David Cameron's Big Idea

Steve Richards (Chief Political Commentator with The Independent, Presenter of BBC's Week in Westminster and host of Rock 'N Roll Politics) explores the Prime Minister's quest to reshape the state and society in this new three-part series on BBC Radio 4. Beginning in May 2010, Richards follows the policies on health, education and localism through the reality of coalition and the austerity regime, and asks whether the original vision is now in retreat.

David Cameron's Big Idea: Episode 1 

When David Cameron became the Conservative leader in 2005, he memorably declared "There is such a thing as society; it's just not the same as the state."

Steve Richards presents a three-part series telling the story behind that famous phrase, tracing David Cameron's vision of a reformed state and a "Big Society" from the early days of opposition to the reality of government.

The first programme explores the period from the beginning of Cameron's leadership in 2005 to the decision to place the Big Society at the heart of the 2010 general election campaign.

Through interviews with Cameron's friends and advisers, such as Danny Kruger, Ian Birrell and David Willetts, and with critics such as Polly Toynbee and Maurice Glasman, the programme shows how the idea was formed and how it was tested, even in the early days.

We go back to the discussions among excited young politicos at Policy Exchange and the dinner tables of Notting Hill. We recall key moments such as the presentation of the Big Society idea in 2009 and the decision to place that theme at the heart of the Conservative general election campaign the following year, a plan which was later heavily criticised.

We show how the idea was difficult to pin down and explore the different versions of the "Big Society" which emerged.

And we examine the impact of the financial crash, revealing the tensions which surfaced between David Cameron and George Osborne.

Available on the BBC iPlayer till midnight, Saturday 14 January 2012.


Follow Steve Richards on Twitter: @steverichards14

Race in Britain 2012: Has life changed for ethnic minorities?

As it's the tirst Sunday after the verdict was delivered in the trial of Gary Dobson and David Norris, found guilty after 19 years of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the story and features revolving around it fill the Sunday papers. I could be copying and pasting till the cows come home, but have tried to be discerning. Here's one particularly interesting and informative feature from today's Independent on Sunday - so good that it's worth reprducing in full here.

Race in Britain 2012: Has life changed for ethnic minorities?

Last week, as Gary Dobson and David Norris's 19-year escape from justice finally came to an end, the distraught parents of another young ethnic minority man visited the scene of their son's death.

Anuj Bidve, a 23-year-old Lancaster University student who was shot dead on Boxing Day, was killed for the apparent crime of not being white.

Nearly two decades after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, has anything changed? And what is life really like for young black and ethnic minority people in Britain today?

In the high-visibility worlds of the establishment, entertainment and sport, there are signs of progress: there are more than four times as many black and ethnic minority MPs in Parliament as there were in 1993. A Muslim woman takes her seat at the cabinet table every Tuesday. An African-born man is in charge of a FTSE 100 company. Black and Asian actors regularly take leading roles in prime-time TV series.

The population has changed since 1993: then ethnic minorities accounted for 5.1 per cent in England and Wales; the latest figure is 8.7 per cent.

Some would argue that the major dividing line in Britain today is not race but class, and that Stephen's killing captured the nation's interest only because he was from a "nice" middle-class family and had aspirations to be an architect.

But the statistics for ethnic minorities are bleak: black men are 26 times more likely than their white counterparts to be stopped and searched by police, while black men and women in their early twenties are twice as likely to be not in employment, education or training as white people. And black and Asian defendants are still more likely to go to jail than their white counterparts when convicted of similar crimes – and they serve longer sentences. A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) analysis of tens of thousands of cases found that in 2010, 23 per cent of white defendants were sent to prison for indictable offences, compared with 27 per cent of black counterparts and 29 per cent of Asian defendants.

The report, Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System, also found that ethnic minority defendants received longer sentences in almost every offence group. For sexual offences, white defendants received an average of just over four years in jail, but black defendants were sent down for more than five years. For violence against the person, the average breakdown was 16.8 months for whites, 20 months for blacks and almost two years for Asian defendants. The MoJ insisted that "the identification of differences should not be equated with discrimination", claiming that the disparities between ethnic groups could be explained by the seriousness of the offences, the presence of mitigating or aggravating factors and whether or not a defendant pleaded guilty.

Yet Lee Jasper, chairman of the London Race and Criminal Justice Consortium, said: "Nothing can so starkly illustrate the industrial scale of racism in the judicial process than these figures."

Last summer's riots paradoxically suggested something in society has changed for the better. The ingredients for widespread inter-racial violence were there, but it never materialised. However, Gurbux Singh, who was chair of the Commission for Racial Equality when Oldham and Bradford were torn by race riots in 2001, warned yesterday: "With the recession taking hold, when you have disaffected young people who feel they are right at the bottom competing with another community, I am fearful that the tensions can easily arise again."

