Events of recent months have again starkly highlighted the extent to which we still live in an unequal society – and how much work there is left to do to redress that imbalance.

We live in one of Britain’s most diverse cities, and yet opportunities for too many of our citizens continue to be limited as a result of their race, class, gender, economic circumstances or a combination of these factors.

This injustice and inequality have never been acceptable to us. Yet it’s clear that, despite our best intentions, progress is not happening quickly enough. If we want a fairer society, we will all have to work harder and faster to deliver change that people right across our society desperately need.

I know this won’t be easy, but that must not stop us doubling down on our efforts to see change happen. If we want real change to happen, we need everyone to play their part, to make it their business.

The Leader of the Council, Ian Ward, and all of my Cabinet colleagues are committed to this – as are interim Chief Executive Chris Naylor and his senior team.

We know that, as one of the city’s major employers, we must lead by example and take practical, meaningful action that makes a difference. This means we will be:

• Ensuring our workforce reflects the communities we serve, working with our staff, managers, trade unions and independent equalities and HR experts to become a beacon for equal opportunities.
• Working to introduce a “Rooney rule” for shortlists to address the current, visible imbalance in gender and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation across the authority and ensuring all council interview panels are similarly representative.
• Challenging and removing barriers to advancement within the council, in order to address the serious lack of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation at senior level.

To further those pledges we are determined to help nurture our future leaders, and we recently announced we have joined forces with Operation Black Vote, to launch a new Civic Leadership programme with a diverse cohort of 15 participants.

We will also be expanding our Equalities and Cohesion team, so we have the in-house expertise and leadership to deliver on our mission to tackle inequality right across our city. They will be at the forefront of our drive to tackle poverty and disadvantage in every neighbourhood: from the shocking numbers of children who grow up below the poverty line, to ending the scandal of poverty pay by making Birmingham a Real Living Wage City.

The ongoing pandemic has again brutally exposed the health inequalities affecting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. Throughout the crisis, we’ve been pressing Government hard for co-ordinated national action on these issues, which affect communities across the country.

This doesn’t mean we don’t have work to do on this locally though. That’s why Birmingham has joined forces with colleagues in the London Borough of Lewisham to carry out an in-depth review of health inequalities affecting African and Caribbean communities. This will ensure we properly understand what we need to do to support those who have been among the hardest hit by Covid-19. We will look to set up similar reviews for other Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

Our work will not stop there to ensure inequalities are no longer a fact of life in 21st century Birmingham.

Next month I will outline the council’s wider plans on how we will tackle these issues, which will be subject of public consultation, to ensure your experiences and views help shape the way forward.

Tackling social injustice is everyone’s battle and everyone’s business. Let’s make sure we seize this opportunity to make the changes that our citizens need and deserve.

This post was published on 4 August 2020.