Agenda and minutes

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

There were none.

2.

Minutes

Minutes:

Subject to the inclusion of A Bewers in the list of attendees, the minutes of the meeting held on 1 June 2005 were agreed.

3.

Matters Arising Not Already On the Agenda

Minutes:

UCN

 

L Ambrose advised that the LGB Group at UCN was becoming increasingly  active so there may be an opportunity for more engagement. It was noted that a Diversity Day was being held on 28 September 2005 and a stand may be available for the use of the Forum. Also the Forum had been offered a share of a stand at the Freshers Fayre and there was the opportunity for them to become involved in other events such as the Holocaust Memorial Day.

 

J Diederiks advised that there would be an opportunity for the Forum to have a stand, and attend, the Freshers Evening at Moulton College.

4.

Medigold Update

Minutes:

A Bewers advised that as agreed he had raised the issue of the Medigold Pre-Employment Health Questionnaire at the Disabled Peoples Forum. He had raised concerns in relation to the HIV related questions and had suggested that there were other questions the DPF may wish to query that could potentially be discriminatory to people with disabilities. L Ambrose advised that the DPF had been surprised at the amount of details that was required and had questioned how the information was held and whether it was correlated with sickness absence data.

 

A Bewers commented that previously there had been no examples of good practice available but he had now found an excellent model used by the London Borough of Camden Council. He then read out an extract from their HIV Policy. (Copy Attached)

                                                                                                                       

He felt that this was the ideal approach as it focussed on whether a person was actually fit for work rather than their HIV status. He then referred to an article in Positive Nation where legal advice was being sought as to whether the individual could be dismissed for withholding information on the medical disclosure form. The advice given was that concealment could be interpreted as dishonest which was in theory gross misconduct. However it was questionable whether an Industrial Tribunal would consider this reasonable due to the sensitivities surrounding the issue.

 

E Downes referred to the concerns expected about confidentiality and advised that the medical forms were sent out with the application forms and were returned sealed. They were then forwarded, still sealed, to Medigold and therefore were not opened by any NBC employee.  In relation to the detail of the questions, although he was sympathetic to the concerns expressed he was unsure what could be done through the consortium, to change them. Medigold were adamant that they required all of the information requested to make an assessment. However it was likely that the guidance noted that accompanied the form could be improved.

 

E Downes advised that there was currently a Working Group set up that was looking into the service provided by Medigold and he was happy to put the concerns raised on the agenda. He would also ask them to seek further examples of good practice. This was agreed.

 

A Bewers expressed particular concern at the language used by the Director of Medigold when discussing the issues and the comment that had been made in relation to there being a need for the appropriate first aider to be advised if a colleague in their area was HIV positive.

 

The Chair suggested that the questions being asked by Medigold might be contravening the NBC Equal Opportunities Policy and E Downes agreed to ask the Working Group to consider this.

 

The Chair suggested that legal advice be sought as to whether Medigold had a legal right to obtain the information they said was needed and L Ambrose agreed to ask the NBC Equal Opportunities Officer to investigate this.

5.

Balloon Festival - Update

Minutes:

L Ambrose advised that the Planning Group had met and the theme would be “Northampton’s Community Past and Present”. The Black History Project had provided a lot of examples of people from different backgrounds and professions that could be used as part of the exhibition and the Pensioners Forum were looking to identify people who had made a significant contribution to the community. The Youth Forum had recently been on a residential weekend and photographs that had been taken would be included in the display.

 

She requested that this Forum identify events and individuals within the LGB community that had made a significant contribution to the community.  Traditionally it had always been difficult to find positive LGB images and the Forum discussed the types of images that should be used. A Bewers suggested that the images used for the Forgotten Fairy Tale may be appropriate however permission would have to be sought for the Forum to use the pictures.

 

In relation to publicity, L Ambrose circulated a draft poster and advised that the intention was to have a general poster, the text of which could be changed, that could be used for any future events as well as the Balloon Festival. She suggested that permission be sought to use the pictures that had recently appeared in Northampton Now.

 

M Felix referred to the need for education and ways to promote best practice.  It was suggested that this could be progressed together with other forums, particularly the Youth Forum. It was agreed that this be an item on the agenda for the next meeting.

6.

Police Statistics - Update (Hate Crime)

Minutes:

Sgt P Colhoun advised that for the year 2003/2004 there had been 69 homophobic incidents reported and so far there had been 18 reported in the current year. He then referred to an assault by three males that had taken place on Midsummer Meadow in mid June. Two suspects had been arrested and work was ongoing to arrest the third. A Bewers advised that some witness statements had come from users of the area which demonstrated the improvement in the relationship between the LGB community and the Police.

7.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

(A) 19th LONDON LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL ON TOUR

 

A Bewers circulated the programme of films being shown at the Forum Cinema and drew particular attention to Digital Short, the first short film made by young people from the LGB community. (Copy Programme Attached)

 

(B) ENGAGEMENT WITH BME COMMUNITIES

 

M Felix referred to the particular problems experienced by gay people within BME communities and the Forum discussed the difficulties the NLGBA had in engaging them.  A Bewers stressed that the Alliance advertised itself as widely as possible but there were always problems engaging communities, which by nature, were invisible. The NLGBA Executive was conscious that they were not representative in all areas. The Chair suggested that an item be included on the agenda for the next meeting “Engagement Strategy re; BME Communities”, particularly to consider engagement with BME communities.  This was agreed.

8.

Date Of Next Meeting

Minutes:

It was noted that the next meeting was on 14 September 2005 at 6.30pm.

Camden Council Corporate HIV Policy Extract re Employment