In March 1993, a month before Stephen's murder, Stoke City player Mark Stein was called a "short, ugly, black, bean-headed twat" by an opponent on the football pitch. On Friday, Tom Adeyemi, the 20-year-old Oldham defender, was left in tears after alleged racist abuse was hurled at him from Liverpool's Kop. A 20 year-old man from Aintree was arrested last night in relation to the incident.

Last Tuesday, despite a plea from Stephen's mother Doreen not to rejoice, there appeared to be collective back-patting when Norris and Dobson were found guilty, as if the verdicts had cleansed Britain of racism.

Yet reminders of racial hatred were never far away. Yesterday, Subhash and Yogini Bidve, having flown to Salford to visit the scene of his kiling, were back in Pune for his cremation. Mourners watched a flower-filled open coffin carried through the streets.

There is nothing that can comfort them in their loss. But perhaps the prominent coverage of Anuj's death, and the impact the Lawrence trial has had, show that one thing has changed for the better since 1993, and that is ultimately because of one young man from Eltham: our public horror at racism has increased.

Case studies

Meet two friends who live in Eltham, south London, where Stephen Lawrence died. They share the same hopes. But the national figures suggest the prospects for any black person are much less favourable than for someone who is white...

Mimi Olaide, 19, lives in Eltham with his sister, Christana, 22, mother, a mental health nurse, and father, who can't work for health reasons. They rent from a housing association. They moved there in 2010. Mimi is in his second year studying sports science and PE at St Mary's University College in Twickenham.

"I want to be a PE teacher. Whatever grade I get in the third year will determine what I do. I want to go on and do a PGCE [Postgraduate Certificate in Education] or GTP [Graduate Teaching Programme] and you need a minimum of a 2.1. Have I been affected by racism? Not me directly, I don't think so. There's maybe just local gang rivalry, but that's non-racial. Eltham used to be really racist. Obviously I was at uni last week, people were asking how Eltham is, because they know Stephen Lawrence was killed there. There are lots of multicultural people around now, compared to how Eltham used to be. It's not as racist now as people say it was then."

Luke Kimberley, 21, has always lived in Eltham. He lives with his mother, who works in student finance at South Bank University, father, a taxi driver, and sister Elle, 18. He is in his third year studying PE at St Mary's University College in Twickenham

"I want to be a PE teacher. If I want to go into that I'll have to do a PGCE. That's really my main ambition at the moment. Buying a house, that's my main goal, a normal lifestyle really, nothing extravagant. Mum and Dad own a house and I'd like to follow in their footsteps. Mimi plays in the same football team as me at uni. We don't meet up when we come back here, only at uni. Racism is quite a talking point at the moment. I have a range of friends from different ethnic backgrounds. As far as I know they haven't experienced any racism. Probably there is racism in Eltham, but not as much as everyone makes out there is. Obviously the attack on Stephen Lawrence was a racist one, but I don't think Eltham in itself is racist."

CrimeCrime continues to be one of the most controversial sources of racial tension between the police and local communities. Disproportionate use of stop and search remains widespread – with a massive difference in how different ethnic groups are treated. Black men are 26 times more likely than their white counterparts to be stopped and searched under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. Black people also have a higher chance of being arrested and imprisoned than their white counterparts. They even face stiffer sentences for the same crimes – black offenders are 44 per cent more likely to be given a prison sentence for driving offences.Serious inequalities remain within the police, with the Met having almost no senior ethnic minority officers above the rank of superintendent. The ongoing tensions in communities were highlighted when the shooting by police of a young black man in Tottenham sparked last summer's riots.

Millions of Britons are denied justice by the persistence of racism, Lord Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions, said last Friday. Describing racism as a "tubercular virus lurking in the shadows" he added: "We should not deny those millions of people for whom the comfort of social justice is still not constantly there, those people who still live, through no choice of their own, outside its embrace and protection."

The disproportionate number of black people stopped and searched by the police continues to be a "national scandal", said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, last week.

Dr Aisha K Gill Reader in criminology, University of Roehampton

"There is strong evidence that black people are over-represented throughout the criminal justice process. In the last two decades we have seen a punitive trend in criminal justice policy, and the changes in police practice that accompany it have negative consequences for BME communities. Indeed the growth in the expansion of proactive policing and in police and prosecutorial powers have disproportionately affected BME communities."

