Decision details

To establish a cross-directorate and multi-agency taskforce with the purpose of improving social mobility, reducing poverty, and ensuring cohesive responses across the Council and with wider partners.

That a cross-directorate and multi-agency taskforce be established, with the purpose of improving social mobility, reducing poverty, and ensuring cohesive responses across the Council and with wider partners.

This would: -

·       Revisit the recommendations made to the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee in the paper ‘Social Mobility in Dorset’, November 2021 and use this to inform the taskforce membership suggested in Appendix two of the report to Cabinet 19 November 2014.

·       Define and agree future actions as suggested in Appendix two.

·       Develop local data insights and analysis to inform and refine our approaches at both community and authority level.

·       Implement relevant recommendations at a local level from the national Social Mobility Commission’s annual reports.

·       Report progress annually.

Reason for the decision

Working to reduce inequalities was not a one-off piece of work; improving life chances for all was already what we strive to do and was woven throughout our various strategies and long-term plans. This approach brought together all our ambitions to ensure we were moving collectively towards reducing poverty and improving social mobility as business as usual for Dorset Council.

The challenges were complex and could not be held by any one directorate or organisation. These were deep rooted socio-economic structural issues that warrant a considered, coordinated, and long-term response.