Women's Views on News |
| Posted: 02 Jun 2016 02:52 PM PDT
Funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Commission will focus on the newly created structures at local level and how they are including or excluding women. The Commission will be gathering evidence throughout the year and holding meetings around the country and will produce a final report – with recommendations – to ensure women are better represented at every level of local government and that the opportunities for greater gender equality presented by devolution are not missed. It will see evidence-gathering on: Women's representation at a local level, and in particular focus on women in positions of power and leadership and where women make a positive difference; The barriers to women's participation and representation and the practical solutions which would enable more women to participate; and The diversity of women's representation including BAME women, disabled women, those with caring responsibilities and different age groups. So far, research by the Fawcett Society has revealed that while the government's plans for a Northern Powerhouse to boost economic growth in the North of England continue, gender equality continues to lag behind. For the purposes of this analysis the 'northern powerhouse regions' are Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Sheffield City Region Combined Authority, North East Combined Authority, Tees Valley Combined Authority and the boroughs that form the Humber Local Enterprise Partnerships. The Northern Powerhouse is the centrepiece of the current government's devolution agenda. Launched by Chancellor George Osborne in 2014, the aim is to bring together the local authorities and regions in the North of England to challenge the economic dominance of London and the South East. Alongside investment in transport infrastructure and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Manufacturing (STEM) industries, the creation of the Northern Powerhouse has been driven by a series of "City Deals" with clusters of local authorities coming together to bid for powers and funding previously held by Whitehall. The Northern Powerhouse is part of a first phase of devolution to local government, but in areas right across the country, from the boroughs of East London to Cornwall, devolution deals are being developed. And as new structures are created and local priorities are set, there is an opportunity to embed commitment to creating gender equality. But without attention and concerted effort there is a real risk that devolution will simply see power passed to structures dominated by men without regard to women's voices. Despite 40 per cent of councillors in the Northern Powerhouse region being women, the most senior roles in the new tier of government are dominated by men. Women make up just 28 per cent of those in leadership roles in the combined authorities which are set to deliver George Osborne's vision for a reinvigorated local democracy. These are the starting figures as the Fawcett Society embarks on a year-long study to tackle gender bias in local government, launched in May 2016. Key findings of the report show that: Women make up just 21 per cent of council leaders and directly elected mayors in the Northern Powerhouse region; Only 1 of the 7 chairs of the established and proposed combined authorities in the northern powerhouse region are women; Of 134 senior leadership roles in the Northern Powerhouse, 96 (or 72 per cent) of these are occupied by men; The City Deals underpinning devolution come with a commitment to regional directly elected mayors – but so far only 4 of the 16 existing directly elected mayors in England and Wales are women. The report also finds cause for some optimism, for instance, Manchester City Council has achieved equal representation of women and men and a number of others such as North Tyneside, Leeds City Council and Hull City Council have achieved near 50:50 representation. But these pockets of progress do not always translate into more women at the most senior levels. Overall men still – heavily – dominate in senior positions of power. An increasing amount of power and decision-making is concentrated in the hands of combined authorities and directly elected mayors, and without concerted action devolution and the Northern Powerhouse could risk shutting women out of key decisions about regional development. The Fawcett Society is urging national and local government and the political parties to ensure that the devolution agenda has gender equality and diversity at its heart. To read the full report, click here.  |
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