Education

The Prime Minister rattled Oxford University last year when he described its low intake of black students as "disgraceful". He was wrong to claim it only accepted one black student in 2009 – it actually took one "black Caribbean" person out of a total of 27 black students for undergraduate study that year. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to agree with his assertion: "We have got to do better than that."

In fact, there is no shortage of ethnic minority undergraduates: nearly one in five in 2010, an increase of almost a third since 1994.

But look at the number of ethnic minorities at "good" universities and a different picture emerges. According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, fewer than 10 per cent of black students are at Russell Group universities, compared to a quarter of white students. Head teachers in England's schools are also overwhelmingly white – some 95 per cent in 2010, with less than 1 per cent from black Caribbean or African backgrounds.

But when it comes to pupils achieving five GCSEs above grade C, progress has been made. The best school performers in 2010 were the Chinese, with 90 per cent getting these grades. Asians were next, followed by mixed-race pupils. Almost two-thirds of black students got the grades, only 1 percentage point behind their white contemporaries. But black Caribbean boys continue to lag.

Tony Sewell Chair of the London inquiry into schools and founder of the charity Generating Genius

"During the 1990s, I used to teach Doreen Lawrence [Stephen's mother] at an adults' college in Woolwich. Then, education was thought to be how you got a better life. The stumbling block now is aspiration. This is not a problem of race, but of class and caste. There has been a long period of anti-racism education, but I am not convinced it's had much impact on black children. The fastest improving group is Nigerian girls; two groups standing still are black Caribbean boys and working-class white boys."

Jobs

In 1993, the British economy was emerging from the end of a recession that hit most of the population, but the ethnic communities were still suffering disproportionate levels of unemployment. A TUC survey in that year estimated that, while the jobless rate had risen to nearly 12 per cent for whites, the figure for black people was twice that number. A period of growth improved employment and narrowed the gap between ethnic groups – although the latest 13.3 per cent unemployment rate among non-whites is still almost double the figure recorded for whites.

A new recession has triggered fresh concerns that any progress could be reversed: for example, council cutbacks are likely to have a disproportionate impact on the high numbers of black and minority ethnic (BME) workers at local authorities.

Activists have complained that groups have been lagging behind in crucial areas of the labour market even during the boom years.

Black people in their early twenties are twice as likely to be not in employment, education or training (Neet) as white people; although 14 per cent of the working-age population in England are from ethnic minorities, only 7 per cent of apprenticeships were filled by BME candidates. BME workers, even many graduates, are generally paid less than white counterparts. Rates of self-employment among black workers are significantly lower than the national average.For some, this is compelling evidence of institutionalised racism in the labour market. But others point to an equally troubling development: self-imposed limits on aspirations.

Jeremy Crook OBE Director, Black Training and Enterprise Group

"Things are still pretty bad in the labour market. Young black people in particular have a negative portrayal which damages their chances of getting jobs – and, I think, their own expectations. We were involved in the Reach programme two years ago, which gave young BME people role models, and the feedback we had was that coming into contact with black people in the professions and other areas raised their aspirations.

"But it is still hard for them to succeed when they are not getting a fair chance from employers, from training schemes or from banks that are not lending enough to black-run businesses."

Media

The media are rarely shy to shout out "racism", and rightly so, but it wasn't until Greg Dyke called the BBC "hideously white" more than 10 years ago that pundits began to look inwards.

In 1996, less than 5 per cent of staff in Carlton TV newsrooms was from minority ethnic backgrounds; by 2010, the number of ethnic minorities at ITV was 10 per cent – higher than the 7.9 per cent UK average. BBC and Channel 4 have a 12 and 13 per cent minority ethnic workforce respectively, but this drops to 6 per cent in BBC senior management.

Just over 5 per cent of adverts in 2010 used actors from a non-white background, while ethnic minorities represent about 13 per cent of the population. In 2002, the Journalism Forum found that 96 per cent of journalists were white. Ethnic minorities are chronically underrepresented in national newspapers. The IoS has a small staff, of whom two come from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy Channel 4 News presenter

"TV has changed massively in 18 years, in terms of diversity. Portrayal is also much better than when I was a kid, but in many ways things haven't changed. After a couple of decades of very well-intended initiatives, we have failed to deliver people from diverse backgrounds at the top. There are reasonable numbers of middle-class people from Indian origin, like me [in broadcasting], but it's much harder to encourage working-class Bangladeshis, or African Caribbeans, or Chinese. It's straightforward what we need: ways to benchmark success and sanctions when you don't achieve the diversity you want to."

