingly low, with around 168 BAME women
councillors out of 20,000 in England. One of the Taskforce's
actions to address this under-representation is to develop
outreach programmes such as events in the community to raise
awareness and understanding of the role of a councillor, explain
the skills involved and encourage women to step forward to become councillors.
Cllr Meral Ece from the Liberal Democrat Party, said, "This
event is the first in a national series of events to be rolled out
shortly. It highlights the importance of engaging with a wide and
diverse group of women from local communities. The Taskforce plays
an important role in bringing forward more BAME women to play
roles in public service life. I am delighted to be part of such a
valuable programme."
Commenting on behalf of the Green Party, Cllr Maya de Souza,
said, "The Green Party strongly believes in the importance of
our Councils and parliament reflecting our society much more
closely. This means having more women and more ethnic minorities
in our Town Halls and in Westminster. It will help ensure that
the needs and priorities of all sections of society are understood
and taken into account. It will also ensure that important
sections of our society are not left feeling marginalised and
alienated - this is a major problem in our society today. Having
more BAME women councillors in our Town Halls is not only good for
local democracy but this is an important stepping stone for
greater engagement in politics on a national level. We strongly
support this initiative and believe it is an important and
positive step forward in terms of strengthening our democracy."
This event is the first of many around the country. A number of
other similar free events will take place nationwide. Dates will
be announced shortly on http://www.equalities.gov.uk
For further information on how to become a councillor women
should contact womencouncillorstaskforce@geo.gsi.gov.uk
The taskforce is taking practical action to address
under-representation, such as:
* Provide mentoring to women
interested in becoming a councillor
* Hold outreach events in
communities to make the role of councillors more widely known and
better understood
* Work 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.
* Establish
networking groups
* Support building stronger data on BAME
women councillors
* Work with local councils, political
parties and organisations like IdeA to improve the recruitment,
training and selection and support given to candidates
Ms Harman announced in July last year that increasing
representation in public life of Black, Asian and minority ethnic
women was one of the Minister 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.
Notes for editors:
1. Today's event is being held at Rich Mix Cultural
Foundation, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
2. The Taskforce's Terms of Reference and Written
Ministerial Statement are available on request on http://www.equalities.gov.uk
3. Members of the Councillor's Taskforce include:
Cllr Lurline Champagine (London: Harrow), Cons, Black
Cllr Maya de Souza (London: Camden), Green, Asian
Cllr Meral Ece (London: Islington), Lib Dem, Turkish
Cllr Anwara Ali (London: Tower Hamlets), Lab, Asian
Cllr Humaira Javed (South East: Windsor and Maidenhead), Lib Dem, Asian
Carol Francis, (Former Cllr South West: Gloucester), Lab, Black
Cllr Mimi Harker (East of England: Chiltern District), Cons, Asian
Cllr Manjula Sood (East Midlands: Leicester City), Lab, Asian
Cllr Salma Yaqoob (West Midlands: Sparkbrook, Birmingham City) ,
Respect, Asian
Cllr Svetlana Rodgers (Yorkshire & Humberside), Lib Dem,
Eastern European
Cllr Mia Jones (North West: Chester City), Lib Dem, Chinese
Thea Khamis (Former Cllr North East: Derwentside), Lab,
Palestinian Arab
Yvonne Jardine (Former Cllr Wales: Swansea), Lab, Black
Neelam Bakshi (Former Cllr Scotland), Lab, Asian
4. The number of BAME women councillors increased from 0.6% in
1997 to 0.9% in 2006, meaning it could take more than 130 years
for councils to reflect society.
5. A 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 available on request or on http://www.equalities.gov.uk
6. This year marks two important dates for women's suffrage.
The 90th anniversary of women over 30 getting the right to vote
and the 80th anniversary of women getting the vote aged 21 on a
par with men.
7. The Councillors Commission published its recommendations in
their report 'Representing the future' on 10 December
2007. It was set up by the Department for Communities and Local
Government as an independent review to look at the incentives and
barriers that encourage or deter people from standing for election
as councillors, and to find practical ways to substantially
increase the number of BAME women councillors. The Government
published its response on 9 July. It can be viewed at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/councillorscommissionresponse
8. Research published by the Government Equalities Office and
Fawcett Society last October identified the top barriers which
stop Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women becoming councillors as:
*Being a councillor is still seen as a white male middle class
hobby Gate-keeping political parties: ethnic minority women get
poor support and even discrimination from local political parties
*Lack of recognition: the skills and experience of black and
Asian women are often ignored
*The hard work of bringing up a family and making a living: Women
have most of the work to do at home, caring for children and
elderly relatives, going to work and have the least of the money
available
The final report 'Routes to Power' can be
viewed at http://www.equalities.gov.uk/research/index.htm