Labour Councillors have called on the Council to take more action to improve the diversity of the teacher workforce and school governor composition.

A formal question was put to the Council’s equalities committee by Cllr Nick Childs in September after an update on the Councils’ ongoing Anti-Racist Strategy – introduced under the previous Labour administration.

The call came after the Council’s own data showed that Brighton & Hove’s school workforce did not reflect the growing diversity of the city.

In particular, Cllr Childs queried the lack of diversity amongst headteachers and chairs of governors, after the National Education Union and the Council’s Education Department were unable to confirm if any heads or governing chairs in the city identified as Black, Asian or minority ethnic.

Responding to Cllr Childs’s question, Cllr Martin Freeman, Green Chair of Committee, agreed to review the situation and report back to the next committee.

Councillor Nick Childs, Queens Park, said:

“Having a racially and culturally diverse school workforce and in particular, school leadership and governors is not about meeting quotas or targets, it is about ensuring equality of opportunity.

“Most importantly it is about ensuring children and our communities have positive role models and about improving the breadth and depth of education in our city’s schools.”

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