Parliament

When Diane Abbott provoked a storm on Twitter over her "white people love playing divide and rule" comment last week, we were reminded that she was the first female black MP in the House of Commons, elected in 1987. At the time of Stephen Lawrence's death in 1993, she was one of just six ethnic minority MPs in Westminster.

This has increased more than four-fold to 28; the most recent addition was Labour's Seema Malhotra when she won Feltham and Heston by-election last month. There are 17 Labour MPs and 11 Conservatives – but not a single ethnic minority candidate has won a seat for the Lib Dems at a general election. Only Parmjit Singh Gill, who won the Leicester South by-election in 2004 only to lose it at the 2005 election, has represented the third party in the Commons.

In government, the numbers are bleaker: in 2002, Paul Boateng made history by becoming the first black cabinet minister. But progress has stalled. The only ethnic minority person with a seat at the cabinet table is Baroness Warsi, despite David Cameron's promise to make his party more reflective of British society.

David Lammy Labour MP for Tottenham

"On the face of it, Parliament is changing. But we should not rejoice just yet. We live in a age of dangerous political apathy. The fact that Parliament looks and sounds completely different from the modern Britain it is supposed to represent is a further obstacle. Does British politics feel any more relevant to the black man in Moss Side, the Muslim lady from Sparkbrook or the Turkish family in Dalston today than it did in 1993? Sadly, the answer is no."

Legal

Despite claims of strenuous attempts at change from within, the upper echelons of the legal profession remain predominantly white. To a degree, the stereotype that judges are white, male, privately educated and from the Home Counties is often not far from the mark. Things are improving, but at a very slow pace. In 1998, 1.6 per cent of the judiciary was not white; now that figure is nearly 5 per cent.

The first non-white High Court judge, Justice Linda Dobbs, was not appointed until 2004. She had said: "While this appointment might be seen as casting me into the role of standard bearer, I am simply a practitioner following a career path. I am confident, nevertheless, that I am the first of many to come." But since then, only one more person from an ethnic minority background has been brought into the senior judiciary.

Among solicitors and barristers the picture is slightly more optimistic. Where once you would have struggled to find a black or Asian face in a wig and gown, now about one in 10 barristers are from an ethnic minority.

Courtenay Griffiths Barrister

"When you go into a court like the Old Bailey on any one day, some 90 per cent of the defendants will be black, and yet you'll find it hard to find a black face prosecuting. I think it's a shame that we have only two non-white judges and not enough women. But one has to realise that it takes 20 to 25 years to grow a judge. The vast majority of black and ethnic minority entrants to the bar have just not spent enough time within the profession to reach this position, so no amount of pushing will achieve that until we have a cadre of black lawyers that reach that level."

Regions

Local and national campaigns have tried to push up educational opportunities and job prospects for black and minority ethnic communities around the country. As a result, the proportion of BME councillors in town halls in the UK is inching up slowly after years of stagnation at a low level.

Attitudes have changed, but progress has been mixed. Reports of racist incidents have soared over the past two decades, from around 11,000 nationwide in 1993-94 to more than 51,000 last year.

The increase is, to some extent, explained by a greater willingness to report incidents – and an obligation on the police to record them as crimes. But underlying tensions still have the potential to explode into violence – from isolated race attacks to the "race riots" in the north, centring in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford, in 2001. Investigations into the flare-ups identified widespread poverty and segregation as long-term causes of the disturbances.

Gurbux Singh Former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality

"When I was growing up in Wolverhampton in the 1960s, discrimination was very much in your face. But the Stephen Lawrence affair and the Macpherson report changed attitudes to race across the country. Things are better now. But situations like the 2001 riots showed that, in particular places in particular circumstances, there is the potential for tensions and violence. When you have disaffected young people who feel they are right at the bottom competing with another community, I am fearful that the tensions can easily arise again."

City

The upper echelons of the City remain dominated by white, middle-aged, comfortably padded men.

However, just over two years ago, the first black person took charge of a FTSE 100 company. Born in the Ivory Coast, Tidjane Thiam is the man who finally broke through the glass ceiling.

He is still chief executive at the Prudential, but is an unwilling standard-bearer, frustrated that his race attracts as much commentary as his abilities. But he is still one of the few senior black business figures.

The difficulties for black people in business were highlighted by Nick Clegg in November. He pointed out that more than a third of people of black African origin are shown to have wanted to start businesses but suggested the reason only a handful do is due to outdated lending policies. "Unleashing black and ethnic minority talent is the banks' duty, too."

Waseem Shakoor, a consultant, thinks there is an "elite club" of directors who look after each other. This does not mean they are racist, he says, but that it is hard for outsiders to make a breakthrough.

