Note of WNC Commissioners' meeting, 7 February 2007

Note of Learning Exchange, prior to full WNC Commissioners' meeting

22 May 2007

Those present:

Joyce Gould (JG) Interim Chair

Anita Gale (AG) Commissioner

Brenda King (BK) Commissioner

Sabin Malik (SM) Commissioner

Susan Green (SG) Acting Director, WNC

Leon Bond (LB) Business Manager, WNC

Apologies:

Ranjana Bell Commissioner

Liz Kelly Commissioner

Bronagh Hinds Commissioner

Also present

Anna Trojanoska Visiting intern, WNC

Welcome

JG welcomed Commissioners as Interim Chair, pointing out that she had also been a Commissioner previously. She explained that she wanted to look to the future and the work that the WNC could carry out, while being aware of the ongoing review.

Previous work

BK and AG as continuing Commissioners, were asked to give their thoughts on the WNC and it's current work. Together with suggestions for the future.

AG explained her work in Wales, building up the numbers of partners. However she felt slightly frustrated by the resources available, compared with the work she felt could be achieved. She explained how she met with the Welsh Assembly's Equalities Minister annually and facilitated Seminars with local groups. She compared this situation with that of Scotland, where WNC had no Commissioner with specific responsibility.

AG also raised the issue of how WNC would engage with the CEHR and Government, she suggested inviting the Minister for Women to meetings.

BK believed that good work had been carried out so far, but that outreach needed to be prioritized, with an emphasis on the devolved nations and English regions.

JG then recapped on the issues raised,

Build up Partner numbers overall, but with special emphasis on the local & regional branches of existing Partners.
How should WNC be relating to it's Partner network?
SG then gave a short report on the approaches taken previously, identifying the weaknesses and gaps in coverage and targeting work accordingly.

A general discussion took place, resulting in suggestions that WNC booked rooms in an area, asking local groups or organizations to donate refreshments. Then inviting a wide range of stakeholders to attend. AG felt that the Board should not be meeting in the regions as a rule, BK wondered if the board could meet regionally in the PM, to take up issues raised at seminars held in the AM.

SM felt that there were advantages to this, given the difficulties faced by Women with families, or with limited means. This would reduce travel times and allow them to play a full part.

JG summed up with a suggestion that WNC looked at targeted seminars, on specific issues. Depending on the subject, these could be regional or as a `one-off', she pointed out the many advantages to face to face meetings over even excellent email or printed media.

Relations with stakeholders

The discussion then moved on to how WNC relates to the WEU, CEHR, Government and Ministers.

JG felt that direct contact was very important when dealing with Ministers. If the likely reshuffle resulted in a new Minister for Women (MfW), then WNC needed to arrange a meeting asap with the new MfW. WNC should look to build a working relationship with them and involve them at an early stage in events that WNC arranged.

In terms of the CEHR, JG felt that WNC needed to establish the parameters of it's relationship with it, especially in terms of the new Gender Equality Duty (GED), it should feed into, and be aware of the CEHR's future plans and priorities. WNC should aim to have a voice within it, and also be able to make timely comments on it's proposals.

Overview of WNC work

JG then moved the discussion on to the general thrust of the WNC's work.

SM asked how WNC fed into the Women and Work Commission, SG explained that it had given evidence, but that it had also been involved via Margaret Prosser, who had been Chair of both Commissions.

JG thought that WNC should look to be involved more in the Green/White papers for future legislation, this had been raised as part of the 1998 review.

AG felt that WNC's agenda was limited by it's financial status and it's available resources. While it had a good profile for it's work on international issues, the WNC needed to keep a focus on the National agenda, given it's remit. It's profile should be more like organizations such as the Fawcett Society, who had a good media presence, due to the documents it produced.

JG pointed out that the Fawcett Society could speak with a single voice, but that WNC had to represent the many strands of thinking that it's Partners expressed. WNC should make more of it's representative nature, giving it's voice more weight.

SM felt that WNC needed to reach out to grassroots Women, alongside Government. It should have a communications strategy that included redesigning it's slightly dated website.

JG said she would raise the issue of finance and resources with any new MfW. WNC needed a business plan and proposals for a costed staffing structure to meet it's agreed programme of work. This to be done before any meeting with MfW.

Commissioners then discussed the reasons for the lack of a Scottish Commissioner, it was suggested that all Scottish parliament members should be emailed details of vacancies with a request to pass on to interested parties.

All-Partners conference

There was a extensive discussion on the merits of the All-Partners conference, both in terms of the outcome from the December 2006 conference and any improvements that could be made for the next. JG felt WNC should look to have an annual conference, it was felt that lessons could be drawn from the CRE conference, which was well received, with a good turnout of invitees. Commissioners felt that an early December or late November date would be better, possibly outside London. They felt that Partners should be consulted over the date, location and range of subjects & speakers invited. BK felt that the `corporate' image that the T-Shirts and welcome desk gave, made a good impression on Partners.

