Introduction

The Centre for Human Rights in Practice (CHRP) and Coventry Women's Voices (CWV) are undertaking a joint project to assess the human rights and equality impacts of the budget cuts.

A first report was launched in May last year (see 'Report Launch' below). The report, Unravelling Equality: a human rights and equality impact assessment on the spending cuts on women in Coventry highlighted the impact of a range of public spending cuts on women.

Unravelling Equality: A Human Rights and Equality Impact Assessment of the Public Spending Cuts on Women in Coventry is available here

The report has had a significant impact locally and at the national level (see below for more details). The model developed by CHRP and CWV has been adopted by other groups in Bristol, Slough and Islington. A toolkit produced by Mary-Ann Stephenson on the basis of the Coventry research has been widely disseminated around the country.

Investigation of the Impact of the Public Spending Cuts on Older Women in Coventry

CHRP and CWV are currently working on the second stage of the project which focuses on the impact of the public spending cuts on older women in Coventry. We are currnely consulting widely with groups and individuals across Coventry. A report will be launched later in 2012. Please contact James Harrison (J.Harrison.3@warwick.ac.uk) if you are interested in contributing to the study.

The First Report: 'Unravelling Equality: a human rights and equality impact assessment on the spending cuts on women in Coventry'

CHRP and CWV have produced an initial report which considers the potential impact of the budget cuts on women in Coventry in relation to employment; housing; education and training; violence against women; health social care and other support services; legal advice services; and women's voluntary organisations. It also considers the impact of the spending cuts on women's incomes. The Full Report and Executive Summary are available here.

The Launch

The report was launched on 17 May 2011 at the Herbert Gallery in Coventry was attended by more than 70 people including representatives from the following organisations:

Abacus Counselling, Advice Services Coventry, Association of Christian Counsellors, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, Coventry & Warwickshire Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, Coundon and Allesley Community Libraries, Coventry Haven, Coventry Somali Community Network, Coventry Telegraph, Coventry University, Coventry Women's Voices, Crown Prosecution Service, CYWU Unite, Foleshill Women’s Training, Holbrooks Community Care Association, Midlands TUC, Moat House Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre, NHS Coventry, Pertemps Learning and Education Alliance, Prowess, University of Warwick, Valley House Association, National Board of Catholic Women, Victim Support,Voluntary Action Coventry, West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, Westwood School and Willenhall Advice Centre.

The Impact

1. National

We held a parliamentary seminar on 22 June 2011 with the Fawcett Society to present the findings of the report to MPs and national policy makers. It attracted an audience of more than 75 representatives of public authorities, civil society groups, academics and Parliamentarians from all over the country. Many people expressed an interest in conducting similar studies in their own areas.

On 12 July 2011, MPs in Westminster Hall conducted a detailed debate on the findings of the report. It was described by Coventry's three members of Parliament as "excellent research", "a first class piece of work" which "will increasingly be seen as a landmark". The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Justine Greening, promised to respond to the issues raised by the research which she was unable to answer during the debate. A transcript of the debate can be found on Hansard from Column 58WH.

Mary-Ann Stephenson was invited by Fiona Mactaggart MP to present the findings of the report at a round table meeting she organised with Shadow Minister for Women Yvette Cooper MP and an invited group of women’s voluntary organisations. There was a very high level of interest in the report with many organisations wanting to know how they could replicate the assessment in their own areas. The report was also presented at the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in London with video links to Birmingham, Manchsester and Cardiff.

The model developed by CHRP and CWV has been adopted by other groups in Bristol, Slough and Islington. Bristol Fawcett Society have already produced a report which follows the Coventry model. A toolkit produced by Mary-Ann Stephenson on the basis of the Coventry research has been widely disseminated around the country.

2. In Coventry

The Executive Summary of the report was sent by Councillor Phil Townsend to all Coventry city councillors with a suggestion that they read the full report. We presented presented the report's findings to councillors and senior council staff at a meeting on 7 September 2011. Councillors were particularly interested in the findings in relation to the combined impact of the cuts on particularly vulnerable groups such as lone parents and women victims of violence. There was general agreement that an inter-agency approach was necessary to deal with such issues as often cuts from many different agencies (e.g. national and local government, police, the NHS etc.) were often affecting the same individuals.

We have also presented the report's findings to the Equalites and Community Cohesion theme group of the Coventry Partnership and Coventry City Council joint Trade Union Side (including Unite, Unison, Ucatt, GMB and Teacher Trade Unions).

Coventry Women’s Voices members have also reported that they have used the issues raised in the report as the basis for local lobbying and campaigning. CWV members had various meetings with the organisations responsible for the cuts detailed in the report to share concerns about their likely impact on women. It was reported that the report provided powerful evidence for CWV members to advocate on behalf of their organisation and the women they work with.

Press Coverage

To see media coverage about the report - click here

Equality unravelling as women face a devastating combination of cuts – press release here

Tax and benefit changes will cost women in Coventry nearly £30 million – more information about the impact on Coventry here

You can also read our blog post about the report on British Politics and Policy at LSE. Please click here

The Issues

The changes to tax and benefits in the 2010 budget will cost women in Coventry almost £30 million. Coventry City Council is losing more than £38 million in funding from central Government in 2011/12.

Women in Coventry are facing cuts to tax credits, housing benefit, disability benefits, legal aid, reduced spending on health and education, cuts to the police, to council services and to voluntary organisations. What will all this mean for women in Coventry? What are the potential impacts on equality and human rights of these cuts?

Read the report to find out more about the following:

Violence Against Women

30,397 women in Coventry are likely to have been raped or sexually abused at some point in their lifetime and 38,575 women in Coventry are likely to experience domestic violence in their lifetime. How will victims and survivors of violence in Coventry be affected by cuts to voluntary services, cuts to the budgets of the police, Crown Prosecution Service and NHS, cuts to welfare and housing benefits and cuts to legal aid?

Employment

65% of public sector jobs are done by women. The pay gap between women and men in Coventry is already larger than the national average. How will women’s employment and pay be affected by public sector pay freezes and job losses?

Housing

Women in Coventry are more likely than men to rely on housing benefit. What will the caps on housing benefit mean for these women?

Incomes and Poverty

The changes to tax and benefits in the 2010 budget will cost women in Coventry a total of nearly £30 million. What will changes to tax credits, disability benefits, and other welfare reforms mean for women’s incomes?

Health, Social Care and Other Support Services

Coventry City Council is losing £38.1 million in funding from central government in 2011/12. Coventry Primary Care Trust (PCT) has to make savings of £5 million on its 2011/12 budget. What will the cuts to services mean for women, particularly those needing care or caring for others?

Education

What will cuts to schools, further and higher education funding mean for women in Coventry?

Women’s Voluntary Organisations

Over half of all voluntary organisations in Coventry expect to see a drop in funding over the next three years. What will these cuts mean for women’s organisations, some of whom are expecting cuts of up to 70% in funding?

Legal Advice Services

62% of applications for civil legal aid are from women. What will the cuts to legal aid mean, particularly for the most vulnerable women in Coventry?

Cumulative Impacts

Some women in Coventry will be affected by a number of these changes at the same time. The report analyses what the combined impact of these cuts will mean for these women.