Zafar Khan Managing director and head of aerospace & defence equity research at Société Générale in London

"In my first City interview in 1985, I sat before a panel of four men. I got the job, but I later found out that one of the older interviewers had said to a younger one: 'How would our clients relate to this man's face?' He replied: 'Maybe you haven't seen the faces of some of our clients recently: they're more likely to relate to him.' US banks, oblivious to colour, and the Japanese coming to the UK made the City more meritocratic. Today, there are Asian people in senior positions. But, in my view, the black population is still under-represented."

Sport

Black athletes outside football see relatively little racism, but Britain's biggest sporting money-spinner is another matter altogether. Just months after Stephen Lawrence was killed, a campaign to kick racism out of football was launched with some fanfare. At that time, black players were routinely abused or spat upon by "fans". The increasing number of black players in the game, along with action by clubs and anti-racist groups, have combined to drive out the public racism that used to characterise football.

But a series of recent incidents, most notably the suspension of Liverpool player Luis Suarez for racist behaviour to Man Utd's Patrice Evra, and the decision to prosecute England captain John Terry for alleged racism towards West Ham's Anton Ferdinand, highlights how racism remains under the surface.

And while black players are a common sight on the pitch, there are hardly any black faces to be seen in club boardrooms – with just two black managers in the entire football league.

Social networking sites are now being used by racist fans. Northumbria Police yesterday began an investigation after ex-Premier League star and football pundit Stan Collymore was allegedly the victim of racist abuse on Twitter. It is believed the tweets in question were sent by someone in the Tyneside area. A 21-year-old has been arrested in connection with the matter.

Some 18 years after the launch of Let's Kick Racism Out of Football, the issue is put in context by news that Oldham player Tom Adeyemi was reduced to tears this weekend by racist abuse from fans during an FA Cup game away at Liverpool.

Lord Ouseley Chairman of Kick It Out and former head of the CRE

"Going to watch football in the early 1990s was an unpleasant experience. You had to be very careful. If you weren't with people who would look after you and weren't in parts of the ground where it was safe to go, you just wouldn't go. At that time black footballers active in football, like John Fashanu, would say their families would stop going because the abuse was so extensive – being spat at, booed, all sorts of unbelievable behaviour... There have been huge strides forward since then, and the nastiness and the worst excesses of both abuse and violence have to a large extent gone."

Entertainment

On the face of it, the entertainment industry appears to be an area where there has been progress in racial equality. From singers such as Rihanna and Dizzee Rascal to award-winning film and TV stars like Dev Patel and Sophie Okonedo, our screens seem less whitewashed than two decades ago. But while more than half of last year's top-20 music artists were not white, most of the people managing them still are.

Some of our most talented actors still feel they need to move abroad to find fulfilling roles. Actors such as Idris Elba – best known for Luther and The Wire – have decamped to the US after finding the parts he was offered in the UK were too few and too one-dimensional. David Harewood, star of Blood Diamond who was made an MBE in the latest honours list, said in a recent interview that he was "slightly conflicted" about winning the award: "Although it is a great honour, I still feel there is a hell of a lot of work to be done here... Looking at the TV schedules over Christmas, I did not see many black faces in dramas."

Non-white actors – on stage and in film and TV – still struggle. Just 0.7 per cent of members of Equity describe themselves as "Black Caribbean", 0.4 per cent as Indian, 0.1 per cent as Pakistani and none as Bangladeshi.

While a quarter of London's workers are from an ethnic minority background, only 7 per cent of those who work in the capital's film industry are. The figure was 3 per cent 30 years ago, and the broadcasting union Bectu says it will take 120 years at the current rate for it to reflect the demographics of the London workforce.

Jazzie B Founder of Soul II Soul, music producer and entrepreneur

"In 1987 I only saw one black person in the music industry on the other of the fence. She was called Sandra Scott and worked for Virgin 10 records. We're still friends. Now I've met a few black managers and black people working in the background, but I've yet to see one of them sign a cheque. On television, I actually think it's weird that there's no programming on any station that truly represents us in a positive light. Everyone thinks it's all great, but I don't know if there are any black people working in commissioning. We should be light years ahead of this now."

Reports by Brian Brady, Paul Cahalan, Emily Dugan, John Houghton-Brown, Mark Leftly, Jane Merrick, Sarah Morrison, Jonathan Owen, Omar Shahid, Kate Youde

Where in the world?

First in a regular update showing where in the world our readers are. Here's the top nine countries where REDP's blog has been viewed this week (normally that would be the top ten, but it seems that we've only had nine).

1. UK 23 pageviews
2. Russia 19
3. USA 9
4. Ukraine 7
5. Latvia 4
6. Germany 3
7. Columbia 1
8. France 1
9. Netherlands 1

This week's total: 68. These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time".