International

JG then moved the discussion on to International issues and CEDAW. There was a need to keep these issues visible, keeping in contact with NGO's from CSW was vital to keep the contact going. SM raised the possibility of using the previous work carried out by the WNC, in partnership with a sister organization in Pakistan to produce an `International Toolkit' to spread good practice. JG felt that links needed to be built with international organizations, within the limits that WNC finances allowed. BK explained her work in the Caribbean and Latin America and the issues she had raised in forums there.

JG pointed out that the flow of ideas and good practice was two way, and that she had personally had her assumptions challenged by her contacts internationally.

SG then explained the CEDAW process and how WNC co-coordinated the shadow UK report. This had now gone out to several times to Partners in draft form, some Commissioners were unsure if they had received these.

Priorities

There was a short discussion on the priorities for the WNC, as expressed by Partners at the 2006 conference. One item was `Women in Public Life', where work had been done previously.

AG felt that the Public Appointments forms and adverts were not accessible to many Women and that the WNC should consider this as a future item to look at.

JG suggested `Women and Health' as an issue.

SM explained that her work in West London had shown that socially deprived white Women were a major issue, together with issues raised within the LGBT communities. Both health and education were seen as key areas that needed to be considered.

Violence against Women (VAW), Iraqi Womens Internship Programme and the WNC `Migration and Asylum' groups were also discussed.

The need to look beyond the existing contacts was raised, especially within groups such as the BME community.

After a request for any issues that needed to be raised prior to the full board meeting the next day, JG closed the meeting at 18:00.

Note of WNC Commissioners' meeting

23 May 2007

Those present:

Joyce Gould (JG) Interim Chair

Ranjana Bell (RB) Commissioner

Anita Gale (AG) Commissioner

Bronagh Hinds (BH) Commissioner

Brenda King (BK) Commissioner

Sabin Malik (SM) Commissioner

Susan Green (SG) Acting Director, WNC

Leon Bond (LB) Business Manager, WNC

Apologies:

Liz Kelly Commissioner

Also present

Anna Trojanoska Visiting intern, WNC

Agenda item 1 - Welcome, Introductions and Opening remarks

1. JG welcomed all the Commissioners to the meeting and introduced herself. She said how delighted she was to be appointed Interim Chair of the WNC and that she was very much looking forward to working with Commissioners and the WNC Directorate.

2. For the benefit of Commissioners who could not attend the previous day's Learning Exchange, JG gave a recap of the discussion. (Minutes are attached).

Agenda item 2 - Induction pack

3. SG ran through the documents in the pack. This prompted a discussion on the background and future of the WNC.

4. SG talked about the aims and objectives of the WNC, as set out in the induction pack. There was a discussion on the need to revisit these, once the light touch WNC Review had reported. It was felt that the WNC's independence should be stressed in it's vision and mission statement.

5. The position of the WNC with its Partners and Government was discussed, with the need to highlight both the independence of the collective views it put forward from Partners and how it was able to influence policy development.

6. There was concern about the exceptionally small number of Commissioners at present. Together with the lack of a Commissioner for Scotland, it was felt this would impact on the work that could be done. It was agreed that advertisements for the next round of appointments should be publicised more widely, especially within the devolved nations. Action point 1 - SG to explore co-opting a Commissioner for Scotland.

7. Looking at the structure of the Directorate, SG explained that interns were being used extensively and that this both helped with financial constraints and built links with Partners. However, in the long term, it is preferable to increase the proportion of permanent civil servant staff so as to avoid losing expertise as interns leave. WNC had regularly used Hansard Society interns and would explore doing so in future.

8. AG felt that a dedicated outreach post was a priority, SG explained that staff had been reorganised to keep the outreach work ongoing. As the WNC budget was fixed for the last ten years, it meant it had reduced in real terms and that outreach was often one of the first work areas to be postponed.

9. SG expanded on the role of WNC in preparing the shadow CEDAW report and those of the different WNC working groups.

Action point 2 - SG/LB to ensure all Commissioners are copied into CEDAW and ensure that Commissioners sign off the final report and accompanying critical issues.

10. The relationship between WNC and the new CEHR was discussed, with consideration of the representatives that it sent to the Equality and Diversity forum.

Action point 3 - RB to attend EDF as WNC representative.

11. The WNC Constitution and partner breakdown in the pack were discussed and it was clarified that the constitution in the induction pack was the current one. There was a previous one drawn up in 1999, included in the first WNC review. It was agreed that the current constitution would be revisited.

Action point 4 - LB to send out the latest version to Commissioners.

12. Commissioners raised queries about partners and the breakdown between the regions and subject areas. Commissioners agreed to put any specific queries to Mutanser Ahsraf, as outreach officer. Mutanser would also discuss the devolved regions with AG and BH. Action point 5 - All Commissioners to check list and highlight any queries, Mutanser Ashraf to meet with AG/BH.

Janet Veitch (JV), the retired WNC Director joined the meeting.

