Oldham Fairness Commission

1. Oldham Fairness Commission Commissioner's Workshop 29 January 2016

2. The Oldham Fairness Commission – What is it? • Set up in July 2013 by Debbie Abrahams MP • “To identify and address what may be contributing to local inequalities in education, employment and income, and to define action to address these issues” • A range of partners involved, who identified over 30 recommendations around; • (1) Education • (2) Employment • (3) Income

3. The recommendations – (1) Education

4. The recommendations – (2) Employment

5. The recommendations – (3) Income

6. Who’s committed to making Oldham a fair place for all?

7. Taking these recommendations forward… • A commissioner’s workshop was hosted at Mahdlo on Friday 29 January 2016 • For both the public and organisations to discuss how their priorities link to the recommendations from the Oldham Fairness Commission report • Attended by representatives from the CCG, Colleges, Schools, Voluntary Action Oldham, Police, Oldham Chronicle, Businesses, voluntary, community and faith sector, Food Bank and the Council who came together to have their say on how commissioner’s can make Oldham a fairer place

8. What was said…

9. Key themes from the workshop: The discussion at the workshop identified key themes which are summarised below: • Growing partnerships • Recognises the importance of existing partnerships in Oldham • To focus on further developing closer working between organisations e.g. incorporating a parent and teacher-led approach in key decisions • More work is needed to understand how the work of organisations across the partnership support the OFC recommendations – e.g. how can forums such as the Oldham Leadership Board drive this? • Working together to align priorities in Oldham • Existing links acknowledged with OMBC, CCG, VAO, Colleges • Further links to be made between other organisations/partners such as the Oldham Business Leaders Group with OFC recommendations

10. Key themes from the workshop…continued • Influencing change • Recognises challenges at a national level e.g. Adult Advancement Loans replacing grants and the impact on residents • More understanding is needed to identify what approach partners across Oldham can take to influence these key decisions • Fairer working practices • Supporting fair terms and conditions for all employees in Oldham e.g. fair pay for teachers, for young people, for women to address inequalities in pay • Build on existing frameworks e.g. Fair Employment Charter • Fairer services • Use evidence-based commissioning to ensure a fair approach to service provision • Encourage fair procurement e.g. through the Social Value Procurement Charter and how this social value approach could be incorporated more widely

11. Wider considerations… • Recognising Oldham’s assets – Any action needs to build on existing assets and priorities such as; the Oldham Partnership, the Education and Skills Commission and Fairness campaigns • The opportunity of devolution – Is there an opportunity to influence fairness and equality decisions at a regional level? • This is the beginning, not the end! – The commissioner’s workshop on Friday 29 January at Mahdlo marks the beginning of the implementation of the Oldham Fairness Commission recommendations, organisations, including the Council will be expected to feedback on how they’re meeting these

12. One approach for taking these recommendations forward… • The Council, the CCG, VAO and the Colleges have all identified road maps which show how the recommendations of the OFC are to be met and link with their priorities • Should the Oldham Leadership Board be utilised to bring this range of information together in a partnership-setting and a collaboration set-up to develop this work? • Any reporting back could be on a partnership-basis representing not just the Council but what other partners are doing