Agenda item

The first motion was moved by Councillor Kim Powell and seconded

by Councillor Chris Barnham. Following contributions from Councillors

Obajimi Adefiranye and Caroline Kalu, the motion was then put to the vote

and declared to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

Decolonising the Curriculum

The Macpherson report into the murder of Lewisham resident Stephen

Lawrence, published in 1999, asked that “consideration be given to

amendment of the national curriculum aimed at valuing cultural diversity and

preventing racism, in order better to reflect the needs of a diverse society”.

This Council notes:

• That since the publication of the report, the Government has made relatively

little progress in building a curriculum that helps prevent racism. In recent

years, history in the national curriculum has if anything been narrowed.

• That conversely, significant progress has been made in Lewisham with

regards to “decolonising the curriculum”, and adequately representing Black

History as a standardised part of History teaching in our schools.

This Council resolves:

• To write to the Secretary of State for Education, calling on him to urgently

review as a matter of priority the current curriculum, ensuring that Black and

minority ethnic history is taught across the themes of the history curriculum;

teaching about Black civil rights history and reflecting the contribution of Black

people across the ages, locally in the UK and more widely.

The second motion was moved by Councillor Susan Wise and seconded

by Councillor Sophie Davis. The motion was then put to the vote and declared

to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

The Law Commission is currently reviewing all current hate crime legislation  

to consider whether any additional characteristics, including sex or gender,

should be granted legal protection, and is due to report back to Parliament in

2020. Misogyny, or the hatred of women, is not currently recorded as a hate

crime by the vast majority of police forces in the UK, outside of a handful of

trial areas.

Lewisham Council notes: 

·         That this review has been put in place thanks to the work and support

of Stella Creasy MP, as well as groups such as Citizens UK, HOPE Not

Hate, Southall Black Sisters, Tell MAMA UK, and the Fawcett Society.

·         That a 2020 Citizens UK report of over 1000 people’s experiences

showed that 33.5% of hate crimes already have gender as a motivating

factor

·         That studies have shown that the intersectional nature of discrimination

means that women with additional protected characteristics, such as

those who are BAME, disabled or LGBT+, are even more likely to

experience harassment, discrimination and abuse.

·         That the adoption of misogyny as a hate crime was successfully

implemented in Nottingham, with analysis showing that the vast

majority of people interviewed wanted the scheme to continue, and

seven other constabularies have since following suit.

Lewisham Council resolves:

·         To make a submission to the Law Commission’s Consultation at the

earliest opportunity in favour of strengthening hate crime legislation

and making misogyny a hate crime.

·         To call on the Government to urgently act on any recommendations the

commission makes to strengthen the law on hate crime.

·         To call on the Metropolitan Police Service to record harassment of

women as a hate crime, following successful trials in Nottingham and

elsewhere.

·         To call on the Government to provide the resource and funding for

·         police forces across the UK to effectively tackle violence against

women and girls.

The third motion was moved by Councillor Chris Best and seconded

by Councillor John Muldoon. The motion was then put to the vote and

declared to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

National Safeguarding Adults Week

This Council notes that:

National Safeguarding Adults Week is marked each November by the Ann

Craft Trust, a national safeguarding charity which supports organisations to

safeguard adults and young people at risk. It aims to initiate nationwide

conversations around adult safeguarding and draw attention to key

safeguarding themes, such as adult grooming, organisational abuse, financial

abuse and disability hate crime. In 2019, over 150 organisations supported

National Safeguarding Adults Week, helping to raise awareness through

social media, podcasts, blogs and community events. Currently, National

Safeguarding Adults Week is not officially recognised by Lewisham Council or

the Department for Health and Social Care.

This Council believes that:

Everyone has the right to be treated with respect and dignity and we have a

vital role to play in raising awareness about adult safeguarding, both in

Lewisham and beyond. National Safeguarding Adults Week is an important

opportunity to raise awareness about adult safeguarding and we should show

our support for it. As a local authority, we should show leadership in this area

by working with the Ann Craft Trust to encourage other local authorities to

participate and put pressure on the Department for Health and Social Care to

recognise this important week.

This Council resolves to:

1. Officially recognise National Safeguarding Adults Week and work with the

Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board to help promote it in future years;

2. Work with other Safeguarding Adults Boards, Local Authorities and

organisations including the Ann Craft Trust to help increase participation in

National Safeguarding Adults Week;

3. Work with other Safeguarding Adults Boards and organisations including

the Ann Craft Trust to lobby the Department for Health and Social Care to

officially recognise National Safeguarding Adults Week.