Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Organisational Development which was presented to give the Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee the opportunity to scrutinise, challenge and give views on the proposed Trans Equality Policy, prior to being submitted to Full Council for approval to implement.

The Head of Organisational Development spoke to the report and highlighted the main points contained therein which included the Council’s increased commitment to equality of opportunity and diversity and human rights.

In response to a Member’s question regarding a staff champion working across all directorates, the Head of Organisational Development said that the Senior Business Partners in Organisational Development provided advice and support to Managers and the workforce, there was also a range of policies and services in place to support Managers such as the Employee Assistance scheme.

A Member referred to the organisations listed in the Appendix under Help and Support and felt that the list of organisations needed to be revisited to include other organisations such as Umbrella Cymru, an LGBTQ+ organisation active throughout Gwent.  He once again referred to the support provided by these organisations during the pandemic and suggested that the level of services currently being delivered be checked.  He also enquired if the references to LGBT should read LGBTQ+.  The Head of Organisational Development took these comments on board and would look at the reference to LGBT and check that the level of services currently being delivered by the organisations listed had not been reduced due to the pandemic.  She would also explore and look to include other organisations in the Appendix.

The Committee AGREED to recommend, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and endorse Option 2; namely that confirmation be sought that help and support services delivered by the organisations listed in the Policy were currently still offering the same level of support; and other organisations that supported victims throughout Gwent such as Umbrella Cymru be explored and added to the Policy.