It'll be interesting to see how this week's total compares to next week's figures. 

£5m cash granted to set up traveller sites in Leicestershire

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

£5m cash granted to set up traveller sites in Leicestershire

Nearly £5 million of Government cash has been made available to provide new sites for travellers in Leicester and Leicestershire.

The money, for 56 pitches, is an attempt to reduce the number of unauthorised encampments.

Housing association Framework is to get £4.3 million to provide 50 pitches, while Leicester City Council successfully bid for £270,000 to provide six pitches.

Both organisations said they did not yet know where the sites would be.

If built, the pitches would more than double the number of publicly managed traveller pitches in the county.

There are currently 20 at Aston Firs, near Hinckley, 21 at Meynells Gorse, in Leicester, and one in Hemington.

The money was welcomed by travellers' representatives but they warned 56 pitches would not be enough to meet demand.

Framework chief executive Andrew Redfern said the association would look to develop five pitches in Harborough and 15 each in Leicester, Melton and north west Leicestershire.

He said: "Deciding where these sites go is always a sensitive issue.

"There are some potential areas but we didn't want to identify any before we knew we had the money because it could lead to concern about something that may not happen.

"People's views are often that travellers are okay but not in their back gardens.

"It is the case that if we can't find suitable sites, we might not get the money.

"I honestly do not know where the sites will be. That is something we will be looking at over the next few months before we sign the contract.

"That's when the planning process will begin.

"We will manage the sites and provide good-quality accommodation.

"This is not just a question of laying a strip of concrete for people to park a caravan on.

"There will be bricks and mortar where we build accommodation for members of the travelling community not moving around – the elderly or children going to a specific school.

"We will also have install proper sanitation, electricity, communal space and play areas as well as buy the land."

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "The figures bid for by the city council and Framework are based on the sorts of numbers needed to address unauthorised encampments and contribute towards meeting the need identified in the city.

"We are looking at how and where this money should be spent to best meet the needs both of residents and the travelling community.

"A full consultation process would be carried out on any potential travellers' sites identified as part of that work."

Tracy Nedic, chairman of Leicestershire Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Group, said: "This will help because 56 pitches is good for 56 families, but it is not enough.

"Based on the number of gypsy families in and around the areas, we need triple that."I have also heard this kind of thing before and nothing has happened.

"It is one thing to say that there will be new pitches and another entirely to put it into action.

"We would like the sites to be on the outskirts of towns and villages but not next door to tips and sewage works."

Teen's campaign to raise awareness of disabilities

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Teen's campaign to raise awareness of disabilities

A teenager is campaigning to make teaching children about disability awareness compulsory in schools.

Paige Murray, who has cerebral palsy, believes that including the subject in the national curriculum would help dispel the sort of ignorance that led to her being bullied as a youngster.

The 18-year-old, from Braunstone, Leicester, has started an e-petition on a Government website.

If she can persuade 100,000 people to sign up then the issue will be eligible for a debate in the House of Commons.

Paige said: "My mission is to get the issue discussed by MPs in Parliament, which would be absolutely brilliant.

"The last time I checked there were more than 200 signatures but I'm gathering support every day."

The Gateway College student knows how painful being bullied because of a disability can be.

She said: "My first experience began when I was about 11 and it was from other children and people in my community. It continued for several more years.

"Most of it was teasing and name-calling but there were also more serious incidents like a time someone threw a stone at my head and eggs were thrown at our house.

"It made me angry because I was being targeted simply because I was disabled. It made me feel very low and was not a very nice time."

Paige rose above her tormentors – and her disability – by throwing herself into sport and volunteering to help improve her community.

She is keen swimmer and member of the Leicester Penguins club, she recently competed in the national championships for disabled swimmers in Sheffield.She said: "If we could get disability awareness on the school curriculum I feel there would be more understanding and less ignorance towards people with a disability."

Barbara Howard, director of Leicestershire disability charity Mosaic, is backing Paige's campaign.

She said: "Many disabled adults we talk to have incredibly low self-esteem because of bullying while at school.

"Having disability awareness lessons as part of the national curriculum is an excellent idea and something that should have been introduced ages ago.

"If you can get to young people then hopefully it can stop the kind of negative attitudes which can result in serious anti-social behaviour towards people with disability when they are adults."

Leicester West MP Liz Kendall, who has nominated Paige to carry the Olympic torch next year, said: "This is a brilliant campaign. Paige is an inspirational young woman who has always championed better awareness about the issues affecting young people with disabilities. I wish her every success."