Agenda items 3 & 4 - Governmental Equality machinery

13. JV gave a short talk, explaining the position of the WNC within government and the different areas that shared responsibility for Equalities. This was mainly Westminster-based and it was agreed that similar diagrams should be drawn up for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland (if possible).

Action point 6 - LB to provide copy of JV's diagram to commissioners.

Action point 7 - AG and BH to provide similar diagrams for next meeting on bodies in Wales and N Ireland/Scotland.

14. Equality 2025, the advisory body dealing with disability issues was raised as being a comparator for the WNC.

Action point 8 - SG/LB to obtain information on Equality 2025 particularly on budgets, staffing, structure and remit.

15. The devolved nations were raised as being a particular area where the WNC should focus in future. The role of partners and their expectations was discussed. Working groups and the all-partner conference were looked at in the light of the new structures being set up for the CEHR and the overall `Equalities PSA' for government. It was agreed that this was an evolving area, and one that the WNC should look to play a role.

16. JG gave her thanks to JV for her briefing and for her previous work as director.

Agenda item 5 - Lunch

17. The WNC staff joined the meeting to meet Commissioners and informally introduce themselves.

Agenda item 6 - Work updates - See Papers WNC07/2/2-5

18.

Erin Richardson gave an update on the VAW working group and subgroups.
Karin Snabb gave an update on the Iraqi Women's Internship Project. Commissioners felt this project was a useful model for the future and it was suggested that WNC look at repeating the work in countries such as Afghanistan, should future budgets allow. CEDAW was discussed, Commissioners asked for a more detailed breakdown of the responses, with an emphasis on the devolved nations.

Action point 9 - Karin Snabb to prepare and send the analysis.

Shelly Dowrich gave an update on CSW and the Human Rights E-network, together with work on Migration & Asylum and FGM.
Mutanser Ashraf explained the work being done on outreach and the Muslim Women's Network (MWN), specifically the way that this issue fed into a very wide range of topics. There was concern that non-Muslim BME women were also being approached, but funding had been specifically allocated to engage with Muslim Women. This led to a wide discussion on the role of individual Commissioners and how they could take part and assist in the overall outreach work. It was agreed that this would need to be considered at the next meeting as part of the overall review of work priorities. Mutanser explained that it was hoped that the MWN could be moved to independence with core funding from the Joseph Rowntree trust which had reached the second round for funding.

19. The Commissioners expressed thanks to the staff for their committed work in the current period of uncertainty. The staff then left the meeting.

20. JG asked Commissioners to report back on the work since the last meeting.

AG set out her continuing work in Wales, with a request that the WNC budget be looked at to allow the earmarking of funds for Wales, together with the other nations. SG explained that although the WNC budget is not yet finalised, the staffing situation meant there should be funding available for AG's outreach work.

Action point 10 - LB to send out budget report for 2006/07 to Commissioners.

RB talked about the issue of a Bahraini women's organization that had asked to meet with the WNC to raise issues of concern within Bahrain was discussed. It was felt that this fell outside the WNCs remit, but that individual Commissioners were happy to meet with representatives to discuss.
BH explained the work that she and Liz Kelly had done in Northern Ireland. Talking about `women and violence' and feeding into the `Nobel Women' group.

Action point 11 - BH to provide paragraph for next WNC newsletter and the WNC website.

Agenda item 7 - Light Touch Review

21. JG and SG gave an update on the progress of the light touch WNC Review, it was reported that all the interviews had now taken place and it was planned that the report would be go to Ministers in the last week of May.

Action point 12 - To have wide-ranging review of WNC structure and work plan at the next meeting, in light of the Review.

Action point 13 - WNC to ask Rita Donaghy to attend next Learning Exchange to explain her conclusions and offer recommendations.

Agenda item 8 - Director's report

22. SG gave a report on both her and Janet Veitch's work as Director since February. This included the Olympics, CSW, the work done with foreign interns, the Gender Equality Duty and Honours. BH said that acceptance of UK Honours was a difficult issue for those in Northern Ireland and that this impacted on the drive to increase nominations from across the regions.

23. There was a discussion of the different equality schemes being set up by government departments, both single equality schemes and those only dealing with gender equality. Also the work taking place with NGO's and the `Compact' on dealing with the voluntary sector, set up by the Cabinet Office.

Action point 14 - SG to send out a copy of the `Compact' document and relevant departmental equality schemes to Commissioners for information.

Agenda item 9 - Chair's report

24. Both SG and JG were asked for the future to provide their reports before the meeting and for JG to give an edited version, that highlighted any particular events that needed to be raised at the meeting itself.

Agenda item 10 - Minutes of last meeting

25. These were approved.

Agenda item 11 - Any other business and dates of next meeting

26. The dates for the next meeting was agreed as July 10^th and 11^th 2007. Future meeting dates were to be re-circulated for Commissioners to agree.

Action point 15 - LB to re-circulate dates for Commissioners` meetings.

WNC/07/3/02