DD2593 Implementing Building a Fairer City plan

1.1 London Recovery Board partners published ‘Building a Fairer London’, which sets out the actions that Recovery Board partners can take to address structural inequalities in London. To support the implementation of this programme, the GLA is commissioning support to help facilitate a number of communities of practice as well as provide additional input and support to partners. A communities-of-practice approach reflects the Recovery Board’s operating model of voluntary collaboration to achieve the shared goals of Building a Fairer London.

1.2 DD2550 previously secured approval expenditure of £100,000 for a set of activities to promote the Mayor’s priorities to create a fairer, more equal city. This included £60,000 that provided support for the development of an action plan for the London Recovery Board to address structural inequalities through the London Recovery Programme.

1.3 The plan focuses on four key priorities where change is needed most: living standards; equality in the labour market; equity in public services; and civil society strength. The actions contained within the plan are ones that organisations can take as employers, service providers and influencers, in order to make targeted progress on entrenched inequalities affecting Londoners.

1.4 The GLA has committed to supporting the implementation of the plan through four communities of practice – one for each of the action plan’s four priority areas. These communities of practice will bring organisations/partners to together to focus on an area of concern, in this case structural inequalities in London. Through a community of practice, members learn from each other about how to tackle the issues, with a goal of gaining knowledge and greater insight through interaction. Through peer learning, members are provided with a safe space to develop professional excellence, and identify areas that may need more collective attention.

1.5 This approach keeps partners’ collective focus on the goals of the plan. It also brings people and partners together to share learning, discover new thinking, explore what they are finding difficult, remove barriers/blockages, develop best practice, encourage collaboration and celebrate successes. Organisations are asked to report back annually on progress made against the plan’s 14 actions. The communities of practice will help identify ways in which progress can be demonstrated.

1.6 Each section of the action plan requires different professional expertise so we propose four different communities of practice, covering: labour market inequalities; financial hardship and living standards; equity in public services; and civil society strength. Some partners, particularly large organisations, may be involved in all four areas, but others may participate in only one.

1.7 Understanding the root cause of structural inequalities is particularly important if interventions are to be well designed. This is an area where communities of practice can be particularly valuable. A champion will be appointed each year to lead the direction of each of the four communities of practice, working in conjunction with the successfully appointed consultancy agency/organisation.

2.1 Objective – Following its launch in May 2022, to drive forward the implementation of Building a Fairer London through the delivery of a programme of support for partners, hosting four communities of practice twice a year, providing complimentary peer support through group learning opportunities, and reporting on progress annually, so that there is measurable progress against the four priority areas.



2.2. Potential outcomes to be tracked – A series of metrics to measure progress each year could be developed between the appointed consultant and the City Intelligence Unit. Following discussions with City Intelligence Unit it is suggested that potential outcomes/indicators can be developed across the four priority areas. For example:

• ‘Measurable progress in workforce diversity metrics for participating organisations’ (Labour market inequality).
• ‘Number of participating organisations reaching ‘excellence’ level for the ‘fair pay and conditions pillar of the Mayor’s Good Work Standard’ (Financial hardship and living standards).
• ‘Levels of trust/confidence in relevant institutions’ or ‘vaccination rates for specific communities’ (Equity in public services).
• ‘Proportion of funding allocated to different equity led groups by public bodies’ (Civil Society Strength).

2.3 Outputs – The appointed consultant will be expected to complete specific tasks/deliverables including to:

• develop and deliver a communities of practice programme for each of the four priority areas
• develop and deliver group peer learning opportunities that provide support to organisations to increase understanding of structural inequalities/racism, or in monitoring the outcomes associated with addressing those specific problems and challenges. This will be measured by case studies provided by consultant
• develop an evaluation framework including metrics to measure progress annually
• attend governance meetings with the chair of the LRB Equalities Subgroup as agreed to allow continuous evaluation of the success of the programme
• prepare and deliver update reports, including a annual progress report to the LRB.

3.1 Building a Fairer London, the structural inequalities action plan for London, will respond to almost every protected group as defined and protected under the Equality Act 2010, as most were impacted disproportionately by the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan responds to five vision statements setting out what Black and minoritised Londoners; Deaf and disabled Londoners; LGBTQ+ Londoners; older Londoners; and women and girls want to see in London’s recovery. These vision statements were co-produced with communities across London, facilitated by community engagement partners and GLA staff.

3.2 The actions have also been developed through engagement with Recovery Board partners and a wide range of other stakeholders. They have been designed to complement the action plans of the nine London Recovery Missions and other pan-London initiatives.

3.3 We intend to continue engaging with, and directly involving, the engagement partners that the GLA worked with to develop the vision statements. These engagement partners represent the views of Black and minoritised Londoners; Deaf and disabled Londoners; LGBTQ+ Londoners; older Londoners; and women and girls.

3.4 A copy of the action plan and vision statements are located here.

4.1 Risks and issues

4.2 A governance process will also be implemented and overseen by a sub-group of the Recovery Board, with a secretariat function provided by the GLA.

4.3 The approval sought is also in line with the Mayor’s priorities for London, in particular his ambition to ‘create a fairer city, with a mission to tackle deprivation, inequality and discrimination, celebrating our rich diversity and rooting out health inequality’.

4.4 There are no conflicts of interest to note for anyone involved in the drafting or clearance of the form.

5.1. Approval is sought for expenditure of £115,000. This is funded through the 2022-23 Equalities, Diversity & Inclusion budget together with funds that were carried forward in previous years. In line with current practice, the carry forward will only be drawn down at the point that the 2022-23 budget has been exhausted.

6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the director concern the exercise of the Authority’s general powers and fall within the Authority’s statutory power to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development 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;
• consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2 In taking the decisions requested, the director 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 between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

6.3 The officers have requested the approval of a £115,000 budget for the ‘Building a Fairer London” project. The officers are reminded of the need to comply with the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code, when undertaking procurements or distributing funding in furtherance of the said project.