Council’s education equality service praised by Stonewall

Brighton and Hove City Council has come second in the inaugural Education Equality Index devised by Stonewall, the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity.

Stonewall report that homophobic bullying is endemic in Britain’s schools, but the charity believes only Cambridgeshire County Council performs better at addressing the issue.

Labour’s leader in the city believes the recognition is in part thanks to her party’s action to prevent the former Conservative administration from cutting the school equalities service, which tackles homophobia in city schools, at the budget setting council meeting in March.

Councillor Gill Mitchell said: “First of all I am so pleased that our city has been ranked in the top two nationally for our schools hard work in promoting equalities and tackling homophobia.

“I am so proud of the swift action we as Labour Councillors took to save this vital service from the proposed Tory cuts, back at the council budget meeting in March this year. It seems the service has now gone on to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people in Brighton & Hove.”

The council’s current cabinet member for communities, equalities and public protection, Councillor Ben Duncan, welcomed the news and said: “Children these days have very diverse backgrounds. Quite simply we want our children to feel good about themselves, be proud of their family background and respect other people. Our schools are committed to creating safe and inclusive communities that celebrate the diverse city that we live in.”

Cllr Gill Mitchell (Photo: NFB)

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Posted by Joseph Lewis on July 9, 2011. Filed under Brighton Lesbian and Gay News,Council News,Labour,Schools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry