Rochdale headteacher part of new panel to tackle racism and discrimination

The headteacher of a Rochdale high school has been named as a member of a new panel set up to tackle racism and discrimination.

Janice Allen, head of Falinge Park High School, is one of the 24 members chosen for their skills, knowledge, connections into their communities and their willingness to use their own personal experiences to challenge and support public services to tackle systemic inequalities, racism and discrimination.

Miss Allen, who has worked in education across Manchester and Salford secondary schools since 1998, said: "It’s a real privilege to be appointed onto the panel.

"I hope I will be able to reflect the voices of young people on the panel and, through our school’s partnership with charities and voluntary sector organisations in Rochdale, be able to reflect the many diverse voices.

"I love working in Rochdale and with the families and communities at our school and hope that the panel will be a 'ripple of hope' which will ultimately benefit all of us."

The Greater Manchester Race Equality Panel met for the first time earlier this month, welcomed by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Councillor Brenda Warrington, leader for Age Friendly Greater Manchester and Equalities.

Mr Burnham announced a plan to create the panel in 2019 but recruitment was delayed partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Greater Manchester’s leaders promised to speed up progress as part of their response to the Black Lives Matter movement this summer.

The panel agreed two areas of work to address early in 2021:

• Providing insight and input to the Independent Inequalities Commission report into systemic racism in Greater Manchester.
• Responding to and shaping the planned Race Equality Policing report from Greater Manchester Police. Publication of this report was another of the leaders’ pledges made in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The panel will elect a chair, or co-chairs, at a future meeting.

Mr Burnham said: “We had a very high quality field of applicants for this panel and the 24 people chosen have all already made a real difference in their communities through tackling racism and discrimination.

“We have not been good enough making the changes that are needed to eliminate discrimination and ensure fairness.

“This panel will now be a platform to bring about further more substantial change and to turn our words into actions.

“The panel will provide challenge and support so Greater Manchester can achieve its goal of being a place where all voices are heard and where, working together, we can shape our future.”

The panel’s remit will include educational inequalities and achievement; employment and labour market inequalities; financial inclusion and poverty; hate crime and preventing discrimination; health and wellbeing inequality; and housing and homelessness, including hidden homelessness.

The Race Equality Panel is latest addition to the Mayor’s advisory groups. It will work alongside the other panels which include the Ageing Hub, Disabled People’s Panel, LGBT Panel and Adviser, Women and Girls Panel, and the Youth Combined Authority. It is planned to establish a Faith Advisory Panel next year.