Fairness taskforce given green light at Executive
Date Added: 07/12/2021
Preventing people from being left behind or slipping into need in Central Bedfordshire, which has been exacerbated by COVID-19, was top of the agenda at today’s Executive committee (7 December), with the creation of a councillor taskforce to tackle fairness.
The Fairness Taskforce, to be made up of all political parties, was given unanimous approval to be formed to oversee and support this work. Funding was also agreed for expert external support.
Cllr Steve Dixon, Executive Member for Sustainability and Transformation, explained: “We want to create opportunities for everyone in the area, making sure that no-one is left behind, and putting safeguards in place to avoid that.
“Some of the ongoing impacts of the pandemic are startlingly clear, along with the fine line between managing and misfortune. This new taskforce will give a real impetus to the work that we were doing already, as well as new initiatives.”
The Fairness Taskforce will begin identifying and recommending to the Executive ways to enhance the effectiveness of the council’s work to tackle deprivation - creating opportunities to lift people out of poverty and put safeguards in place to avoid people slipping into poverty.
Education, economic resilience and housing play a key role in making sure that people don’t get left behind, so there will be renewed focus on improving educational achievement, creating opportunities for rewarding work and providing access to high-quality housing.
Cllr Dixon added: “Although in some ways we appear to be thriving, that isn’t the case for everyone who lives here. And that isn’t good enough; we are determined to support the most challenged and vulnerable in our communities.”
“Alongside work already happening to understand the wellbeing, financial and other impacts of COVID-19 on our residents, we’ll be commissioning expert external support to identify some initiatives that will make an immediate and lasting difference. Fairness in our communities matters, and this is a big step forward in our journey to make it a reality.”