Law centre opposes closure of Glasgow's Bilingual Support Unit following 'flawed' consultation process

Govanhill Law Centre (GhLC) has opposed the proposed closure of Glasgow's Bilingual Support Unit (BSU), presently positioned in Shawlands, between Govanhill and East Pollokshields, two of the most ethnically diverse communities in the City. Its opposition is supported by GLC.

Responding to a Glasgow City Council consultation, GhLC says that in its experience there are severe barriers to education and employment for Roma families in Glasgow. A saving of £186,000 from closing the BSU would represent very poor value in relation to the significant benefits gained from specialist language provision to youngsters in Glasgow's education system, youngsters who often have the lowest educational and employment prospects.

The law centre has identified five key flaws in the current proposed closure process:

(1) No educational benefits evidenced
(2) Financial savings alone seem to be driving force
(3) Flawed consultation process
(4) Failure to meet with needs of children with little or no English
(5) Failure to meet needs of Roma children

With respect to the need to undertake a proper consultation at a meeting on June 9th, 2011, GCC's Director of Education, Maureen McKenna said “this is not a statutory consultation so it is not a public consultation.  It is good practice for service reform”.  However, GhLC believes that GCC has failed to have 'due regard' to its statutory duties under the Equalities Act 2010. 

GhLC Associate Solicitor Lorraine Barrie said: "Glasgow City Council’s public sector duty under the Equality Act 2010 states that an Equality Impact Assessment document should be produced, containing sufficient information to show it has paid ‘due regard’ to equality duties in its decision making. In that regard, we have referred the Council to the recent case of R (W) v. Birmingham City Council [2011] EWHC 1147 where the High Court found that ‘where a decision may affect large numbers of vulnerable people … the due regard necessary is very high’ (at para 151). We believe that is the case here. Further, the court held that ‘consideration of the duty must be an integral part of the formulation of a proposed policy …’.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guide for decision makers states “whether it is proportionate for an authority to conduct an assessment of a financial decision depends on its relevance to the authority’s particular function and its likely impact”. We would argue that as the proposal is likely to have a significantly adverse impact on the learning of all of the pupils who attend the BSU and future pupils, we believe the ‘due regard’ duty is very high, and accordingly GCC are required to carry out an equality impact assessment.

The only mention in the document of the Equality Act 2010 is as follows: “The proposed Service reconfiguration supports the Council’s responsibilities under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2004 (Amended 2009) and the Equality Act 2010”. This bald statement in our view, completely fails to demonstrate whether GCC have given “due regard” to their legal duties to equalities; particularly where the due regard duty is ‘very high’

We would hope GCC will produce an Equality Impact Assessment, and make its consultation public, otherwise it may render itself vulnerable to legal challenge under the 2010 Act".

Govanhill Law Centre's full consultation response is here (opens as PDF).

Law centre opposes closure of Glasgow's Bilingual Support Unit following 'flawed' consultation process

Govanhill Law Centre client wins sex discrimination case

A Govanhill Law Centre client has recently received payment from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) of £18,357.57 following a successful Employment Tribunal claim.

Mrs. R, who wishes to remain anonymous, raised a claim against her former employer for unfair dismissal as a result of pregnancy, and sex discrimination.

Mrs R had worked for P.I.A on a series of fixed term contracts for around 18 months. She took a period of authorised unpaid leave to attend a family wedding. Mrs R fell ill at the wedding and her husband contacted her employer to advise she would be unable to return on time. Despite the fact she produced a medical certificate, Mrs R was dismissed for gross misconduct on her return to work, without having an opportunity to explain her position. Ms R appealed the decision but her appeal letter was ignored. Mrs R believed that the real reason she had been dismissed was because her employer knew she was pregnant and wanted to use her sick leave as an excuse to dismiss her.

After hearing three days of evidence, the Tribunal found that the true reason Mrs R had been dismissed was because she was pregnant and that she had been unfairly dismissed. The Tribunal held that this constituted an act of sex discrimination, contrary to section 3A(1) (a) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Mrs R was represented by GhLC solicitor Lindsay Paterson at the hearing.

The Tribunal issued its decision in October 2010, but Mrs R has only recently received her settlement. As a result of the delayed payment, the Respondents were forced to pay additional interest of £237.37 to Mrs R.

Mrs R said: “While I worked at P.I.A. my boss treated me badly. He told me I should wear high heels to look smart and tall. He insulted me in front of my colleagues. I was dismissed after he knew I had fallen pregnant and this caused me a lot of stress and financial worries. My husband and I had to move out of our home as we could not afford the rent".