Paige's campaign comes as ministers carry out a review of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education, which sometimes includes disability issues, as well as the National Curriculum as a whole.

Personalisation event debriefing

Members of REDP's Core Partner organisations meet at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living this morning, to debrief on our recent event, "Are you prepared for Personalisation?" (see blog entry, 6 December).

We consider what we thought worked well, what didn't work quite so well and what we can do better or differently next time. We also compare the Personalisation event to previous regional events we've run, both on the Equality Act 2010 (in Nottingham, June this year and one in Leicester, June last year).

• In future, we should ask attendees to evaluate  events against stated outcomes, rather than against what delegates thought, hoped (or imagined) would be taking place. This Personalisation event was the first at which we overtly stated outcomes; putting them on screen several times, although we didn't put them on the evaluation form: that's what we'll do differently next time.
• We discuss sharing good practice on use of t-loop system, in terms of main speakers, questions from the floor, roving microphone - and of provision by venues.
• Delegates will be encouraged to book on workshops in advance, rather than choose on the day (which would help reception function better).
• Delegate badges to show which workshops they are booked on
• If possible, in future we should have two desks for reception on opposite sides of the room (divided alphabetically and clearly signed).
• We'll favour venues where the entrance for the main hall is at back, so that late entrants don't have to walk past speakers, and staff coming and going don't distract from the speakers or others on the platform.
• We'll create generic signage that can be sued at all events
• We should consider the distance from the main hall to wherever food is being served. Attendees with mobility problems can be adversely affected if this distance is too great.
• REDP personnel should always carry with them info regarding location of workshops etc
• The timing of the main sessions was "crisp" (thanks to our Chair); timing of breakout sessions wasn't crisp enough.
• Few organisations have the clout to organise or host an event on this scale in the present circumstances. We should strengthen this in terms of relationships with hosting venues
• What we're calling the "craft area" was in a nice, spacious and well-lit area, but saw very little traffic
• We should see workshops as mini conferences, with stated outcomes. In evaluation forms, delegates will be asked if workshop(s) met outcomes and workshop presenters will help draw up these outcomes and sign up to them.
• We're obliged to identify equality and diversity issues in all the topic areas we cover. We wonder if we did enough to convey that in the event - and to emphasise equality and diversity themes to members of the Core Reference Group and to other agencies, groups and organisations involved with REDP.
• We'll be discussing how to showcase VCS organisations based in Derby and/or Derbyshire at the forthcoming Human Rights event in a "mini expo".

Faith & Reflection Room at RNIB College Loughborough

I've  accepted an invitation by the RNIB College Loughborough to take part in the official opening of their new Faith and Reflection Room today, during the College's Winter Festival.

The RNIB College Loughborough is a national specialist college, supporting people aged 16 and upwards who are blind, partially sighted and/or have other disabilities, through day and residential places.

I'm met at reception by Norma Curtis, Quality Improvement Manager (with responsibility for Equalities and Staff Development - in the pink top in the photo above), who shows me a space among the tables offering tombola, raffles, crafts and games where I can display our pop-up banner and leaflets (as well as literature from the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership – REDP).

Once I’ve got that set up, Norma takes me to the Faith and Reflection Room ahead of its official opening, so she can show me what’s there and tell me how it has been developed. The room has been designed by learners for everyone's use: fellow learners, staff and visitors. It's reserved for use by Muslims exclusively every week day, 1310-1330.

Given its particular setting, those designing the room have addressed needs and sensitivities that are not often considered: high colour contrast between objects; soft furnishings; appealing to different sensory experiences than might be found in other such rooms (a fragrance diffuser, a basket of stones of varying textures, a speaking clock); use of braille and large type.

There’s a small chest of drawers with space for resources for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Judaism, Sikhism (and for Islam, stored in a separate box, as one of the Muslim learners has particular access difficulties). Some of these are less full than the others; hopefully, we can encourage the relevant communities to donate some appropriate material.

Copies of the 2011 Directory of Places of Prayer, Meditation and Worship in Loughborough in large print and in braille are mounted on the wall (and copies to take away).as well as the "Find a Church" directory.

Improving quotations have been printed out and mounted on the wall, amongst which are the following:

"He who sows courtesy reaps friendships, and he who plants kindness sows love." (St Basil) 

"It is easy to do what is harmful to ourselves. What is helpful and good is hard to do." (from the Dhammapada) 

"Life is a progress and not a station" (Ralph Waldo Emerson) "Wonder is the beginning of wisdom." (Socrates)

Leicester Council of Faiths doesn't have any specially adapted material for people with sight loss, but we have tried to bear in mind best practice in terms of layout, typography etc for print and display materials to promote better accessibility (thanks for this advice and guidance to Eric Day, Access Officer at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living). We’ve tried to do the same for our online presence (e.g. website, blog).

