To mark the anniversary of the start of the female vote, R4U has proposed a motion for the district council to establish a cross-party committee to proactively drive greater equality and inclusivity.
During February 1918 women in the UK started to get the vote. To mark the centenary, local residents’ party, Residents for Uttlesford, has called for the formation of a new district council committee to take positive steps towards achieving greater equality.
Barbara Light (R4U)Cllr Light continued “Whilst we have many female officers and councillors, there is still evidently more work to be done because current district council policies and tools are not aspirational and only require the bare minimum of compliance with regulations. Others have suggested establishing an equalities role within the council cabinet, but bestowing a title on someone is frankly just playing lip-service. So we have called on the district council to establish a separate and independent Equality Committee. Our motion has been accepted and will be debated and voted on by the full district council on 22 February. Its purpose will be to ensure that the council, its constitution, and practices are fully equitable and meet modern society’s expectation of equality and inclusivity for all. This is a progressive proposal that we feel all councillors can back, and so we look forward to working with our fellow council colleagues of all parties to make it a reality. If our proposal is adopted by the council, we urge interested residents, both men and women, to put themselves forward for the independent roles that we envisage.”