From the Chamber: Including Everyone

Wokingham Borough Council - Including everyone 

Wokingham Borough Council is committed to ensuring that all of our residents get the services they need.  To achieve this we work to understand our residents as individuals.    

For example – for most of our residents, the Wokingham Borough Council website provides answers instantly at any time of the day or night.  If you want to know when your recycling will next be collected, or when you can join a family history advice session at one of our libraries, you can find the information online. 

If you want to report problems such as potholes, problems paying your council tax or antisocial behaviour, you can also do this online. Just search for eg ‘report pothole Wokingham Council’ (or alternatively, visit wokingham.gov.uk, and use the search function) to find a way of reporting the problem.  This is the quickest way to flag a problem to the council, and you can use the reference number you’re given to check back in for updates.  Online reporting of this kind streamlines council services, saving WBC hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.  

But not everyone uses the internet.  Many of our older residents in particular don’t own smartphones, or aren’t confident in using newer technology.  The council helps residents get to grips with ipads, smartphones and features such as the NHS App in regular digital adoption sessions run by volunteers and held at our local libraries – just search for ‘Free IT and digital help sessions’ on the WBC webpage – but we know this won’t be right for everyone.  It’s vital that the 5% of residents who don’t use the internet can access all of our services and communications in an increasingly digital world. 

This means that the council needs to make sure we include this group of residents in how we design our services.  For example, in the past few weeks our officers sent physical letters to residents who they believe may be eligible for pension tax credit (and therefore the Winter Fuel Allowance).  The new pilot Residents’ Reception sessions, run with our voluntary sector partners, are taking help and advice direct to communities through drop-in sessions at libraries and other community centres.  This gives residents who want to talk face to face, an opportunity to do this at a venue close to them.  And after listening to feedback from disabled residents, we’ve dropped the time limits on free bus travel for this group of residents and accompanying carers.  From the start of this month they are able to travel on local bus services for free at any time of the day.

Meeting the diverse needs of our residents isn’t just the right thing to do – we have legal responsibilities. Like every other local authority in the country, we have statutory duties under the Public Sector Equality Duty and are responsible for ensuring that we work within the letter and the spirit of the law to support all our residents. 

We need to ensure that all our residents can play a full part in Wokingham life and that no-one is disadvantaged when accessing the services they need.  To give one very practical example of the benefits that our Inclusion team is delivering – we work with Clasp, the local disability rights charity, to ensure that key documents are issued in an ‘easy read’ version, so that all residents have access to the information that they need. 

The latest census showed us how much Wokingham is changing.  We have many new arrivals in the Borough, including those who have moved here from Hong Kong and Ukraine. As is the national trend, we have seen an increase of special educational needs in the borough. It’s vital that we build healthy communities where there is mutual respect between those from different backgrounds as well as those with different needs.  Wokingham Borough Council is taking a leading role here, and I am very proud of our great team of officers who are working hard to achieve this.   

Our current Equality Plan ends next year.  We are already planning a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy which will provide the council with an ambitious plan to support our residents.  This will reflect the Wokingham Communities Vision and the Social Care Future Charter.  In the coming months, we will be engaging with our partners and communities, with the help of the Equality Forum, which brings together a hugely diverse range of voices within the Borough to give us a powerful understanding of what our residents need.   If you are interested in adding your voice, the council will be publishing a survey and this will be announced soon.  

This work is an investment for Wokingham’s future.  It will ensure that all residents can enjoy and make a full contribution to the life of the Borough.  

Cllr Rachel Bishop-Firth is member for Emmbrook ward and Executive member for Resident Services, Inclusion and Fighting Poverty.