We gather for the official opening shortly after 1100. Following a brief introduction by Tony Warren, Principal of the College (centre, in the photo above), a blessing is delivered by Father Joe Mullan, Roman Catholic Chaplain at Loughborough University (left of Mr Warren in the photo above). Next, I’m asked to say a few words about the multi-faith nature of the room and its resources.

Among the small party a the official opening of the Faith and Reflection Room is Lesley Ansari (far right in the photo) whom I know from Human Rights and Equalities Charnwood and as being involved with Loughborough Council of Faiths. What I didn’t know until today is that she’s also a member of the College's Board of Governors

Above and beyond the particular Protected Characteristic of Religion or Belief represented by opening of the Faith and Reflection Room, it's gratifying to see how the College is dedicated to equality and diversity in their fullest forms.

A statement of the college's Code of Practice on Equality and Diversity is on public display, not only in the Faith and Reflection Room, but throughout the building. There are also names and photos of the college's Equality and Diversity Champions, one for each of the following Protected Characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Marriage / Civil Partnership
• Pregnancy / Maternity
• Race
• Religion, Belief & Non-Belief [sic]
• Sexual orientation
• Transgender / Gender Identity / Sex

I speak with Norma about REDP and the possibility of the college’s involvement in our activities. We agree that I should come back out to discuss this specifically, early in the New Year.

After the official opening of the Faith and Reflection Room, we're all ushered into the Arts Centre for a performance by learners of their Christmas show, "The Thief of Christmas". This is tremendous fun to watch (and to perform, by the looks of it). Parts of it are presented as a pre-recorded video, which can be seen on the college's YouTube channel (and I bought a copy of it on DVD as well).

From a personal perspective, I’m interested in visiting the college and learning something about its work. I have several issues related to my sight: diabetes (though thankfully, no sign of retinopathy from my regular scans) narrow-angle glaucoma (treated with a combination of drops each morning and evening – though I had unsuccessful laser surgery to try and correct it a few years ago); I also had a cataract removed and replace earlier this year. So although I’ve had no personal contact or involvement with the RNIB College before this event, I find it reassuring that it’s there and doing what it does for those who need it most.

The College mentions the Faith and Reflection Room on its website.

Disabled face a city of obstacles

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Disabled Face a City of Obstacles 

A campaigner has drawn up a list of challenges facing disabled people trying to get around the city. 

Paul Southwood, disability officer for Leicester and District Trade Union Congress, visited busy parts of the city centre on his mobility scooter, identifying "the good, the bad and the ugly" for access. 

His report has been sent to mayor Sir Peter Soulsby. 

Mr Southwood has Guillian Barré syndrome, a disease of the nervous system which causes weakness and paralysis in the limbs. 

His report said an increase in street furniture from outdoor cafes, smoking areas and advertising boards had created obstacles for the less mobile. 

Mr Southwood said Market Street and streets near Leicester market were the worst. 

He said: "It's nice to be able to sit outside in the summer but it's about getting a balance. 

"The advertising boards are getting worse and in St Martin's the pavement, which is already small, is getting smaller because of them. 

"When you are on a scooter, it can be like going round the chicanes at Donington Park. It just needs common sense to see how that could create problems for some people. 

"There needs to be a limit on the obstacles." 

The report said the railway station was also difficult to negotiate for people with disabilities and the major redevelopment work being carried out had exacerbated the problem. 

Mr Southwood said: "Instead of doing the work in phases, they have chosen to do it all at once, which has meant quite a narrow corridor to get to the cash machine and the area has been boxed in. 

"At one point, the only way for everybody to get to the ticket hall was a narrow ramp with no handrails." 

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "As a result of passenger comments, we have made improved, secure arrangements to give disabled users access to the station into the ticket hall from the long-stay car park via the storage lift. 

"While not specifically designed to improve disabled access, this should improve the station for all users." 

The bus stops at Leicester General and Glenfield hospitals were also criticised. 

Mr Southwood said the stops needed raised kerbs and the shelters should be upgraded.
He said: "Proper bus shelters – the same as in the city centre – are needed at all hospitals." 

Ruth Ward, travel manager for Leicester's hospitals, said: "We continuously review our travel and access plans and we will certainly bear these helpful suggestions in mind." 

Deputy city mayor Rory Palmer said: "I welcome this report. 

"We take these issues very seriously and we are always looking at how we can improve disabled access in the city."