Agenda item

As per the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s work programme, Members are invited to receive a presentation on the 2021 Census data for Stevenage, looking at the changes that have taken place during the past twenty years and to discuss how the Council approaches capturing demographic data and how that data is used to shape services.

Presentation attached.

The Corporate Policy and Performance Manager and the Corporate Policy and Research Officer gave a presentation on the 2021 Census Data for Stevenage which was published as part of the meeting agenda pack. The Policy team produced an update on Stevenage demographic data yearly, and review the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) objectives every 4 years. The presentation looked at the 9 protected characteristic groups taken from census data and showed the changes from 2001, 2011 and 2021.

In response to a range of questions from a Member, Officers advised that as of May next year there will be boundary changes so the ward statistics could change. The way the data had been presented in the meeting was an overview for presentation purposes and that the in-depth detail was contained in the full report. There was a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which looked at opportunities to explore deprivation.

A Member suggested the website should offer alternative languages. The Corporate Policy and Performance Manager advised that they were exploring the SBC online offer and ensuring it was accessible for everyone.

Members suggested communications around the EDI Officer Group and the EDGG should be improved so more people knew about them. The Corporate Policy and Performance Manager advised that the EDI Officer Group was for Officers only and they were still promoting it, but it was slowly growing. Cllr Hollywell added that the EDGG collaborated with Officers and people in HR and was a Member and staff led group mainly around governance. It was reported at every annual Council.

In response to a question, the Corporate Policy and Research Officer defined the term ‘legal partnerships’ as marriages or civil partnerships and was the terminology and definition used in the census.

In response to various questions from a Member the Corporate Policy and Performance Manager advised:

·         The team wanted to look at ward level data and profiles, but it required a lot of time and effort but would be considered.

·         Religion was included as it was a protected characteristic. Further analysis could be done around this, but it would depend on what resources were available to undertake this work.

·         There was data surrounding employment of Stevenage residents and there were links referenced at the end of the presentation that gave further information on this.

·         A key topic within the EDI Action Plan was the annual review process against big activities and how the Council performed on these impacted what they did next. They were monitoring all activities, and this was key to feedback and progress.

A member spoke strongly regarding the presentation of some of the information within the report, suggesting a different format for some information, and mentioning that the formatting of printed copies of the presentation clipped material from the slides. The Officers advised that the data presented was based on census data and reiterated that more detail of the data was found in the full report. The Strategic Director (TP) offered to walk through the data and graphs in a separate meeting at a later time if it was helpful to Members.

A few Members raised the topic of employment and income of Stevenage residents and were interested in these statistics. Some Members also added that comparison data with other towns in Hertfordshire, as well as ward by ward data, would be helpful to see. Officers advised that the census data was available online for any user.

Another Member asked what the boundaries in the deprivation map meant in geographical terms. They were advised that the data came from the OCSI (Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion) and was completed in 2019 for the Ministry of Housing. The areas were the output areas and there was an average of 4 per ward. The aim of the boundaries was to try and define neighbourhoods and have the same number of people in each output area.

A number of Members thanked Officers for the time and detail put into the presentation.

The Strategic Director (TP) reiterated his offer, that he would be able to speak to members outside of the meeting at their request, if there were specific points in relation to the census data if they wished, and that extensive data is also in the public domain.

The Chair indicated she was unhappy with the manner of questioning from one Member in relation to the presentation and report. The SD (TP) reminded all present of the importance of conducting question and debate in a constructive, polite and respectful manner at all times.