Author Archives: Becky Forrest

Unconscious bias in the party

By Becky Forrest | Thu 23rd July 2020 - 5:48 pm

As an evidence based party we are more than aware that minority groups may be discriminated against, both unconsciously and unintentionally. This is one of the reasons the party runs unconscious bias training.

As human beings we are picking up social cues all the time and they inform our judgement, whether we realise it or not. As was demonstrated in the orchestra research, blind auditions were not enough when auditory cues, such as the distinctive tap of heels on a hard floor, were still present. But in removing both audio and visual cues to judge purely on merit, this has contributed to the increased hiring of female musicians.

I recently asked for the gender split of our most recent unconscious bias training. It was approximately 50:50. Sounds great doesn’t it! Except not particularly when you think about our current gender split in terms of membership.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged equality and unconscious bias | 11 Comments

A policy solution to poverty-promoting pre-payment meters

By Becky Forrest | Wed 3rd August 2016 - 6:30 pm

It is frequently asked how we reach the lower paid and those in poverty who have made up a large proportion of whose who may have been disenfranchised or chosen to vote for UKIP in the past. A big part is about getting the message across in a way which isn’t patronising or condescending but it’s also the day to day issues that need addressing. Liberal democrat policies need to be addressing these issues.

Those who have struggled financially, having fallen in to arrears, or are in rented accommodation are highly likely to be placed on pre-payment meters for their energy needs. The BBC today reported that these customers are likely to pay on average £220 more a year than customers who are not on the pre-payment meters.

The Ofgem report released today promised:

Those on pre-payment meters, who are among the most vulnerable and least likely to switch, will be protected by an interim price cap which will save them around £75 a year from next April.

I don’t think this goes far enough, pre-payment tariffs will still average a cost of around £145 more a year and, furthermore, the use of the word ‘interim’ highlights that the cap is not even a permanent reduction to pre-payment tariffs. This potentially means that pre-payment tariffs may become even more unfair after any proposed cap expires.