Motion #16
As Management Coordinator job-share we have been pleased to support another year of progress and improvement across HR and safeguarding.
New policies and processes, put in place in 2020 to improve inclusivity and effectiveness across staff operations, have continued to successfully bed in. The new ‘applied’ system for recruitment, which does not use traditional CVs, is helping to boost the diversity of staff applicants and the party’s excellent home working polices are allowing people from all over England and Wales to serve in the full range of staff roles. We are particularly pleased that the Diverse Matters review of equality and diversity in the Party (June 2022) found that our HR policies were ‘comprehensive and clear’. The bulk of the credit for this excellent work and sustained progress must go to HR Manager Sam Davies, ably assisted by Angela Hillier.
Improving and celebrating diversity across the staff team is an ongoing process and we provided an indepth paper to inform GPEx deliberations on the matter in November. We were pleased that GPEx voted to implement our recommendations for GPEW to remain members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme, as a programme of demonstrable value to LGBTQIA+ staff members & applicants, and to invest an additional sum in improving staff diversity across the board. We proposed that the Equality & Diversity Committee be in control of this additional diversity fund and look forward to seeing their next steps with it.
A process of continual review and improvement also applies to safeguarding, to ensure we stay at the forefront of best practice. We presented an annual assessment of GPEW safeguarding to GPEx earlier this year, which concluded that our safeguarding reporting mechanisms are robust but that more work could be done to make our policies easier to understand. We have secured funding for external experts to review GPEW safeguarding policy with a view to simplification and more effective communication. This work is underway at the time of writing (July) with recommendations due to go to GPEx in the autumn. We would like to put on record our thanks to the GPEW’s chief safeguarding officer, CEO Mary Clegg, who does a superb job in leading on safeguarding work amongst her many other responsibilities.
We have been pleased to support a range of other GPEx workstreams over the year, including service on Administration and Finance Committee (AFCOM) and work to set up a new GPEx sub-committee working with GPRC, DC and ADRC to reduce incidences of bullying and harassment in the Party. We were also pleased to help develop and agree a financially sound and elections-focused 2022 budget, and to contribute improvements to spokespeople selection, support and monitoring processes.
This September marks the end of our GPEx term, and we wish to close by wishing all the best to our successor, to GPEx colleagues and to GPEW staff. The staff team are one of the greatest assets our Party has and their dedication and service has been inspiring over the past two years. Green heroes one and all!