MD2689 Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm work programme

1.1 On 9 June 2020, the Mayor of London announced the establishment of a commission to review and improve diversity across London’s public realm to ensure the capital’s landmarks suitably reflect London’s achievements and diversity.

1.2 The Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will focus on increasing representation among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, women, the LGBTQ+ community and disability groups.

1.3 London is one of the most diverse cities in the world, with more than 300 languages spoken every day, yet statues, plaques and street names largely reflect Victorian Britain – as highlighted by recent Black Lives Matter protests across the UK and here in London.

1.4 The Mayor is committed to ensuring that the capital’s history is celebrated and commemorated and reflects our contemporary culture. Following his support for the installation of a statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square in 2018, discussions have taken place with council, community and arts leaders across the capital to assess the best way to improve diversity in the public realm.

1.5 The Mayor has previously pledged his support for several new memorials in the capital, including for Stephen Lawrence, the Windrush generation, a National Slavery Museum or Memorial, and a National Sikh War Memorial.

1.6 The Commission will be advisory and will review murals, street art, street names, statues and other memorials that currently makes up London’s public realm, further the discussion into what legacies should be celebrated, and make a series of recommendations aimed at establishing best practice and standards.

1.7 This programme of work will share the principles of the Fourth Plinth Programme which promotes best practice in public art commissioning including how to provide a contemporary perspective on historic sites and memorials. It will also embrace best practice in promoting diversity of who commissions and is commissioned in the public realm.

1.8 The Commission will be co-chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement (Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard) and Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries (Justine Simons OBE), and 15 other independent other members (to be recruited through an open and transparent process) will comprise of arts, community and council leaders across the capital, as well as historians as detailed further below.

1.9 The Commission is a shared project between the GLA Communities and Social Policy Unit and Culture and Creative Industries Unit, who will work collaboratively to achieve the programme objectives and outcomes.

Key objectives

2.1 The purpose of the Commission is to lead a London-wide conversation on how to practically achieve greater diversity of representation across the public realm and heritage sites. This will have a focus on increasing presence and visibility of underrepresented groups including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, women, LGTBQ+ and disabled groups and to include consideration of representation of socio-economic diversity. The key principles for the Commission are opening wide debate; listening to communities; delivering a high standard of programme; showcasing best practice; and demonstrating leadership.

2.2 The work of the Commission will:

• review and map existing diversity in the public realm, including mapping contested heritage;

• establish the scope of wider public engagement through activities such as public dialogues and community conversations; and

• make recommendations for improving representation and consider how best to improve representation of overlooked narratives that have contributed to the London story.

2.3 The programme will be delivered in phases, the first of which will take place between October 2020 and March 2021. Further phases will be developed iteratively and in close collaboration with partners and communities, once the commission has been established.

2.4 The first phase of the commission will focus on the following, explained in further detail below:

· open recruitment to the Commission;

· setting the context through Mapping, Research and Case Studies/Guidance for boroughs;

· community engagement; and

· developing an action plan for the Commission.



Commission Appointment

2.5 Deliverable: A well-promoted, fair and transparent recruitment process resulting in a group of 15 Commission Members in addition to the two Co-Chairs with broad-ranging knowledge, expertise and lived experience relevant to the work of the commission.

2.6 Recruitment will follow the Mayoral Protocol on Appointments and will take place through an open recruitment. Applications will be sifted based on the criteria outlined in the commission prospectus, which was launched on September 11.

2.7 Following assessment of applications against criteria for appointment, shortlisted applicants will be invited for interview. A selection review panel will make recommendations for appointment to the Mayor.

Timescale

2.8 Commission Members will be appointed by the Mayor for an initial period of up to two years subject to termination on notice and other usual grounds.

2.9 The Commission will bring together a range of people with proven leadership ability and influence, working across some or all of the following fields: the arts, public art, built environment, architecture, community engagement and planning. Members will have complementary skills and experience. The membership will be representative of London’s diversity.

2.10 The Commission meeting schedule will be set by the Co-Chairs in consultation with the Commission Members starting from December 2020.

Remuneration, expenses and access

2.11 The Commission Members will be entitled to be reimbursed, in accordance with the GLA’s Expenses and Benefits Framework, for travel and other expenses reasonably incurred in performing their role with the Commission.

