Following the appointment of Lynn Collins as Chair of the Mayoral Fairness and Social Justice Advisory Board, work has now begun to establish the terms of reference of the board and its ways of working, which will be signed off by the Combined Authority in due course. The Mayor and the Chair met recently and agreed the following broad principles:-

• The Board needs to be trusted and respected by both the Combined Authority and the communities of the Liverpool City Region
• The Board would want to draw on the rich and diverse expertise of those within our communities to assist in its role, not just those at the top of organisations.
• The Board would not duplicate or replace work already being done in Local Authorities or the Combined Authority. More so it would draw on existing work to ensure best practice is shared
• The Board would provide a range of opportunities for organisations and individuals to input into areas of its work, though work groups and open sessions

In line with other similar Boards and Fairness Commissions, membership of the board will be by direct appointment of the Metro Mayor, however both the Chair and the Mayor are keen that as wide a pool of potential board members is sought as soon as possible. We are therefore inviting people to express interest in a range of areas of the Board’s work, including expressing interest in becoming a member of the Board itself or one of its specific work groups which will be established over time.

Express Interest in Becoming a Member of the Board

We want people to express interest if they think they can bring their skills and, as important, their lived experience to the work of the Board. Through the 12 to 14 members of the Board we want to try and ensure that as many aspects of our diverse city region are represented – both in terms of geography, protected characteristics, and real life experience, so we are seeking people with a real drive and commitment to representing the voices of our communities.

Membership is voluntary and unpaid, although reasonable expenses will be paid to ensure board members can carry out their role. It’s intended that the board would meet every two months .

Join one of our Working groups

We also recognise that from time to time the Board will need to seek wider expertise and experiences to inform its work. That’s why we will use the option to establish smaller more focused working groups as and when we need to. Again, we would like to hear from you if you have a particular area of expertise that you would like to feed into the Board’s work. You might be a representative of an organisation or campaign, or again might have the lived experience needed to inform the Board’s work. Please get in touch if you would like to be included in some of the work of the Board.

Inform the Future Work of the Board

Finally, the Board’s remit will allow for it to focus on particular areas of future policy development, to ensure social and economic justice are at the heart of policy formation. We would like to hear from you about the issues you see as important for our City Region going forward and would encourage you to get in touch.

For the Board to make a difference it has to be open and communicative to as wide an audience as possible, and be trusted and respected by policy makers. Both the Chair and the Mayor are committed to these aims and will work with the Board to ensure its standing and profile are established within the governance arrangements for the Liverpool City Region.

You can get in touch with us easily to express interest in any aspect of the board’s work. A simple on line form is available by CLICKING HERE, or you can email your expression of interest by CLICKING HERE.

Expressions of interest in becoming a member of the board should reach the Mayor’s office by Friday 27^th October. It’s hoped that the Board will be appointed in November and its first meeting will be towards the end of 2017.

We look forward to hearing from you.