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An earlier version of this bulletin included an error in the details of the Liberal Democrat Group leadership. This email includes the corrected information. Apologies for resending this if you had already ready the earlier email.
Issue 10: May 2018
 Polls, policy and peloton sum up the last few weeks. Running elections is complex and challenging, requiring significant time and commitment. But It’s a privilege to play a part in democracy, helping to ensure that things run smoothly and as many people as possible are registered to vote and able to have their say. We’ve increased the numbers on the electoral register but can always do more and National Democracy Week offers opportunities for everyone to help promote participation. May has also seen the launch of our Integration Board which will oversee work of national importance. The ground breaking efforts of our partnerships and communities in bringing people together have been recognised in national designation as an Integration Area which will pioneer new approaches and learning. Finally the Tour de Yorkshire swept once again across the District showing it at its iconic best to the watching world.
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Kersten England
Chief Executive, City of Bradford MDC
 This month’s local elections saw almost 126,000 voters take to the polling booths as 30 of the Council’s 90 seats were contested.
The Labour Group remains in control of the Council with 52 Councillors and the Conservative Group forms the main opposition with 22 seats. You can access details of the results for each ward here.
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Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe remains as Leader of the Council and Cllr Imran Khan Deputy Leader. Cllr Adrian Farley has joined the Council’s Executive and will take responsibility for Children’s Social Care. The full executive line up is as follows:
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe – Leader
Corporate Services
Cllr Imran Khan – Deputy Leader
Education, Employment & Skills
Cllr Sarah Ferriby
Health & Wellbeing including Environment, Sport & Culture
Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw
Regeneration, Planning & Transport
Cllr Abdul Jabar
Neighbourhoods & Community Safety
Cllr Adrian Farley
Children’s Social Care
Cllrs John Pennington and Rebecca Poulsen are the new Leader and Deputy Leader of the Conservative group; Cllrs Jeanette Sunderland and David Ward are leader and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group.
About Our Councillors
Age: The average age of Bradford Councillors is 54. This compares well with a national average of 62 (in 2013) but overall, the age profile of Bradford Councillors is much older than the electorate they represent. No Councillors are younger than 30 and the proportions aged 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 are all significantly higher than among the wider 18+ population.
 Gender: There are now 35 female Councillors comprising 38.9% of the Council, a small increase from 36.7% before the election. Research by the Fawcett Society in 2017 found that 33% of Councillors nationally were women.
Ethnicity: 28 BME Councillors make up 31% of the Council compared to around 36% of the general population and 23% of the 18+ population. A census of Councillors undertaken in 2013 found that only 4% of Councillors nationally were from BME groups.
Registration up but turnout lowest for a decade
More and more people are registering to vote
but only just over a third (34%) turned out in the local elections, the lowest
level in the last ten years. Progress will continue to be made to improve the
completeness and accuracy of the Electoral Register, providing opportunity for
engagement, especially in areas of lower registration.
National Democracy Week – Promoting Participation
 Boosting participation among under-represented groups is one of the key objectives of the first UK National Democracy Week to be held from 2 to 6 July 2018. The week will be themed on the Suffrage Centenary celebrating 100 years since women won the right to vote. The aim is to engage with under registered groups, better understand the barriers they face, and work to ensure that every member of society who is entitled to do so has an equal chance to participate in our democracy.
The Government wants to work with organisations from across the public, private and charity sectors for a week of unified national action. To get involved and organise an event you can download a free partner pack.
The consultation runs until 5 June 2018 and the government wants to hear from individuals, organisations and communities.
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Bradford has accepted the Government’s invitation to become one of five integration areas which will receive funding and support to develop best practice and national policy on integration.
The invitation reflects the Government’s belief that Local Authorities are best placed to drive integration and that Bradford has “ ..demonstrated a keen grasp of the challenges …and shown a desire to try new things and learn from what works.”
 Believe in Bradford: Bringing people from different backgrounds together
Bishop Toby Howarth of Bradford Cathedral has agreed to Chair an Integration Board which has been established to develop and oversee the implementation of an Integration Action Plan. That work is in its early stages; Lord Bourne, the Government Minister responsible for Community Cohesion, Faith and Race Disparity Audit attended an inaugural meeting of the board earlier this month which discussed ambitions priorities and next steps.
 The government is consulting on an Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper which sets out its vision for building integrated communities where people live, work and socialise together based on shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities. It sets out a programme of activity configured round strengthening leadership, supporting recent migrants and resident communities, education and young people, boosting English language practice, places and communities, increasing opportunity, and rights and freedoms.
Bradford Council is formulating its response including emphasis on:
- Ensuring that we are able to develop plans and interventions specific to Bradford District rather than “one size fits all” approaches devised by central Government.
- The wider impact of government policy for example, in funding for public services , welfare reform or decisions on new schools and parental choice.
- Making sure we have the resources to collect the evidence and data that the Government wants to be able to evaluate the Integration Area Programme.
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 Once again the Tour de Yorkshire graced the District showcasing its outstanding townscapes and landscapes to a global TV audience – last year’s event reached 9.8m viewers in 180 countries and was worth £64m to the region’s economy – this year’s race looks set to exceed those figures. An estimated 2.6 m spectators lined the route over 4 days with 900,000 watching Stage 4.
Bradford is building a worldwide reputation as a centre of cycling excellence and we look forward to hosting a stage start in next year’s UCI World Championships.
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In Brief
Bradford backing regional case for Channel 4
Bradford is backing the bid to bring Channel 4’s national HQ to Leeds City Region. The bid, submitted earlier this month, builds on key strengths such as our depth of young, diverse, creative and tech- savvy talent as well as the opportunity to address the national imbalance in creative industries investment.
Supporting Globally Connected Collaboration
Bradford arts, tech and social creatives 30 Chapel St are bidding to become part of Impact Hub’s global network of entrepreneurial communities. Founded in 2017, the company is developing plans for a physical space at 30 Chapel Street to house arts, tech and social ventures while in parallel cultivating and nurturing the community of innovators which they hope one day will become their members, customers, tenants and collaborators. A successful bid to become an Impact Hub would connect the city to a world wide network of change agents, disruptive technologies and original thinkers opening up new opportunities to exchange knowledge, join forces with social innovators and help deliver a better Bradford and a better world.
District Dashboard
District Dashboard gives you all the key statistics about the district. In our May there are notable updates to:
Claimant Count – worsening (in line with regional and national trends)
Schools rated good or outstanding – improving
Crime rate - worsening
District Dashboard is interactive allowing you to explore the latest figures in much greater depth than before. Our easy to use 'in your pocket' guide is updated monthly so it's always up-to-date with the latest available data. Click any number to go interactive and find out more.
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