2.12 We are committed to creating an inclusive structure. Support will be considered to ensure individuals working as independent practitioners or in small civil society organisations or charities whose capacity may be limited to take part are able to participate.

2.13 A framework to cover this eventuality will be put in place before the Commission is appointed and will take into account current GLA policies as well as other examples within the GLA family. Budget has been set aside as part of this decision to ensure that this commitment can be met. These payments are likely to be made on a case by case basis, are not intended to be a salary or an attendance fee and are unlikely to be in excess of £1,000 per member per annum and aim to ensure that there are no financial barriers/ inequalities in relation to participation in the commission.

Setting the context through mapping, research and case studies

2.14 Deliverable: A strong evidence base for the commission to consider and share with partners and decision-makers.

2.15 This will include evidence on the current public realm in London and best practice examples on commissioning, which will be procured from independent researchers and/or consultants for example:

· a mapping tool, offering insight into what is already happening in London regarding diversifying the public realm and where there are opportunities to deliver an ambitious programme;

· a research report, taking into account the historical and contemporary context of how London’s public realm has been shaped; and recommendations for how it should be shaped in the future to address gaps in representation and cases of misrepresentation; and

· a series of up to ten case studies from London, the UK and worldwide of how public realm practice is changing within the contemporary context.

2.16 £60,000 has been allocated for the above work to be carried out by independent researchers, consultants and through consultation and partnership, for example with boroughs and partners’ Board members.

Community engagement

2.17 Deliverable: Strong positioning of the Commission’s work within London’s communities.

2.18 This will be shared by three engagement strands: Community Research, Community Awareness Events, Co-design Sessions.

2.19 In order to ensure that the views of London’s diverse communities are represented at meetings of the Commission, the GLA will seek the support of an organisation or consultant to lead an initial community research project. This will result in a report and recommendations in two phases to be presented to Commission members. This research will seek to:

· gather views from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, women, the LGBTQ+ community and disability groups, ensuring that voices from these communities are heard at the initial meetings of the Commission and therefore embedded and central in the Commission’s work;

· gather insight on what communities and community organisations think of the objectives of the Commission and how they would like to be part of its work going forwards; and

· begin to build a network of diverse communities and community organisations that the Commission/GLA’s Community Engagement Officer can connect with as the project progresses.

2.20 The GLA will partner with community organisations to host a series of up to six events and workshops raising awareness of the Commission and sharing early ideas.

2.21 Once the Commission is established, the community engagement team will facilitate a series of up to six co-designed sessions with groups identified through the research and awareness events to offer opportunities to be a part of designing solutions in collaboration with the Commission. This will include having a say on the approach to a community design grant/competition focused on Diversity in London’s Public Realm.

2.22 £35,000 has been allocated for the above work to be carried out by partner organisations, consultants and GLA teams.

Staffing, recruitment and access

2.23 Staffing - £22,000 (Programme manager at Grade G9 for 4 months within 2020/21) towards a 2-year post which will be further funded by the Good Growth Minor Programmes budget. This role will be subject to a chief officer’s decision.

2.24 Recruitment of Commission - £5,000 has been allocated for specialist recruitment support.

2.25 Governance and Access - £15,000 has been allocated to ensure access, including disabled access and BSL translation, expenses and remuneration as relevant.

Community Commission Grants and Competition – £110,000 (for further delegated decision)

2.26 This is an amount in principle, subject to a further delegated decision once the community engagement and co-design phases are complete. This will include £80,000 grants to be distributed for local design projects with the ambition to have a small project in every borough; up to £10,000 for grant management and distribution and up to £20,000 for co-design activities and promotion of a competition for community designs to be further developed in the next phase of the Commission’s development. These plans are subject to change depending on the views of the community and the Commission members, thus the total amount for this financial year of £110,000 is subject to a delegated decision.

3.1 Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), that is the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;

• advance equality of opportunity; and

• foster relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2 The Commission will review and improve diversity across London’s public realm to ensure it suitably reflects London’s achievements and celebrates the contribution and legacies that our diverse communities make to the cultural fabric of our capital. Achieving greater diversity and representation in the public realm will form the foundation of the Commission’s work and reflects the PSED objectives of advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations

3.3 The purpose of the Commission is to lead a London-wide conversation on how to achieve greater diversity of representation across the public realm and heritage sites and will have a focus on increasing presence and visibility of underrepresented groups. The Commission will work in cooperation with external stakeholder agencies to consider a diverse range of perspectives, which will inform how to deliver the Mayor’s vision to improve diversity across our public realm and how we tell a more accurate story of our city’s rich cultural offer. Compliance with the PSED will be kept under review as the Commission develops its work through the GLA.

