DD2480 Equality and Fairness Team - delivery of key programmes

The Equality and Fairness Team is reviewing its long-term programme in response to COVID-19. However, there are a number of ongoing programmes which need to continue in parallel to the wider review of the GLA 2020/21 budget. This decision seeks approval for expenditure of £115,000 for the Equality and Fairness Team to deliver these urgent ongoing programmes of work relating to tackling food insecurity, raising awareness of employment rights as they pertain to the current Coronavirus pandemic.

The activity described in this decision will build on work carried out in 2019-20 and approved by the following related decisions: DD2342, DD2374, MD2461 and ADD2426.

A breakdown of the expenditure proposed for approval is summarised below.

The team have adapted the Food Programme to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and seek approval for expenditure of £88,000 to take forward the following areas of work:

• Kitchen Social: this DD seeks approval for the immediate expenditure of £73,000 to support the Mayor’s Fund for London’s flagship ‘holiday hunger’ initiative Kitchen Social. Kitchen Social is a key practical intervention for tackling food insecurity, which has heightened as a result of COVID-19 with the Trussell Trust reporting that demand for their food support for children has increased by 122%. It has previously been identified as an initiative that fills a key gap in provision. Since lockdown began at the end of March, the Kitchen Social programme has been able to repurpose its delivery model to support 29 holiday provision settings across 12 boroughs to run delivery/pick-up services for young people, many of whom are not eligible for Free School Meal provision and are facing acute hardship during lockdown. An immediate injection of £73,000 would enable the current cohort of 29 hubs to continue provision from 1st June until the start of the summer holidays. This programme will involve grant funding and as such, a grant agreement will be drawn up and put in place with the Mayor’s Fund for London.

• Capital Growth: this DD seeks approval for the expenditure of £15,000 to support the Capital Growth network, which supports over 2,700 food growing spaces across London and has engaged over 150,000 Londoners in food growing. It is vital that London’s food growing spaces are supported to offer opportunities for food growing, physical exercise, safe social interaction and community engagement to help address social isolation and mental health issues during the current crisis. Sustain – a charity that promotes better food and farming, advocates food and agricultural policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity – will help community gardens stay open safely and support vulnerable Londoners during COVID-19 by sharing resources, online training, best practice and funding opportunities. The network will also help farmers on the edge of London’s green belt to continue to trade safely and access support and land to meet increased demand. Capital Growth will continue to mitigate impacts of COVID-19 by improving access to fresh produce for vulnerable groups. This programme will involve grant funding and as such, a grant agreement will be drawn up and put in place with Sustain.

• Employment Rights Hub: this DD seeks approval for the expenditure of up to £27,000 to spend on editing and post-production of a series of videos on employment issues linked to the current crisis, as well as promoting the online Employment Rights Hub to Londoners through paid social media advertising. The advertising will be targeted at Londoners who are more likely to be in need of employment rights advice, including parents, disabled people and those working in sectors where they are less likely to be able to work from home. The budget will enable a flexible approach to be taken, including boosting advertising at key moments where there will be greater need for employment advice among some cohorts (for example, when changes to the furlough scheme are made in August). This programme will involve grant funding and as such, a grant agreement will be drawn up and put in place with the relevant external partner.

Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), that is the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
• advance equality of opportunity; and
• foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

In 2018, GLA officers commissioned an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) to assess the likely environmental, social and economic impacts of the Mayor’s commitments in the draft London Food Strategy. The IIA report was published alongside the draft strategy for consultation in May 2018 and comments were invited from stakeholders. Following the close of the consultation, the publication of the final London Food Strategy was accompanied by an IIA Post-Adoption Statement which sets out the recommendations from the IIA and how these were addressed in the final London Food Strategy. The Post Adoption Statement concluded that there were no significant adverse effects identified in relation to the implementation of the London Food Strategy and that the changes made to the final strategy further strengthened its positive equalities impacts.

Projects under the London Food Programme aim to engage as many Londoners as possible and many focus specifically on harder-to-reach groups. Elements of food programme projects which help to meet the needs of people sharing protected characteristics under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 include:

• Capital Growth: 80% of Capital Growth’s sites are in the more deprived wards and 40% are in the most deprived wards. A third of Capital Growth’s 2500+ spaces are in schools and a fifth are on housing estates or run through social housing providers. 7% of Capital Growth projects are working directly with people experiencing mental health problems.
• Kitchen Social: The Food Foundation’s latest research shows 5 million people in the UK living in households with children under 18 have experienced food insecurity since the lockdown started. Working in partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London, this is a targeted intervention to reduce inequalities experienced by London’s children and young people from low income households.

Equality is a key driver of the Employment Rights Hub project. The project is specifically aimed to advance equality of opportunity between people who have different levels of socio-economic status. Access to employment rights information, advice and support is one of the most effective ways of protecting Londoners from exploitation in the workplace, which we know is most prevalent among low paid and low security sectors. The development of the Employment Rights Hub has been informed by evidence of which groups are at the greatest risk of exploitation in the workplace in the current context, including BAME and migrant workers, parents, and disabled Londoners. The promotion of the Hub will continue to take this evidence into account.

a) key risks and issues

The key risks and issues are outlined in the following table:

b) links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

The projects listed in this DD directly address objectives from two Mayoral strategies:

• The Mayor’s London Food Strategy approved under MD2387 and launched by the Mayor in February 2018.
• Inclusive London, the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy, approved under MD2314, and launched by the Mayor in May 2018.

There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

Approval is sought for expenditure of £115,000 towards the following Equality and Fairness programmes; Kitchen Social (£73,000), Capital Growth (£15,000), and the Employment Rights Hub (£27,000).

This expenditure will be funded by the 2020/21 Equality and Fairness (Social Mobility) Budget, within the Communities and Social Policy Unit.

The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the GLA’s exercise of its general powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation in Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:

- pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

- consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

- consult with appropriate bodies.

In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

Section 121 of the GLA Act provides that the GLA or a functional body may, with the consent of the Mayor, pay to the GLA or to another functional body grants towards meeting the revenue expenditure incurred or to be incurred by the recipient for the purposes of, or in connection with, the discharge of that body’s functions. Approval is sought for the contribution of £100,000 towards the Civil Society Roots Fund. The earmarking of grants by the GLA does not involve the organisation giving it making the grant subject to any limitation in respect of the expenditure for which it may be applied.

Section 1 of this report indicates that the sought budget will amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services. Officers must ensure that the funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equality policy, State Aid rules and in manner which affords value for money in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that an appropriate funding agreement is put in place and executed by the GLA and the recipient before any commitment to funding is made.