The Brighton & Hove Fairness Commission has launched a fact-finding campaign to find out how local people feel the city could become a more fair and equal place to live.
The Commission has been set up by Brighton & Hove City Council to give a fresh, independent perspective based on evidence gathered from local residents, agencies and community groups.
Its work will help shape future council policies and budget priorities from 2017 to 2020.
Over the next few months the Commission will gather evidence of local people’s views and to get their ideas for how things could or should change. It is asking residents two questions:
- What can residents do to make Brighton & Hove a more fair and equal place to live for everyone?
- How do you think the council and its partners can make Brighton & Hove a fairer place to live?
Please visit the Fairness Commission’s webpages at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/fairness-commission for further information and to give your views.
You can also give your views via Twitter at https://twitter.com/FairnessBH
The chair of the Brighton & Hove Fairness Commission is Vic Rayner, chief executive of Sitra, a leading national body championing excellence in housing, health, care and support.
Ms Rayner said: “We want to make sure everyone gets the chance to feed in their thoughts to us on making the city a fairer and more equal place to live.
“We’re looking for residents’ opinions on what they think should change, and how they think these changes could be achieved.
“Our panel members will be looking to hold community events and make a wide range of visits to local agencies and groups over the coming months.
“We’re expecting to hear a very wide range of views over the coming months.”
The chair of the council’s neighbourhoods, communities and equalities committee, Councillor Emma Daniel, said: “We’re committed to tackling deprivation and poverty in the city.
“This means taking action in areas like health, housing, jobs, financial security and education.
“The general patterns of deprivation in the city have changed little in the past decade, so we need to change the way we are doing things.
“The Fairness Commission will help us do this in a way that is, crucially, based on the evidence it receives from local people and groups.”
The Commission will also be running a series of five information gathering events between November and March, where they will be inviting local people with particular areas of expertise to answer their questions and give advice.
Dates and times for these will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Fairness Commission is independent of the council, with no currently serving councillors on its panel. Its members have been selected for their wide range of experience and expertise.
Representatives of each of the council’s three political groups are acting as observers to the Commission. They are Councillors Emma Daniel, Dee Simson and Leo Littman.
The Commission is due to make its final recommendations to the council in May 2016.