I was thrilled to have recently been named in the Northern Power Women Awards, alongside some fantastic women from across sectors, not just for leading on some of the fantastic transformation work across my hometown of Stockport, but also for leading on work to achieve gender equality in the organisations I’m involved in.
As the leader of Stockport MBC and Greater Manchester lead for Economy and Business, I’m lucky enough to work alongside inspirational women at all levels across our region. I’m a firm believer in leading by example. I hope that by working to ensure that Stockport MBC is accelerating gender equality, we can empower our residents, businesses and community organisations to do the same.
To quote Emmiline Pankhurst, it’s ‘deeds not words’ that matter when levelling the gender playing field. I brought a motion on the Fawcett Society’s report ‘Does Local Government Work for Women?’; this passed unanimously. This meant that the council fully accepted the report’s recommendations, which included breaking down barriers faced by disabled councillors and women from ethnically diverse communities.
The motion also committed the council to tackling inequality and supporting the progression of women within the organisation by proactively seeking out female councillors for leadership roles. Finally, it led to the formal introduction of a policy to improve maternity, paternity and adoption pay for councillors.
A council motion was passed recognising the stark increase in calls to domestic abuse helplines during the first lockdown in 2020 to commit the council to continue to seek the White Ribbon accreditation status - and to use our influence to encourage other public sector partners to do the same. This accreditation ensures organisations take a strategic approach to ending male violence against women.
But despite this, it still wasn’t enough. More work needed to be done to make the council a more fair and inclusive place and lead by example for our borough when it comes to equality.
I passionately believe in being supported in my role by a team of strong women. I have brought more women into the Cabinet of Stockport MBC, appointed more women on the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) board, and recruited more women onto the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
In my time as leader of the council, I have also created a specific Cabinet role with responsibility for Inclusive Neighbourhoods in Stockport. This role aims to advocate and improve outcomes for all communities in the borough, particularly those typically underrepresented or marginalised. The post is currently held by Cllr Amanda Peers, a highly experienced Cabinet member who brings with her extensive experience as a neighbourhood co-ordinator and community learning manager as a previous officer of the council.
Since the conception of this role, the Cabinet member for Inclusive Neighbourhoods has played a key role in improving equality both internally and externally at Stockport MBC, such as introducing the council’s first ever Fair and Inclusive summit last December, which brought together residents and stakeholders from across the community to discuss how we can improve equality for all in Stockport.
I also believe that equality has no political colour. That’s why I have supported women from opposing political parties into essential scrutiny and overview roles in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and have worked alongside and supported women leaders on their own journeys. Equality only works if we all support each other.
As a council, we recently celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 with a whole programme of events for our colleagues. This included a virtual presentation by senior women leaders on breaking the bias and what being a woman in leadership meant to them: I myself was involved in creating this and sharing with the workforce as it is important to me that equality is embraced by all.
We also facilitated several virtual round table discussions on what it’s like being a woman and working for Stockport MBC: these were well-attended by a really diverse range of the workforce, and it was fantastic to get so many different perspectives.
These internal events were supported by a wider campaign, driven by partners in the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector and One Stockport: a movement set up in the wake of the pandemic to celebrate the diversity and community spirit in Stockport. Women across the borough took part by recording short videos explaining what this year’s theme of ‘Breaking the Bias’ meant to them.
Going forward, we have set up a Stockport Women and Girls Network meeting, including leads from Greater Manchester, the council and the third sector.
To coincide with International Women’s Day, we also launched our Over 55s and Under 25s Workforce Women’s Engagement group, which will meet regularly to discuss any barriers they face as women within the local authority and how we can tackle these. I’m proud of the positive steps we have taken here in Stockport so far to help move towards a more equal, fairer workplace and in the wider borough.
Cllr Elise Wilson is leader of Stockport MBC
@EliseWilsonStk