"I am very happy with the Tribunal decision. I had worked in the travel industry for 7 years and I felt my good reputation had been damaged. I can now hold my head up high and feel confident to apply for jobs in the future. I want to thank Govanhill Law Centre – if it was not for them, I would not have won my case “.

Lorraine Barrie, Associate Solicitor at Govanhill Law Centre said: “We are delighted that our client has now received full payment from her former employer, after a long wait. Our client was very distressed following her dismissal and she suffered significant financial worries when her first baby was on the way. We are pleased that the Tribunal have recognised the significant stress caused to our client by awarding £5,000 for injury to her feelings”.

Govanhill Law Centre client wins sex discrimination case

Places still available on GLC's Employment law seminar on 14 April 2011

GLC's 'Employment law basics for NQ solicitors, trainee solicitors and advisors' is still taking bookings - to reserve a place please call 0141 440 2503 or you can use our booking form. 

Our half day seminar is aimed at advisors with little or no knowledge of employment law.  The training event will help solicitors and advisors identify potential breaches of the law, and provide practical tools to allow the advisor or the client to take further action.

The seminar includes contributions from the following speakers: Lorraine Barrie, Associate Solicitor at Govanhill Law Centre. She represents a number of clients with employment law disputes including unlawful deductions from wages, unfair dismissal, sex discrimination and redundancy issues. She has assisted migrant workers to report breaches of the law to the relevant enforcement agencies.

Giles Woolfson is a director of McGrade + Co. He has specialised in employment law for over ten years, advising both employers and individuals on various employment issues including whistleblowing, discrimination, breach of contract, unfair dismissal, restrictive covenants and TUPE. He is also a trained mediator.

Paula Chan is a solicitor at McGrade + Co. Paula completed a specialist traineeship in employment law and has practiced solely in this area following qualification. She has experience in a range of contentious and non-contentious work having represented and advised individuals, companies, voluntary organisations and trade unions.

Cost: £65 (concessionary rate for voluntary organizations £55). Registration 9.30am, 10am to 1pm.

Places still available on GLC's Employment law seminar on 14 April 2011

Scottish Parliament Committee hear evidence of employers who “take advantage” of migrant workers

Govanhill Law Centre’s submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Inquiry into Migration and Trafficking has been cited in the Parliament’s final report.

The Inquiry, held by the Equal Opportunities Committee last year, heard evidence from a large number of stakeholders including migrants, local authorities, the voluntary sector, police, academics, journalists, MSPs and the Crown Office. The innovative partnership working approach of the Hub in Govanhill was recognised by the Committee as an example of good practice.

The Inquiry heard evidence on the nature and extent of migration to Scotland and described the lack of migration data, public perceptions about migration and the influence of the media as “key overarching issues“.　 The Committee recognised key challenges in “improving awareness among migrants about public services, and their rights and entitlements“, “employment including exploitative employment practices“, health, education, housing, policing and enforcement.

Govanhill Law Centre Solicitor Lorraine Barrie said “we are pleased that the Committee have recognised the significant barriers many migrants experience when living and working in Scotland in terms of receiving advice and information about their rights and practical barriers to reporting exploitative employers. 　 We are also pleased that the partnership working approach of the Hub in Govanhill, which we are part of, has been recognised as an example of good practice“.  The full story can be read on Govanhill Law Centre's website here.

Scottish Parliament Committee hear evidence of employers who “take advantage” of migrant workers

Govanhill Law Centre launches new site

Govanhill Law Centre has launched a specialist new website for the community of Govanhill. The site - www.govanhilllc.com - provides information on the free legal services available from the centre's team of solicitors and caseworkers, local news and details of educational events held by the law centre.

Govanhill's Lorraine Barrie said, "Our new site will provide advice on housing, employment, benefits, education and consumer matters. We have a publications section with downloadable housing, employment and education law advice leaflets in Slovak and English".

"Govanhill Law Centre can assist anyone living in the Govanhill area, and we have a focus on enforcing the rights of minority ethnic communities and in particularly the Roma community. We can normally arrange free interpreters when required".

The Centre has already provided advice to Scottish, Romanian, Slovak, Asian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Czech and Irish clients on many topics including unreturned tenancy deposits, illegal evictions by private landlords, tenancies in a seriously dilapidated condition, non-registered A8 national workers, employers noting wrong National Insurance numbers on wage slips, property factoring problems, unpaid wages, problems registering clients children for school, statutory repairs notices, sexual discrimination and redundancy issues.

The benefits matters dealt with for migrant workers include complex tax credits cases, clients who have been refused Income Support because they have failed the “habitual residence test”, housing benefit entitlements, applications for crisis loans, maternity benefit entitlement and Disability Living Allowance claims.

Govanhill Law Centre launches new site