Risk register

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.1 Work proposed within the Decision relates the Mayor’s public commitment to set up a Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.

4.2 The Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will review London’s public realm, further the discussion into what legacies should be celebrated, and make a series of recommendations aimed at establishing best practice and standards.

4.3 Three Mayoral strategies – Culture for all Londoners, Inclusive London, the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and All of Us, his Social Integration Strategy- will not only speak to the work of the Commission but also sets out the Mayor’s expectations for equality, diversity and inclusion in the public realm.

4.4 The establishment of the Commission and its work are relevant to the following Mayoral strategy policies:

• To help to increase diversity within the creative workforce;

• To work with industry to champion and advocate business practices that create more diversity; and

• The Mayor’s target to achieve equal gender balance on all of his boards and for them to be more representative of London’s diverse population.

4.5 The Mayor is committed to ensuring that the capital’s history is celebrated and commemorated in the most appropriate way. Following his support for the installation of a statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square in 2018, the Mayor and his senior team have held discussions with council, community and arts leaders across the capital to assess the best way to improve diversity in the public realm.

4.6 The Mayor has previously pledged his support for a number of new memorials in the capital, including for Stephen Lawrence, the Windrush generation, a National Slavery Museum or Memorial, and a National Sikh War Memorial.

4.7 The work of the Commission will be wide in scope and consider murals, street art, street names, statues and other memorials.

Consultations and impact assessments

4.8 The Commission includes a comprehensive programme of community and stakeholder engagement which will inform the activities carried out by, and on behalf of, members. This includes multiple opportunities for consultation including a community research programme and public engagement through a virtual roadshow and using the Talk London digital consultation platform.

4.9 As part of the programme set-up, GLA officers have carried out scoping conversations with key stakeholders from the Culture and Creative Industries and Communities and Social Policy sectors across London.

4.10 The co-chairs of the Commission hosted a roundtable for leaders of London borough councils and have received support for the project. A borough working group will be convened regularly for ongoing consultation at local level.

4.11 Integrated impact assessments will be carried out on public realm projects which emerge from the work of the Commission.

4.12 Commission members and partners will be asked to declare conflicts of interest in accordance with the GLA’s conflict of interest policy.

5.1. Approval is sought for expenditure of up to £247,000 on 2020/21 for the Diversity in the Public Realm workstream. A detailed breakdown is as follows:

5.2. This expenditure will be funded by the 2020/21 Public Realm Budget, within the Communities and Social Policy Unit.

6.1 The GLA (acting by the Mayor) has the power under section 30 of the GLA Act 1999 to do anything that it considers will further any one or more of its “principal purposes” which are promoting economic development and wealth creation in Greater London and promoting its environmental improvement and social development.

6.2 The establishment of the Commission, appointment (and terms of appointment) of individuals to it and its proposed activities are likely to further the promotion of social development and economic development in Greater London and so fall within section 30 and the GLA’s subsidiary powers under section 34 of the GLA Act 1999 to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any its functions. The Commission’s activities are also consistent with the Public sector Equality Duty referred to in Section 3 of this form above. The Commission will be advisory only and recommend best practice to stakeholders including other public bodies. The power conferred by section 30 is exercisable only after consultation with such bodies or persons as the Mayor may consider appropriate in this particular case. Reference is made above at paragraphs 4.9 and 4.10 to the consultation and engagement that has taken place as part of programme set-up.

6.3 Where works, services or supplies are required to deliver the activities of the Commission they will contract through the GLA and they must be procured in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code including putting in place appropriate legal documentation before the commencement of procured services or grants are awarded.

6.4 Where fixed-term or temporary members of staff are recruited to help deliver the activities detailed above, officers must ensure such recruitment is in line with GLA’s HR protocols including obtaining permission from the Head of Paid Service as appropriate, and that appropriate contracts for fixed term or temporary appointments are entered into.